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Post by nanman on May 30, 2008 11:26:36 GMT 3
Thanks for your answer.
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Post by H. İhsan Erkoç on May 30, 2008 15:30:02 GMT 3
You are welcome The Turks usually named China according to the dynasties or peoples that ruled the areas that were the closest to them. For example, during the 6th-8th centuries, we see in Turkic Inscriptions from Mongolia and Yenisey that the Turks called all the Chinese "Tabġač (Tabghach)", which is clearly the original name of the Turko-Mongolic people known in Chinese as Tuòbá (T'o-pa) 拓跋. The reason why this name was used was because when the Blue Turks started to rise in power, it was the Tabġač people who were ruling China as two separate dynasties (the Wèi 魏). Even the Romans (Byzantines) at that time called China with that name - Taugast, which they learned via the Turks controlling the Silk Road. This useage existed during the Qarakhanid and early Mongol period. Some Qarakhanid rulers used the name in their titles, in the form Tamġač (Tamghach); the name was also used in Maḥmûd al-Kâšġarî's (Mahmud of Kashghar) famous work for parts of China, as Tawġač (Tawghach); Arabo-Iranian geographers also adopted varieties of this name, especially like Tafġač (Tafghach). Even during the first half of the 13th century, according to the Chinese priest Cháng Chūn (Ch'ang Ch'un) 長春, the Turks living in the city of Almalïġ (Almalygh) in Yedisu called China "Tabġač". Similary, during the Qarakhanid period, the name Ḫitây (Khitai), driving from Kitan, was adopted for parts of Northern China that were ruled by the Liáo 遼 Dynasty.
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Post by Temüjin on May 30, 2008 17:52:02 GMT 3
thats very interesting!
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Post by nanman on May 31, 2008 1:28:49 GMT 3
Fascinating, so is Tabghach still in use in Turkish today?
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Post by H. İhsan Erkoç on May 31, 2008 13:45:53 GMT 3
No, during the Seljuqid or Mongol period, it was replaced with the Persian version, Čîn (Chin; in Arabic, because the "ch" sounds doesn't exist, it has become Ṣîn [Sin] ﭽﻴﻦ (ﺼﻴﻦ, which drives from Sanskrit Chinâ.
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Post by Asparuh on Aug 15, 2010 1:47:27 GMT 3
Hi,I am shure you will like this pic.It´s about Kara Khitans. Attachments:
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Post by H. İhsan Erkoç on Aug 15, 2010 22:02:33 GMT 3
Yes, it;'s one of my favorites
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Post by Tobodai on Jul 19, 2011 6:58:38 GMT 3
According to the sources I have recently read, which I can list here once I'm back at uni and have all the books easily in front of me (though the biggest one by far for societal information was the The Empire of the Qara-Khitai in Eurasian History by Michal Biran), the Qara-Khitai remained shamanist with a veneer of Buddhism. Nestorian Christianity was somewhat common though a minority. Their outward appearance in public was much more Buddhist than shamainistic however as they sought to give off a very cultured and Sinified veneer of sophistication so that their majority Muslim subjects would respect them more.
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