Post by H. İhsan Erkoç on Feb 1, 2009 23:26:36 GMT 3
That's a nice topic 
One of the great battles of the steppes occured between the Eastern Türks (Tujue 突厥, Gök Türks) and the Türgiš:
The Battle of Bolču (711):
Combatants: Eastern Türks and Türgiš
Forces: The Orkhon and Bayancogt inscriptions give the number of Türgiš soldiers as Ten Tümän (100,000 men), while saying that both wings of the Türgiš army outnumbered the wings of Türk army to 2/1, which would make the Türk army as around 70,000 men. However, Chinese sources say that the Türks were only 20,000 men during this campaign. We know from Turkic inscriptions and Chinese annals that the Türgiš army also included Az warriors and Chinese garrison troops from East Turkistān.
Commanders: Türgiš army commanded by their ruler Shage 沙葛 (*Saqal), Türk army commanded by Ayġučï (Grand Vizier) Tonyuquq, Inäl Qaġan (a minor ruler during the reign of his father, major ruler Qapġan Qaġan) and Tarduš Šad (western administrator) Mojilian 默棘連 (son of Iltäriš Qaġan, the ruler before Qapġan Qaġan; he later used the imperial title Bilgä Qaġan when he became ruler).
Location: The Turkic inscriptions give the name of the place where the battle was fought as Yarïš Yazï (Yarïš Field) located at a place called Bolču, which was only one-day horse-drive from the Altai Mountains. This place has been identified as the Urungu Valley located to the south of Lake Oyorong and River Irtish at Northern Jungaria.
The Battle: The night before the actual battle, the Türks made a surprise attack to the Türgiš camp and made some lootings. Next day, the Türgiš launched a major offensive but they were caught between the forces of Tonyuquq and Mojilian. After the battle resulted in Türk victory, all the major rulers and administators of the Türgiš were either executed or captured.
One of the great battles of the steppes occured between the Eastern Türks (Tujue 突厥, Gök Türks) and the Türgiš:
The Battle of Bolču (711):
Combatants: Eastern Türks and Türgiš
Forces: The Orkhon and Bayancogt inscriptions give the number of Türgiš soldiers as Ten Tümän (100,000 men), while saying that both wings of the Türgiš army outnumbered the wings of Türk army to 2/1, which would make the Türk army as around 70,000 men. However, Chinese sources say that the Türks were only 20,000 men during this campaign. We know from Turkic inscriptions and Chinese annals that the Türgiš army also included Az warriors and Chinese garrison troops from East Turkistān.
Commanders: Türgiš army commanded by their ruler Shage 沙葛 (*Saqal), Türk army commanded by Ayġučï (Grand Vizier) Tonyuquq, Inäl Qaġan (a minor ruler during the reign of his father, major ruler Qapġan Qaġan) and Tarduš Šad (western administrator) Mojilian 默棘連 (son of Iltäriš Qaġan, the ruler before Qapġan Qaġan; he later used the imperial title Bilgä Qaġan when he became ruler).
Location: The Turkic inscriptions give the name of the place where the battle was fought as Yarïš Yazï (Yarïš Field) located at a place called Bolču, which was only one-day horse-drive from the Altai Mountains. This place has been identified as the Urungu Valley located to the south of Lake Oyorong and River Irtish at Northern Jungaria.
The Battle: The night before the actual battle, the Türks made a surprise attack to the Türgiš camp and made some lootings. Next day, the Türgiš launched a major offensive but they were caught between the forces of Tonyuquq and Mojilian. After the battle resulted in Türk victory, all the major rulers and administators of the Türgiš were either executed or captured.