Item number: A3512

Reference Number: Lang & Lin#6-49、Kamyshev#20

Year: AD 699-766

Material: Bronze

Size: 23.9 x 23.0 x 1.6 mm

Weight: 3.5 g

Manufactured by: Suyab Mint

Provenance: Stephen Album Rare Coins 2025

This coin is believed to have been struck in the Zhetysu region following the conquest of Suyab by the Turgesh Khaganate, though the issuing authority remains uncertain.

The obverse depicts a frontal portrait of an unidentified ruler wearing large circular earrings. To the left of the portrait is the Sogdian legend “𐼱𐼲𐼷” (βγu), meaning “divinity”, while to the right appears “𐼾𐽀𐼻” (prn), signifying “glory” or “grace”. Together the inscription may be interpreted as “by the grace of God”. At the centre of the reverse field is the tamga of Suyab (Old Turkic: 𐱃𐰢𐰍𐰀, tamga, the traditional tribal emblem of the Turks), consisting of a pair of opposed stylised ram’s horns joined by a central vertical line, with an additional pair of hooked horns attached along one diagonal. The coin has a relatively broad border around the edge.

The Turgesh were one of the Dulu divisions of the Western Turks. Tang histories describe them as a constituent member of a tribal confederation, originating as a small tribe by Lake Issyk-Kul, possibly of Xiongnu descent. The various tribes of the northern steppe dispersed across the region were collectively known as the Tiele. In the 5th century, amidst the conflict between the Northern Wei and the Rouran, the Tiele (also called the Gaoche), then subject to the Rouran, migrated westward, unwilling to endure their dominance, as the Rouran expanded into Central Asia. In the late 6th century, the Western Turks gained control of the region, and the Turgesh became their vassals. In AD 657, under Emperor Gaozong, the Tang court suppressed a Western Turkic rebellion, established the Anxi Protectorate in the Western Regions, and subsequently created tributary prefectures in Transoxiana (also known as the “Ten Arrows”), thereby weakening the Turks.

Following this decline, the Turgesh chieftain Wuzhile seized Suyab, one of the four Tang garrisons in the Western Regions, in AD 699, during the reign of Empress Wu. He made it his headquarters, establishing the First Turgesh Khaganate. The Tang court, unable to counter this, formally recognised him as a prince. In AD 711, Wuzhile’s son Suoge fought against the revived Eastern Turkic Khaganate, was killed in battle, and his polity collapsed. In AD 716, upon the death of Mochuo Qaghan of the Eastern Turks, the confederation disintegrated, and the khanate sought accommodation with the Tang, signalling its decline. West of the Eastern Turks, the Chebishi tribe fell under Turgesh leadership, and its chieftain Suluk proclaimed himself Qaghan of the Turgesh, thereby founding the Second Turgesh Khaganate. Suluk manoeuvred between the Eastern Turks, Tibet, and the Tang, exploiting each alliance to his advantage. He married princesses from both the Eastern Turks and Tibet. In AD 717, the Tang court formally invested him as the “Loyal and Obedient Qaghan”. In AD 719, he regained Suyab. In AD 722, the Tang also bestowed upon him a princess of the sinicised Ashina clan, known as the Princess of Jiaohé, thereby securing a marriage alliance. Suluk maintained close ties with the Tang, acting as their intermediary in the Western Regions, and frequently resisted the Umayyad Caliphate, engaging in warfare with the governors of Khurasan. In AD 738, he was struck with paralysis and assassinated by the Turgesh Yellow faction leader Mokhë Dagan, who succeeded as Qaghan. In AD 744, during the reign of Emperor Xuanzong, Mokhë Dagan was attacked by Tang forces; remnants of the Turgesh submitted to the Uyghur and Karluk khaganates, while internecine conflict between the Black and Yellow factions weakened them further. In AD 766, the Karluk Khaganate conquered Zhetysu, extinguishing the Turgesh.

Both the First and Second Turgesh Khaganates had Suyab as their political centre. Suyab was one of the four major Tang garrisons in the Western Regions, along with Kucha, Kashgar, and Khotan. After the Tang withdrawal from these posts in the late dynasty, Suyab declined, and its precise location was long uncertain. Xuanzang’s Great Tang Records on the Western Regions and Du Huan’s Jingxingji describe Suyab as lying east of the “Hot Sea” (modern Lake Issyk-Kul) and west of the Talas valley. In 1961, the British scholar Gerard Clauson, in his article “Ak Beshim—Suyab”, identified the ruins of Ak-Beshim as the site of Suyab. In the same year, the French orientalist Paul Pelliot published “Ak-Beshim et ses sanctuaires”, reaching a similar conclusion. In 1979, Zhang Guangda, drawing upon textual sources such as the New Tang History, the Book of Roads and Kingdoms by the Muslim geographer Ibn Khordadbeh, together with archaeological findings, argued convincingly that Suyab corresponded to the present-day site of Ak-Beshim. In 1982, archaeologists at the site discovered a fragmentary Chinese-inscribed stele, bearing the characters “Suyab”.

The coinage of the Turgesh derived from cooperation with the Sogdian city-states of Transoxiana. From the Northern Dynasties period in China, Sogdians had engaged in commerce across the region, specialising in the transport of silk along routes that traversed Zhetysu, the southern Caspian littoral, the Levant, and ultimately reached Constantinople in the Eastern Roman Empire. At that time, however, Transoxiana lay within the sphere of the Sasanian Empire (also known as Ērānshahr), and traders were dependent upon its favour. With the rise of the Western Turks, Emperor Justin II of Byzantium sought to establish ties with them, hoping to break the Persian monopoly on the Silk Road. The Sasanian king Khosrow I refused, prompting the Byzantines to open a northern route through Central Asia in alliance with the Turks, bypassing Persian control and connecting directly with Rome. Trade along the Silk Road flourished, Sogdian settlements proliferated, and the Turgesh, as rulers of this region, could no longer be regarded merely as a nomadic power. Their minting of coinage reflects both administrative necessity and their intent to profit from commerce.

物件編號: A3512

參考文獻編號: 郎、林#6-49、卡梅舍夫#20

年代: 公元 699-766 年

材質: 青銅

尺寸: 23.9 x 23.0 x 1.6 mm

重量: 3.5 g

製造地: 碎葉城

來源: 史蒂芬稀有錢幣專輯 2025

這是一枚應為七河地區，突騎施汗國佔碎葉城後所鑄之錢，鑄主不明。

錢面中央為不知名鑄主正面肖像，耳佩大環。肖像左側有粟特文字「𐼱𐼲𐼷」(βγу)，意即天神，右側為「𐼾𐽀𐼻」(prn)，意即榮光或恩賜，合意約為「神之恩典」。錢幕中央為碎葉城的塔木加(古突厥語：𐱃𐰢𐰍𐰀, tamga，突厥部族傳統族徽)，為一對相向的抽象羊角，中央以直線相連，一側對角線的一對羊角有帶鈎。幣緣有較闊的環。

突騎施為西突厥諸咄陸部之一，唐史載為部落聯盟的一員，早期為吐如紇湖畔的一小部落，可能為匈奴後裔。散居該地區的漠北各部落共名為鐵勒諸部。公元5世紀，北魏與柔然相互征伐，當時臣服柔然的鐵勒諸部(或稱高車)，不願再受驅使，率眾西遷，隨著柔然的擴張退往西域。公元6世紀晚期，西突厥入主西域，突騎施臣服突厥。唐高宗顯慶二年(公元657年)，唐朝平西突厥叛，始於西域設安西都督府，後又於河中(亦稱十箭)地區設羈縻府州，眾建諸部以解體突厥。西突厥勢弱後，突騎施部酋長烏質勒，於武則天聖曆二年(公元699年)，陷安西四鎮之碎葉，設為牙帳，建突騎施第一汗國，唐廷無可奈何，封為郡王。唐睿宗景雲二年(公元711年)，烏質勒子娑葛與復興東突厥的後突厥汗國交戰，身死國滅。唐玄宗開元四年(公元716年)，東突厥可汗默啜逝世，諸部離散，東突厥轉與唐謀和，其勢轉衰。東突厥以西，突騎施部統屬之車鼻施部，其酋長蘇祿自號突騎施可汗，是為突騎施第二汗國。蘇祿周旋於東突厥、吐蕃以及大唐之間，左右逢源。蘇祿先後娶東突厥、吐蕃之貴女為可敦。開元五年(公元717年)，大唐冊蘇祿為忠順可汗。開元七年(公元719年)，蘇祿可汗復佔碎葉城。開元十年(公元722年)亦冊西突厥漢化部族，阿史那氏之女為交河公主，和親突騎施。蘇祿與大唐關係密切，為大唐遙控西域，多次抵禦伍麥亞王朝，與呼羅珊總督交戰。公元738年，患癱病之蘇祿被突騎施黃姓首領莫賀達干襲殺，莫賀達干繼任為突騎施可汗。玄宗天寶三年(公元744年)，莫賀達干為唐軍所討，餘部有些歸附回鶻汗國、葛邏祿汗國，黑、黃二姓並相互攻殺。公元766年葛邏祿汗國征服七河，突騎施部滅亡。

突騎施第一、第二汗國皆以碎葉城為政治中心，碎葉是唐朝於西域所設的重鎮之一，與龜茲、疏勒、于闐並稱「安西四鎮」，於唐末撤離四鎮後沒落，長期位置不明。玄奘《大唐西域記》，杜環《經行記》，指出碎葉城東臨熱海（今伊塞克湖），西接塔拉斯。公元1961年，英國學者傑拉德．克勞森在其文章《阿克．貝希姆——碎葉城》(Ak Beshim-Suyab)指出阿克．貝希姆遺址即碎葉城。同年，法國東方學者韓百詩在文章《阿克．貝希姆及其寺院》(Ak-Besim et ses sanctuaires)亦作出相似的結論。公元1979年，張廣達結合文獻資料，如《新唐書》及由穆斯林地理學家伊本．胡爾達茲比赫所撰之《道里邦國志》以及考古發現，論證碎葉城應位於現今的阿克．貝希姆遺址。公元1982年，考古學家於該遺址發現一塊刻有漢文的殘碑，其中包括「碎葉」。

突騎施的鑄幣，來源於與河中粟特諸城邦的合作。中國北朝時期，粟特人開始進入中國經商，以販運絲綢，一路途經七河地區、裡海南岸、黎凡特地區，最終至東羅馬君士坦丁堡。但當時河中地區為波斯薩珊王朝(或稱埃蘭沙赫爾帝國)之勢力範圍，需仰鼻息。後西突厥崛起，東羅馬皇帝查士丁二士聯絡西突厥，倚突厥兵威嘗試打破波斯壟斷的商道，遭波斯王霍斯勞一世拒絕，於是另於絲路中段開闢北道，直接連絡羅馬。絲路沿途貿易興盛，粟特聚居點眾多，統治此處的突騎施汗國，已難稱為單純的遊牧帝國，是故鑄行貨幣以便民取利。