Item number: A3642

Year: circa AD 738-766

Material: Bronze

Size: 20.0 x 19.7 x 0.9 mm

Weight: 2.2 g

Provenance: Stephen Album Rare Coins 2025

This coin was likely issued by one of the successor factions that emerged after the fragmentation of the Türgesh Khaganate.

Its form imitates that of the Sogdian coins of the Western Regions—those of the so-called “Nine Surnames of Zhaowu.” The Sogdian prototypes themselves were modelled after the Tang dynasty’s Kaiyuan Tongbao, the archetypal Chinese cash coin with a round shape and a central square hole. The obverse bears a Sogdian inscription reading “𐼱𐼲𐼷 𐽂𐼴𐽀𐼸𐼷𐽁 𐼲𐼰𐼲𐼰𐼻 𐼾𐼻𐼷” (βγy twrkyš γ’γ’n pny). The term “𐼱𐼲𐼷” (βγy) means “heaven” or “divine”; “𐽂𐼴𐽀𐼸𐼷𐽁” (twrkyš) denotes “Türgesh,” the tribal name; “𐼲𐼰𐼲𐼰𐼻” (γ’γ’n) means “khagan” or “ruler”; and “𐼾𐼻𐼷” (pny) refers to “coin.” The legend is identical to that found on the coins issued under Suluk Khagan.

The reverse displays a bow-shaped totem cleverly integrated with the coin’s square hole to form the Old Turkic character “𐱃” (ät), meaning “horse.” This symbol also served as the tamga (tribal emblem) of the Türgesh. Below it appears what is believed to be an inverted Orkhon-style variant of the Old Turkic letter “𐰯” (p).

The Türgesh were one of the Duolu tribes of the Western Turkic confederation. According to Tang sources, they were members of this tribal alliance and originally a small group living by Lake Issyk Kul, possibly descended from the Xiongnu. The numerous northern tribes inhabiting the region collectively came to be known as the Tiele tribes. During the AD 5th century, as the Northern Wei and Rouran powers fought each other, the Tiele tribes—then vassals of the Rouran—refused continued subjugation and migrated westward, retreating before the expanding Rouran toward Central Asia. In the late AD 6th century, the Western Turks came to dominate this region, and the Türgesh became their subjects. In AD 657 (the second year of Emperor Gaozong’s Xianqing reign), the Tang defeated the Western Turks and established protectorates in the Western Regions, later creating administrative prefectures in the Transoxiana (Ten Arrows) area to dissolve the Turkic confederation.

After the decline of the Western Turks, the Türgesh chieftain Wuzhile seized Suyab, one of the four Tang garrisons in the Western Regions, and established his ordu (camp) there, founding the First Türgesh Khaganate. The Tang court, unable to subdue him, granted him the title of Prince of a Commandery. In AD 711 (the second year of Emperor Ruizong’s Jingyun reign), Wuzhile’s son Suoge fought against the revived Eastern Turkic Khaganate and perished in battle, bringing an end to his state. In AD 716 (the fourth year of Emperor Xuanzong’s Kaiyuan reign), with the death of Mochuo Khagan of the Eastern Turks, that khaganate declined and sought reconciliation with the Tang. West of the Eastern Turks, the Chumishi tribe, subordinate to the Türgesh, rose under its chieftain Suluk, who styled himself Khagan of the Türgesh, founding the Second Türgesh Khaganate.

Suluk skilfully manoeuvred between the Eastern Turks, Tibet, and the Tang Empire, maintaining advantageous relations with all. He married princesses from both the Eastern Turks and Tibet, and in AD 717 (the fifth year of Kaiyuan), the Tang court invested him with the title Loyal and Obedient Khagan. In AD 722 (the tenth year of Kaiyuan), the Tang also arranged the marriage of a sinicised princess of the Western Turkic Ashina clan, titled Princess of Jiaohé, to the Türgesh. Suluk maintained close relations with the Tang and acted as their proxy in the Western Regions, repeatedly opposing the Umayyad Caliphate and engaging in conflict with the governor of Khurasan. In AD 738, Suluk, paralysed by illness, was assassinated by Baga Tarkhan of the Yellow (Su) Türgesh clan, who succeeded him as khagan.

Following Suluk Khagan’s assassination by the Bāyïrqu tribe in AD 738, the Türgesh Khaganate rapidly split into eastern and western factions, losing its former political unity. The Eastern Türgesh , centred around the cities of Tashkent and Talas, extended their influence across the eastern Jeti-Su region. Although they nominally retained the khaganal title, they were effectively subordinate to the Karluks and the Bāyïrqu. The Western Türgesh , based in Suyab and the upper Chu River valley, gradually came under the influence of the Arab Caliphate. After the Battle of Talas in AD 751, the Abbasid Caliphate briefly extended its authority into Central Asia, while internal strife among the Türgesh led to internecine warfare. By the mid-8th century, the Karluks took advantage of the disorder, invading and occupying Türgesh territory. In AD 766 they captured Suyab and established the Karluk Khaganate, bringing an end to the Türgesh as an independent power, whose people were largely absorbed by the Karluks and the Uyghurs.

Both the First and Second Türgesh Khaganates took Suyab as their political centre. Suyab was one of the Tang Empire’s four garrisons in the Western Regions, along with Kucha, Kashgar, and Khotan. After the Tang withdrawal from these garrisons near the end of the dynasty, Suyab declined, and its exact location remained uncertain for centuries. Xuanzang’s Great Tang Records on the Western Regions and Du Huan’s Record of Travels describe Suyab as lying east of the “Hot Sea” (modern Lake Issyk Kul) and west of the Talas River. In AD 1961, the British scholar Gerard Clauson identified the Ak-Beshim site as ancient Suyab in his article Ak Beshim—Suyab, a view independently supported that same year by the French orientalist Paul Pelliot in Ak-Beshim et ses sanctuaires. In AD 1979, Zhang Guangda combined textual sources such as the New Book of Tang and the Book of Routes and Kingdoms by the Muslim geographer Ibn Khordādhbeh with archaeological findings to argue that the Suyab of the texts corresponds to the Ak-Beshim site. In AD 1982, archaeologists discovered a fragmentary stele with Chinese characters at the site, including the inscription “Sui-ye” (“Suyab”), confirming this identification.

The coinage of the Türgesh arose from cooperation with the Sogdian city-states of Transoxiana. During the Northern Dynasties of China, the Sogdians had already engaged in commerce within China, transporting silk westward to the Eastern Roman Empire. At that time, Transoxiana was under the control of the Sasanian Empire (also known as Ērānšahr), upon whose favour such trade depended. When the Western Turks rose to power, Emperor Justin II of Byzantium sought alliance with them to break the Persian monopoly over the Silk Road trade, but was rebuffed by King Khusrau I of Persia. As a result, a northern branch of the Silk Road was opened, establishing direct contact between Byzantium and the Turks.

Trade flourished along this route, and many Sogdian settlements appeared. The Türgesh Khaganate, which ruled these regions, could no longer be regarded as a purely nomadic empire. The issuance of coinage not only facilitated trade and profit but also asserted the khaganate’s authority over the settled populations under its rule.

物件編號: A3642

年代: 約公元 738-766 年

材質: 青銅

尺寸: 20.0 x 19.7 x 0.9 mm

重量: 2.2 g

來源: 史蒂芬稀有錢幣專輯 2025

這是一枚可能由突騎施汗國分裂後的某部所鑄行之突騎施錢。

錢幣形制模仿西域粟特人(Sogdian ，亦稱昭武九姓)之錢幣，而粟特錢幣又是模仿大唐「開元通寶」，為經典的方孔圓錢。正面為粟特文「𐼱𐼲𐼷 𐽂𐼴𐽀𐼸𐼷𐽁 𐼲𐼰𐼲𐼰𐼻 𐼾𐼻𐼷」(βγу twrkyš γ’γ’n pny)。「𐼱𐼲𐼷」(βγу )意為「天」或「神聖」。「𐽂𐼴𐽀𐼸𐼷𐽁」(twrkyš)即為「突騎施」，為部族名。「𐼲𐼰𐼲𐼰𐼻」(γ’γ’n)即為「可汗」或「汗王」，「𐼾𐼻𐼷」(pny)則為「錢」。錢文與蘇祿可汗所鑄錢相同。

背面為一弓形圖騰，與錢幣的方孔巧妙的結合為古突厥文「𐱃」(ät)，意為馬，同時也是突騎施部的族徽(tamga)。下方據稱為倒置的古突厥文字母「𐰯」(p)的顎爾渾變體。

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。

蘇祿可汗被拔曳固部殺害於公元738年後，突騎施汗國迅速分裂為東、西兩部，失去原有的政治統一。東突騎施以石國（今塔什干）與怛邏斯為中心，勢力延及七河流域東部，名義上仍承襲可汗號位，但實際上受控於葛邏祿與拔曳固等部；西突騎施則以碎葉與楚河上游地區為據點，逐漸臣屬於大食勢力。公元751年怛邏斯之戰後，阿拔斯王朝暫時取得西域影響力，而突騎施諸部亦因內亂而相互攻伐。至八世紀中葉，葛邏祿趁機興起，侵據突騎施領土，並於公元766年奪取碎葉城，建立新的葛邏祿汗國，突騎施作為一獨立政權遂告終結，其部眾多被葛邏祿與回鶻吸收。

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，以販運絲綢一路至東羅馬為主。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，也強調了突騎施汗國對當地的統治。