Khan's Den: Turkic and Steppe History

The Turkic peoples' myths and deities extend beyond the Göktürks' known entities, Tengri, Umay, and the Yer-Su. Explore the realms of Kayra Khan, Ak Ana, and Erlik, the underworld lord, and tales of a moon-eating monster, a liver-stealing woman, and a mountain of iron. Delve into the primeval sea, the night sky with Yelbeğen, and Ulukayın, the tree of life. Discover the spirits of hearth and lake, the forest's call, and the legend of Ergenekon.

The episode answers key questions: Did the Göktürks know these gods? What does their cosmos look like? What were the consequences of defying their rules?

Key Topics:

• The Primeval Sea: Kayra Khan, Ak Ana, and Erlik's origins
• The Night Sky: Yelbeğen, Altınkazık, and Ülker
• The Tree of Life: Ulukayın and Beyterek
• Birth in the Tent: Albastı, Aysit, and Umay
• Hearth and House: İye spirits and Şahmeran
• The Call in the Forest: Arçura and Bayanay
• The White Deer: Shemo and the sea god's daughter
• Two Heroes, Two Monsters: Oghuz Khan and Tepegöz
• Ergenekon: The iron mountain legend
• The Mountain of Fortune: The Uyghurs' lost realm

Explore Turkic history from original sources on TurkicAtlas.org.

A film by Emre-E Yavuz, featuring maps © Emre-E Yavuz 2026.

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In 732, Bilge Khan warned future Turks with the words carved on his brother Kül Tegin's stone: "Türk people, you will die!" This warning was for those leaving Ötüken to head south. But what is Ötüken, without walls or palaces, and why did every steppe ruler crave it?

Episode 5 explores the sacred forest of the Göktürks through their own inscriptions and Chinese chronicles: from the Rouran's walled city and throne struggles at Mount Dujin, to Tonyukuk's return, Bilge's caution against China’s allure, and the empires following the Göktürks. Holding Ötüken meant ruling the steppe, leaving it meant losing an empire.

This Episode Covers:

• The stone warning: Bilge Khan’s words to unborn Turks
• The sacred forest: Ötüken's location and its significance
• The wall versus the forest: Rouran's Anagui and Bumin's 552 victory
• Throne struggles post-Taspar: Ishbara's forest departure
• Half a century under the emperor: Xueyantuo's fall at Yudujun
• Returning to Ötüken: Ilterish, Tonyukuk, and a new empire
• Bilge's caution: Trade welcomed, but no migration and the Chinese artists aiding stone construction
• Post-Göktürks era: Uyghurs at Ordu-Baliq and Kyrgyz and Karakorum

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Discover the intriguing origins of the Ashina, the ruling house of the Göktürks. Chinese histories suggest three fascinating tales: a boy nurtured by a she-wolf in a secluded valley near Turfan, the wolf-born siblings from Suo, north of the Xiongnu, and 500 families escaping the Northern Wei in 439 to become Rouran smiths in the Altai. Listen as these stories are narrated directly from the sources in their original Chinese versions and ponder their historical significance.

Key Moments
00:00 The golden wolf on the standard
00:59 Introduction
02:45 Act I: The She-Wolf
06:28 Act II: The Brothers of Suo
10:22 Act III: Five Hundred Families
14:13 The smiths of the Altai
16:44 Set in Stone
19:39 The cave of the forebears
20:43 The Turkic Atlas

Sources Quoted:
Zhou Shu (Book of the Zhou), chapter 50
Sui Shu (Book of the Sui), chapter 84
Bei Shi, chapter 99, and Tongdian, chapter 197
Wei Shu (Book of the Wei), annals of Emperor Taiwu

For further reading, explore Yang et al. (2023), “Ancient genome of Empress Ashina”.

Begin with the Ashina in the Turkic Atlas: https://turkicatlas.org/lineages/ashina/

Narrated by Dan Akers.

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In 711 at Bolchu, the wise Göktürk general Tonyukuk called upon Tengri as his horsemen charged the Türgesh army. But who was this Tengri, mentioned on Göktürk stones? Was Tengri a distant sky or a deity who elevated khans, granted empires, and reclaimed them? This episode delves into the faith of ancient Turks through their inscriptions and neighbor accounts—from Tengri and Umay to sacred spirits of earth and water, Erlik, Uçmag, and the World Tree. Known today as Tengrism, it was the original faith of all Turkic peoples.

Highlights:

► The Battle of Bolchu and Tonyukuk's prayer to Tengri

► The heavens in Göktürk inscriptions and Chinese annals

► Kut, Umay, and the elevation of khans

► The Yer-Su, holy forest of Ötüken, and other sacred elements

► Rites under the sky, including purification by fire and ancestral offerings

► Discussions on temples and cities

► Uçmag, Erlik, and the World Tree: death and purification

► Tengri in various texts and among different Turkic groups

Chapters:

0:00 The Battle of Bolchu

2:27 The God of the Turks

5:45 Kut and Umay

8:49 The Sacred Earth

11:40 Rites under the Open Sky

15:08 Whose Sky Is It Anyway?

18:50 Uçmag, Erlik and the World Tree

21:31 The Mountains of God

Sources: Inscriptions of Tonyukuk, Kül Tegin, Bilge Khan, and others. Quotations follow Old Turkic texts. Neighboring state maps after Cliopatria, CC BY 4.0. Artwork by Vikki93, Mervearte, Alper Anayurdu, and Bartu İmamtorunu. Ötüken illustration by Emre-E Yavuz.

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For over a millennium, between China and the Black Sea, there were peoples whose laws were never written down, yet their order amazed neighboring societies. A Greek residing with the Huns remarked to a Roman envoy that justice had a price in Rome. A khan of the Göktürks inscribed, "For the naked people I found clothing." This order was known as Töre.

Topics Covered:
▸ El and Töre: Realm and law on the Orkhon inscriptions
▸ Laws unrecorded, documented by outsiders: Sima Qian on the Xiongnu, Zhonghang Yue at the Chanyu's court, Priscus at Attila's court
▸ The Göktürks' four crimes in the Zhou Shu and the use of compensation for disputes
▸ Widows, kin, the khan, and his people in works by Menander, al-Jahiz, and Ibn Fadlan
▸ Life under Töre, the twelve-animal calendar, and nature's children

Historical Journey:
▸ The sacred land from Modu Chanyu to Bilge Khan, the 581 throne struggle, the oath, and the 630 loss of the realm
▸ The comeback under Ilteriş and Bilge Khan's inscriptions about Töre

Chapters:
0:00 Cold Open
0:51 El and Töre
1:37 A Law Without Writing
2:09 The Huns of Asia
3:03 Zhonghang Yue
4:15 The Greek at Attila's Court
5:22 Four Crimes
6:38 Widows and Kin
7:36 The Khan and His People
8:54 The Word and the Guest
10:45 A Year Under the Töre
11:44 Children of Nature
13:16 The Sacred Land
14:42 The Throne
16:09 The Oath
16:41 Loss and Return
19:05 Ending

Sources: Shiji, Zhou Shu, Sui Shu, Jiu Tang Shu, Priscus, Menander Protector, al-Jahiz, Ibn Fadlan, Juvayni, and the Book of Dede Korkut. Quotations follow Old Turkic texts. Maps © Emre-E Yavuz 2026.

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Above the khan's gate stood a golden wolf's head, a potent symbol from Chinese annals reflecting the Göktürks' remembrance of their origins. This origin story revolves around Asena: a boy saved by a she-wolf, a mysterious cave with a verdant plain, and ten sons birthing the Ashina dynasty.

The episode delves into various versions of the legend, from the earliest account in the Zhou Shu (636), to the Sui Shu, and a later narrative where Asena departs the cave with her sons. Discover the tale of Suo, Ichinishidu's birth from a she-wolf, and the birth of Türk.

Explore three genealogical lines in one chapter, the Gansu exodus in 439, and the significance of iron in the Altai. Visualize the fuli bodyguards, wolf-head standards, and Bugut stone wolf reliefs.

Uncover insights from the Orkhon inscriptions about the wolf, the Wusun she-wolf in the Shiji, and the Cave of the Ancestors.

Chapters:
0:00 Cold open
0:18 The Legend
2:07 The Second Version
2:39 The Third Version: Suo
4:12 Three Descents
4:37 Flight and Iron
5:25 What Could Be Seen
5:58 The Bugut Stone
6:35 What the Stones Say
7:03 The She-Wolf of the Wusun
7:50 Heaven, Cave, Mountain
8:36 Ending

Explore more on TurkicAtlas.org, a digital encyclopedia of Old Turkic history.

Created by Emre-E Yavuz. Maps by Emre-E Yavuz © 2026.

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Explore the evolution of the Turkic warrior, from ancient Altai rock art to the modern ALTAY main battle tank, depicted across 22 artistic plates.

Each plate is crafted in the style of its era, featuring Pazyryk felt, Hunnic gold, a Göktürk stone relief, Orkhon inscriptions, Seljuk ceramics, Ottoman miniatures, a Plevna engraving, and a Gallipoli lithograph. Witness the transformation of the rider at every historical border.

Listen to historical voices quoting sources like the Kül Tegin inscription, the Book of Dede Korkut, the Karamanid decree of 1277, and words from Suleiman the Magnificent during key battles like Gallipoli and the Great Offensive of 1922.

Share your thoughts on which plate resonates most in the comments.

Note: All images are modern creations in historical styles.

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“Let the Türk people not perish. Let them be a people again.”

In 732, Bilge Khan inscribed these words in the Orkhon valley for his brother Kül Tegin. Alongside Tonyukuk's pillars, they form the longest texts where the Göktürks express their thoughts: from the empire's founding, years under Chinese rule, their new start with seventeen men, to their deity, Tengri.

In this episode, discover:

▸ The steles of Kül Tegin (732) and Bilge Khan (734) on the Orkhon, Tonyukuk's pillars on the Tola, and the appearance of the memorial complexes with shrines, statues, and balbal rows.

▸ How Vilhelm Thomsen deciphered the script in 1893, with Wilhelm Radloff's first edition in 1895.

▸ The Old Turkic runic script: featuring around 40 signs, read right to left, with dual signs for many consonants.

▸ Tengri, Earth and Water, Umay, Kut and Töre: insights into belief from the stones and perspectives from younger sources on Tengrism.

▸ Ilterish's rise: from 17 to 70 to 700 men, forming an empire spanning Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, and northeastern China.

▸ Bilge Khan's address to his people: the "sweet words" of the Chinese, the significance of the Ötüken forest, and the enduring legacy on stone.

Chapters

0:00 Prologue

0:25 The Stones on the Orkhon

1:02 The Memorial Complex

1:54 The Decipherment

2:27 The Script

3:09 Tengri and Göktürk Cosmology

4:16 What the Stones Tell

5:17 The Speech to the People

6:20 Epilogue

The quotations are from the inscriptions of Kül Tegin, Bilge Khan, and Tonyukuk, with some abridgment. Maps and scenes are modern interpretations, not archaeological finds. The stele's crown bears the ibex tamga of the Ashina.

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Explore the arrival of Bumin and Istemi, key figures in Turkic history, as we dive into the BUMIN KHAN movie teaser. Discover their impact on the Göktürk era and their legacy in Central Asian history.

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The Kam beats his drum while the warriors are captivated, and the fire crackles. A mysterious blue light ascends into the night sky, marking the moment when Bumin's confident smile fades.

A new scene from the Göktürk film.

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