the race were driven towards the north and west to the
sources of the Irtish, and towards the lake of Balkash.
Paragraph 2 .—Of the Thu-kiu or Turks of Altai.
The identification of the Hiong-nu with the Turkish race
is a matter of great importance in the history of the latter
people. On this subject no doubt seems to be entertained
by any of the writers either of older or of later tipaes whb
have investigated the accounts contained respecting the
Hiong-nu in the works of Chinese historians. The opinion
of De Guignes would be of less, weight, because he .was
hardly aware of the distinction between the different races
of Tartar nations, but Abel-Remusat and Klaproth were
very competent to decide such a question. The, Chinese
historical compiler, Ma-tuan-lin, made a collectiompf . Various
accounts relative to the origin of the Thfi-kiu gr Turks.
The result is, according to AbeWlemusat and- Klaproth,
that a tribe of Hiong-nu, driven from the provinceiTof
Shen-si by the Wei dynasty, took refuge, under,their leader,
Assena, near Mount Altai, where, under the dominion of
the Jouan-jouan, a powerful Tungusian dynasty, they dwelt
at the foot of a_mountain helmet-shaped, and .termed from
that circumstance in Chines© Thu-kiu,.. from-which, they
took their name. Here they became powerful under their
leader Thumen, a warrior celebrated^rn history.' Thu-
men lived about 545 a .d ., and it was soon after his timej
namely, a .d . 569, that the great Chagan or Khan of ;th.9
Turks or Tovpicoi, who was named Dizabulus, was visited
in the same region by Zeinarchus and Maniach, ambassadors
from the emperor Justin. The abode of the
Khan was on the side of Ektag or the Golden Mountain :
it was the scene of barbaric splendour and magnificence,
and many traits in the narratives given by these early
travellers identify the people with the Turks of other times.*
* Dizabulus received the Byzantine embassadors ihhis tent sitting on a wagon,
or a coach supported by two wheels. The manufacture of iron, the pagan
worship of the Turks, the impostures of shamans or wizards, and the use of an
intoxicating drink, not made from the grape, were noticed by-Zemarchus.—See
Menander, Excerpt, ex legationibus, p. 132.— Corpus Hist. Byzant., Edit.
Tenet., tom. I,
Wo are assured by *M.’-Abel-Rémusat, that a series of
historical notices,-'continued without interruption in the
works of Chinese'-annalists, leaves no room whatever for
doubt, that the Thu-kiu of the 6 th century were the same
people who had in)early tiinékborne the name of Hiong-ntL*
The' sâïtfe-writer assuredhs- that numerous words are preserved
by Chinese writers'from the idiom of the Thfi-kiu
of lhat age, which a#e to be "recognised in the modern
Turkish, and thèse observations have been confirmed by
Klaproth-,^who has produced a! specimen, which is sufficient
w for chnvi-ctioiidb Even' ftoto/the' vocabularies of the older
Hiong-nmSshfiïe'reliTeè'yet remain whichp as M. Rémusat
assures us, ^VrC mostly Turkish' wordsi^fa the opinion of
this writer-^lé#" countr-y^of the Hiong-nu. is the region
whehêe all the Turkish.'tribes' originally issued.
Paragraph 3.^-Of the 0#igmirs or anciently-civilised
■ Turks.
| ' in^jjjtëHfiés^ of |great interest in ethnography, and
p in the history of early civilisation' and literature in Northerh
Asia arë hoxMîehtéâ' with tfie’ Celebrated Turkish race of
the£ OuigbUrs, cn which we hav#obtained new- and rvery
interesting information in extracts published?%y M. D’Ohs-
son from the works' of Atta-melik Djouveini and Raschid-
ed-din. |
Abouf the middle of the eighth century^according'to%he
authority Vf^GhinêsèhfÉôrians, theCmpiréôf the Thu-kid
* AbelrRémusat, ReqKerche,sf sur Ie& Langues. Tartares. -
:>t Kluprotk saÿs that be bas
f ttiëntiotte® as those of tbe Tbû-k-iû.^Tâeiigri (Th.)’ heaven, Turkish;taengri ;
uik (Th.) horse, Turkish of Kasany hi ; thu-kïii<m?) helmet, Turkish, teqieh j
goka (Th.) thuir, Turkish sudj i kanVÇfrpnhigftajn > Jurkish, jUfa&i koro,
(Th) black, Turkish, qarâ,r kori,’Ç^T^fchlurkish, gori; furin (Th.) wolf,
Turkish ofKasàïi, buri.—Klaproth, AsiaT’olyglotta, s.‘
The word Chagan—Xa/a-v-^-which iS the title ofthesbveragns of the, Turks,
may be thought to resemble the Mongolian Khakan rather, than the Turkish
RVinn ; but-the word ts the same in both languages, and was doubtless originally
Khakan in both,shaving been; shortened in Turkish. These ToupKor) who
styled their chieftains Chagans, Wére certainly not Mongoles.