Although his official name should have been
"Yabgu" (the Gok-Turks people dependent of him were sometimes called as Yabgu
Turks), we are being informed about the death of this great personality, who even is
called "khan" in inscriptions, by the words of the above-mentioned Turk-şad.
One of the subjects that made the Turk-şad angry, had been the disturbing of the Turks
during the days of their mourning for their dead "forefathers". This speech,
which had been an important road memory from the point of view of the tribes who lived at
the west regions of the Gok-Turk khanate, and had been addressed to the ambassador
Valentinos' name, further on contained important explanations about the style and the
philosophy of the Turkish conquests: "I know how our prisoners the Uar-Huns (Avars)
went to Byzantium.
I know where Dinyeper, and Maritza Rivers are and
where the Danube flows and pours. The countries from the east to the west kneeled down in
front of us. You see the Alans and On-Ogurs. They tried to disobey, but their hopes became
naughty. We will also come to Rome". These words which showed that the borders of the
Gok-Turks extended up to the north of Caucasia, also had been an open threat to Byzantium.
But Turk-şad showed that he was not joking. The East Roman envoys still had been in the
lands of Gok-Turks when the famous Castle of Kerç in Crimea, which belonged to the
Byzantines, had been invaded by the Turkish armies (576). This is the date when the
borders of the Gok-Turk Khanate extended from Mançurya to the Black Sea.
Although Tardu, son of
Istemi, who took his place after his father (576-603) (Ta-teu in Chinese, actually a
title), had been similar to his father by means of being powerful and for his love for
war, had deepened the separation that the Khan T'a-po wanted, due to his passion. The
Chinese took advantage from his weakness: First of all, using him against T'a-po, they
inspired Ta-lo-pien (son of Mu-kan), who had been offended as for the reason that a part
of the khanate had not been given to him, to go to Tardu. Whereas, even Mu-kan had not
nominated him as a candidate for the throne, because his mother was not noble (from a
Turkish family). Even though the great khan T'a-po, who died in 581, wanted him to be the
khan instead of his own son, the Senate (Parliament) refused this and brought Işbara (Şa-po-lüe
in Chinese), the son of K'o-lo as the khan.
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