Young, harsh and ambitious Kapagan began to his
series of attacks and victories with the raid of China in 693. He sabotaged severely the
province of Ling-çu and he arranged seven more attacks to the same region in the same
year. Then, he pioneered to Ordos. When he increased the military acts again in Ling-çu
(in 696) he was done 8 more attacks. He appraised in his favour the disturbance between
Ki-tans and China, and he supported Wu, the Empress of T'ang. He defeated severely the
horrible Ki-tans in the region of Hopei (696, October), and then he ordered his wishes to
the empress: the seed millet weighing 100 thousand of "hu" (hu= the scale
weighing 12.5 kilograms), 3 thousand of pieces of the agricultural devices, 10 thousand
(40 thousand according to T'ang-shu) of irons, the return of the Turks, who settled in the
land of China (most of them were in the land of "6 providence" in Ordus) to the
motherland.
Then, Kapagan directed to Kirghizs who were occupying
the region of Yenisey. The season was winter (697-698), it was a long journey and the road
was difficult, but this attack was necessary. "They said: Let's make an agreement
(with powerful Khan of Kirghiz) with the khans of China and On-ok, join in the Forest of
Altun (Altays), unite our forces and attack to the Turkish Khan, or else the brave khan
and his wise ayguçi would destroy us" (Tonyukuk Inscription). The Gok-Turks' army
under the command of Kapagan and Tonyukuk, past over the Kögmen Mountains "by
holding to the branches of the trees, sometimes by taking the horses as reserves",
from the plateaus without roads; they attacked to the Kirghizs near the River of Ani in
the Yenisey sources. They surrendered the country of Kirghiz whom the khan was dead.
|
