Baoyi Khan

Biography

Family Background and Early Years

Baoyi Khan was born into the royal Ädiz clan of the Uyghur Khaganate. He was the eldest concubine-born son of Huaixin Khan and the elder brother of Tengri Khan. Little is recorded about his early life, but he had already emerged as an important military figure during the reign of Tianqin Khan. When the Yenisei Kyrgyz attacked, Baoyi Khan led forces against them and defeated them, demonstrating notable military ability. In 791 he campaigned westward, defeated the Tibetan Empire, occupied Beiting, relieved the siege of Kucha, advanced to the Pearl River region, and then defeated the Karluks and Türgesh, extending his influence as far as Fergana. These military successes gave him great prestige within the khaganate and helped prepare the way for his later accession.

Accession and Tang Investiture

In 808, the third year of Yuanhe, Tengri Khan died and Baoyi Khan succeeded him. He styled himself Ay Tängridä Qut Bulmïš Alp Bilgä Qaghan and was also called the Heavenly Khagan in the source. In the same year, the Tang court sent Li Xiaocheng, Vice Minister of the Court of the Imperial Clan, to invest him as Baoyi Khan. The investiture continued the relationship between the Uyghur Khaganate and the Tang and affirmed Baoyi Khan’s position on the steppe.

After taking power, Baoyi Khan emphasized friendly relations with the Tang. In 809 he sent envoys to request that the ethnonym used in Chinese sources be changed from Huihe to Huihu , explained in the Chinese source as conveying the sense of “circling swiftly like a falcon.” The foreign chief minister Yinan Zhu, who was proficient in Chinese, played an important role in the diplomatic negotiations. From that point, Huihu replaced Huihe as the standard designation used in the Central Plains for the Uyghurs.

Western Campaigns and Military Achievements

During Baoyi Khan’s reign, the Uyghur Khaganate actively competed for control in the Western Regions and reversed its earlier disadvantage against the Tibetan Empire. In the year of his accession, 808, he personally led a large army to recover Beiting from Tibetan pressure. He then defeated Tibetan forces besieging Kucha and advanced westward across the Tianshan Mountains into the Pearl River region, compelling local groups to submit. His forces campaigned as far west as Fergana, inflicting heavy losses on Karluk and Tibetan forces. He appointed a Karluk yabghu loyal to the Uyghurs, contributing to a complete split within the Karluk grouping.

The source describes this western expedition as the last large-scale Uyghur campaign, one that severely weakened Karluk and Tibetan power along the southern slopes of the western Tianshan. During Baoyi Khan’s reign, the Uyghurs repeatedly aided the Tang against the Tibetan Empire around Beiting and Kucha, brought Karluk groups under control, destroyed a major Tibetan force at the fortress of Yushu, and reversed the strategic trend since the Zhenyuan era in which Tibetan power had advanced while Tang influence had receded. The recovery of Beiting, Kucha, and other areas and control of the northern rim of the Tarim Basin reopened major routes linking the Tang to regions farther west.

Marriage Diplomacy with the Tang

Baoyi Khan repeatedly pursued a marriage alliance between the khaganate and the Tang court. In 811 (the sixth year of Yuanhe), he sent the envoy Yinan Zhu to request a marriage alliance, but Emperor Xianzong of Tang refused. Resentful, Baoyi Khan brought three thousand cavalry to the Tang frontier as a show of pressure. In 820, the fifteenth year of Yuanhe, he sent an envoy whose name is transcribed in the Chinese source as Hedagan to renew the request. Emperor Muzong had recently ascended the throne and agreed.

In 821, the first year of Changqing, Emperor Muzong agreed to marry his younger sister Princess Taihe to Baoyi Khan. Baoyi Khan died on April 2, 821, the twenty-sixth day of the second month, before the marriage could take place. The source also states that an intended marriage involving Princess Yong’an had earlier failed because of Baoyi Khan’s death, while the continuing diplomatic efforts laid the groundwork for the later marriage involving Princess Taihe.

Later Years and Death

In his later years, Baoyi Khan continued to maintain friendly relations with the Tang and actively pursued the marriage alliance. In 821, after Emperor Muzong’s accession, the Tang approved the request and agreed to send Princess Taihe. Baoyi Khan died before he could marry her. His son Chongde Khan succeeded him and ultimately married Princess Taihe. The source treats Baoyi Khan’s death as marking the end of the powerful phase of the steppe Uyghur Khaganate, after which the khaganate gradually declined.

Major Activities

Military Campaigns

During his reign Baoyi Khan achieved a series of major military victories. In 808 he personally led a large army to recover Beiting from Tibetan pressure, then defeated the Tibetan force besieging Kucha. He advanced west across the Tianshan into the Pearl River region and compelled local groups to submit. His army campaigned as far as Fergana, severely weakening Karluk and Tibetan power and appointing a pro-Uyghur Karluk yabghu. The source describes the campaign as the last major Uyghur expedition and credits it with heavily damaging Karluk and Tibetan forces south of the western Tianshan. It further states that Baoyi Khan aided the Tang in repeated victories at Beiting, Kucha, and elsewhere, brought the Karluks under control, destroyed a major Tibetan army at Yushu fortress, reversed the strategic trend of Tibetan advance since the Zhenyuan era, and restored access to major western routes.

Diplomatic Activity

Baoyi Khan emphasized friendly relations with the Tang after his accession. In 809 he sent envoys to request the change from Huihe to Huihu , with the foreign chief minister Yinan Zhu, who knew Chinese well, playing a central diplomatic role. Baoyi Khan also repeatedly pursued marriage diplomacy with the Tang. In 811 his request was refused by Emperor Xianzong, and he responded by appearing with three thousand cavalry near the Tang frontier. In 820 he renewed the request through Hedagan, and Emperor Muzong accepted. In 821 Emperor Muzong agreed to send Princess Taihe, but Baoyi Khan’s death prevented the marriage.

Cultural Exchange

Cultural exchange between the Uyghurs and the Tang was also close during Baoyi Khan’s reign. In 814, the ninth year of Yuanhe, the Uyghurs erected the *Inscription of the Khagan of the Nine Clans of the Uyghurs*, whose full Chinese title is 《The Stele of the Uyghur Qaghan of the Nine Clans, Ai Dengli Luo Mi Shi He Bijia, of Sage Civil and Martial Virtue》 and which is also known as the Karabalgasun Inscription or the commemorative stele of Baoyi Khan. It was inscribed in Chinese, Old Turkic runiform script, and Sogdian. The text praises Baoyi Khan’s achievements, begins with the founding khagan Kutlug Bilge Kül Qaghan, and continues through Baoyi Khan, emphasizing the friendly relations of successive khagans with the Tang and recording Baoyi Khan’s military actions in the Western Regions and struggles against the Tibetan Empire to defend Beiting and Kucha. The Chinese section was written by the Uyghur foreign chief minister Yinan Zhu. The stele was discovered in 1889 by the Russian archaeologist Nikolai Yadrintsev near the ruins of Karabalgasun in the Orkhon valley and excavated in 1890 by the Finnish archaeologist Axel Heikel. It is an important primary source for the history of the Uyghur Khaganate.

Personal Relations

• Huaixin Khan (father)
• Tengri Khan (brother)
• Chongde Khan (son)
• Emperor Xianzong of Tang
• Emperor Muzong of Tang
• Yinan Zhu: foreign chief minister, proficient in Chinese, repeatedly involved in marriage diplomacy
• Li Xiaocheng: Tang vice minister of the Court of the Imperial Clan and investiture envoy
• Hedagan: envoy
• Tibetan Empire
• Karluks
• Türgesh
• Yenisei Kyrgyz

Historical Assessment

Tang / Contemporary

The *Inscription of the Khagan of the Nine Clans of the Uyghurs* praises him as “sagely in culture and divine in war,” emphasizes the friendly relations between successive khagans and the Tang, and records his campaigns in the Western Regions and his struggle against the Tibetan Empire to defend Beiting and Kucha. The Chinese text was written by the Uyghur foreign chief minister Yinan Zhu and represents an official Uyghur affirmation of Baoyi Khan’s achievements.

Tang investiture and the later approval of a marriage alliance likewise demonstrate recognition of his status by the Tang court. Emperor Muzong’s agreement to marry his younger sister Princess Taihe to him, although unrealized because of the khagan’s death, reflects the importance the Tang attached to its relationship with the Uyghurs.

Song and Yuan Periods

When Song historians compiled the *Old Book of Tang* and *New Book of Tang*, they included Baoyi Khan’s deeds in their accounts of the Uyghurs and recognized his military achievements against the Tibetan Empire in the Western Regions. The source states that his recovery of Beiting and Kucha reversed the strategic tendency since the Zhenyuan era in which Tibetan power advanced while Tang influence retreated.

Ming and Qing Periods

Ming and Qing scholars studying the northern peoples of the Tang period paid attention to Baoyi Khan’s friendly relations with the Tang and his efforts at marriage diplomacy, generally relying on the standard histories and treating him as an important figure in the history of Tang-Uyghur relations.

Modern Period

Modern scholars generally regard Baoyi Khan as the last powerful ruler of the steppe Uyghur Khaganate. His western campaigns severely weakened Karluk and Tibetan power along the southern slopes of the western Tianshan, brought the northern rim of the Tarim Basin under Uyghur control, and reopened major routes connecting the Tang with regions farther west. The discovery of the Karabalgasun Inscription in 1889 supplied an important primary source for the history of the Uyghur Khaganate and enabled a fuller assessment of his reign.