Ilteris Kutlug Kagan — In Written Sources
(65th Meeting Astana, 2023)
The article deals with written monuments that describe the history of the Turkic people, in particular the Turkic Khaganate, the struggle for its restoration, Ilteris-Kagan, who established the second Turkic Khaganate. These are tombstones (steles) dedicated primarily to Bilga kagan (Mogilyan Khan), Kul-Tegin and Tonukuk. The inscriptions on these three monuments are considered heroic poems with their own style of narration. This historical and heroic epic, consisting of thirty cycles and six stories, is considered the heroic heritage of the ancestors, providing information about the history of the Turkic peoples in the 6th-8th centuries.They tell about Kapagan (Mojo), who in a short time spread his power to the Far West in the form of a kaganate, and about his brother Ilteris (Gudulu), who restored the kaganate. The Turks, led by Kutlug Kagan, won the civil war against China and re-created their state — the “Second Turkic Khaganate”. Although there are differences in the narrative methods of writing, the historical events described in them for the most part repeat each other.
Among the numerous enemies of Ilteris kagan there is also a story about the Kyrgyz. Under Ilteris-kagan, there was an agreement with the Kyrgyz, according to which the head of the Kyrgyz was recognized as a kagan, and Ilteris-kagan married his daughter to Barsbek. Ilteris-kagan fought with the coalitions of the North, East and South, the main enemy was Boz-Kagan, who was the head of another part of the Oguzes in the North, and during the reign of Kapagan (Mojo) great importance was attached to the Kyrgyz and the battle with Bars-bek. Ilteris kagan carried out an administrative reform in the state. Ilteris Khagan ruled over the Western Turkic Khaganate in 634-639. and was awarded the title “Ilterish bilge kagan” (“Wise ruler who united his people”).