The battle of Ming Sha was a major battle between the Tang dynasty and Second Turkic Khaganate which occurred in 707.

Battle of Ming Sha
Date707
Location
Result Göktürk victory
Belligerents
Second Turkic Khaganate Tang dynasty
Commanders and leaders
Qapaghan Qaghan
Kul Tigin
Bilge Qaghan
Sha Zha Zhongyi
Casualties and losses
unknown [1] 13,000 killed[2]

Battle

Kul Tigin and Bilge Qaghan were also present in the Göktürk army under the command of Qapaghan Qaghan. The Göktürks attacked them. Here, the 80.000 strong Tang army under the command of Caca, sent by the Tang dynasty against the Göktürks in Kul Tigin inscription, Kul Tigin's role in the war is described as follows:

During the battle, Kul Tigin mounted first on Tadık Çor's gray horse, then on Isbara’s gray horse, and then on Yiğin Siliğ Bey’s dressed doru horses and attacked the Chinese, but all horses were dead. They shot Kul Tigin with more than 100 arrows from his armor and robe, but the arrows didn’t touch Kul Tigin's Face and head[3]

When Caca realized that he would be defeated, he fled from the battle. Some sources mentioned that 13.000 Chinese soldiers died, also Bilge Qaghan said that he destroyed his army. This battle is mentioned in Kul Tigin inscription.[4]

In another Göktürk inscription, the Bilge Qaghan inscription, this battle is mentioned as follows:

At the age of 22 I went on a campaign against the Chinese. I fought Caca’s army of 80.000 and killed them![5]

References

  1. Taşağıl, Ahmet (1993). "Kapgan Kagan (692-716)". Belleten. 57 (218): 51–70. doi:10.37879/belleten.1993.51. ISSN 0041-4255.
  2. Hsin T’ang Shu 215A, p. 6945.
  3. Kul Tigin Inscription, lines 33 and 34.
  4. Kul Tigin Inscription, D32.
  5. Bilge Kagan Inscription, D26.
  • Ahmetbeyoglu, Ali (2015). Ancient Turkish History with Questions. Istanbul: Yeditepe Publishing House. P. 111. ISBN 978-605-5200-41-1.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.