402 the turkic tribes
still another claimant, the Yi-p’i-she-kuei Qaghan. The latter showed
his appreciation by releasing T’ang envoys who previously had been
detained (Chiu T’ang shu 194B:4b; T’ung-tien 199:45b; Tzu-chih t’ung-chien
p.6179;Wen-hsien t’ung-k’ao 344:12b).
In 646,^34 envoys from Yi-p’i-she-kuei offered regional objects and
requested a marriage. T’ai-tsung agreed on the condition that the
qaghan relinquished all claims on Kucha, Kashgar, Khotan, Chu-chü-
po and Ts’ung-ling^35 (Tzu-chih t’ung-chien p.6236; Wen-hsien t’ung-k’ao
344:12b). With that, the negotiations fell through.
In the 2nd month (Mar./Apr.) of 649, the Western Turks presented
regional objects (Ts’e-fu yüan-kuei p.5025).
In 651, the Western Turkish empire was reunited by A-shih-na Ho-
lu, who assumed the title of Sha-po-lo Qaghan. Evading Yi-p’i-she-kuei,
he had in 648 withdrawn to China, was received at the court, given a
banquet, appointed General of the Resolute Guards of the Left, given
a Military Area command, and promoted to General-in-chief of the
Resolute Guards of the Left. As of 651, he had become a threat to
China and in the 11th month (Dec./Jan., 652) of that Chinese year
took the offensive. (Chiu T’ang shu 194B:4b; T’ung-tien199:45b; Tzu-chih
t’ung-chien p.6257, 6274; Wen-hsien t’ung-k’ao 344:12b).
But Sha-po-lo was not without opposition among the Western Turks,
and in 655 a rival requested military help from the T’ang. On Dec.11
of that year, Emperor Kao-tsung attempted to invest him as qaghan,
but Sha-po-lo blocked the Chinese envoy and forced him to return
(Tzu-chih t’ung-chien pp.6295-6296).
In 657, a Chinese army with Turkish and Uigur allies defeated
Sha-po-lo, and the Western Turkish empire ceased to exist. Sha-po-lo
fled to Tashkent but was handed over to the Chinese and brought to
Ch’ang-an. Kao-tsung spared his life, and he died in the T’ang capital
in 659 (Wen-hsien t’ung-k’ao 344:12b).
Emperor Kao-tsung set up two Chinese protectorates in an
attempt to control the Western Turks, but these lasted for less than
one decade.
Relations between China and the Eastern Turks on the one hand
and the Western Turks on the other were very different. The Eastern
Turks, except for the years 650-682, were powerful northern neigh-
(^34) By T’ang hui-yao 94:10b dated 645.
(^35) Ts’ung-ling was situated northwest of Chu-chü-po.