the turkic tribes 417The Tu-po
The Tu-po were a T’ieh-le tribe.
In 647, Tu-po envoys offered gifts to the T’ang court (T’ung-tien
199:47b;Wen-hsien t’ung-k’ao 344:14b).
The Hu-hsüeh.
The Hu-hsüeh were a T’ieh-le tribe.Tzu-chih t’ung-chien p.6239 refers
to them as a tribe of the Uighurs.
In the 8th month (Sep./Oct.) of 646, Hu-hsüeh envoys were received
at the T’ang court. Their territory was divided into imaginary com-
manderies and prefecture (Wen-hsien t’ung-k’ao 344:15a).
The A-pa.
The A-pa were a T’ieh-le tribe.
During early T’ang, A-pa envoys were received at the court (Wen-
hsien t’ung-k’ao 344:15a).
The Uighurs
The Uighurs (Hui-ku), also known as the Nine Tribes, were a T’ieh-le
tribe. They had first been a subject people of the Eastern Turks until
630, then of the Hsüeh-yen-t’o until 646. In 745, they destroyed the
Eastern Turkish empire and founded their own which lasted until
their defeat by the Kirghiz in 840. They became, at a price, allies
of the T’ang.^47
In 629, the Uighurs offered regional objects to the T’ang court.
This was the first official contact between them and China (Wen-hsien
t’ung-k’ao 347:27b).
In 630, Uighurs were received at the T’ang court (Wen-hsien t’ung-
k’ao 347:28a).
In the 11th month (Dec./Jan., 639) of the Chinese year 638, Uighur
envoys offered gifts (Tzu-chih t’ung-chien p.5024).
(^47) The two chapters devoted to the Uighurs in Chiu T’ang shu and Hsin T’ang shu
have been translated and annotated for the period 744 to 840 by Colin Mackerras,
The Uighur Empire.