Bugut inscription

The back side has a possibly Rouran inscription written with Brahmi script.

In the center of the walled complex was a temple whose wooden pillars and roof tiles were still visible on the ground.

The inscription itself was found within the walls on a square platform 7.5mx7.5m made of layered stones.

By this time the Turkic Khaganate stretched from Manchuria to the Black Sea.

It controlled the Silk Road while its imperial seat of power was in central Mongolia.

The Gokturks proceeded to defeat the Hepthalites with the help of the Sasanian Empire of Persia in 560 CE.

The defeat of the Rouran and Hephthalites and their pursuit by the Turks precipitated the migration of the Avars into Eastern Europe.

Charlemagne would ultimately accept their surrender in 798 at Aachen and send one native chief, baptised Abraham, back to Avaria with the ancient title of khagan.

Sogdians were East Iranians from Sogdia, one of the satrapies of the Achaemenid Empire.

The title Khagan was first used by the Rourans who were an offshoot of the Xianbei similar to the Tuoba, Khitan, Tuyuhun and Shiwei (Mongols).

The vertical orientation of the inscriptions and the turtle base reflects cultural influence from China.

[…] (pt)s’kh ‘ws’t δ’r’nt tr’wkt c(yn)st’n kwt(s)’tt ‘γšywn’k (‘YK) [lacuna of some 15 letters] (ZK?

k’w ‘wrts’r prm prw ‘nγt’k ‘βc’npδ ‘swšwyn’tt wm’[t’nt] [lacuna of some 25 letters] (t ‘XRYZ n)wkr cyw’nt pyštrw βγy m[wγ’n γ’γ’n](Front Side) [lacuna of 35–40 letters] (w) k’w βγy s’r pwrsty rty nw(k)r (k..) […] [lacuna of 30–35 letters] (‘YK?)

š’δpyt trγw’nt γwrγ’p(‘)ynt twδwnt s(nk) [wnt][lacuna of 10–12 letters] (t rty pyšt)rw (….t?)

[n’β](c)yh mrt(γm)’k ‘st’t ‘XRYZ (βγym)[γ’n tykyn?]

[3]This was translated into English by Sergej G. Kljaštornyj and Vladimir A. Livšic: (Left Side) This stele was erected by the Turks (under) Kwts’tt the ruler of China when … … the Turkish lord Nivar-qaghan.

)šadapït(s), tarkhwans, qurqapïns, tuduns, säng[üns] [approved (?)]

And then šadapïts, tarkhw[ans] qurqapïns, sängüns, tuduns, the kinsmen (of the qaghan) approved.