'State of the Turks',[4] Chinese: 後突厥; pinyin: Hòu Tūjué, known as Turk Bilge Qaghan country (Old Turkic: 𐱅𐰇𐰼𐰝:𐰋𐰃𐰠𐰏𐰀:𐰴𐰍𐰣:𐰃𐰠𐰭𐰀, romanized: Türük Bilgä Qağan eli) in Bain Tsokto inscriptions)[5] was a khaganate in Central and Eastern Asia founded by the Ashina clan of the Göktürks that lasted between 682–744.

A few decades after the fall of Eastern Turkic Khaganate (630), Ashina Nishufu was declared qaghan in 679 but soon revolted against the Tang dynasty.

[9] Following Nishufu's death, Ashina Funian, another scion of the royal clan, was made qaghan and the Eastern Turks once again rebelled against Tang rule.

Once they had established themselves in the Yin Shan mountains, Qutlugh, his brother Bögü-chor, and his closest comrade-in-arms, Tonyukuk succeeded in winning the support of most of the Turks and conducted successful military operations against the imperial forces in Shanxi between 682 and 687.

In 687 Ilterish Qaghan left the Yin Shan mountains and turned his united and battle-hardened army to the conquest of the Türk heartlands in modern-day central and northern Mongolia.

In 696–697 Qapaghan subjugated the Khitans and sealed an alliance with the Kumo Xi (Tatabï in Turkic texts), which stemmed the advance of the Tang armies to the northeast, into the foothills of the Khingan, and secured the empire's eastern frontier.

In 709–710 the Türk forces subjugated the Az and the Chik, crossed the Sayan mountains (Kögmen yïš in Turkic texts), and inflicted a crushing defeat on the Yenisei Kyrgyz.

In 711 the Türk forces, led by Tonyukuk, crossed the Altai Mountains, clashed with the Türgesh army in Dzungaria on the River Boluchu, and won an outright victory.

However, in battles with the Arabs near Samarkand the Türk forces were cut off from their rear services and suffered considerable losses; they had difficulty in returning to the Altai in 713–714.

War broke out with the tribal groups of the Uyghurs, the Basmils and the Karluks, and Kutluk Yabgu Khagan and his followers perished in the fighting.

The Tang emperor Xuanzong decided to destroy the last traces of the Turkic khaganate and sent general Wang Zhongsi Kulun's forces.

However, a group including Qutluğ Säbäg Qatun, Bilge Khagan's widow, and Tonyukuk's daughter, took refuge in the Tang dynasty.

The empire created by Ilterish and his successors was a territorial union of ethnically related and hierarchically co-ordinated tribes and tribal groups.

They were ideologically linked by common beliefs and accepted genealogies, and politically united by a single military and administrative organization (el) and by general legal norms (törü).

In the words of the Türk inscriptions, the khan controlled the state and was head of the tribal group (el tutup bodunïm bašladïm).

A Chinese chronicler describes the economy and way of life of the Türks thus: "They live in felt tents and wander following the water and the grass".

The Chinese people, who give in abundance gold, silver, millet, and silk, have always used ingratiating words and have at their disposal enervating riches.

[27] 𐰦𐰀:𐰘𐰼𐰝𐰃:𐰽𐰀:𐰉𐰽𐰞𐰍𐰺𐰆:𐰺𐰑𐰴:𐰉𐰆𐰑𐰣:𐰸𐰆𐰯:𐰚𐰠𐱅𐰃:𐰆𐰞:𐰚𐰇𐰤𐱅𐰀:𐱅𐰏𐱅𐰃:𐱅𐰇𐰼𐰝:𐰉𐰆𐰑𐰣:𐱅𐰢𐰼:𐰴𐰯𐰍𐰴𐰀:𐱅𐰃𐰤𐰾𐰃:𐰆𐰍𐰞 Anta berüki As-oq baslïγaru Soγdaq budun qop kelti jükünti ..tegti Türük budun Temir Qapïγqa Tensi oγulï.