Bilge Khagan

Bilge Khagan (Old Turkic: , Bilge qaγan) (683 or 684 – 25 November 734) was the khagan of the Second Turkic Khaganate. His accomplishments were described in the Orkhon inscriptions.

Names

As was the custom, his personal name and the name after assuming the title Khagan were different. His personal name was : 阿史那默棘連, Ashǐnà mòjílián, a-shih-na mo-chi-lan) . His name after assuming the title was Bilge Khagan (or Bilge Qhagan). (Old Turkic: 𐰋𐰃𐰠𐰏𐰀 𐰴𐰍𐰣, Bilge qaγan,毗伽可汗, Pinyin: píjiā kěhàn, Wade–Giles: p'i-chia k'o-han, official title: 𐱅𐰭𐰼𐰃𐱅𐰏 𐱅𐰭𐰼𐰃𐰓𐰀 𐰉𐰆𐰞𐰢𐱁 𐱅𐰇𐰼𐰜 𐰋𐰃𐰠𐰏𐰀 𐰴𐰍𐰣, Teŋіriteg Тeŋiride bolmuš Türük Bilge qaγan, His wife was Po Beg, Tonyukuk's daughter. "Bilge" meaning "wise" or "one who has wisdom" in Turkic languages. Khagan (Kağan) is a title for ruler (like king, earl, etc.). "Bilge", as is the case with many pure Turkic names, is a unisex name. Even in today's Turkey, Bilge continues to be adopted both as a male and female name. Kağan or Kaan, however, is used only as a male name in contemporary Turkish.