For over a millennium, between China and the Black Sea, there were peoples whose laws were never written down, yet their order amazed neighboring societies. A Greek residing with the Huns remarked to a Roman envoy that justice had a price in Rome. A khan of the Göktürks inscribed, "For the naked people I found clothing." This order was known as Töre.

Topics Covered:
▸ El and Töre: Realm and law on the Orkhon inscriptions
▸ Laws unrecorded, documented by outsiders: Sima Qian on the Xiongnu, Zhonghang Yue at the Chanyu's court, Priscus at Attila's court
▸ The Göktürks' four crimes in the Zhou Shu and the use of compensation for disputes
▸ Widows, kin, the khan, and his people in works by Menander, al-Jahiz, and Ibn Fadlan
▸ Life under Töre, the twelve-animal calendar, and nature's children

Historical Journey:
▸ The sacred land from Modu Chanyu to Bilge Khan, the 581 throne struggle, the oath, and the 630 loss of the realm
▸ The comeback under Ilteriş and Bilge Khan's inscriptions about Töre

Chapters:
0:00 Cold Open
0:51 El and Töre
1:37 A Law Without Writing
2:09 The Huns of Asia
3:03 Zhonghang Yue
4:15 The Greek at Attila's Court
5:22 Four Crimes
6:38 Widows and Kin
7:36 The Khan and His People
8:54 The Word and the Guest
10:45 A Year Under the Töre
11:44 Children of Nature
13:16 The Sacred Land
14:42 The Throne
16:09 The Oath
16:41 Loss and Return
19:05 Ending

Sources: Shiji, Zhou Shu, Sui Shu, Jiu Tang Shu, Priscus, Menander Protector, al-Jahiz, Ibn Fadlan, Juvayni, and the Book of Dede Korkut. Quotations follow Old Turkic texts. Maps © Emre-E Yavuz 2026.

Explore the evolution of the Turkic warrior, from ancient Altai rock art to the modern ALTAY main battle tank, depicted across 22 artistic plates.

Each plate is crafted in the style of its era, featuring Pazyryk felt, Hunnic gold, a Göktürk stone relief, Orkhon inscriptions, Seljuk ceramics, Ottoman miniatures, a Plevna engraving, and a Gallipoli lithograph. Witness the transformation of the rider at every historical border.

Listen to historical voices quoting sources like the Kül Tegin inscription, the Book of Dede Korkut, the Karamanid decree of 1277, and words from Suleiman the Magnificent during key battles like Gallipoli and the Great Offensive of 1922.

Share your thoughts on which plate resonates most in the comments.

Note: All images are modern creations in historical styles.

“Let the Türk people not perish. Let them be a people again.”

In 732, Bilge Khan inscribed these words in the Orkhon valley for his brother Kül Tegin. Alongside Tonyukuk's pillars, they form the longest texts where the Göktürks express their thoughts: from the empire's founding, years under Chinese rule, their new start with seventeen men, to their deity, Tengri.

In this episode, discover:

▸ The steles of Kül Tegin (732) and Bilge Khan (734) on the Orkhon, Tonyukuk's pillars on the Tola, and the appearance of the memorial complexes with shrines, statues, and balbal rows.

▸ How Vilhelm Thomsen deciphered the script in 1893, with Wilhelm Radloff's first edition in 1895.

▸ The Old Turkic runic script: featuring around 40 signs, read right to left, with dual signs for many consonants.

▸ Tengri, Earth and Water, Umay, Kut and Töre: insights into belief from the stones and perspectives from younger sources on Tengrism.

▸ Ilterish's rise: from 17 to 70 to 700 men, forming an empire spanning Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, and northeastern China.

▸ Bilge Khan's address to his people: the "sweet words" of the Chinese, the significance of the Ötüken forest, and the enduring legacy on stone.

Chapters

0:00 Prologue

0:25 The Stones on the Orkhon

1:02 The Memorial Complex

1:54 The Decipherment

2:27 The Script

3:09 Tengri and Göktürk Cosmology

4:16 What the Stones Tell

5:17 The Speech to the People

6:20 Epilogue

The quotations are from the inscriptions of Kül Tegin, Bilge Khan, and Tonyukuk, with some abridgment. Maps and scenes are modern interpretations, not archaeological finds. The stele's crown bears the ibex tamga of the Ashina.

The Kam beats his drum while the warriors are captivated, and the fire crackles. A mysterious blue light ascends into the night sky, marking the moment when Bumin's confident smile fades.

A new scene from the Göktürk film.

In this preview for the Göktürk movie “Bumin's Destiny”, several scenes from the final film are showcased, incorporating experimental elements and techniques.