Why Bilge Qaghan Carved His Strategy in Stone

The Challenge

The Second Göktürk Khaganate had been rebuilt only decades earlier after half a century of Tang Chinese rule. Bilge Qaghan, who took the throne in 716, ruled a restored state that traded with a far larger and richer neighbour whose silk, titles and cities were a constant pull on the Turkic elite.

Bilge himself considered settling in cities and adopting Buddhism.

The Approach

• Dropped the idea after his counsellor Tonyukuk warned that the Turks were few in number and, once settled, would be easy prey for Chinese armies
• Kept the khaganate's strength in its mobile, steppe-based way of life while continuing to trade with Tang China
• Had the case for that choice inscribed in stone in the Orkhon valley, in monuments for his brother Kültegin (732) and for himself (735)
• Used the inscriptions to warn future generations against the 'sweet words and soft silks' of China that had once led the Turks into subjection

The Impact

Under Bilge the khaganate enjoyed its last period of stability and strength. The Orkhon inscriptions became the earliest surviving major texts in a Turkic language and a lasting statement of Turkic political identity.

The khaganate itself fell to the Uyghurs within a decade of his death, but the inscriptions outlived it by thirteen centuries.

The Lesson for Leaders

A smaller partner can trade with a larger one without being absorbed, but only if it is clear about what makes it distinct and why. Bilge Qaghan wrote his strategy down for his successors. Organizations that record their reasoning, not just their decisions, give the next generation something to hold on to.