General information
In ancient Turkic language: Kutluk; in Chinese sources: Ta-po // Tobo; in Sogdian: Maga Tatpar Kagan. The ancestor of Tatpar Kagan was Bumyn Kagan from the “ačïna” clan (his official title was “El Kagan”; he reigned in 552-599 BC). After Bumyn Kagan, the Turkic people were ruled by his son Kara (“Ayu”) Kagan, after him the empire was ruled by Kara Kagan’s younger brother Mukan (“Turk Kulik El”) Kagan.
In 571-582 sitting on the throne was Tatpar (Makan Tegin), the younger brother of Mukan. During this period, the Turkic state turned into a great empire of the “Silk Road”, which subjugated Manchuria, the Hephthalites, created political and diplomatic relations with the states of Byzantium, Sasanian, China - Tabgacha, imposing tribute on them. There is information in Chinese sources that says that Tatpar Kagan supported Buddhism.
The names “Mukan Kagan”, “Nivar Kagan”, “Maga Tatpar Kagan”, “Maga Umna Kagan”, “Yaruka”, “Urkupar Churachu” are carved on the written monument. “Bugatyn dursgal” (in Mongolian: monument Bugyly (Olenny)), “Bugut stele”, “Complex of holy places of Bugyty”, “Complex of monuments of Taspar Kagan”, “Female complex of Tatpar Kagan”. Mongolia, Arkhangai aimag, 10 km west of Bugyt (Ikh Tamir) somon, 47º 49´; N, 101º 16´. e.d. The mound, the remains of walls, balbal stones, etc. are located at the site of their discovery, and a written monument and a pedestal in the form of a turtle are placed at the entrance to the central square of the local history museum of the city of Tsetserleg, Arkhangai aimag; a fragment from the upper part is stored in the museum’s warehouse.
Fences made in the form of a wall (40-50 m), a ditch (4-5 m wide, 2 m deep), a tent (dome) with wooden posts, a stele, stone accumulations (7.5x7.5 m). A string of balbal memorial stones (258-276 pieces), 300 meters long, was also discovered.
A stele with eight wooden posts is located under the tent (dome) At the top of the stele there is a stone sculpture of an attacking wolf with an arched back. Only one half of the upper part of the wolf has survived, the other half is damaged. This monument stands on a stone turtle. There is not a single distinctive sign of the kagan on the bilingual stele, and only on the memorial balbals is one special sign found. The number of balbals is over 276.
Bilingual stone monument. Inscriptions are carved on the surface (B-2, 19 lines) and on the sides (on the right: B-1, 5 lines; on the left: B-3, 5 lines) of a written monument made of yellowish sandstone 0.1-0.3 mm deep Sogdian script in the ancient Sogdian language, and on the reverse side there is a Brahmi script - old Sanskrit (language unknown). The height of the written monument is 198 cm, length - 70 m, width - 20 cm. Dimensions of the stone turtle: 92.5 x 58.5 x 63 cm.
Research: the monument was discovered in 1956 by the Mongolian archaeologist Ts. Dorzhsuren, who writes about it: “The diameter of the circular stone accumulation is 8 m. Half of the written monument is visible from the facade. Half of the visible part of the stele is damaged. On the remaining part one can discern a sculpture of a wolf with an open mouth and a bowed head. There is an ancient Uyghur inscription on the front surface and on the sides of the stele. And on the reverse side there was a previously unknown inscription. We were interested in the inscription found for the first time. This is possibly a monument to a small inscription of the Kydan state. But the final conclusion will be made after researching and reading the inscription.” He also said that at one time the complex of monuments was robbed, and therefore no artifacts were found there. During excavations under the monument, an artistic sculpture of a turtle was found, the size of its hole on the back coincided with the handle of the monument, the head of the turtle is directed towards 240 balbals. During excavations it was established that initially there was a tent (dome) made of brick with eight wooden pillars.
In 1960, the famous Mongolian archaeologist N. Sir-Ojav, in his scientific article “Archaeological Monuments of Mongolia,” expressed the opinion that this monument is “an inscription of Uyghur writing”
In 1968, academician B. Rinch believes that the inscription on the monument is ancient Mongolian writing and includes it in the atlas “Corpus Scriptorum Mongolorum” In 1969, V.A. Livshits and S.G. Klyashtorny determined that the inscription was written in the ancient Sogdian language
In 1982-1985. research was carried out by members of the Mongolian-Soviet expedition V.E. Voitov, S.G. Klyashtorny, G. Menes, T. Sanzhmyatav, S. Karzhaubay and other scientists
In 1996-1998 The monument was explored by the Mongolian-Japanese joint expedition “Historical Inscriptions and Monuments of Mongolia”82. The expedition included Yutaka Yoshida, a Japanese scientist and specialist in ancient Sogdian languages. Having carefully examined the inscription on the monument, he re-translated the monument based on a complete sample of the printmaking. Yutaka Yoshida's translation is a new study and, in terms of historical and source studies, differs from the translations of S.G. Klyashtorny and V.A. Livshits.
In 1999, in the scientific reference book “Historical and Cultural Monuments of Mongolia” a photograph and a brief information were given
In 2001, in the album “Project of Turkic Monuments of Mongolia” only photographs of the Bugyt written monument were published
In 2001, 2002 and 2004, Kazakh scientists conducted archaeographic and historical source studies