Acta Orientalia Academiae Scientiarum Hung.

Volume 66 (1), 4758 (2013)

DOI: 10.1556/AOrient.66.2013.1.3
0001-6446 / $ 20.00 2013 Akadmiai Kiad, Budapest
BYZANTINE IMPACT ON THE ICONOGRAPHY
OF WESTERN TURKIC COINAGE
GAYBULLA BABAYAROVANDREY KUBATIN
Al-Biruni Institute for Oriental Studies,
Academy of Sciences, Tashkent, Uzbekistan
e-mail: gbabayar@yahoo.com; akubatin84@yandex.ru
This article is devoted to the coinage of Western Turkic Qaghanate (568740) in the Chach (Tash-
kent) region and the influence of Byzantine monetary traditions on their formation. Bearing on the
newly discovered numismatic material the authors tried to throw light on the stages of coinage of the
Western Turkic Qaghanate and elucidate the brief history of their relations with the Byzantine Empire.
The Western Turkic rulers minted their own coins (with the titles of pw Yabghu, cpw xn
Yabghu-qaghan, the ethnopolitical name of twrk xn Trk-Qaghan and with the rulers names
of trw xn Tardu qaghan, twn cpw xn Tun Yabghu-qaghan, all in the Sogdian script) in the
Chach region and these coins were symbols of the independence of the Western Turkic Qaghanate.
On the coins the following three variants of an original tamga can be seen: . The differ-
ence in the shape of the tamgas, in our opinion, is connected with the three stages of the formation
of the Western Turkic Qaghanate. Stage 1: the Western Qaghanate is a wing or peripheral state
within the Turkic Qaghanate under the rule of a Yabghu (the title Yabghu appears on the coins as
); stage 2: during the period when it was related nominally to the Turkic Qaghanate, in the pe-
riod of the Yabghu-Qaghanate (the title Yabghu-qaghan on the coins is ); stage 3: from 630 on-
ward, after the defeat of the Eastern Turkic Qaghanate by Tang China, the Western Turkic Qaghan-
ate existed for a certain time as an independent state (the title Qaghan on the coins is ).
Key words: Western Turkic Qaghanate, Byzantine, Chach (Tashkent) oasis, Sogdian script, early
Turkic titles, imperial symbols.

The formation of the Turkic (Trk) Qaghanate
1
in the second half of the 6th century
AD led to a change of the political situation in the Eurasian steppes and its neighbour-
ing regions. The Ashina Turks became overlords of vast territories stretching from
Mongolia to the Northern Caucasus and the Black Sea. From that time onward the

1
As is well known, the Turkic Qaghanate consisted of two parts: the Eastern Turkic Qaghan-
ate with tken as its capital (now in Mongolia) and the Western Turkic Qaghanate, its capital
being Suyab in Semireche (now Kyrgyzstan).

48 GAYBULLA BABAYAROV ANDREY KUBATIN
Acta Orient. Hung. 66, 2013
Turkic Qaghanate became a direct neighbour of the vast empires of Byzantium, Sas-
sanian Iran and China. This neighbourhood led to an intensive development of the
political and economic contacts of these empires, furthermore new cultural contacts
were established between Byzantium and the Turkic Qaghanates (especially the West-
ern Turkic Qaghanate). As is well known, interstate relations influence not only the
foreign policy, but also the economy and culture of the states in question. The Byzan-
tine impact on the Western Turkic monetary system and coinage is a poignant exam-
ple of the Turco-Byzantine relations in the 6th8th centuries.
The question of the influence of Byzantine coins on the coinage of the Central
Asian Turks has several times been dealt with by scholars such as M. E. Masson,
I. O. Smirnova, . V. Rtveladze, L. S. Baratova, A. V. Kuznecov, and others. These
scholars took notice of the influence of certain Byzantine coins with the pair image
on Turkic coins in a number of areas of Central Asia, particularly in Chach (Tashkent),
Sogd (Samarkand) and Chaghanian (Northern Uzbekistan) (Masson 1951, pp. 97, 99;
Rtveladze 1998, p. 11; Baratova 2005, p. 418). M. E. Masson was the first to pay at-
tention to the fact that Turkic coins with the image of the ruling couple (the sover-
eign and his wife) were modelled after Byzantine copper coins of Justin II (565578)
on which he had been represented with his wife Sofia. In his opinion, one of the facts
that might explain this impact was the visit of an embassy of the Central Asian Turks
(i.e. the Western Turkic Qaghanate) led by a Sogdian merchant Maniakh in the court
of Justin II (Masson 1951, pp. 97, 99). In turn, O. I. Smirnova noted that it is reason-
able to suppose that after having got acquainted with Byzantine coins, the Turks
adopted and borrowed that type of coinage. That type of coins became very common
with the Turks by the end of the 6th century and later they served as initial sample
for further coinage types of regions of Central Asia. But taking into consideration the
high artistic level of Turkic coinage, she claims that possibly not the Turks borrowed
the design from the Byzantines, but the other way round, it was rather the Byzantines
who borrowed the new type of coins from the Turks. She warns that the double images
have appeared on Byzantine coins only from that time onward and later Byzantine
coinage oftentimes returned to them (Smirnova 1981, p. 56). However, her opinion did
not find broad support. On the contrary, the opinion of Byzantine influence on the
coinage of the Turks became established and in fact acknowledged also by . V. Rtve-
ladze (Rtveladze Takhodaev 1973, pp. 232234; Rtveladze 2002, pp. 269277).
Thanks to researches and monetary finds of the latest years we succeeded in
identifying some types of Turkic coins with Byzantine influence which we attribute
to the coinage of the Western Turkic Qaghanate. Among the given coins, Byzantine
influence and traditions can be pointed out on the following three types:
(1) anepigraphic, with a direct portrait
2
(Figures I. 23; II. 19; IV. 1)
3
;

2
Two sub-types of the coins having a portrait of the governor en face can be reckoned with:
one has pictures of a cross on the left and on the right (published in Rtveladze Takhodaev 1973);
another one has a picture similar to an anepigraphic one (without a legend), but has stylised legend
on the reverse. The reverse of the coin bears the tamga of the Western Turkic Qaghanate and Sog-
dian legends that are not yet fully read.

BYZANTINE IMPACT ON THE ICONOGRAPHY OF WESTERN TURKIC COINAGE 49
Acta Orient. Hung. 66, 2013
(2) with a pair portrait the governor and his spouse (Figures I. 5; III. 16; IV. 3,
15, 1719)
4
;
(3) with the image of the sitting governor and his spouse (Figures I. 7; IV. 4, 6)
5
.

It is worth paying special attention to bronze coins with an image of the gover-
nor en face, imitating the Byzantine gold solids. Not so long ago on the site of the an-
cient settlement Kanka (in Tashkent oasis) a new numismatical find was explored that
confirms the existence of direct Byzantine influence on the coinage of the Western
Turkic Qaghanate (Figure I. 3). The obverse of the given coins displays the image of
the governor en face, iconographically similar to the image seen on Byzantine solids,
to the left of it a cross can be seen
6
, to the right remainders of a Greek legend that
obviously testifies to its Byzantine prototype. The coins of the Byzantine Emperor
Justin I (527565) may be the prototype of this type of coins, according to some
researchers (Kuznecov 2007, p. 53), but this fact needs further confirmation.
The reverse of the given type of coins bears a picture of the tamga
7
present on
the coins of the supreme rulers of the Western Turkic Qaghanate that allows us to at-
tribute them to the coinage of that state. We think that a partially remained Greek leg-
end on a coin from Kanka (Tashkent) reads as . (P) AN or . (T) AN which, in our
opinion, can be fragments of a legend repeating a legend on the coins of the Byzan-
tine Emperor Justin II (565578) that reads as follows: DN IVISTINI ET CONSTAN
or DN IVISTINI ET (TIBE) PPAN [Figures I. 4, 6; II. 2, 9]
8
.
However, it is necessary to notice that the Byzantine prototypes on the coins
of the Western Turkic Qaghanate are not merely copied from their analogues, but had
been processed on a Turkic basis. It can be well traced in the iconography of the coins.


3
See http://www.sogdcoins.narod.ru = chach coins (Ch 17Ch 18); http://www.zeno.ru =
PRE-ISLAMIC ASIA & NORTH AFRICA Central Asia Chach Kabarna # 1825; agalov Kuz-
necov (2006, pp. 6366); Babayar (2007b, p. 72).
4
See http://www.sogdcoins.narod.ru = chach coins (Ch 25Ch 30); http://www.zeno.ru=
Chach Kabarna Unknown principality II, coins with double portrait; agalovKuznecov (2006,
pp. 7986, 187196); Babayar (2007b, pp. 6668).
5
See http://www.sogdcoins.narod.ru=chach coins (Ch 23Ch 24); http://www.zeno.ru=
Chach Kabarna # 17708; agalov Kuznecov (2006, pp. 7578); Babayar (2007b, pp. 6970).
6
A picture of a cross on the coins of the Western Turkic Qaghanate can also be attributed
to Byzantine influence.
7
These tamgas ( ) can be regarded as variants of tamgas with the shape of a
mountain goat ( ) depicted on the steles of the Orkhon Turkic (Eastern) Qaghanate. In our opin-
ion the tamgas went through the following stages of development / / /

(see Babayarov 2010, pp. 394395; Babajarov Kubatin 2011, pp. 295303). As discussed above,
the differences between the tamgas in the Chinese chronicles ( ) and those appearing on coins
might be explained as resulting from the different techniques involved with rendering a sign with a
pen as opposed to stamping it on metal. Besides, according to well documented traditions among
the Central Asian nomads, a tribe or group that has separated from another one, distinguishes itself
by changing the original sign by creating a new tamga. But the basic features of the main tamga are
preserved in the new one by adding only a few new tallies to the original one. This is the case also
with tamgas of the royal dynasty.
8
See http: //www.zeno.ru Byzantine. Nos 29655, 29963.

50 GAYBULLA BABAYAROV ANDREY KUBATIN
Acta Orient. Hung. 66, 2013

Figure I. Coins of the Byzantine Empire and the Western Turkic Qaghanate
The aforementioned type of coins with a direct portrait is an exception to this rule as
they are very similar to the Byzantine coins: they have similarity in headdress, a Greek
cross (gammadion) and ethnic shape of the governors face (Figure I. 23). In our
opinion, coins of this type were among the very first coins of the Western Turkic
Qaghanate.
Other types of coins, for example, those with a pair portrait, preserve a specific
Byzantine plot, but at the same time the faces of the governor and his spouse are
clearly Mongoloid (a roundish face, narrow eyes), and the portrait has obvious old

BYZANTINE IMPACT ON THE ICONOGRAPHY OF WESTERN TURKIC COINAGE 51
Acta Orient. Hung. 66, 2013

Figure II. Coins of the Western Turkic Qaghanate with an image of the Byzantine Emperor

52 GAYBULLA BABAYAROV ANDREY KUBATIN
Acta Orient. Hung. 66, 2013

Figure III. Coins of the Western Turkic Qaghanate
Turkic features (long hair, absence of headdress of the governor, and a tricorne head-
dress of his spouse). One of the important features of the Western Turkic coins is the
replacement of the cross, which was present on the analogous Byzantine coins, with
a crescent moon and a star which held an important place in the worldview of ancient
Turks and other peoples of Central Asia.
The coins with the pair portrait of the sitting governor and his spouse are espe-
cially notable. First, they are represented as sitting cross-legged on a carpet (?), rather
than on a throne, as on the Byzantine coins. However, it is most probable that origi-
nally a throne was also represented on the Old Turkic coins which differed a lot from
the Byzantine one. On the Turkic coins of this type the governor is depicted as look-
ing to the right, with head uncovered, with long hair up to shoulders, and her wife
wears a tricorne headdress, similar to the previous type seen on Turkic coins. Accord-
ing to many scholars, such headdress is specific for a goddess named Umay, one of
the main goddesses of the Old Turkic pantheon (Baratova 2005, p. 419). It is espe-
cially worth-while mentioning that on different variants of the coins of this type the
female figure is depicted as being pregnant (with an exaggerated breast and stomach)
or having a child in her hands (agalovKuznecov 2006, p. 75; Babajarov 2007a, pp.
15, 30). It is known that the main function of Umay was the protection of pregnant
women and small children. Probably, the picture on these coins represents the governor,
5 6
1 2
3 4

BYZANTINE IMPACT ON THE ICONOGRAPHY OF WESTERN TURKIC COINAGE 53
Acta Orient. Hung. 66, 2013

Figure IV. Coins of the Western Turkic Qaghanate

54 GAYBULLA BABAYAROV ANDREY KUBATIN
Acta Orient. Hung. 66, 2013
i.e. qaghan, made similar to Tengri, and his spouse, the qatun, made similar to Umay.
Similarly, one must recall that the qatun was compared to the goddess Umay in the
Old Turkic runic inscriptions as well (Malov 1951, p. 31). We must also bear in mind
that the great role of a qatun in governmental matters and state life in general was one
of the characteristic features of Old Turkic statehood (Baratova 2005, p. 419). It is
also worth paying attention to the fact that all coins with a pair portrait (quarter-length,
sitting, of a horsemanruler and a princess in front of him) display features of Old
Turkic traditions as well as the traditions of different peoples of Central Asia and Sas-
sanian Iran (Babajar Kubatin 2010, pp. 4756).
Up till now, researchers who noticed the influence of Byzantine traditions on
the coinage of Central Asia, in particular on Old Turkic coins of the Chach oasis, did
not dare to formulate any concrete statements concerning the possible attribution of
these coins to any Turkic dynasty or state. The main cause of this uncertainty was
that the Sogdian legends on coins with Byzantine influence of the Chach oasis have
not been precisely read and interpreted. Recently, we have been able to propose the
following readings of Sogdian legends on these coins of Chach:

(1) ZNH pny pw krnw?
9
crnk This is coin of Yabghu, essence (of) skil-
ful (?)
10
(Figures I. 4; III. 12; IV. 3)
11
;
(2) pny pw kr? (short. krnw?) crnk Coin of Yabghu, essence (of) skilful?
12

(Figures I. 7; IV. 4)
13
;
(3) pny krt twrk xn Coin made by the Turkic qaghan
14
(Figure IV. 7);
(4) y cpw xn yrpy prsy (?) abghu-qaghan Elbi Ishbarasi (?)
15
(Figure
IV. 13)
16
;


19
krnw may be from Sogdian krnwk / krnwn skilful, see Gharib (1995, p. 193).
10
. V. Rtveladze suggested to read the inscription with Sogdian letters on this kind of
coins as following: pny wstnk nwsknw s The coin of Avst(a)n(a)k, the King of Nush/skan (?)
(Rtveladze 2002, pp. 265266; 2006, p. 92). Later on, agalov Kuznecov (2006, p. 81) suggested
another reading: ZNH pny twnk []ynk This coin belongs to the Tudun of Chach.
11
http://www.sogdcoins.narod.ru = Chach coins (Ch 24Ch 29); agalov Kuznecov (2006,
pp. 7983); Babayar (2007b, pp. 6668).
12
This type of coins was first checked in the 1980s by V. A. Livshits and . V. Rtveladze.
Livshits read them as follows: (kw)yrn kprnw xwb Kaviradn the King of Kabarna (Rtvela-
dze 1982, p. 35; 19971998, p. 317, Pl. II, 8). But, by investigating the coins this reading proved to
be false.
13
http://www.sogdcoins.narod.ru = chach coins (Ch 24); http://www.zeno.ru = Chach Ka-
barna #17708; agalov Kuznecov (2006, pp. 7578); Babayar (2007b, pp. 6970).
14
. V. Rtveladze in his first works read it as ccnk xw twrk? Turk? the King of
Chach (in: Baratova 1999, p. 247). But later, he changed his mind and put forward the reading
twrk ccnynk mryw Turkesh the King of Chach (Rtveladze 2002, p. 269).
15
. V. Rtveladze tried to read this kind of coins on the basis of the letters on the coins that
are indistinct and gave proof as follows: (perhaps ynk belonging to Chach) and xw the
King (Rtveladze 2006, p. 64; agalov Kuznecov 2006, p. 101). But, our experience derives from
reading and comparing lots of copies that are well-saved.
16
See: http://www.sogdcoins.narod.ru = chach coins (Ch 36Ch 38); http://www.zeno.ru =
Chach Kabarna; agalov Kuznecov (2006, pp. 100106); Babayar 2007b, pp. 5861).

BYZANTINE IMPACT ON THE ICONOGRAPHY OF WESTERN TURKIC COINAGE 55
Acta Orient. Hung. 66, 2013
1(5) cpw xn pny Coin of abghu-qaghan
17
(Figure IV. 14)
18
;
1(6) twn cpw xn Heavenly Tun abghu-qaghan (Type I [pair portrait]
Type II [sitting ruler]
19
(Figures III. 34; IV. 1516)
20
;
1(7) twwn xn Heavenly Tn (chief) qaghan (Figures III. 56; IV. 18)
21
;
1(8) prn xn The divine, blessed Qaghan Type I (pair portrait Figure
IV. 19); Type II (horseman: Figure IV. 20); Type III (camel: Figure IV. 24)
22
;
1(9) pny xn Coin of Divine Qaghan (Figure IV. 21);
(10) xn The divine Qaghan (Figure IV. 22)
23
;
(11) trw xn Tardu qaghan
24
(Figure IV. 23)
25
and so on.

These readings enable us to attribute this coinage unambigously to one state,
namely the Western Turkic Qaghanate (568740), because some of these coins bear
the name and title of Tun yabghu-qaghan, as well as the supreme titles of the West-

17
Now, it is more than thirty years that this type of coins had been found. When they were
first mentioned in the 1980s common opinion had it that they belong to one of the groups of the
coins (Kabarna coins) that read as yk/wrtw [M]Ry The King Daivurtu (see Rtveladze 1997
98, p. 325, Pl. I, 89). However, in his latest research . V. Rtveladze reads the legend in this type
of coins as xnk nw xw and insists that the place name kprnw (Kbarna) must be read (Rtve-
ladze 2006, pp. 6263). Later Rtveladze proposed to read the legend as: pny xww xnz/n The
coin of the King xnz/n (agalov Kuznecov 2006, p. 93).
18
See: http://www.sogdcoins.narod.ru = chach coins (Ch 21Ch 22, Ch 33Ch 34);
http://www.zeno.ru = Chach Kabarna; agalov Kuznecov (2006, pp. 9195); Babayar (2007b,
pp. 1213).
19
Type I. . V. Rtveladze read this type of legend on the coins in his latest book as: ysr
wr ywLk (?) Ishbara Bagadur ylig? (Rtveladze 2006, pp. 6465). Accordingly, these coins
should be related with rbis Ishbara Djabgu-han (640641), ruler of the Western Turkic Qaghanate.
Afterwards, however, Rtveladze seems to propose again a new reading as [ZNH] pny twn w
[This] coin belongs to the Tudun of Sh/Savga[r] (agalov Kuznecov 2006, p. 85).
Type II. This kind of coins was first read by . V. Rtveladze as follows: (kp)rnw (?)
xw? B The King of Kabarna (?) (Rtveladze 1982, p. 35; 19971998, p. 325, Pl. I, 10). Later
on, however, he suggested again a new reading for this phrase as ynk MRY wh ? The King
of Chach wh ? (Rtveladze 2006, pp. 6162). In his new book on the The history and numis-
matics of Chach, Rtveladze read this type of legend as: ysr wr ywLk (?) Ishbara Bagadur
ylig? (Rtveladze 2006, pp. 6465). Accordingly, these coins should be attributed to rbis Ishbara
Djabgu-han (640641), the Western Turkic qaghan. Finally, however, Rtveladze seems to propose
again a new reading as [ZNH] pny twn w [This] coin belongs to the Tudun of Sh/Savga[r]
(agalov Kuznecov 2006, p. 85).
20
See: http://www.sogdcoins.narod.ru = chach coins (Ch 30); http://www.zeno.ru = Chach
Kabarna; agalov Kuznecov (2006, pp. 7074, 8486); Babayar (2007b, pp. 5457).
21
http://www.zeno.ru = Chach Unknown principality III; agalov Kuznecov (2006, pp.
189192); Babayar (2007b, pp. 7479).
22
http://www.zeno.ru = Chach agalov Kuznecov (2006, pp. 278283); Babayar (2007b,
pp. 8081).
23
http://www.zeno.ru = Chach # 35920, 16575, 76181, 76180, 20698; Babayar (2007b,
pp. 8283).
24
These type of coins has been read as ww King in Soghdian due to fact that have not
been found more clear types (Rtveladze 1982, p. 37).
25
http://www.zeno.ru = Chach Unknown principality IV; agalov Kuznecov (2006, pp.
284290); Babayar (2007b, pp. 5354).

56 GAYBULLA BABAYAROV ANDREY KUBATIN
Acta Orient. Hung. 66, 2013
ern Turks, such as Jabghu and Jabghu-qaghan (Babajar Kubatin 2005, pp. 97105;
Babajarov 2007a, pp. 2629). Legends on the two aforementioned types of coins with
Byzantine influence can be read as pny pw krnw? crnk Coin of Jabghu, essence
(of) skilful (?) and pny pw kr? (shorted krnw?) crnk Coin of Jabghu, essence
(of) skilful?
26
. There is a consensus among researchers that after a Qaghanate had
been formed in the West independent of the Eastern Turkic Qaghanate, its first ruler
to take the title yabghu/jabghu was Itemi. It is very instructive if we compare the
names attested in the Byzantine sources as , ,
with the name of Itemi (Moravcsik 1958, pp. 130 275 291; Dobrovits 2008,
pp. 7073), who was the younger brother of Bumn, founder of the Turkic Qaghan-
ate. Most researchers agree that the various Greek forms display either Itemis name
or they reflect the title yabghu/ jabghu, which clearly indicates that Itemi in the first
stages of his rule bore only the title yabghu (Chavannes 1903, pp. 226228; Morav-
csik 1958, p. 130). The logical consequence of all that has been said so far is that the
coins with a title yabghu/jabghu can safely be attributed to Itemi.
We must pay attention to the fact that a tamga on the coins of the Western
Turkic Qaghanate, on which the Byzantine influence is most obvious, has a simple,
rudimentary form ( , , = > > ) [See Figure III. 16] (Babayar
2007b, pp. 22, 5479). Probably, it bears witness to the fact that the given coins were
the first ones of the coinage of the Western Turkic Qaghanate. The Sogdian legends
of these coins were written in semi-italics. In our opinion, this is one more testimony
to the fact that they are more ancient than the coins having the titles Tun abghu-qa-
ghan, y Tuun/ Tn/ Tn qaghan etc. on legends which are written in a more oblique
italics [see Figure III. 36] (Babayar 2006, p. 39; Rtveladze 2006, p. 9; agalov
Kuznecov 2006, p. 191).
Thus it may rightly be asserted that the Turks, after having borrowed the By-
zantine traditions in their coinage, began to gradually change their design. First, they
borrowed the obverse design of Byzantine coins, and merely put their tamga on the
reverse (see Figure I. 23). Later, they continued to use the borrowed plot, with slight
modifications that were specifically connected with the Turkic traditions (see Figure
I. 57).
Finally, the following question may be raised: Why did the Western Turkic
Qaghanate not use for its first coins the design of coinage of her closest neighbours
such as China, Sassanian Iran or the vassal oasis states of Eastern Turkestan and Cen-
tral Asia (Transoxania). Instead, they rather resorted to the use of Byzantine coins.
According to the most plausible explanation this fact shows the role and value of Byz-
antine gold coins in international trade, but other factors such as the overall political
situation of that epoch must be considered as well.
And what other arguments are at hand to explain the influence of the Byzantine
traditions on the coins of the Western Turkic Qaghanate? The fact that the coins of

26
The Sogdian legends on one variant of the given type of coins are very interesting from
the palaeographical point of view (see Figures I. 4; III. 12). Particularly the writing of a letter gimel
(-) in a word pw is interesting, as it is disconnected from neighbouring letters, is oblique and
rather resembles lamed (-). In other versions the legends have the standard writing of characters.

BYZANTINE IMPACT ON THE ICONOGRAPHY OF WESTERN TURKIC COINAGE 57
Acta Orient. Hung. 66, 2013
this Qaghanate display Byzantine traditions, characteristic basically of the coins of
Justin II (565578), also has a solid historical basis. The Turkic Qaghanate and
Byzantium formed an alliance against Sassanian Iran during Justin IIs reign. In that
period Itemi ruled in the Western part of the Turkic Qaghanate (552744). Both states
established diplomatic and economic relations from that time to AD 630, i.e. from the
reign of Itemi until Tun Yabghu-Qaghans time. Especially, Tun Yabghu-Qaghan
played an active role in the last great collision of the Byzantine and Sassanian weap-
ons, deciding the struggle for Byzantium (Dobrovits 2001, p. 3).
Besides, one must bear in mind that in the 570s Byzantium paid tribute to the
Qaghanate for a certain time. Commercial relations and paying tribute led to the ap-
pearance of a certain amount of Byzantine coins including gold solids in the territory
of the Turkic Qaghanate (Lin 2003). As a result, the Western Turkic Qaghanate got
acquainted with the Byzantine monetary system and its traditions, which left its in-
delible marks on the coinage of the Qaghanate.
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