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, a Turkish title, “lord”, used in a number of different ways. The various dialect forms ( bäg , bäk , bek , bey , biy , bī , pig , etc.) all derive from the old Turkish bäg as seen from the Ork̲h̲on inscriptions (8th Century) and the Chinese transcriptions concerning the Turks of Mongolia of the same period. The word has no Altaic origin (Mongol begi being a later loanword from Turkish; the series Turkish bärk , bäk/Mongol bärka , bäki “strong, sound”, etc., owes nothing to the old Turkish bäg and should be dissociated from it; the same is true of the series: Turkish bögü , bög …

¶ I. History. 1. The pre-Islamic period: the first Turks in history and their languages. Towards 540, on the northern fringes of China, the nomadic empire of the Z̲h̲ouan-z̲h̲ouan (proto-Mongols?) dominated the lands of Mongolia and some neighbouring zones. Its Ḳag̲h̲an or ruler had as his vassals notably the chiefs of two important tribal confederations, those of the Türks, in the northern Altai, and the equally Turkish-speaking one of the “High Waggons” (Chinese Kao-kiu) in the Selenga basin (the northern part of central Mongolia). After an abortive revolt by these last, the …