Ancient Kyrgyz under the Rule of the Huns
The word “Kyrgyz” is first mentioned alongside the name of the king of the Huns, Maodun-khan (Modé). According to a Chinese chronicle, in 201 BC, Maodun-khan sent a large army westward and captured the lands of the Gyanjun. Scholars have established that the Gyanjun were what the Chinese called the ancient Kyrgyz. The territory controlled by the Kyrgyz became known; it was located in the valley of the Manas River in Eastern Turkestan.
The deeds of Maodun-khan. The strengthening of the Huns is associated with the name of Maodun-khan. This is how the ancient Chinese referred to him. Turkic peoples in their legends respectfully call him Oghuz khan.
According to the oldest legend that has reached us, Maodun's father was the head of a small Hun tribe that inhabited the vast expanses in northern China. The khan did not like his elder son because of his willful and decisive character, so he gave him to a neighboring tribe as a pledge to prove that he wished to live with them in peace and harmony. After some time, the father realized that his son could be killed and decided to forcibly retrieve him. But Maodun outsmarted his treacherous father: stealing a steed, he returned home himself.
The tribesmen regarded the young man's act as a display of courage and supported him. To appease the people and atone for his guilt, the khan allocated a small cavalry unit to his son. Maodun took on their training. Clever from a young age, he invented a new arrow. The bone plates with holes located just behind the iron tip of the arrow emitted a terrifying, soul-chilling whistle in flight. Archaeologists have repeatedly found such arrows in the burials of nomads.
Maodun aimed to turn his subordinates into warriors who were excellent with weapons. Through exhausting training, he achieved, for example, that the warriors could instantly determine the direction of his arrow's flight and hit the target simultaneously with him. He demanded unquestioning obedience to his orders. Once, to test them, Maodun shot an arrow at his favorite steed, which had once rescued him from captivity. The horse, into whose body a hundred arrows simultaneously struck, fell dead. Several warriors refrained from shooting, considering it unnecessary to kill such a steed. Maodun immediately beheaded those who did not obey his will. On another occasion, he aimed an arrow at one of his wives. This time, no one dared to disobey. Maodun was very pleased: he was convinced that his will was law for them.
Once, during a hunt, Maodun coldly shot a whistling arrow straight into his father's back. In an instant, his body became covered with arrows, resembling a hedgehog. The old man fell lifeless, never realizing that his son had surpassed him in cruelty and treachery.
The beginning of the war. Chinese chroniclers report that this event occurred in 209 BC. The ruler of the neighboring Yuezhi (Tocharian) tribe sought a reason to quarrel with Maodun. He did not want to be associated with a leader who had killed his own father and sent a messenger to Maodun demanding that he choose the best stallion from the thousands of horses of the Huns and give it to him. The young khan gathered the leaders of the clans. They unanimously stated: “To such a shameless neighbor, not just a stallion, but even a simple horse should not be given.” Maodun listened to the wise elders and said: “For a good neighbor, a horse is not a pity,” — and gave one of the best stallions. The neighbors laughed at Maodun, and even within his own tribe, there was no shortage of condemnation.
But the neighbor did not calm down and sent another messenger, now demanding Maodun's beautiful wife. The furious advisors of the khan suggested declaring war immediately and washing away the insult with the blood of the shameless neighbor. Maodun again called the advisors to reason and, in the name of peace, gave his wife to the neighbor. His kinfolk despised him even more. For the third time, the neighbor requested lands close to the Huns. The advisors unanimously agreed: “This piece can be given away; grass does not grow there, and there is no water. Why would a nomad need such rocky land?” However, Maodun firmly disagreed: “I will never give away the land to anyone. The land is the foundation of the state.” And he issued two orders — to behead the advisors and to immediately set out on a campaign.
Like a flood, the Huns surged against the Yuezhi, defeated them, and drove them far to the west. Then it was the turn of others. From that time on, Maodun did not leave his horse; his whistling arrows instilled terror in the warriors of all the peoples of Central Asia. They bowed before the might of the Huns and submitted to them. In 201 BC, Maodun annexed the lands of the Kyrgyz, located in Eastern Turkestan, to his possessions. Maodun died in 174 BC. He conquered the peoples who freely lived on the territory from Transbaikalia to Tian Shan, from the Siberian taiga to the borders of China. Maodun did not manage to conquer only China. The empire fought the Huns for a long time. In the end, the Huns were defeated. The Yuezhi of Tian Shan also contributed to their defeat. Some of the Huns submitted to the victors, while others went west.
