Ashina (clan)

Ashina (clan)

Ashina (Chinese: 阿史那, Modern Chinese: (Pinyin): āshǐnà, (Wade-Giles): a-shih-na, Middle Chinese: (Guangyun), Asen, Asena, etc.) was a tribe and the ruling dynasty of the ancient Turks who rose to prominence in the mid-6th century when their leader, Bumin Khan, revolted against the Rouran. The two main branches of the family, one descended from Bumin and the other from his brother Istemi, ruled over the eastern and western parts of the Göktürk empire, respectively. The Ashina clan were considered to be the chosen of the sky god Tengri and the ruler (Kaghan) was the incarnation of the favor the sky god bestowed on the Turks. The Türks, like many of their subjects, were believers in Tengri. They venerated their ancestors, annually conducting special ceremonies at the ancestral cave from which they believed the Ashina had sprung. Although the supreme deity of the Turks was Tengri, the sky god, it was the cult of the wolf that was politically far more important. The Ashinas were a foresighted dynasty and named the state they established as Kök-Türk. The wolf symbolizes honour and is also consideres the mother of most Turkic peoples. Asena (Ashina Tuwu) is the wolf mother of Bumin, the first Khan of the Göktürks.