Yehlű Apoki – a socio-psychological portrait of the first nomadic emperor

G.G. Pikov

Novosibirsk State University, Novosibirsk, 630090 Russia

E-mail: gennadij-pikov@yandex.ru

Received May 21, 2019

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DOI: 10.26907/2541-7738.2020.1.165-176

For citation: Pikov G.G. Yehlű Apoki – a socio-psychological portrait of the first nomadic emperor. Uchenye Zapiski Kazanskogo Universiteta. Seriya Gumanitarnye Nauki, 2020, vol. 162, no. 1, pp. 165–176. doi: 10.26907/2541-7738.2020.1.165-176. (In Russian)

Abstract

Yehlü Apoki, a Khitan leader coming from the ruling family, was the founder of a powerful medieval East Asian nomadic Liao dynasty (907–1125). Khitan state was the first full-fledged nomadic Empire and Yehlü Apoki became the first nomadic Emperor. The need for such a leader was dictated by the processes that took place in the Khitan society: the crisis of social relations, the complication of tribal relations, the need for economic synthesis, drawing into macroeconomic relations, the intensification of the process of ethnic synthesis and the emergence of prerequisites for the folding of the nation, the allocation of a special civilizational zone (the future “Mongolia”). The social situation affected the identity of Yehlü Apoki – his ambition, lust for power, energy, agreeableness, pragmatism, and cynicism.

The time of Yehlü Apoki – an outstanding figure for the Khitan people, a man who changed their history and initiated the transition from the nomadic to a typically more complex and integrated economy. Yehlü Apaci “restored the order”, “opened”, “pointed to the right way”, “started”, and “gave the truth”, i.e., he not just derived from the deadlock and showed a long and good future. The Empire was an extraordinary project at first, but then it took on a life of its own. Thus, Yehlü Apoki became the model and symbol for subsequent rulers and other nomads in the Desert.

Keywords: Khitan people, Liao Empire, Yehlü Apoki, Nomads, Emperor

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