Two Chinese (Sogdian) painted pottery figures of horse grooms, Tang Dynasty 618-907 CE
Similar to their attempt to gain influence in Chinese society through intermarriage, the Sogdians seem to have done the same thing in Turkic society. Sogdians sometimes practiced polygyny (marriages consisting of one man and multiple women) according to Sino-Platonic Papers 228. The Book of Tang talks about an Ashina Turk, apparently of mixed ancestry, who was barred by other Turks from rising higher in Turkic society because he had Sogdian (aka Caucasoid) facial features:
"According to the Jiu Tangshu, an Ashina (Turk) commander named Ashina Simo (阿史那思摩) was not given a high military post by the Ashina rulers because of his Sogdian (huren 胡人) physiognomy:
Simo was a relative of Xieli. Because his face was like that of the ‘barbarian (huren 胡人)’ and not like that of the Tujue, Shibi [Khagan] and Chuluo [Khagan] were doubtful of his being one of the Ashina. Thus although he always held the title of Jiabi tele[i] (夾畢特勒) during Chuluo and Xieli’s time, he could not become a shad (she 設) in command of the army till the end…"
-Joo-Yup Lee & Shuntu Kuang, A Comparative Analysis of Chinese Historical Sources and Y-DNA Studies with Regard to the Early and Medieval Turkic Peoples
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| Two Chinese (Sogdian) painted pottery figures of horse grooms, Tang Dynasty 618-907 CE. From Christies. The Musee Chernuschi notes that hats of this kind were specific to the Sogdian States of Transoxiana (between Amu-Daria and Syr-Daria). |
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