How to date Yenisei Inscriptions?

Yenisei inscriptions are inscriptions along the Yenisei River having a total number of 250 and thought to have been erected by the Kyrgyz. Among these inscriptions, although the first discovered one was Uybat III (E 32) Inscription, not much had been known about the characteristics of the alphabet and who they belonged to until the inscriptions remained from the Second East Turkic Khanate was found in 1889 by N. Yadrintsev. After the decipherment of the letters in this alphabet by Thomsen, researches mostly focused on the Mongolian area, and attempts were also made to read these inscriptions. In this sense, we should mention the names Radloff, S. Ye. Malov and H. N. Orkun. None of the Yenisei inscriptions bear a date. Maybe they did not have advanced calendar systems to be used in the inscriptions. The common characteristic of almost every inscription is that they mention, rather than historical events, what the hero of the inscription did, why he died, and longing for family members, homeland, sky and sun as told from his mouth; as a result, they did not caught the attention of researches apart from scientists on Turkish language. In this article, 170 inscriptions, whose texts are available, have been analyzed in detail, and our attention has been devoted to the narrations in the texts which might be dated. It has been attempted to determine at least when a few of the inscriptions were erected.

Keywords

South Siberia Inscription, Yenisei inscriptions, historical records, personal names, names of tribes