Kagor the Conqueror

Kagor the Builder

**Kagor I** (973-February 18, 1035), also known as **Kagor the Conqueror** and **Kagor the Builder**, was the head of the Türgeshi group of tribes who conquered the Pannonian Plain in the late 10th century, and was the first king of Mularak from 994 until his death. He was also the sixth Tengrikut, and is known as **Kagor Kut** in religious contexts. His life was well documented by Byzantine and Latin sources.

## Background and Ancestry

Kagor's great-grandfather's Gold Türgeshi Khaganate had collapsed after his death in 954, transitioning into numerous small Khanates fighting with each other over grazing land. One group led by Kagor's grandfather, Bügün Kut, settled directly north of the Danube on the Black Sea. Bügün's power grew and soon enough he was ruling a small Türgeshi confederation, which by his death had taken over all of the land in between the Carpathian mountains and the Danube. Nearby Pannonia had fragmented into many competing Frankish and Croatian states, as the Holy Roman Empire lost influence in the area.

Kagor's maternal (and paternal grandmother's) ancestry can be traced back through many of the Türgeshi Khagans, in a male line back to Melgan, who lived in the early 8th century. Another line, going back from Telpar Khagan's mother, can be traced back to the Second Turkic Khagans, back to Etmish Beg.

## Early Life

### Childhood

Kagor was the son of Çekün, a son of Burtam, daughter of Bayin Khagan. Bayin Khagan was also the grandfather of Kagor's mother, Otan, through his son Bügün. His birthdate is said by some to have been in the harvest season of 973, though it may have been as late as November. His day of legacy is October 4th. Kagor's mother, Otan, may have been as young as 11 when she married her cousin Çekün. He was the only son of this couple to reach adulthood.

Growing up, he was not well thought of by his father. His father saw him as unintelligent, as Kagor was a quiet child, and nearly never interacted with him. He wasn't very close to his mother either, as she was sick for much of his childhood. Kagor was also sick for a large amount of his childhood, but this would end by the time he turned 12. He soon grew to be a very strong and attractive man to many, who soon developed an ambition for conquest.

### Becoming ruler

Kagor was 16 when his grandfather died. When the election for the next ruler of the confederation began, Kagor walked in unannounced and stated that he should be the new ruler. Kagor's uncle, Eshinke, who was the expected successor to his uncle, demanded to ask why he should even be considered. Kagor then made it clear that he was to launch an invasion of Pannonia, a land of great grazing opportunity, whether or not he would be the leader. But, it would be much easier if he could have his nation behind him. Eshinke, who was more conservative in his foreign policy, debated Kagor for an entire day on the issue, with the council watching. Flustered after losing this debate, Eshinke attempted to attack Kagor, but was beaten by the boy. He fled east, never to be seen again. Thus, Kagor, with no opponents, became the confederation's leader in late 989.

### Appearance and character

No contemporary portrait of Kagor has been found. However, he has been described by contemporary sources. It's described that Kagor had a typical Türgeshi look to him, though with lighter hair than a normal "Tartar", with a brown beard that later turned grey. He had a raspy, high-pitched voice, though he was also seen as intimidating due to his tall stature. His skeleton, excavated in 1938, showed that he was about 6 feet 2 inches (1.88 m) in height.

Besides a number of religious rebellions, his reign was seen as relatively peaceful, and even prosperous, for the average Mular citizen. Kagor was a major supporter or architecture in Mularak, building a multitude of fortresses that would later turn into castles over the following centuries. He also founded many cities, including Gorgovak, and temples. He only married once, which was quite rare for a Tengri, and there's no evidence that he ever had any affairs, also rare for a medieval monarch in Europe.

## Conquest of Pannonia

As he had promised, Kagor launched an invasion mere days after being elected. This force crossed the Tisza river in early December of 989, into Ivan of Pecuh's territory. The area had been sieged by the end of December, and the battle of Apatin soon after, in January, proved this. After capturing Apatin, Kagor led his troops across the Danube, directly into Pecuh itself, and without its leader the area quickly fell under Kagor's occupation. His army crossed the Danube once again in May and Csanad was sieged, falling in September. Duke Ivan reportedly never was even in his country at the time, fleeing north around the start of the invasion.

In late 990, the invasion of Transylvania began. The same army which had conquered Pecuh, along with Kagor himself fought in the battle of Debreen against Bihar, overwhelming the enemy troops. The battle of Beher in December was a decisive victory for Kagor. After sieging Bihar, Kagor set his capital to be Marodak, close to Csanad, in 991. That March the invasion of Transylvania continued, with a rapid invasion ending in July when the Frankish ruler, Thibault, fled the country.

In the summer of 991, the Battle of Bac occured between Kagor's troops and warriors from the nearby city of Pest. Kagor followed the enemy army, which was fleeing back to Pest. The city fell in late November of 991. Duke Ivan, who had earlier fled to the area, tried helping the defenders but was once again forced to flee north, this time to Heves. Kagor and his army followed him, and promptly took over the small country in early 992. Duke Ivan likely was exiled to Syrmia. Giberto, the count of Eztergom, submitted to Kagor without conflict, and in turn was allowed to keep control of his land.

Kagor's next target was Duke Tvrtko of Pecs, who had previously helped the Transylvanians try to shake off the invading Türgeshi horsemen. He marched across the Danube in 992, occupying most of Tvrtko's riverside land by April. The battle of Sarbogard was a terrible loss for Pecs, and it was in this battle that Bishop Hranislav of Val was captured, and later befriended by Kagor. The two men sat in the bishop's jail cell and discussed religion. Hranislav was eventually convinced by Kagor's arguments and converted to Tengriism that year, and the men were good friends for the rest of their lives.

Meanwhile, Tvertko surrendered and was exiled from Pannonia in June of 992.

Though Kagor wasn't initially interested in fighting with the hilly country of Nitra, they had helped Pecs fight Kagor, and so that was enough reason for Kagor to attempt to capture the capital, Topolcany. The city fell at the end of August, but the leader, a Bohemian, didn't surrender, and so Kagor pushed on. In April 993, though this nameless leader hadn't surrendered, and instead disappeared, Kagor proclaimed that the war was won as he had occupied all Nitran territory. It was also arround this time that he defeated a Transylvanian uprising.

The small country of Ostrihom up the Danube was still against Kagor though, because they used to be allied with Nitra. Kagor responded to this aggression by taking their capital in August of 993.

The final major country that Kagor would invade would be Ungvar, which had also helped many of Kagor's enemies in the past. The people of Ungvar knew that they would be attacked, and they put up defenses between them and the Pannonian plain, and were unpleasantly surprised when Kagor's forces invaded through the northern Carpathians, going right for their capital of Spis in May of 994. Ungvar fell into pieces within six months, and their leader likewise fled to Italy.

## A new kingdom

On October 4th, 993, around Kagor's 21st birthday, he proclaimed himself to be the King of the Mulars, the new name for all Türgeshi and native Pannonian people under his rule. His country came to be known as Mularak, and October 4th is still seen as a holiday today, along with being his religious legacy day in the Mular Tengri faith.

According to legend, Kagor founded Gorgovak, his new capital city, on October 28th, 993. This city would grow quickly and become a major hub of trade along the Danube, and was one of the largest cities in Europe by 1100.

## Kagor as King

### Transformation of the country

Through the rest of Kagor's reign, Mularak prospered and was able to successfully transition into a feudal state, with a mix of Avar, Türgeshi, Frankish, Slavic, and Bolghar culture. Though he was in the religious minority at the start of his reign, Kagor was hugely popular among the native Pannonians and Türgeshi settlers alike. The nation as a whole, centred on Gorgovak, became a major trading power in central Europe, using the Danube as a highway for trade with christian Europe. Though Kagor himself was a religious head, he didn't attempt to persecute the local Christians, and instead convinced them to convert, similarly to how he had converted Bishop Hranislav in the during the Pannonian conquests.

A trusted advisor and general under Kagor named Keçig Torghulid became the first Rekler of Mularak around this date. Though at this point this title was mostly honorary, it would become an integral part of Mular government in the following centuries.

It's thought that Kagor maintained good relations with his vassals, not asking much from them and giving them a good amount of autonomy over their respective states.

#### Beginning the conversion

Knowing that the vast majority of local Pannonians were not Tengri, Kagor built a massive temple in Gorgovak which still stands today as the Cim Gulay (Temple of Gulay), named after Kagor's wife. The Temple would continue to be worked on for the next four centuries.

Kagor worked extensively to convince the Pannonians that Tengri was the true religion. He and Aznar the wise, the second Diviner of Mularak, converted many of the native Mulars, proselytizing the majority of people in the heartland of the country. However, after Aznar's death in 1016, this conversion slowed down.

### Conflicts after conquest

#### Defending Mularak

Though Kagor had made his country feudal, the lands east of the Carpathians were still nomadic, and it was common for Türgeshi clans to invade Mularak. These clans would loot a multitude of towns and temples along the Danube, and so the economy in Wallachia was damaged. To prevent this from happening again, Kagor assembled a force and marched east to where one of these clans, led by a man named Maqraç, was raiding villages. The two forces met on June 9, 1002, and the Battle of Targu Jiu ended with Kagor crushing Maqraç's forces, sending him back east. After this battle very few clans would invade Mularak during Kagor's reign.

#### Foreign wars

Kagor formed an alliance with King Gawel of Bavaria, and helped him defend against the invading Christians in the early 1000s. The battle of Zelking between Kagor's forces and Moravia was an important victory for the Tengris. Soon after, Kagor helped Gawel's young son, Walenty, defend from various Frankish invasions. This series of wars helped legitimize Tengriism in Europe, as a valid rival to Christianity. Kagor won three more major battles: Ybbs, Linz, and Pongau, the latter of which had Kagor outnumbered.

In 1008, Kagor formed another alliance with Mazovia, within the future Polish state. When the Holy Roman Empire invaded Mazovia, Kagor defended the small nation, saving the future of the country.

Kagor supported Bavaria in the conquests of Moravia, and later Bohemia, and defended them in the Genoese invasion of 1022. The Genoese suffered two major defeats in Dachau and Schwaz. The war ended after a Genoese loss at München.

#### Raids outside Mularak

Kagor and his subjects led a multitude of raids against the surrounding area, the first of which raiding both Czech capitals in from November 1002 to January 1003. In 1011, Kagor led another raid into Catholic Bavaria, sieging the areas around Regensburg that summer and fall. Eventually, the local leader converted to Mular Tengri to avoid being raided in the future. It's thought that for most of Kagor's reign he conducted numerous raids in the Balkans, especially in the areas close to the Danube. The money gotten from the raided locations was used to build castles all over Mularak (though these castles were little more than small fortresses at the time).

#### Catholic revolts

In August of 1003, a revolt was started by Christians and quickly spread across Nitra. The leader of this revolt was a slav named Milos. At the time, Kagor was defending Bavaria from invading Catholics, so he couldn't originally quell the rebellion with his forces. However, Pakhtiyar, a major general and first Tengri Chief of Transylvania, volunteered to fight the rebels. He quickly travelled to Nitra and fought the enemy army on September 15th near Turoc and won, as the Catholics weren't organized. Milos was executed. A number of smaller revolts occurred over the course of Kagor's reign, the most major of which being in 1013, again in Nitra, and a 1029 revolt in Ungvar.

## Death and burial

After campaigning in Poland during the winter of 1034/5, Kagor rode back past the Mular border. He was seemingly in good health, until he fell ill while travelling through Nitra. He was bedridden, and had to stop the journey back to Gorgovak, and after a week or so he died on February 18, 1035. His oldest son, Baris, succeeded him west of the Carpathians, and Sabin Khan split from the country, owning the more wild lands east and south of the Carpathians. Transylvania stayed under Baris' control.

Kagor was the first Mular King and second person (after his daughter, Puyantay) to be buried in the crypts of Komarun, the castle that he began the building of.

## Legacy

Kagor is unarguably one of the most important individuals in Mular history, as he is credited to have founded the nation itself, even though he never truly mended relations between his Türgeshi subjects and native Pannonians during his lifetime. He is thought of as the person who made Tengriism be taken seriously in Europe, and a number of rulers and priests, even during his lifetime, were convinced and converted to his religion from Christianity.

He is seen as a military leader who incorporated his cavalry into his army to a point that they were central to his military might, and though later Mular armies had more traditional European organization the cavalry would be integral to them until the 20th century, 900 years later.

## Family

Kagor and his wife Gulay had at least 10 children.

* Baris, born in late 990, King of Mularak
* Tura, born in 994, wife of Baris
* Puyantay, born in 996, died young
* Maturkka, born in 999 or 1000, married a priest
* Kelnissa, born in 1002, married the high chief of Transylvania
* Larka, born in 1004, married a Lithuanian
* Gunes, born in 1007, married King Luder of Germany
* Guma, born in in 1010, twin
* Gumes, born in 1010, married Guma