TURKEY-SHATO – ETHNOS «ZHAT»: «FIVE DYNASTIES OF CHINA»

Abstract. The article examines the history of the ancient Turkic-Shato people during the period of the “Five Dynasties of China” in the context of interactions between proto-Turkic populations of Turkestan, the Tang dynasty, and the regions of Indochina. For the first time, various phonetic and semantic interpretations of the term “Shato” are analyzed, including “shat-o,” “bagargarām,” “jete,” “tsat,” “sot,” and “jakhed.” The author reconstructs the ancient ethnonym and proposes its connection with the concept “zhat,” interpreted as denoting “alien” or “foreign” origin. The aim of the article is to identify the historical, linguistic, and cultural commonality of the Turkic-Shato ethnos with the peoples of Central and Southeast Asia, as well as to substantiate the continuity of its development in transformed ethnonymic forms. To achieve this aim, the following objectives are set: to analyze sources on the history of the “Five Dynasties of China”; to compare various forms of the ethnonym; to investigate their linguistic transformations; and to reveal cultural and historical connections between the regions. The methodological framework of the study is based on Michel Foucault’s discourse analysis, which allows historical narratives to be considered as structured systems of knowledge characterized by multiplicity and discontinuity. In addition, comparative-historical and linguistic methods are employed. The conclusion asserts that the “zhat” ethnos did not disappear but transformed, preserving itself in the names of certain peoples and language groups. Its legacy can be traced in the cultural and linguistic space of India and Southeast Asia, indicating deeper and broader interconnections among ancient civilizations than is commonly assumed in traditional historiography.