Tardushi

a term encountered in Orkhon-Enisei inscriptions, designating one of two subunits of the Turkic Kaganate. The kaganate, which consisted of a number of tribal unions, was divided for military and administrative purposes into two groupings according to geographic location: the Tardushi, which included the tribes living in the western part of the kaganate, and the Telisy, or Tolisy, which included the tribes living in the east. The troops of these groupings formed the right and left flanks of the Turkic army. Each grouping was governed by a shad, appointed by the kagan from the royal family.