The Göktürk–Sui wars, 582–603

Rouran epoch Göktürk epoch Uyghur epoch Kirghiz epoch

Rouran First Göktürk Tang rule Second Göktürk Uyghur Kirghiz Huns Western Göktürk Türgesh Karluk Khazar

Rouran 400–554
First Göktürk 552–630
Tang rule 630–682
Second Göktürk 682–744
Uyghur 744–840
Kirghiz 840–924
Huns 370–469
Western Göktürk 552–659
Türgesh 699–766
Karluk 766–800
Khazar 650–969

In these wars the Göktürks lost a war they had been winning. The decisive instrument of the Sui was not an army.

Origins

The Northern Zhou had paid the Göktürks to keep the peace. The Sui, who replaced the Zhou in 581, stopped paying. The Zhou princess who had been sent to the khan’s court, Princess Qianjin, had her own reason to want the new dynasty destroyed. The new dynasty had destroyed her house.^[1]

In 582 Ishbara invaded. The disputed succession had just been settled in his favour. As a result he came south with a state in which several men thought the throne should have been theirs.^[1]

Map of northern China and the eastern steppe, 582 to 583: the Göktürk Khaganate from the Tarim to the Khingan, three raids across the Long Wall in 582 towards Wuwei, Tianshui and Yan'an, the battle of Zhoupan, Ishbara's march from Ötüken to Baidao in 583, his defeat and withdrawal, and Apa's flight west — 582–583: In 582 the Göktürks under Ishbara cross the Long Wall and plunder the Sui frontier from Wuwei to Yan'an. In 583 Ishbara marches from Ötüken to Baidao, is defeated and withdraws, and Apa flees west to Tardush. Modern map; the roads of the raids are drawn.

Sui method

The Sui response was to widen the divisions within the khaganate. The Chinese sources state this as a deliberate policy. It worked on what the khaganate offered: rival khans, each with a following and each with a claim. No rule of succession was firm enough to settle which of them was right. Within two years the civil war had begun. From then on the Sui were no longer the Göktürks’ principal enemy. Other Göktürks were.

The second war, from 599, shows the same mechanism at full strength.^[1] Tardush in the west fought for the whole khaganate. The Sui raised Yami as khan under their protection and defended him.^[1] In 603 Tardush’s following broke up. He went west, and the sources lose track of him.^[2]

Outcome

In the end the eastern khaganate had a khan who held his place by Chinese arms. The western khaganate was a separate state. The histories treat the division of 582 as permanent. It was permanent: at no later moment does one khan rule from the Liao to the Oxus.

The recovery came from the same house within fifteen years. Yami’s son Shibi was strong enough to besiege a Sui emperor at Yanmen in 615. Even so, the recovery did not undo the split.^[1]