The Wei Shu tells how Nagai came to the throne of the Rouran. He refused it first.[1]
Election (492)
He was the paternal uncle of Tulun. When Afuzhiluo led the Gaoche west, Tulun and Nagai pursued them on two roads: Tulun north of Mount Junji, Nagai from the Golden Mountain.[2] Tulun was beaten again and again. Nagai won victory after victory. The people held that Heaven was helping him and wished to make him ruler.[2] Nagai refused: “I cannot even be a minister; how could I be ruler!” The people insisted. They killed Tulun and his mother and showed Nagai the corpses. Nagai then took the throne. He took the title Houqifudaikuzhe Khan, “joyful”, and proclaimed the era Tai’an.[1] In military affairs he was more successful than his nephew.[3]
Reign
The Rouran chapter records nothing of the fourteen years between his election and his death.[3] The general outline of his reign comes from the Gaoche side.[3] The Tiele remained a problem for Nagai. The Hephthalites attacked them devastatingly and may have acted in coordination with the Rouran. Even so, about 500 the Tiele again allied themselves with the Wei against Nagai.[3] The Gaoche chapter of the Wei Shu confirms the Hephthalite blow. The Hephthalites killed Afuzhiluo’s cousin Qiongqi and carried off his son Mi’etu. Qiongqi’s people scattered, some going to the Wei and some to the Rouran.[1]
Death
Nagai died, and his son Futu succeeded him with a new title and a new era.[1] The chapter does not give the year 506. It comes from modern scholarship.[3]
References
Sources
- Wei Shu, juan 103
Literature
- Peter B. Golden, An Introduction to the History of the Turkic Peoples (1992)
What links here5
- Persons
- Futu Khan · Tulun Khan
- Lineages
- Yujiulü
Cite this article
Yavuz, Emre-E. “Nagai Khan.” Turkic Atlas, revised 4 November 2026. https://turkicatlas.org/persons/nagai-khan/
Last revised: 4 November 2026
