Tulan Khan

Ishbara died in 587. He held Tulan to be weak of character, passed him over and willed the throne to his brother Bagha. Tulan served the new khan as yabgu.^[1] Bagha fell on a campaign in the west in 588, and his people raised Tulan as khan of the eastern Göktürks.^[1] The division of the khaganate was by then complete. Tulan inherited a state whose khan had made himself a vassal of the Sui three years before. He tried to undo this. He sought to restore the independence of the Turkic peoples from the Chinese. The Sui answered with the instrument that had served them against his predecessor, a prince of his own house.

Map of the Göktürk civil war, 587 to 588: Tardush in the west, Niri in Apa's following between the Tian Shan and the Khangai, the eastern khaganate under Bagha and from 588 under Tulan, Bagha's march west in 587 in which Apa was taken alive, and the war with Persia in 588, with the Sui and the Chen to the south — 587–588: Ishbara dies, and Bagha succeeds him in the east. Bagha marches west and takes Apa alive; Niri leads Apa's following. In 588 Bagha falls and Tulan succeeds, while the west is at war with Persia. Modern map; the roads are drawn, and the divisions within the khaganate are approximate.

Rivalry with Yami

The prince was Yami, Ishbara’s son. Yami held a local command under Tulan and wanted the throne. In 597 Yami sent a secret embassy to the Sui asking for a princess. The Sui official Pei Ju offered one on condition that Qianjin be removed. Qianjin was the Zhou princess who had survived Ishbara and was now Tulan’s wife. Yami had her murdered.^[2] Tulan was convinced that Chinese agents had done it, and he attacked the Sui. At every attack the Chinese armies were in the right place at the right time, because Yami and Pei Ju were corresponding.^[2] In the Sui Shu, Yami slandered the princess to Tulan, and Tulan himself killed her in his tent.^[1] Tulan learned of the betrayal and drove Yami out. Yami found refuge in China, a second princess, and the title of khan, which the Sui emperor conferred as a rival to Tulan.^[1]

Tardush and the end of the reign

In 599 Tulan and Tardush, the western yabgu, attacked Yami together. They killed his brothers, sons and nephews and drove him to the Sui court.^[1] The Sui sent an army against Tulan. Before it had left the frontier, Tulan was killed by his own followers.^[1] One account puts Tulan’s death in 603.^[2] Tardush proclaimed himself Bujia Khan, and the eastern realm fell into chaos.^[1] Tardush fell, and Yami took over his people. He marched into Ötüken with Göktürk and Chinese troops.^[1] The civil war ended with Tardush’s fall. The eastern khaganate spent its last three decades in the orbit of China.

Map of the Göktürk civil war, 597 to 599: Tardush in the west, Niri between the Tian Shan and the Khangai, Tulan in the east, Yami's pastures in the Ordos under Sui protection, the attack of Tulan and Tardush on Yami below the Long Wall in 599 and Yami's flight to Chang'an — 597–599: Yami, who has married a Sui princess, is attacked below the Long Wall in 599 by Tulan and Tardush. He flees to the Sui court at Chang'an and is made Qimin Khan, and the Sui give his people pastures in the Ordos. Modern map; the roads are drawn, and the divisions within the khaganate are approximate.

The Chinese histories give his title as Dulan. The Turkic form of his name is not recorded. His relation to Ishbara is given as a brother by the usual reckoning. The Sui Shu names him Yongyulü and makes him Ishbara’s son. In its account, his father’s dying wish passed him over as weak in favour of the uncle Bagha, and he was raised to the throne at that uncle’s death.