Hun (Tiele tribe)

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

The Hun were one of the nine tribes of the Toquz Oghuz confederation.^[1] Hun Shizhi appears in the Tang records of the 760s. He had earlier led the people. The Chinese account says that his family had held this role for several generations.^[1]

The name has nothing to do with the Huns of Europe. It is a Chinese transcription. In English it happens to be spelled with the same three letters. The two peoples are not to be confused.

References

^ a b Mackerras 1972, p. 142

Sources

Jiu Tangshu (Old Book of Tang), juan 194
Xin Tangshu (New Book of Tang), juan 215 (after Jiu Tangshu)

Literature

Colin Mackerras, The Uighur Empire According to the T'ang Dynastic Histories (1972)
Peter B. Golden, An Introduction to the History of the Turkic Peoples (1992)