In the eighth month of 624, Ilig Khan and his nephew Töles, whom the Chinese call Tuli Khan, invaded the Tang with the whole strength of the state.[1] Their camps moved south one after another by way of Yuanzhou.[1] At Binzhou they met the army of Li Shimin, the prince of Qin. The war ended without a battle.[1] Li Shimin rode out to the Göktürk line and set the two khans against each other. Töles swore brotherhood with him.[1] Some scholars place Binzhou at Bin county in Shaanxi.[2]

Before the invasion

The Xin Tang Shu says that the Göktürks raided the Tang frontier every year.[3] In 624 they attacked Yuanzhou and Shuozhou and entered the country of Dai without success.[3] With the rebel Yuan Junzhang they then attacked Longzhou and Yinpan. Li Shimin and his brother Li Yuanji, the prince of Qi, were posted on the Binzhou road against them.[3]

In the seventh month, according to the Zizhi tongjian, a courtier told the emperor Gaozu why the Göktürks raided the country within the passes: its women and treasure were at Chang’an.[4] If Chang’an were burned and the capital moved, he said, the raids would stop.[4] Gaozu agreed. He sent Yuwen Shiji over the southern mountains to look for a new seat at Fan and Deng.[4] The crown prince, Li Yuanji and Pei Ji supported the plan.[4] Li Shimin alone objected. He said that the peoples of the steppe had always troubled China, and he asked for a few years in which to bring Ilig’s neck to the palace gate.[5] The emperor dropped the plan.[4]

The meeting before Binzhou

In the eighth month the Göktürks raided Yuanzhou, Xinzhou, Bingzhou and Suizhou. The capital was put under alert.[4] Long rains in the country within the passes had cut the supply roads. Li Shimin was anxious, and his generals showed their fear.[1] He halted at Binzhou.[1] Ilig and Töles suddenly appeared west of the town with more than ten thousand horse and drew up on the heights. The Tang soldiers were badly frightened.[1] The Xin Tang Shu names the place the Wulong slope. In its account the khan sends a few hundred horsemen forward to challenge.[3] The Zizhi tongjian dates the day as jimao.[4]

According to the Zizhi tongjian, Li Shimin asked his brother Li Yuanji to ride out with him, and Li Yuanji refused for fear.[4] Li Shimin then rode with a hundred horsemen to the Göktürk line.[1] The state and the khan, he called out, had sworn not to betray each other. The khan had broken the agreement and come deep into Tang land.[1] He was the prince of Qin, and he had come to decide it.[1] If the khan came out alone, the two of them would fight alone. If he came with all his army, the prince would face it with these hundred horse.[1] Ilig could not make him out. He laughed and did not answer.[1]

Li Shimin rode on and sent a horseman to Töles.[1] Töles, he said, had once sworn with him that each would help the other in need. Now Töles came against him with an army, without the feeling of their incense fire.[1] The words refer to incense burned at a sworn bond.[6] Töles did not answer either.[1] The prince made to cross the ditch. Ilig saw him ride out so lightly and heard the words about the incense fire, and he began to suspect his nephew.[1] He sent word that the prince need not cross. He meant no harm and wished only to settle matters with him.[1] He drew back a little, and both sides withdrew their troops.[1]

The rain

The Zizhi tongjian adds a second cause.[4] The rain grew heavier. Li Shimin told his generals that the Göktürks relied on their bows, whose glue and sinew were now soaked through.[4] The Göktürks, he said, were like birds with broken wings. His own men lived under roofs, ate cooked food and kept their blades sharp.[4] He led his army out secretly by night through the rain. The Göktürks were greatly alarmed.[4] The Xin Tang Shu also says that the rain slackened the Göktürk bows and arrows after the peace was made. The khan then broke camp.[3]

Peace and brotherhood

Li Shimin worked on Töles, who was won over and would not fight.[1] With uncle and nephew divided, Ilig could not fight either.[1] He sent Töles and the tegin Ashina Simo to ask for peace, and it was granted.[1] Töles attached himself to Li Shimin and asked to become his brother.[1] The Zizhi tongjian makes Ashina Simo a cousin of Ilig’s father.[4]

At the Tang court the emperor Gaozu raised Ashina Simo onto the imperial couch.[1] Simo bowed his head and firmly declined. Gaozu told him that seeing him was like seeing Ilig.[1] Simo was soon made prince of Heshun.[1]

The court then asked how the frontier could be held.[3] One official proposed boats on the Yellow River at Wuyuan and Lingwu. Wen Yanbo proposed a long trench of the kind the Wei had dug against the Xiongnu.[3] The emperor had the frontier road trenched and warships built.[3] Ilig sent an envoy asking to open a market at the Beilou pass. The emperor could not refuse him.[3]

The brotherhood sworn before Binzhou outlasted the war.[1] Years later Ilig attacked Töles. The emperor said that he could not fail to help a sworn brother, and the defection of Töles followed.[1]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa Jiu Tangshu (Old Book of Tang), juan 194
  2. ^ Mau-tsai 1958, Turkish edition, p. 184
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Xin Tangshu (New Book of Tang), juan 215
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Zizhi tongjian (Comprehensive Mirror in Aid of Governance), juan 191
  5. ^ Zizhi tongjian (Comprehensive Mirror in Aid of Governance), juan 191; Xin Tangshu (New Book of Tang), juan 215
  6. ^ Mau-tsai 1958, Turkish edition, p. 185

Sources

Literature

  • Liu Mau-tsai, Çin Kaynaklarına Göre Doğu Türkleri (1958, Turkish edition)

Related

What links here5

Persons
Ilig Khan · Töles Khan
Conflicts
Tang conquest of the eastern Khaganate, 626–630
Battles & Events
Defection of Töles (628) · The Göktürk Campaign of 622

Cite this article

Yavuz, Emre-E. “The Standoff at Binzhou (624).” Turkic Atlas, revised 8 November 2026. https://turkicatlas.org/events/binzhou-standoff-624/

Last revised: 8 November 2026