Great Khan

Great Khan, 大可汗, is the title by which the Sui Shu and the Tang histories set one Göktürk khan above the others.^[1] The title answered a feature of the khaganate. From the reign of Taspar there was more than one khan at a time, so the question was always which of them stood first.^[1]

Several khans at once

Taspar set his nephew over the east as Erfu Khan. He set the son of his brother Rudan Khan over the west as Buli Khan.^[2] The Tongdian adds that both were lesser khans.^[3] The nephew took the throne as Ishbara. Taspar’s son Amrak then withdrew to the Tola as “second khan”, and Apa received the title Apa Khan.^[1] The Tongdian also notes that some khans ranked below a yabgu.^[3] The title khan alone therefore did not say who ruled.^[3]

Tulan and Shegui

In 597 the Sui gave the princess Anyi in marriage to Rangan, the Tuli Khan, the later Yami. They also moved him south.^[1] Tulan Khan was furious.^[1] “I am the Great Khan,” he said, “and I count for less than Rangan!”^[1] He broke off the tribute and began to raid the frontier.^[1]

In 610 the Sui offered the title to divide the west.^[1] Pei Ju advised the emperor Yangdi to split the khaganate of Heshana, then called Chuluo Khan, who would not come to court.^[1] Shegui, a grandson of Tardush, had sent envoys asking for a marriage. If the emperor made him Great Khan, Pei Ju said, the Göktürk power would be divided and both halves would follow the Sui.^[1] Yangdi told Shegui’s envoys that he would raise their lord to Great Khan once he had sent troops against Heshana.^[1] He gave them an arrow and told them the matter should go as fast as an arrow flies.^[1] Shegui attacked, and Heshana fled east with a few thousand horsemen.^[1]

The west after Tong Yabgu

The title was claimed again when Tong Yabgu was murdered.^[4] His uncle, Moheduo, had governed part of the tribes as a lesser khan. He called himself Great Khan, but the people would not follow him, as the Jiu Tang Shu and the Xin Tang Shu report.^[5] Moheduo was driven into the Altai and killed. The people then raised Tong Yabgu’s son, Si Yabgu, as Great Khan.^[5]

The view from Armenia

The Armenian history of Sebeos knows the same order from outside.^[6] It speaks of “the great Khakʿan, king of the regions of the north”, who could order the commander of an army on the Oxus home.^[7] The phrase implies one supreme ruler with seniority over several khagans.^[6]