The Chinese histories name some Göktürk khans after a side of the realm: the Western Khan, 西面可汗, and the Southern Khan, 南面可汗.[1] The names belong to the years when the khaganate had more than one khan. The Sui court tried to set these khans against each other.[1]

The Western Khan

The division by sides goes back to Taspar.[2] He set his nephew, the later Ishbara, over the eastern side as Erfu Khan. He placed Buli Khan, the son of his brother, in the west.[3] The Tongdian counts both as lesser khans.[4]

The personal name of Tardush was Dianjue, according to the Sui Shu. In its words he was Ishbara’s paternal uncle and had formerly been the Western Khan.[2] Ishbara fell on the people of Apa and killed Apa’s mother. Apa fled west to Tardush.[2] Tardush sent him back east with an army. Close to a hundred thousand horsemen of his tribes came over to Apa.[2] In 610 the Sui official Pei Ju described the house of Tardush in the same terms.[2] He told the emperor that Shegui was a grandson of Tardush, of a line that had been khans for generations and ruled the western side.[2]

The Southern Khan

The Southern Khan was a Sui plan.[5] Pei Ju, now in charge of the military affairs of the northern frontier, watched the following of Shibi Khan grow. He proposed to divide Shibi’s power.[5] The emperor would give a princess of the imperial clan to Shibi’s younger brother, Chiji Shad, and make him Southern Khan.[5] Chiji did not dare to accept.[5] Shibi heard of the offer and began to resent the Sui.[5]

Pei Ju then lured Shishu Huxi to a market at Mayi with the promise of trade and had him killed. Shishu Huxi was one of the Hu, the western foreigners at Shibi’s court.[5] Shibi understood what had happened and stopped coming to court.[5] In 615 he surrounded the emperor at Yanmen with several hundred thousand horsemen.[5] The offer of the title was the first of the Sui moves that turned Shibi against the court. The siege of Yanmen came at the end of them.[5]

References

  1. ^ a b Sui Shu (Book of Sui), juan 84; Sui Shu (Book of Sui), juan 67
  2. ^ a b c d e f Sui Shu (Book of Sui), juan 84
  3. ^ Sui Shu (Book of Sui), juan 84; Tongdian, juan 197
  4. ^ Tongdian, juan 197
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i Sui Shu (Book of Sui), juan 67

Sources

Related

What links here2

Persons
Chiji Shad · Pei Ju

Cite this article

Yavuz, Emre-E. “The Western and Southern Khans.” Turkic Atlas, revised 28 October 2026. https://turkicatlas.org/institutions/western-and-southern-khans/

Last revised: 28 October 2026