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Themes & paths
Where to begin. The themes lead to an overview of one field each. The reading paths are series of articles that build on one another, with a line on why each comes where it does.
Themes
Four ways in by subject. Each leads to an overview that names the main articles of its field.
Overview The Great Empires of the Steppe From the Xiongnu to the Kirghiz: who ruled the steppe, from where, and how each empire ended. Begin here 
Overview The Economy of the Steppe Empires Herds and pastures, fields in the oases, iron and salt, silk and horses: what the steppe empires lived on. Begin here 
Overview Culture of the Turkic Peoples Feasts and songs, hunting and games, felt and dress, the burial of the dead and the first Turkic script. Begin here 
Reading path Turkic Cosmology Tengri and the sacred Earth-and-Water, the fortune called kut, the law called töre: the ideas on which Göktürk rule stood. Begin here Getting Started with Turkic History
7 articles
The Age of the Xiongnu and the Huns
The first steppe empires, from the third century BC to Attila
8 articles
The Rise of the Göktürks
From smiths of the Rouran to masters of the Silk Road, 546 to 576
6 articles
The Fall of the Göktürks
Civil war, defeat and fifty years under the Tang, 584 to 682
- The Göktürk Civil War
- Tang conquest of the eastern Khaganate, 626–630
- The Court Debate of 630
- Loose-rein prefectures
- The Göktürk interregnum, 630–682
- Göktürk war of restoration, 679–687
Crown and upper runes of the Kül Tegin stone, photographed by the Finnish expedition of 1890. Inscriptions de l’Orkhon, Helsingfors 1892, Tab. 2; National Library of Finland, Public domain.
5 articles
The Rebirth of the Göktürks
The Second Khaganate, 682 to 744
Upper part of the south face of the first Tonyukuk stone, photographed in June 1909 by G. J. Ramstedt and Sakari Pälsi (cropped). Finnish Heritage Agency, VKK532:464, CC BY 4.0.
8 articles
Uyghurs and Kirghiz
The khaganates after the Göktürks, 744 to 924
- Uyghur Khaganate
- Kutlug Bilge Kül Khan
- Bayanchur Khan
- An Lushan
- Karabalghasun inscription
- The fall of Ordu-Balık, 840
- Yenisei Kirghiz Khaganate
- Are Khan
Fragment of the dragon crown of the Karabalghasun stone, photographed by the Finnish expedition of 1890. Inscriptions de l’Orkhon, Helsingfors 1892, Tab. 46; National Library of Finland, Public domain.
The Göktürks
Four chapters of one history, 542 to 628, and two paths through their world
Chapter I · 542–552 · 7 articles
The Turkic War of Independence
From a raid on the Chinese frontier to the taking of Ötüken, 542 to 552
Chapter II · 552–581 · 7 articles
The Ashina Dynasty
Five rulers and one assembly, 552 to 581
Chapter III · 552–589 · 8 articles
Istemi's Journey to the West
From the Altai to the Oxus, the Caucasus and the Crimea, 552 to 589
- Istemi
- The Göktürk–Hephthalite war, 555–563
- Göktürk Expansion along the Silk Road
- The Göktürk–Sasanian Trade Conflict
- The Göktürk–Byzantine alliance
- Göktürk Expansion into Europe
- Turkic Tribes in Europe
- Göktürk–Persian war, 588–589
Funerary couch of An Jia, a Sogdian sabao at the Zhou court who died in 579, three of its back panels: a meeting of riders and talks at a low table, a feast in a yurt with a laden camel below, a banquet with dancers. Shaanxi History Museum, Xi’an. Photograph: Gary Todd, 2019, CC0.
Chapter IV · 581–628 · 10 articles
Partition of the First Göktürk Empire
How one khaganate became two, and what the western one became
Themes
4 articles
Names, titles and claims
What the words mean and who says so
Runes on the east face of the Kül Tegin stone, photographed by the Finnish expedition of 1890. Inscriptions de l’Orkhon, Helsingfors 1892, Tab. 4; National Library of Finland, Public domain.
Further paths
11 articles
Rise and Fall of the Rouran Empire
The empire the Göktürks overthrew, told as its own story
- Rouran Khaganate
- Rouran Domination of the Turkic Peoples
- Tiele
- Rise of Anagui Khan
- Revolt of the Six Garrisons
- Empress Yujiulü
- Eastern Wei
- Anagui
- Battle of Dzungaria, 552
- Battle of Huaihuang, 552
- Issik Khan
Envoy of the Rouran, labelled 芮芮國, from a copy of Emperor Yuan of Liang’s “Foreign Visitors Coming to Court”. National Palace Museum, Taipei, 故畫001389N, CC BY 4.0 @ www.npm.gov.tw.
15 articles
The Xiongnu
The first steppe empire, from Duman to the end of the northern chanyus
- Xiongnu
- Duman (Touman)
- Bagatur (Modu Chanyu)
- Donghu
- Siege of Baideng
- Heqin
- Laoshang Chanyu
- Mayi ambush
- The Xiongnu–Han Wars
- Mobei campaign, 119 BC
- Huhanye Chanyu
- Zhizhi Chanyu
- Xiongnu split of 48
- Han campaigns against the Northern Xiongnu
- The Huns and the Xiongnu
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 49.132, Rogers Fund, 1949. Open Access, public domain (CC0).
