Chorpan Tarkhan commanded the vanguard of the army of the north in the last year of the Caucasus campaign.[1] In 629 or 630 he destroyed a Persian army by Lake Sevan in Armenia.[2] He is known from the Armenian history of the Caucasian Albanians ascribed to Movses Dasxuranci.[1]

The vanguard

The history says that in the second year of Artashir, son of Kawat, king of Persia, the prince of the north decided to overrun Armenia and its neighbours.[1] That year ran from 17 June 629 to 27 April 630.[3] The prince chose about three thousand warriors from his army “and a prince of theirs called Čorpan Tʿarxan, a bold and bloodthirsty man”.[1] Tʿarxan is the Turkic title tarkhan.[3] The prince sent them ahead to prepare a safe road and to gather news of the Persian general. He followed a short distance behind with the whole army.[1]

In Armenia the vanguard learned that the Persian general was marching against it. It lay in ambush, watching the road.[1] The general, Shahrbaraz, sent Honah, the leader of the troop of Arab horse, with ten thousand men.[4] At the clash the northerners took flight. They then reappeared on both flanks and surrounded the Persians on the banks of the lake of Getam, Lake Sevan, in the battle of Lake Sevan.[4] Not one of the Persians escaped.[4] The history calls the victors Khazars.[4]

Other accounts

A modern account makes him a Göktürk officer. Börü Shad, as the deputy of the yabgu, sent his own subordinate Chorpan Tarkhan on a campaign into the eastern Caucasus.[5] His troops crossed the Armenian highlands and reached the river Aras. They secured the land south of it, so that the river became the frontier between the Göktürks and the Sasanians.[5] The Persians struck back with ten thousand horsemen. Chorpan withdrew into Armenia, drew them into a trap and destroyed their army.[5] A summary of the Armenian account makes him a general sent ahead by the king of the Khazars.[6] His victory was the last of the army of the north in the Caucasus. Soon afterwards the news of the murder of Tong Yabgu called the army back to the steppe.[5]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Movsēs Dasxurancʿi; Dowsett 1961, p. 104
  2. ^ Movsēs Dasxurancʿi; Dowsett 1961, p. 104–105
  3. ^ a b Dowsett 1961, p. 104
  4. ^ a b c d Movsēs Dasxurancʿi; Dowsett 1961, p. 105
  5. ^ a b c d Yavuz 2025, p. 371
  6. ^ Chavannes 1903, p. 255

Sources

Literature

  • Charles J. F. Dowsett (trans.), The History of the Caucasian Albanians by Movsēs Dasxuranci (1961)
  • Édouard Chavannes, Documents sur les Tou-Kiue (Turcs) occidentaux (1903)
  • Emre-E. Yavuz, The Gokturk Empire: 2nd Edition (2025)

Related

What links here3

Conflicts
The Caucasus campaign, 627–629
Battles & Events
Battle of Lake Sevan (629–630)
Places
Lake Sevan

Cite this article

Yavuz, Emre-E. “Chorpan Tarkhan.” Turkic Atlas, revised 8 November 2026. https://turkicatlas.org/persons/corpan-tarkhan/

Last revised: 8 November 2026