Hulü was the brother of Shelun and ruled the Rouran for four quiet years after the founder’s death, until a marriage he had arranged became the instrument of his deposition.[1]
Accession
When Shelun died on the road in 410, his son Duba was too young to command the people, and the tribes set up Shelun’s younger brother Hulü, with the title Aikugai Khan, which the Wei glossed as “of fine appearance and disposition”.[1] The same succession stands elsewhere, the brother taking the throne because the sons were too young, and there he is known under his title as Aikugai.[2]
Reign
He extended the state in the north by absorbing the country of Heshuyegu and in the east by breaking the Pilichen tribes.[1] In 411 several hundred of his own clansmen under Yuehou Duodigan came over to the Wei.[1] Towards the Wei themselves he was cautious: the chapter says that fearing their might he kept to himself and did not dare raid south, and that the northern frontier was quiet.[1]
Deposition (414)
In 414 he made a marriage alliance with Feng Ba, ruler of the Northern Yan at Helong, who betrothed Hulü’s daughter as his wife.[1] Buluzhen, the son of Hulü’s eldest brother, said to the khan that a young girl sent so far would fall ill of longing, and that the daughters of the great ministers Shuli and Wudiyan should be sent with her as companions; Hulü refused.[1] Buluzhen went out and told Shuli and the others that Hulü meant to send their daughters as companions to a distant country; Shuli and his fellows conspired, sent strong men by night to Hulü’s tent, seized him when he came out, and sent him together with his daughter to Helong as a bride’s escort.[1] They then set up Buluzhen.[1] At Helong Feng Ba made Hulü marquis of Shanggu; what became of him and his son there the chapter does not say.[1]
Assessment
The episode is the first recorded deposition of a Rouran khan by his own nobles, and the mechanism, a nephew’s intrigue among the great ministers, recurs in the house down to the murder of Chounu a century later. It also shows the khaganate in 414 already a court that neighbouring rulers sought in marriage, which is what Feng Ba’s proposal was.
References
Sources
- Wei Shu, juan 103
Literature
- Emre-E. Yavuz, The Gokturk Empire: 2nd Edition (2025)
- Peter B. Golden, An Introduction to the History of the Turkic Peoples (1992)
What links here4
- Persons
- Buluzhen Khan · Datan Khan · Shelun Khan
- Lineages
- Yujiulü
Cite this article
Yavuz, Emre-E. “Hulü Khan.” Turkic Atlas, revised 13 September 2026. https://turkicatlas.business-5d4.workers.dev/persons/hulu-khan/
Last revised: 13 September 2026