A Göktürk khagan called three great khagans to his aid when his kinsman Turum rose against him. Sparzeugun was one of the three.[1] In his summary of the khagan’s letter to the emperor Maurice, Theophylact Simocatta names Sparzeugun first of the three, before Kunaxolan and Tuldich.[1]
Turum’s party had gained the upper hand in battle when the khagan sent his embassy to the three.[1] The three assembled their whole array at Ikar, a place in great plains.[1] Turum fell there. His allies fled.[1] Theophylact says nothing more of Sparzeugun.[1]
The three khagans remain unidentified.[2] Some scholars propose the Turkic Išbara Jabğu for Sparzeugun, an Ishbara with the title yabgu, and mark the proposal with a question mark.[2] They list Σπαρζευγοῦν, read as Išbara Jabğu, among the Greek forms of the title yabgu khan, beside Ziebel and Silziboulos.[3] Others decline to name any of the three without fragile hypotheses.[4] These proposals differ on the date of the revolt, and with it on the time of Sparzeugun. They range from 581 to about 598.[2]
References
Sources
Literature
- Michael Whitby, Mary Whitby (trans.), The History of Theophylact Simocatta (1986)
- Carl de Boor (ed.), Theophylacti Simocattae Historiae (1887)
- Immanuel Bekker (ed.), Theophylacti Simocattae Historiarum libri octo (1834)
- Peter B. Golden, An Introduction to the History of the Turkic Peoples (1992)
- Édouard Chavannes, Documents sur les Tou-Kiue (Turcs) occidentaux (1903)
What links here6
- Battles & Events
- Revolt of Turum
- Places
- Ikar
- Sources
- Theophylact Simocatta
Cite this article
Yavuz, Emre-E. “Sparzeugun.” Turkic Atlas, revised 8 November 2026. https://turkicatlas.org/persons/sparzeugun/
Last revised: 8 November 2026
