Sulu was a general of the Türgesh khan Saqal. The eastern Göktürks withdrew from the west in 715, and Sulu then took the throne himself. He held it for twenty-one years.[1]

The western steppe after 715

Three powers pressed on the western steppe after 715. The Göktürk khaganate lay in the east, the Tang in the Tarim, and the caliphate was advancing from the south into Sogdiana. Sulu dealt with all three at once, and his marriages show how he did it. He made peace with the Tang in 722 and received an Ashina bride. He also married into the Göktürk and the Tibetan houses.[1]

A khan with a wife from every court is not indecisive. His country lies between all of them, and he buys the right not to be attacked from two sides at once.

Against the Arabs

He defeated the Muslim armies in 720 and again in 724. For a decade the advance of the caliphate into Transoxiana stopped where his cavalry could reach.[1] The Sogdian cities that Qutayba ibn Muslim had taken a few years before revolted with Türgesh support.

The Arabic tradition gave him a by-name: the butting one. A dangerous enemy gets such a name from the people he damaged.

The end

In 738 Sulu was killed by his own commanders. The Türgesh then split into two factions, the Yellow and the Black. They fought each other instead of the powers around them.

Within thirteen years the Talas decided the fate of the country he had defended. The decision lay between two empires that were not his, and the Türgesh were a side act in it.

Place in the record

Sulu is the last steppe ruler of the west who acted as a great power in his own right before Islam changed the terms. The Bilge Khan inscriptions treat him as a problem equal to the Tang. The eastern khaganate recalled Tonyukuk from exile partly because Sulu had set himself up as khan.[2]

References

  1. ^ a b c Golden 1992
  2. ^ Jiu Tangshu (Old Book of Tang), juan 194

Sources

Literature

  • Peter B. Golden, An Introduction to the History of the Turkic Peoples (1992)
  • Emre-E. Yavuz, The Gokturk Empire: 2nd Edition (2025)

Related

What links here7

Persons
Qutayba ibn Muslim
States
The Umayyad Caliphate · Türgesh Khaganate
Places
Talas
Institutions and Titles
Women among the Turkic Peoples
Religions
Islam
Customs & Pastimes
Seating at the Feast

Cite this article

Yavuz, Emre-E. “Sulu Khan.” Turkic Atlas, revised 7 November 2026. https://turkicatlas.org/persons/sulu-khan/

Last revised: 7 November 2026