Yinan was the grandson of Yishibo. Yishibo had led the Xueyantuo division at the edge of the Altai under the yabgu of the west.[1] When Tong Yabgu died in 628 and the western realm fell apart, Yinan took more than 70,000 households over to the Göktürks.[1]
He did not stay under them long. As Ilig’s rule gave way, he rose with his following, attacked Ilig and beat him decisively. Ilig’s own tribes came over and chose Yinan for their ruler.[1] He did not dare accept.[1]
He took the rule from China instead. Taizong was at that moment planning Ilig’s destruction. He sent a general north by a secret road with an imperial document. By it he proclaimed Yinan Zhenzhu Bilge Khan and gave him a drum and a banner.[1] Yinan sent back an embassy with the produce of his country. He set his tent-city at the foot of Ötüken.[1] He ruled the khaganate north of the desert for seventeen years. He moved his seat to the Tula in 630 and commanded 200,000 picked men.[2]
His one great campaign failed. In 641 he sent his son Dadu Shad with 200,000 men against Ashina Simo while the emperor was away at Mount Tai. The army was destroyed on the Nuozhen. Yinan then asked leave to make peace with the Göktürks and sent an envoy to apologise.[3] He died in 645. The khaganate he had built was broken the following year.[4]
References
Sources
- Jiu Tangshu (Old Book of Tang), juan 194
- Xin Tangshu (New Book of Tang), juan 215 (after Jiu Tangshu)
Literature
- Liu Mau-tsai, Çin Kaynaklarına Göre Doğu Türkleri (1958, Turkish edition)
What links here7
- Persons
- Tong Yabgu
- Battles & Events
- Revolt of the Tiele (627)
- Places
- Ötüken
- Institutions and Titles
- Bride-Price in Livestock · Drums and Banners for the Khans · Livestock Losses in the Annals
Cite this article
Yavuz, Emre-E. “Yinan Khan.” Turkic Atlas, revised 7 November 2026. https://turkicatlas.org/persons/yinan-khan/
Last revised: 7 November 2026
