By decade

World chronology

This page shows what was happening in three parts of the world at the same time. Each row is one decade. The first column holds the steppe, the second China with Korea and Tibet, the third Persia, Rome and the caliphate that replaced Persia. Read a row across to see what was going on elsewhere while something happened in the steppe; read a column down to follow one region on its own.

The steppe 935 — Mongolia, the western steppe, the Tarim and Sogdiana
China, Korea and Tibet 163 — The dynasties of the north and south, Korea, and the Tibetan empire
Persia, Rome and the caliphate 83 — The Sasanians, Byzantium, the Caucasus between them, and the Arab empire that replaced Persia

1181 entries in 144 decades. A year set in bold opens its own page, where the same material stands year by year with the sources beside it. The Steppe Chronology gives every entry in one column, with the marks for politics, culture, economy, technology and environment.

25th century BC

Decade	The steppe	China, Korea and Tibet	Persia, Rome and the caliphate
2490s BC	2500 BC The Afanasevo culture reaches the Yenisei-Minusinsk region and the Altai by the middle of the third millennium: Europoid stockbreeders with some metal-working, whose contacts point west to the Pontic steppe The steppe before the Xiongnu 2500 BC History of the Turkic peoples — begins History of the Turkic peoples

20th century BC

Decade	The steppe	China, Korea and Tibet	Persia, Rome and the caliphate
1990s BC	2000 BC The Okunevo culture replaces Afanasevo in South Siberia at the beginning of the second millennium: a population probably from the Siberian forest belt, with stockbreeding and metallurgy more emphasised The steppe before the Xiongnu

15th century BC

Decade	The steppe	China, Korea and Tibet	Persia, Rome and the caliphate
1490s BC	1500 BC Andronovo-type cultures, of western Eurasian origin and most probably Indo-Iranian, stretch from the Pontic steppe to the Yenisei from about 1500 BC; about the same time, by an uncertain dating, riding is developed enough for a true culture of mounted riders The steppe before the Xiongnu

13th century BC

Decade	The steppe	China, Korea and Tibet	Persia, Rome and the caliphate
1290s BC	1300 BC The Karasuk culture in the Minusinsk region, about 1300 to 800 BC, transhumant or semi-nomadic, breeding camels among other animals; the transition to pastoral nomadism is placed at its end The steppe before the Xiongnu

10th century BC

Decade	The steppe	China, Korea and Tibet	Persia, Rome and the caliphate
990s BC	1000 BC The Cimmerians, an equestrian nomadic people whose ethnic identity is undetermined, hold the western steppe from about 1000 to 800 BC The steppe before the Xiongnu 1000 BC Cimmerians — begins Cimmerians

8th century BC

Decade	The steppe	China, Korea and Tibet	Persia, Rome and the caliphate
790s BC	800 BC The Scythians, coming from the east, take the western steppe from the Cimmerians in the late ninth or early eighth century and soon raid the Near East The steppe before the Xiongnu 800 BC The Tagar culture supplants Karasuk in the Minusinsk region; beyond it the Early Nomads, equestrian pastoralists of probable Scytho-Saka origin organised in tribal unions, and the coming of iron to the region The steppe before the Xiongnu 800 BC Saka — begins Saka 800 BC Scythians — begins Scythians
770s BC		771 BC The fall of the Western Zhou, attributed to the attacks of raiders from the steppe: cavalry warfare attested in the Inner Asian–East Asian borderlands in the eighth century The steppe before the Xiongnu

7th century BC

Decade	The steppe	China, Korea and Tibet	Persia, Rome and the caliphate
690s BC	700 BC The bridle developed among the nomads of the Altai, about the seventh century; horses ritually slaughtered and buried with their owners, and transportable dwellings The steppe before the Xiongnu
680s BC	690 BC Cavalry warfare attested in western Eurasia by about 690 BC, with the Cimmerians and the Scythians who supplanted them; Cimmerian and then Scythian raids on the Near East in the eighth to sixth centuries The steppe before the Xiongnu

6th century BC

Decade	The steppe	China, Korea and Tibet	Persia, Rome and the caliphate
590s BC	600 BC The Royal Scythians, the ruling tribe of Herodotus's day, migrate into the Pontic steppe about 600 BC; Achaemenid attempts to conquer the Scytho-Saka nomads meet limited success The steppe before the Xiongnu 600 BC Cimmerians — ends Cimmerians

5th century BC

Decade	The steppe	China, Korea and Tibet	Persia, Rome and the caliphate
490s BC	500 BC Egiin Gol — begins Egiin Gol

4th century BC

Decade	The steppe	China, Korea and Tibet	Persia, Rome and the caliphate
400s BC	410 BC Equestrian nomadism adopted, possibly, by elements of the Turkic and other Altaic-speaking peoples by the late fifth century BC; the Scytho-Siberian cultural community takes shape with Scytho-Saka elements in the lead The steppe before the Xiongnu
390s BC	400 BC Sarmatians — begins Sarmatians
340s BC	350 BC The Sarmatians challenge and end Scythian hegemony in the western steppe, early in the fourth century or in the third to second century BC The steppe before the Xiongnu 350 BC Berel — begins Berel

3rd century BC

Decade	The steppe	China, Korea and Tibet	Persia, Rome and the caliphate
290s BC	300 BC Camels — begins Camels 300 BC Donghu — begins Donghu 300 BC Sheep — begins Sheep 300 BC Xiongnu Herds — begins Xiongnu Herds 300 BC Scythians — ends Scythians
210s BC		215 BC The Qin push Duman north from the Ordos and build the fortifications that became the Great Wall Xiongnu

2nd century BC

Decade	The steppe	China, Korea and Tibet
200s BC	210 BC The Xiongnu appear with the full panoply of the steppe warrior: compound bow, whistling arrows, swords, lances and maces Xiongnu 210 BC Meng Tian dies Meng Tian 209 BC Modu kills his father Duman and becomes Chanyu of the Xiongnu Xiongnu 209 BC Twenty-four leaders of ten thousand each, subdivided on decimal lines: the Xiongnu military order that later steppe states copied Xiongnu 209 BC Modu's wars: the Donghu in the east, the Yuezhi in the west, the peoples of the north, and the Han at Baideng — begins Xiongnu 209 BC Xiongnu confederation, from Modu's seizure of power to the Xianbei victory that ends the Northern Xiongnu — begins Xiongnu 209 BC Modu rules the Xiongnu — begins Bagatur (Modu Chanyu) 209 BC Archaeogenetics of the Steppe Empires — begins Archaeogenetics of the Steppe Empires 209 BC Army of the Steppe Empires — begins Army of the Steppe Empires 209 BC Chanyu — begins Chanyu 209 BC Luandi — begins Luandi 209 BC The Göktürks and the Xiongnu — begins The Göktürks and the Xiongnu 209 BC The Great Empires of the Steppe — begins The Great Empires of the Steppe 209 BC The language of the Xiongnu — begins The language of the Xiongnu 209 BC Warfare of the Steppe Empires — begins Warfare of the Steppe Empires 209 BC Worthy Kings of the Left and Right — begins Worthy Kings of the Left and Right 209 BC Xiongnu Agriculture — begins Xiongnu Agriculture 209 BC Xiongnu: Making the First Steppe Empire — begins Xiongnu: Making the First Steppe Empire 209 BC Yuezhi — begins Yuezhi 209 BC The steppe before the Xiongnu — ends The steppe before the Xiongnu 206 BC Modu destroys the Donghu after giving them a horse, a consort and nothing else Bagatur (Modu Chanyu) 206 BC Wuhuan — begins Wuhuan 202 BC Han dynasty — begins Han dynasty 201 BC Modu brings the Hunyu, Qushe, Dingling, Gekun (Kirghiz) and Xinli under Xiongnu control Xiongnu
190s BC	200 BC The Han–Xiongnu heqin treaties The Han–Xiongnu heqin treaties 200 BC Modu's wars: the Donghu in the east, the Yuezhi in the west, the peoples of the north, and the Han at Baideng — ends Xiongnu 200 BC Bronze Mirrors of the Steppe — begins Bronze Mirrors of the Steppe 200 BC Captives and the Unfree — begins Captives and the Unfree 200 BC Craftsmen in the Steppe Empires — begins Craftsmen in the Steppe Empires 200 BC Dingling — begins Dingling 200 BC Diplomacy of the Steppe Empires — begins Diplomacy of the Steppe Empires 200 BC Envoys and Embassies — begins Envoys and Embassies 200 BC Lacquerware — begins Lacquerware 200 BC Seasonal Pastures — begins Seasonal Pastures 200 BC The Xiongnu–Han Wars — begins The Xiongnu–Han Wars 200 BC Tribute Missions and Bestowals — begins Tribute Missions and Bestowals 200 BC Wood and Woodworking — begins Wood and Woodworking 200 BC Xiongnu Pottery — begins Xiongnu Pottery 198 BC Heqin — begins Heqin	200 BC Modu besieges the Han emperor Gaozu at Baideng; the first heqin marriage and yearly gifts follow Xiongnu
170s BC	177 BC Xiongnu wars in the west against the Yuezhi and the Wusun — begins Xiongnu 176 BC Modu's letter to the Han court reports the conquest of the Yuezhi, Loulan, Wusun and Hujie Xiongnu 174 BC Modu dies; his son Laoshang succeeds and crushes the Yuezhi Xiongnu 174 BC Laoshang rules the Xiongnu — begins Laoshang Chanyu 174 BC Modu rules the Xiongnu — ends Bagatur (Modu Chanyu) 174 BC Gold of the Xiongnu Court — begins Gold of the Xiongnu Court
160s BC	162 BC Xiongnu wars in the west against the Yuezhi and the Wusun — ends Xiongnu 161 BC Junchen rules the Xiongnu — begins Junchen Chanyu 161 BC Laoshang rules the Xiongnu — ends Laoshang Chanyu	166 BC Laoshang invades China; the Han acquiesce for a time in Xiongnu dominance of the nomadic north Xiongnu
140s BC	150 BC Ivolga — begins Ivolga 150 BC Kangju — begins Kangju
130s BC		133 BC The Han hide 300,000 men around Mayi and offer the town to Junchen; he turns back short of it and the heqin settlement ends Mayi ambush
120s BC	130 BC Wusun — begins Wusun 130 BC Yuezhi — ends Yuezhi 127 BC First of the great Han offensives under Wudi against the Xiongnu Xiongnu 127 BC Wudi's wars against the Xiongnu: the great offensives of 127, 121 and 119 BC — begins Xiongnu 126 BC Junchen rules the Xiongnu — ends Junchen Chanyu 121 BC Second great Han offensive against the Xiongnu Xiongnu
110s BC	119 BC Han troops penetrate as far as Lake Baikal; the Xiongnu are pushed deeper into the steppe Xiongnu 119 BC Mobei campaign, 119 BC Mobei campaign, 119 BC 119 BC Wudi's wars against the Xiongnu: the great offensives of 127, 121 and 119 BC — ends Xiongnu 119 BC Zhao Xin City — begins Zhao Xin City 117 BC Huo Qubing dies Huo Qubing 114 BC Yizhixie Chanyu dies Yizhixie Chanyu

1st century BC

Decade	The steppe	China, Korea and Tibet
100s BC	106 BC Wei Qing dies Wei Qing 105 BC Wuwei Chanyu dies Wuwei Chanyu 105 BC Livestock Losses in the Annals — begins Livestock Losses in the Annals 102 BC Er Chanyu dies Er Chanyu 101 BC Xulihu Chanyu dies Xulihu Chanyu 101 BC Han Military Farms in the Western Regions — begins Han Military Farms in the Western Regions 101 BC Luntai — begins Luntai 101 BC Quli — begins Quli
90s BC	100 BC Qiedihou Chanyu sends home the Han envoys who had not surrendered; the Han answer with Su Wu and rich gifts, and the chanyu grows arrogant Xiongnu 100 BC Noin Ula — begins Noin Ula 100 BC Tashtyk Culture — begins Tashtyk Culture 100 BC Saka — ends Saka 99 BC The Kirghiz descent from Li Ling — begins The Kirghiz descent from Li Ling 96 BC Qiedihou Chanyu dies Qiedihou Chanyu 91 BC Shiji compiled Shiji
80s BC	90 BC Zhao Xin City — ends Zhao Xin City 89 BC Li Guangli dies Li Guangli 87 BC Emperor Wu of Han dies Emperor Wu of Han 86 BC Jin Midi dies Jin Midi 85 BC Hulugu Chanyu dies Hulugu Chanyu
70s BC	77 BC Shanshan — begins Shanshan 71 BC Wusun, Dingling and Wuhuan attack the Xiongnu from three sides after a Xiongnu army is destroyed by winter storms; three in ten die of hunger Xiongnu
60s BC	68 BC Huyandi Chanyu dies Huyandi Chanyu
50s BC	60 BC Internecine strife among the Xiongnu; the beginning of the first division Xiongnu 60 BC Civil wars of the Xiongnu: the strife of the chanyus, then Huhanye against Zhizhi — begins Xiongnu 60 BC Xulüquanqu Chanyu dies Xulüquanqu Chanyu 60 BC Wulei — begins Wulei 60 BC Tongpu Duwei — ends Tongpu Duwei 58 BC Huhanye rules the Xiongnu — begins Huhanye Chanyu 58 BC Woyanqudi Chanyu dies Woyanqudi Chanyu 56 BC Zhizhi rules a separate Xiongnu realm against his brother — begins Zhizhi Chanyu 51 BC Han Bestowals on the Chanyu — begins Han Bestowals on the Chanyu 51 BC Gold of the Xiongnu Court — ends Gold of the Xiongnu Court	53 BC Huhanye moves his people south to the Han frontier and sends his son to court as a hostage: the submission of the southern Xiongnu Xiongnu 51 BC Huhanye appears before the emperor at the Ganquan palace, ranked above the vassal kings and addressed without his personal name Xiongnu
40s BC	44 BC Zhizhi breaks the Jiankun, receives the submission of the Wujie and the Dingling, and makes his capital on the Yenisei Zhizhi Chanyu
30s BC	36 BC Zhizhi, Chanyu of the northern Xiongnu, is killed by Han forces in Kangju; 1,518 of his three thousand die with him Xiongnu 36 BC Civil wars of the Xiongnu: the strife of the chanyus, then Huhanye against Zhizhi — ends Xiongnu 36 BC Zhizhi rules a separate Xiongnu realm against his brother — ends Zhizhi Chanyu 31 BC Huhanye rules the Xiongnu — ends Huhanye Chanyu
10s BC	20 BC Fuzhulei Chanyu dies Fuzhulei Chanyu	11 BC Kangju sends a son to the Han court; the Protector General writes that it wants to trade and that its words are a pretence Kangju

0th century

Decade	The steppe	China, Korea and Tibet	Persia, Rome and the caliphate
0s	1 Gol Mod — begins Gol Mod

1st century

Decade	The steppe	China, Korea and Tibet
40s	48 A succession struggle divides the Xiongnu into a northern and a southern confederation; the southern falls under Han control Xiongnu 48 Horse and Camel Races at the Xiongnu Sacrifices — begins Horse and Camel Races at the Xiongnu Sacrifices	48 The Southern Xiongnu realm is founded under a chanyu who takes his grandfather's title, Huhanye — begins Southern Xiongnu
50s	52 Han Reply to the Northern Xiongnu (AD 52) Han Reply to the Northern Xiongnu (AD 52) 56 Bi Chanyu dies Bi Chanyu
80s	84 Northern Xiongnu Market at Wuwei (AD 84) Northern Xiongnu Market at Wuwei (AD 84) 87 The Xianbei break the Northern Xiongnu and kill the Youliu Chanyu; 58 tribes and 200,000 people surrender to the Han Han campaigns against the Northern Xiongnu 87 Han campaigns with the southern Xiongnu, the Xianbei and the Wuhuan against the northern Xiongnu — begins Xiongnu 89 The Han and their Xianbei and Wuhuan allies defeat the Northern Xiongnu; the campaigns run from 87 to 93 and the northern Xiongnu go west Xiongnu
90s	91 The Huns and the Xiongnu — begins The Huns and the Xiongnu 91 Yueban — begins Yueban 92 Dou Xian dies Dou Xian 93 Han campaigns with the southern Xiongnu, the Xianbei and the Wuhuan against the northern Xiongnu — ends Xiongnu 93 Han campaigns against the Northern Xiongnu — ends Han campaigns against the Northern Xiongnu 93 The Xiongnu–Han Wars — ends The Xiongnu–Han Wars
100s	100 Alans — begins Alans 100 Noin Ula — ends Noin Ula 100 Xiongnu Herds — ends Xiongnu Herds 100 Xiongnu Pottery — ends Xiongnu Pottery 102 Ban Chao dies Ban Chao	109 The Southern Xiongnu revolt with the Wuhuan and part of the Xianbei; the rising is put down Xiongnu

2nd century

Decade	The steppe	China, Korea and Tibet	Persia, Rome and the caliphate
110s	111 Han Shu compiled Han Shu
130s	130 Gol Mod — ends Gol Mod
140s	143 Han Bestowals on the Chanyu — ends Han Bestowals on the Chanyu
150s	155 The Xianbei crush the Northern Xiongnu's attempt to recover their old lands; the Northern Xiongnu fade from view Xiongnu 155 Xiongnu confederation, from Modu's seizure of power to the Xianbei victory that ends the Northern Xiongnu — ends Xiongnu 155 Xiongnu Agriculture — ends Xiongnu Agriculture
170s	177 Chinese Weaponsmiths among the Xianbei — begins Chinese Weaponsmiths among the Xianbei
180s	181 Tanshihuai dies Tanshihuai
200s	200 Egiin Gol — ends Egiin Gol 206 Wuhuan — ends Wuhuan

3rd century

Decade	The steppe	China, Korea and Tibet
210s	216 Five Divisions of the Xiongnu — begins Five Divisions of the Xiongnu 216 Chanyu — ends Chanyu 216 Luandi — ends Luandi	216 The Southern Xiongnu realm is founded under a chanyu who takes his grandfather's title, Huhanye — ends Southern Xiongnu
220s	220 Han dynasty — ends Han dynasty 222 Chinese Weaponsmiths among the Xianbei — ends Chinese Weaponsmiths among the Xianbei 224 Sasanian Persia — begins Sasanian Persia
230s	235 Kebineng dies Kebineng 235 Xianbei — ends Xianbei
250s	250 Duan — begins Duan 250 Yuwen — begins Yuwen
280s	280 Murong — begins Murong
300s	300 Jie — begins Jie 300 Tuyuhun — begins Tuyuhun 300 Kangju — ends Kangju 300 Worthy Kings of the Left and Right — ends Worthy Kings of the Left and Right 304 Xiongnu Han — begins Xiongnu Han 304 Five Divisions of the Xiongnu — ends Five Divisions of the Xiongnu	304 Former Zhao (Northern Han), a dynasty of Xiongnu origin in northern China — begins Xiongnu

4th century

Decade	The steppe	China, Korea and Tibet	Persia, Rome and the caliphate
310s	311 The language of the Xiongnu — ends The language of the Xiongnu 313 The Sogdian language — begins The Sogdian language	311 The Xiongnu Han take Luoyang; a Sogdian merchant in Gansu reports the fall and calls the conquerors Huns Xiongnu Han 313 The Sogdian Ancient Letters, written probably in 313, show Sogdian merchants settled in Gansu and the Chinese capitals Sogdians
320s	329 Xiongnu Han — ends Xiongnu Han	329 Former Zhao (Northern Han), a dynasty of Xiongnu origin in northern China — ends Xiongnu
330s	330 Byzantium — begins Byzantium 337 Former Yan — begins Former Yan
340s	340 Duan — ends Duan
350s		350 Ran Min orders the massacre of all Xiongnu in the Later Zhao realm; officials can tell them from Chinese only by nose and beard Xiongnu
360s	360 Jie — ends Jie
370s	370 The Huns subdue the Alans of the Don and break the Gothic realm of Hermanaric; the Goths flee to the Danube — begins Hunnic conquest of the Goths 370 Hunnic Empire, from the conquest of the Alans and the Goths north of the Black Sea to the death of Dengizich — begins Hunnic Empire 370 Former Yan — ends Former Yan 370 Amilzuri — begins Amilzuri 370 Boisci — begins Boisci 370 Itimari — begins Itimari 370 The Hunnic language — begins The Hunnic language 370 Tounsoures — begins Tounsoures 376 The Huns subdue the Alans of the Don and break the Gothic realm of Hermanaric; the Goths flee to the Danube — ends Hunnic conquest of the Goths		377 Hard pressed in the Balkans, the Goths win some of the Huns and Alans as allies with the hope of great booty Huns
380s	380 Hunnic Cauldrons — begins Hunnic Cauldrons 380 Hunnic Diadems — begins Hunnic Diadems 380 Qifu — begins Qifu 380 Wagons of the Steppe Peoples — begins Wagons of the Steppe Peoples 384 Later Yan — begins Later Yan 385 Coinage of the Huna Peoples — begins Coinage of the Huna Peoples 386 Northern Wei — begins Northern Wei 386 Tuoba — begins Tuoba 386 Yujiulü — begins Yujiulü
390s	390 Alchon Huns — begins Alchon Huns 390 Tufa — begins Tufa 394 Shelun and his brother Heduohan abandon their father and flee west; Heduohan is killed by the Wei, Shelun takes refuge with his uncle Pihouba Shelun Khan 395 Western Roman Empire — begins Western Roman Empire 399 The Battue — begins The Battue	398 Northern Liang, a dynasty of Xiongnu (Juqu) origin in Gansu, whose fall to the Wei sends the Ashina to the Rouran — begins Xiongnu	395 The Huns, apparently driven by famine in the steppe, raid through the Caucasus into Sasanian and Roman lands Hunnic invasion of 395
400s	400 Shelun gathers a following in the Gobi, defeats the Tiele and takes the title khagan Rouran Khaganate 400 Rouran Khaganate — begins Rouran Khaganate 400 Bride-Price in Livestock — begins Bride-Price in Livestock 400 Gepids — begins Gepids 400 Ötüken — begins Ötüken 400 Rouran Domination of the Turkic Peoples — begins Rouran Domination of the Turkic Peoples 400 The origin of the Old Turkic script — begins The origin of the Old Turkic script 400 Sarmatians — ends Sarmatians 402 Shelun raids the Wei frontier while Daowu campaigns against Yao Xing; ten thousand Wei horse fail to catch him Shelun Khan 402 Shelun Khan reigns over the Rouran, the first ruler of the steppe to bear the title khan — begins Shelun Khan 402 The Rouran–Wei wars, 402–449 — begins The Rouran–Wei wars, 402–449 407 Later Yan — ends Later Yan		408 The Hun king Uldin invades Thrace Uldin

5th century

Decade	The steppe	China, Korea and Tibet	Persia, Rome and the caliphate
410s	410 Shelun dies on the road in flight before Mingyuan's campaign; his brother Hulü becomes khan Shelun Khan 410 Hulü Khan reigns over the Rouran — begins Hulü Khan 410 Shelun Khan reigns over the Rouran, the first ruler of the steppe to bear the title khan — ends Shelun Khan 414 Hulü is seized in his tent by the ministers at Buluzhen's instigation and sent to Feng Ba's court with his daughter; Buluzhen is set up and strangled by Datan within the year Hulü Khan 414 Buluzhen Khan reigns over the Rouran for part of a year — begins Buluzhen Khan 414 Datan Khan reigns over the Rouran — begins Datan Khan 414 Buluzhen Khan reigns over the Rouran for part of a year — ends Buluzhen Khan 414 Hulü Khan reigns over the Rouran — ends Hulü Khan 414 Tufa — ends Tufa
420s	420 Kidarites — begins Kidarites 424 Datan raids Yunzhong and surrounds the young emperor Taiwu fifty ranks deep; he withdraws after his nephew is shot Datan Khan 424 The Northern Wei against the Rouran under Taiwu: Datan's raid on Yunzhong, the five-road campaign, the crossing of the desert — begins Rouran Khaganate 424 Six Garrisons — begins Six Garrisons 425 Taiwu marches into the steppe on five roads; Datan's people flee north Datan Khan 429 The Gaoche Herds of 429 The Gaoche Herds of 429 429 The Northern Wei against the Rouran under Taiwu: Datan's raid on Yunzhong, the five-road campaign, the crossing of the desert — ends Rouran Khaganate 429 Wuti Khan reigns over the Rouran — begins Wuti Khan 429 Datan Khan reigns over the Rouran — ends Datan Khan	429 Taiwu crosses the Gobi and scatters the Rouran at the Li river; more than three hundred thousand surrender and Datan dies Rouran Khaganate
430s	430 Octar dies Octar 430 Logades — begins Logades 431 Qifu — ends Qifu 434 Rua, king of the Huns, dies; his nephews Bleda and Attila succeed him together Rua 434 Wuti marries the Wei princess of Xihai and gives the emperor his sister; the first marriage alliance between the Rouran and the Wei Wuti Khan 434 Attila rules the Huns, together with his brother Bleda until about 445 and alone after him — begins Attila 435 Sorosgi — begins Sorosgi 435 Amilzuri — ends Amilzuri 435 Boisci — ends Boisci 435 Itimari — ends Itimari 435 Tounsoures — ends Tounsoures 436 Wuti breaks the peace with the Wei and raids the frontier Wuti Khan 436 Murong — ends Murong 438 Taiwu marches north on three roads to the Tianshan in a year of drought and finds no Rouran Wuti Khan 439 The Northern Liang capitulate to the Northern Wei; the Ashina flee with five hundred families to the Rouran and work iron for them on the Golden Mountain The Flight of the Ashina (439) 439 Vandals — begins Vandals	436 The Northern Wei attack the Northern Liang in Gansu; the Ashina village destroyed, by the legend Ashina 439 Northern Liang, a dynasty of Xiongnu (Juqu) origin in Gansu, whose fall to the Wei sends the Ashina to the Rouran — ends Xiongnu	435 Treaty of Margus: the eastern Romans double the yearly tribute to the Huns from 350 to 700 pounds of gold Treaty of Margus
440s	440 Towns founded and walls built in Sogdiana under the Kidarites: Panjikent, Paikent, Bukhara; the citadel of Samarkand raised Sogdiana 440 Akatziri — begins Akatziri 440 Sorosgi — ends Sorosgi 444 Wuti Khan reigns over the Rouran — ends Wuti Khan 445 Attila has his brother Bleda killed and unites the Huns under his own rule Bleda 445 Hou Han Shu compiled Hou Han Shu 445 Sword of Mars — begins Sword of Mars 449 Embassy of Maximinus to Attila's court, with Priscus; the plot of Chrysaphius and Edeco against Attila comes to light Embassy of Maximinus to Attila 449 Tuhezhen besieges the Wei eastern column under the prince of Gaoliang, breaks off and is pursued nine days and nights; a million people and stock are taken Tuhezhen Khan 449 Tuhezhen Khan reigns over the Rouran — begins Tuhezhen Khan 449 Kamos — begins Kamos 449 Kamos — ends Kamos 449 The Rouran–Wei wars, 402–449 — ends The Rouran–Wei wars, 402–449	441 Sogdian embassies to China break off; they resume in 457 under a Kidarite king Sogdiana	441 Attila's wars in the Balkans: the Huns take the Danube cities, beat the eastern armies and force up the tribute — begins Attila's Balkan wars 442 The Huns take Naissus, the birthplace of Constantine, with siege engines; the city lies desolate until Justinian Siege of Naissus 443 Peace of Anatolius: the eastern Romans hand back the fugitives, pay 6,000 pounds of gold in arrears and raise the tribute to 2,100 pounds a year Peace of Anatolius 447 On the river Utus the Huns defeat the eastern field army; its commander Arnegisclus falls Attila's Balkan wars 447 Attila's wars in the Balkans: the Huns take the Danube cities, beat the eastern armies and force up the tribute — ends Attila's Balkan wars
450s	450 Sogdian colonists found the first towns of Semirech'e, Suyab and Navaket among them, as estates of nobles Suyab 450 The Ashina, settled on the Golden Mountain under the Rouran, work iron; the Sui Shu's 工於鐵作 Ashina 450 Chrysaphius dies Chrysaphius 450 Hephthalites — begins Hephthalites 450 Hunnic Cauldrons — ends Hunnic Cauldrons 450 Hunnic Diadems — ends Hunnic Diadems 451 Battle on the Catalaunian Plains: Aetius and the Visigoths meet Attila, the Visigothic king Theodorid falls, and Attila withdraws behind his wagons Battle of the Catalaunian Plains 451 Attila invades Gaul with the Huns and the subject peoples — begins Hunnic invasion of Gaul, 451 451 Attila invades Gaul with the Huns and the subject peoples — ends Hunnic invasion of Gaul, 451 452 Attila invades Italy and destroys Aquileia, then takes Milan and Ticinum; he turns back without reaching Rome — begins Hunnic invasion of Italy, 452 452 Attila invades Italy and destroys Aquileia, then takes Milan and Ticinum; he turns back without reaching Rome — ends Hunnic invasion of Italy, 452 453 Attila dies in the night after his marriage to Ildico; the Huns mourn him with their own blood and bury him by night Death of Attila 453 Attila rules the Huns, together with his brother Bleda until about 445 and alone after him — ends Attila 453 Maximinus dies Maximinus 453 Thorismund dies Thorismund 453 Strava — begins Strava 453 Logades — ends Logades 453 Strava — ends Strava 453 Sword of Mars — ends Sword of Mars 454 At the Nedao in Pannonia the subject peoples under the Gepid king Ardaric defeat Attila's sons; his eldest son Ellac falls Battle of the Nedao 454 Aetius dies Aetius 454 Angisciri — begins Angisciri 454 Bardores — begins Bardores 454 Bittugures — begins Bittugures 454 Ultzinzures — begins Ultzinzures 455 Valentinian III dies Valentinian III 455 Vandals — ends Vandals 457 A Xiongnu king, Huni, third of his line, holds Samarkand when Sogdian embassies to the Wei resume; the Kidarites in Sogdiana Samarkand 458 The emperor Wencheng crosses the desert with a hundred thousand horse and a hundred and fifty thousand carts; Tuhezhen flees Tuhezhen Khan		450 Theodosius II dies; his successor Marcian refuses to pay the Huns their tribute Marcian
460s	460 The Rouran subdue the Tiele in the west Rouran Khaganate 460 Nezak Shahs — begins Nezak Shahs 463 Driven west by the Sabirs, the Saragurs, Urogi and Onogurs send envoys to Constantinople; the Saragurs defeat the Akatziri Saragurs 463 Oghur Turkic — begins Oghur Turkic 463 Ogurs — begins Ogurs 463 Turkic Tribes in Europe — begins Turkic Tribes in Europe 464 Yucheng proclaims the era Yongkang, the first Rouran reign era Yucheng Khan 464 Yucheng Khan reigns over the Rouran — begins Yucheng Khan 464 Tuhezhen Khan reigns over the Rouran — ends Tuhezhen Khan 467 Akatziri — ends Akatziri 467 Saragurs — ends Saragurs 469 Hunnic Empire, from the conquest of the Alans and the Goths north of the Black Sea to the death of Dengizich — ends Hunnic Empire 469 The Hunnic language — ends The Hunnic language 469 The Huns and the Xiongnu — ends The Huns and the Xiongnu		465 The Persian king Peroz tries to end his war with the Kidarite Huns by a false marriage; their king Kunchas kills or maims 300 Persian nobles Kidarites 466 Attila's sons ask the emperor Leo for peace and a market on the Danube and are refused Dengizich 467 The Hun officer Chelchal turns the blockaded Goths against the Huns among them; the survivors break through the Roman lines Chelchal 468 A Persian embassy announces in Constantinople the defeat of the Kidarite Huns and the capture of their city Balaam Kidarites 469 Attila's son Dengizich falls against the Roman general Anagastes; his head is brought to Constantinople Dengizich
470s	470 A merchant dies near Hohhot with his goods, Byzantine and Sasanian silver cups and a gold coin of Leo I Sogdians 470 The emperor Xianwen defeats Yucheng at the Nü river with fifty thousand dead and renames it the Wuchuan Yucheng Khan 470 Angisciri — ends Angisciri 470 Bardores — ends Bardores 470 Goths — ends Goths 474 Ultzinzures — ends Ultzinzures 475 Yucheng asks the Wei for a marriage and is refused with a lecture in the rites Yucheng Khan 476 Western Roman Empire — ends Western Roman Empire 476 Orestes dies Orestes
480s	480 Bulgars — begins Bulgars 485 Tulun Khan succeeds his father Yucheng and kills the minister Shiluohou who counselled peace Tulun Khan 485 Tulun Khan reigns over the Rouran — begins Tulun Khan 485 Yucheng Khan reigns over the Rouran — ends Yucheng Khan 487 Afuzhiluo leads more than a hundred thousand tents of Gaoche out of the Rouran khaganate and founds a kingdom north-west of Gaochang Gaoche secession (487) 487 Gaoche — begins Gaoche 487 Afuzhiluo rules the Gaoche kingdom north-west of Gaochang as 'great son of heaven' — begins Afuzhiluo 487 Fufuluo — begins Fufuluo 488 Bittugures — ends Bittugures	481 A stupa deposit at Dingxian, south-west of Beijing, holds forty-one Sasanian silver coins Sogdians	484 Peroz falls to the Hephthalites; the Sasanians pay them a colossal tribute in silver for decades Hephthalites
490s	490 Afuzhiluo sends the merchant Yuezhe to the Wei with two arrows and an offer to destroy the Rouran Afuzhiluo 490 The khan of the Gaoju at Beshbalik sends a hu merchant, Yuezhe, to the Wei court against the Rouran Sogdians 492 Beaten repeatedly by Afuzhiluo, Tulun is killed with his mother by his own people, who make his uncle Nagai khan Tulun Khan 492 Nagai Khan reigns over the Rouran — begins Nagai Khan 492 Tulun Khan reigns over the Rouran — ends Tulun Khan 494 Buyeo — ends Buyeo
500s	500 Baidie Cotton — begins Baidie Cotton 500 Farming and Taxes in Gaochang — begins Farming and Taxes in Gaochang 500 Dingling — ends Dingling 502 Mumocheng — begins Mumocheng 506 Futu sends Wuliuba to the Wei asking for peace and is refused; refused again in 508 Futu Khan 506 Futu Khan reigns over the Rouran — begins Futu Khan 506 Nagai Khan reigns over the Rouran — ends Nagai Khan 508 The Tiele rise successfully; the Rouran khan Tahan is beaten and killed by their leader Mietu Tiele 508 The Tiele against the Rouran: Futu killed by Mietu, Chounu's victory in the west — begins Tiele 508 Chounu Khan reigns over the Rouran — begins Chounu Khan 508 Futu Khan reigns over the Rouran — ends Futu Khan 509 Hephthalite embassies replace Sogdian ones at the Chinese court; the Hephthalite conquest of Sogdiana Hephthalites 509 Kidarites — ends Kidarites

6th century

Decade	The steppe	China, Korea and Tibet	Persia, Rome and the caliphate
510s	511 Chounu sends the monk Hongxuan to the Wei court with a jewelled image, the earliest notice of Buddhism at the Rouran court Chounu Khan 516 Chounu marches west, crushes the Gaoche, captures and kills their king Mi'etu and makes his skull a drinking cup Chounu Khan 516 The Tiele against the Rouran: Futu killed by Mietu, Chounu's victory in the west — ends Tiele
520s	520 Anagui marches west and breaks the Tiele in Dzungaria after their decade of independence Anagui 520 Anagui takes the Rouran throne out of the civil war of the Yujiulü Anagui 520 Chounu's mother has the shamaness Diwan strangled; Chounu, beaten by the Azhiluo, is killed by his mother and ministers Diwan 520 Sasanian silver is the currency of all Central Asia to Gansu, spread by the Sogdians from the Hephthalite treasury; the Hephthalite realm at its height Sogdians 520 Civil war of the Yujiulü: Anagui driven out by Shifa, Boluomen raised, both at the Wei court — begins Anagui 520 Anagui rules the Rouran — begins Anagui 520 Chounu Khan reigns over the Rouran — ends Chounu Khan 521 Poluomen destroys the usurper Shifa and is made khan; driven out by the Gaoche, he surrenders at Liangzhou and is settled at Dunhuang Poluomen Khan 521 Civil war of the Yujiulü: Anagui driven out by Shifa, Boluomen raised, both at the Wei court — ends Anagui 521 Poluomen Khan rules the Rouran during Anagui's exile — begins Poluomen Khan 521 Poluomen Khan rules the Rouran during Anagui's exile — ends Poluomen Khan 523 Hunger in the eastern steppe; Anagui takes the Rouran south to plunder the Six Garrisons Anagui 523 Revolt of the Six Garrisons — begins Revolt of the Six Garrisons 524 Poluomen, captured after trying to defect to the Hephthalites, dies in the lodge south of the Luo at Luoyang Poluomen Khan 525 Lacquerware — ends Lacquerware	523 In a year of hunger Anagui attacks the Six Garrisons of the Northern Wei and fails to take them Anagui 525 Drought and hunger in the Hetao plain behind the Six Garrisons; the garrisons revolt Anagui 525 The Six Garrisons revolt; the Wei emperor calls in the Rouran, who suppress the rising and plunder the rebel districts Anagui	527 Justinian on the Roman throne: the reconquest of Africa and Italy, the codification of the law, and the embassies that first look for allies beyond Persia — begins Byzantium
530s	530 Revolt of the Six Garrisons — ends Revolt of the Six Garrisons 534 The Northern Wei split into the Eastern and Western Wei Northern Wei 534 Eastern Wei — begins Eastern Wei 534 Northern Wei — ends Northern Wei 534 Six Garrisons — ends Six Garrisons 536 A great eruption in the northern hemisphere; the sun dimmed from 24 March for up to eighteen months; the coldest summer of two thousand years Climate and the steppe empires 536 Extreme weather in the eastern steppe, by the tree rings; one reading takes the six-year length of Bumin's war as a consequence The Turkic War of Independence 536 Late Antique Little Ice Age: the cold phase the Altai tree rings define from 536 to about 660 Climate and the steppe empires	534 Hegemony Wars in Northern China: the wars from the break-up of the Northern Wei to the Tang capture of Ilig — begins Hegemony Wars in Northern China 535 Western Wei — begins Western Wei 537 Yuwen Tai defeats Gao Huan at Shayuan in the bend of the Wei river; seventy thousand of the eastern army are taken Western Wei 538 Anagui's eldest daughter reaches Chang'an and becomes empress of the Western Wei; the empress Yifu is deposed Western Wei	531 Khosrow I on the Persian throne: the reform of the army and the land tax, the destruction of the Hephthalites with Istemi, and the closing of the frontier against the Göktürk silk — begins Khosrow I 537 The Hagia Sophia is dedicated in Constantinople Byzantium
540s	540 A tropical eruption, larger than Tambora in its aerosol; summers cold again from 541 to almost 550 Climate and the steppe empires 540 Empress Yujiulü dies Empress Yujiulü 541 Gaoche — ends Gaoche 541 Fufuluo — ends Fufuluo 542 Tuwu dies and Bumin takes hold of the Ashina Bumin Khan 545 The Göktürk–Wei alliance The Göktürk–Wei alliance 545 Yuwen Tai sends the Sogdian An Nuopantuo to the Göktürks; Bumin receives the Western Wei embassy Western Wei embassy of 545 545 Chinese transcriptions of Turkic — begins Chinese transcriptions of Turkic 545 Post and Communication — begins Post and Communication 545 Silk in the Steppe — begins Silk in the Steppe 545 Turkic-Sogdian Synthesis — begins Turkic-Sogdian Synthesis 546 Anagui refuses Bumin a princess and calls him his blacksmith slave; Bumin kills the envoy; the War of Independence begins The Rouran Marriage Refusal (546) 546 Bumin intercepts the Tiele rising against the Rouran and defeats them; more than fifty thousand submit to him Defeat of the Tiele, 546 546 The Turkic War of Independence — begins The Turkic War of Independence 546 The Chile Song — begins The Chile Song 546 The Göktürk–Rouran Wars — begins The Göktürk–Rouran Wars 547 A third, smaller eruption closes the volcanic cluster that opened the cold phase Climate and the steppe empires 547 Gao Huan dies Gao Huan 547 The Chile Song — ends The Chile Song 548 Utigurs — begins Utigurs 549 Sabao — begins Sabao	540 The Rouran cross the Yellow River against the Western Wei; the deposed empress Yifu is ordered to take her life Western Wei 542 Göktürk horsemen cross a frozen river into Western Wei territory and withdraw without a battle Göktürk raid of 542 546 Bumin returns an embassy of his own to the Western Wei court Bumin Khan	541 The Justinianic plague breaks out across the eastern Roman empire after the food shortages of the first cold Climate and the steppe empires
550s	550 Eastern Wei — ends Eastern Wei 550 Princess Linhe dies Princess Linhe 550 Tomb of Princess Linhe compiled Tomb of Princess Linhe 550 Apa Tarkan — begins Apa Tarkan 550 Göktürk Face-Cutting — begins Göktürk Face-Cutting 550 Horses in Göktürk Law — begins Horses in Göktürk Law 550 Stone Figures — begins Stone Figures 551 Bumin marries the Western Wei princess Changle; the alliance secured by Yuwen Tai Bumin Khan 551 Kutrigurs — begins Kutrigurs 552 A Rouran force sent west is beaten by the Göktürks in Dzungaria Battle of Dzungaria, 552 552 Anagui dies, by his own hand according to the Chinese account; the Rouran nobility scatters south and west Anagui 552 At the founding of the state the Göktürks write in a script like that of the hu, by the Zhou Shu; the Sogdian alphabet, by the literature Sogdians 552 Bumin dies within the year of his victory, on the usual reading; his son Issik succeeds him Bumin Khan 552 Bumin enters Ötüken and takes the title Illig Khan; the First Göktürk Khaganate is founded Bumin Khan 552 The Kizil mural near Kucha showing armoured newcomers received by the city's rulers, dated to this year by one reading Istemi 552 The Turkic War of Independence — ends The Turkic War of Independence 552 First Göktürk Khaganate — begins First Göktürk Khaganate 552 Western Göktürk Khaganate: Istemi's wing, a state of its own after the civil war, to the capture of Ashina Helu — begins Western Göktürk Khaganate 552 Bumin Khan reigns — begins Bumin Khan 552 Issik Khan reigns — begins Issik Khan 552 Istemi holds the western wing as yabgu — begins Istemi 552 Anagui rules the Rouran — ends Anagui 552 Bumin Khan reigns — ends Bumin Khan 552 Illig — begins Illig 552 Lesser Khan — begins Lesser Khan 552 The Old Turkic script — begins The Old Turkic script 552 Rouran Domination of the Turkic Peoples — ends Rouran Domination of the Turkic Peoples 552 The Göktürks and the Xiongnu — ends The Göktürks and the Xiongnu 553 Issik dies, of an illness by the Chinese account; his brother Mukan succeeds Issik Khan 553 Istemi leads an army west from the Altai Istemi 553 Istemi reaches the Seven Rivers Istemi 553 Mukan Khan reigns — begins Mukan Khan 553 Issik Khan reigns — ends Issik Khan 553 Göktürk Expansion along the Silk Road — begins Göktürk Expansion along the Silk Road 553 Mukan's Eastern and Northern Wars — begins Mukan's Eastern and Northern Wars 554 Mukan conquers the Kirghiz on the Yenisei and the Khitan in the east — begins Mukan Khan 554 Rouran Khaganate — ends Rouran Khaganate 554 Wei Shu compiled Wei Shu 554 Yujiulü — ends Yujiulü 555 Istemi's army reaches Lake Balkhash in the Seven Rivers country Istemi 555 Istemi and Khosrow destroy the Hephthalite realm — begins Hephthalites 557 The Avars flee west before the Göktürks and reach the Alans north of the Caucasus Flight of the Avars (557) 557 The Göktürk–Zhou alliance The Göktürk–Zhou alliance 557 The Zhou envoy Yang Jian persuades Mukan to keep the marriage promise against his brother, the Ditou Khan The Bargain with Mukan (562–563) 557 Göktürk Expansion into Europe — begins Göktürk Expansion into Europe 557 The Zhou–Qi war, 557–577 — begins The Zhou–Qi war, 557–577 557 Tuoba — ends Tuoba	550 The Northern Qi replace the Eastern Wei in north-eastern China Northern Qi 551 Ten thousand Göktürks appear on the frontier of Koguryŏ and besiege several towns, by a Korean source The Turkic War of Independence 552 The main Rouran army is destroyed north of Huaihuang Battle of Huaihuang, 552 552 The Northern Qi attack Göktürk territory on behalf of the Rouran exiles Issik Khan 552 The Qi emperor Wenxuan has a long wall thrown up from the Huanglu pass north to the Shegan garrison, over four hundred li, with thirty-six garrisons on it Northern Qi 553 Issik breaks Dengshuzi's Rouran at Mount Mulai north of Woye, on the edge of the Ordos Battle of Mount Mulai (553) 553 The Göktürks send the Western Wei some fifty thousand horses and receive several hundred thousand bolts of silk Issik Khan 553 The Qi emperor deposes Kuti, sets up Anagui's son Anlouchen as ruler of the Rouran remnant on the Mayi river, and pursues the Göktürks to Shuozhou The Qi March to Shuozhou (553) 553 The Qi emperor forces Dengzhu to march against the Göktürks Issik Khan 553 Yuwen Tai leads thirty thousand horsemen to Guzang; the Tuyuhun send tribute; Shi Ning intercepts a Tuyuhun embassy returning from the Qi Western Wei 554 Anlouchen rises against the Qi; the emperor beats him in the third month and takes his wife and children and thirty thousand people in the fourth Anluochen 554 The last Göktürk victory over the Rouran remnant Rouran Khaganate 554 Western Wei armies take Jiangling; the Liang emperor Yuan is killed and more than a hundred thousand people are enslaved Western Wei 555 The Qi emperor rides from the White Road with five thousand light horse, catches the Rouran at Huaishuo and at Woye, and takes more than twenty thousand people Anluochen 555 The Qi levy a million eight hundred thousand men and carry the wall from Xiakou north of Youzhou to Hengzhou, over nine hundred li; front and rear the Qi walls run three thousand li Northern Qi 555 The Rouran who fled to the Western Wei are handed to Mukan's envoys at his request; some three thousand are killed outside the Qingmen gate of Chang'an The Qingmen Executions (555) 555 The Western Wei seize Dengshuzi and three thousand Rouran at Mukan's request and hand them to the Göktürk envoys The Qingmen Executions (555) 556 Mukan Khan and the Western Wei general Shi Ning take Hezhen and Shudun from the Tuyuhun Göktürk–Wei Campaign against Tuyuhun (556) 556 Yuwen Tai dies at Yunyang; his son takes his offices Western Wei 557 The Western Wei give way to the Northern Zhou Northern Zhou 557 Yuwen Jue takes the throne at Chang'an as Heavenly King of the Zhou Northern Zhou 557 Northern Zhou — begins Northern Zhou 557 Western Wei — ends Western Wei	555 Byzantium has silkworms of its own, smuggled from the east by two Sogdians through the young khaganate Istemi 558 The Avars bring the stirrup to Europe, by one reading, which infers that the Göktürks had it too Avars
560s	560 Istemi takes Bukhara; the Hephthalite realm is destroyed in concert with Khosrow I Battle of Bukhara 560 Mukan drives the Khitan off to the east and annexes the Qigu, the Kirghiz, in the north Mukan's Eastern and Northern Wars 560 New canal irrigation spreads through the Chach oasis and the towns grow with it, in the decades in which the Göktürk empire sets a tudun over Chach from Otrar Chach 560 Mukan conquers the Kirghiz on the Yenisei and the Khitan in the east — ends Mukan Khan 560 The Göktürk–Sasanian Trade Conflict — begins The Göktürk–Sasanian Trade Conflict 563 Istemi and Khosrow destroy the Hephthalite realm — ends Hephthalites 565 A Zhou delegation of a hundred and twenty under Yuwen Chun comes for Mukan's daughter and is held Mukan Khan 565 Coinage of the Huna Peoples — ends Coinage of the Huna Peoples 567 Avar Craftsmen — begins Avar Craftsmen 567 Gepids — ends Gepids 568 Göktürk traders offer the Romans iron when Zemarchos reaches Sogdiana; the smiths of the Altai a generation on Istemi 568 The Göktürk–Byzantine alliance The Göktürk–Byzantine alliance 568 Yang Zhong dies Yang Zhong 569 Istemi receives Zemarchos at Ektag on a golden throne and takes him on a raid toward Persia Zemarchos 569 Istemi's campaign against Persia, 569 Istemi's campaign against Persia, 569 569 Emperor Wucheng of Northern Qi dies Emperor Wucheng of Northern Qi	563 A Göktürk and Zhou army enters Qi territory and advances on Jinyang; Yang Zhong brings ten thousand men, Mukan a hundred thousand horse Mukan Khan 563 Göktürks and Zhou armies against the Northern Qi at Jinyang — begins Mukan Khan 564 The assault on Jinyang fails in the first month; Mukan plunders the country and goes home, and in the spring the Qi force the allies back Mukan Khan 564 Yang Zhong reports to the Zhou emperor that the Göktürks have bad armour, light rewards, many chiefs and no laws Hegemony Wars in Northern China 564 Yuwen Hu's offensive on Luoyang collapses; Mukan, who had come at the appointed time, withdraws The Woye and Luoyang Campaign (564) 564 Göktürks and Zhou armies against the Northern Qi at Jinyang — ends Mukan Khan 565 Four dukes and a hundred and twenty women go to Mukan's camp to fetch the empress and are kept there for years Empress Ashina 568 A storm damages Mukan's golden tent; his daughter goes to Chang'an and becomes empress of the Northern Zhou Mukan Khan	560 Istemi meets Khosrow at Gurgan; the border fixed along the Oxus; Faganish surrendered; a daughter of Istemi married to Khosrow Istemi 565 Justinian on the Roman throne: the reconquest of Africa and Italy, the codification of the law, and the embassies that first look for allies beyond Persia — ends Byzantium 568 Istemi's letter to Justin II is written in Scythian letters: Old Turkic by one reading, the Sogdian alphabet by the literature on the Sogdians Istemi 568 Khosrow burns the goods of a Sogdian embassy and poisons a Göktürk one at Ctesiphon Istemi 568 Maniakh reaches Constantinople; Justin II receives him and the Göktürks and the Romans become allies Maniakh 569 The khagan Sinjibu, that is Istemi, comes with 110,000 men to the gate of Sul and demands money; Khosrow, behind his new fortifications, refuses, and the khagan goes home Khosrow I 569 Zemarchos leaves Constantinople for the Göktürks Zemarchos
570s	570 Maniakh dies Maniakh 570 The Göktürk–Sasanian Trade Conflict — ends The Göktürk–Sasanian Trade Conflict 571 Tomb of Kang Ye compiled Tomb of Kang Ye 572 Mukan dies; his brother Taspar succeeds; envoys from Zhou and Qi hurry to the new khan Mukan Khan 572 Taspar sets his nephews Ishbara and Börü as lesser khans in the east and west of his domain Taspar Khan 572 Taspar Khan reigns — begins Taspar Khan 572 Mukan Khan reigns — ends Mukan Khan 572 Hulü Guang dies Hulü Guang 572 Buddhism among the Göktürks — begins Buddhism among the Göktürks 572 Mukan's Eastern and Northern Wars — ends Mukan's Eastern and Northern Wars 574 An eruption dated in the ice to 574, and a cold summer after it in the northern tree rings Climate and the steppe empires 576 Istemi dies; his son Tardush succeeds him as yabgu and moves the western seat to Suyab Istemi 576 Siege of Bosporos, 576 Siege of Bosporos, 576 576 Tardush rules the western wing — begins Tardush 576 Istemi holds the western wing as yabgu — ends Istemi 576 Dochia — begins Dochia 576 Dochia — ends Dochia 576 Ektag — ends Ektag 576 Utigurs — ends Utigurs 577 The Zhou–Qi war, 557–577 — ends The Zhou–Qi war, 557–577 578 The Chinese monk Huilin converts Taspar, who builds him a pagoda; no other Göktürks follows Taspar Khan 579 Tiberius tells the envoys of the Avars that the Göktürks lie encamped near Cherson in the Crimea Siege of Bosporos, 576 579 Tomb of An Jia compiled Tomb of An Jia	572 Emperor Wu kills the regent Yuwen Hu; Hu's son is killed on embassy among the Göktürks Northern Zhou 572 The Zhou give Taspar a hundred thousand pieces of silk a year and the Qi empty their treasury to match; the surplus goes west with the Sogdians Hegemony Wars in Northern China 574 Emperor Wu abolishes Buddhism and Daoism in the Zhou lands Northern Zhou 577 The Northern Zhou conquer the Northern Qi; Gao Shaoyi flees to Taspar's court Taspar Khan 578 Emperor Wu leads the six armies north against Taspar and dies on the way back Northern Zhou 578 Taspar raids the Zhou frontier again in the eleventh month, besieges Jiuquan and plunders the country around it The Siege of Jiuquan (578) 578 The Göktürks enter Youzhou on behalf of the Qi resistance; the Zhou emperor Wu dies Taspar Khan 578 Taspar's war with the Northern Zhou for the Qi resistance under Gao Shaoyi — begins Taspar Khan 579 The Zhou call up the men of the eastern provinces to repair the Long Wall against the Göktürks Northern Zhou	571 Zemarchos returns to Constantinople with the Göktürk embassy of Tagma Tarkhan Zemarchos 573 After taking Dara, Khosrow I sends two thousand captive maidens to the Göktürks; on the road they drown themselves in a river Khosrow's gift of maidens (573) 575 Some hundred and six Göktürks are resident in Constantinople Istemi 576 The embassy of Valentinos is received; Göktürk forces besiege Bosporus in the Crimea First Göktürk Khaganate 579 Khosrow I on the Persian throne: the reform of the army and the land tax, the destruction of the Hephthalites with Istemi, and the closing of the frontier against the Göktürk silk — ends Khosrow I
580s	580 Gao Shaoyi is seized by a ruse and surrendered to the Zhou; peace and the princess Qianjin Taspar Khan 580 Tomb of Shi Jun compiled Tomb of Shi Jun 580 Livestock Raids — begins Livestock Raids 580 Yuwen — ends Yuwen 581 Extreme weather accompanies the first years of the civil war, by the tree rings The Göktürk Civil War 581 Taspar dies; the nobility assembles at Ötüken, overrides his wish for Töremen, and elects Amrak Göktürk Succession Crisis (581) 581 Amrak is khan — begins Amrak 581 Taspar Khan reigns — ends Taspar Khan 581 Buddhism among the Göktürks — ends Buddhism among the Göktürks 582 Amrak abdicates in Ishbara's favour; Töremen, as Apa Khan, goes to war, supported by Tardush Göktürk Succession Crisis (581) 582 The Tarniach and the Kotzager flee from the Göktürks into Europe and join the Avar khan; the Avars gain ten thousand men Flight of the Tarniach and Kotzager 582 Ishbara Khan reigns — begins Ishbara Khan 582 Amrak is khan — ends Amrak 582 Kotzager — begins Kotzager 582 Tarniach — begins Tarniach 582 Zabender — begins Zabender 584 The Bugut inscription, in Sogdian, set up for Taspar Bugut inscription 584 Civil war among the Ashina princes — begins First Göktürk Khaganate 585 The western army marches on Ötüken; Ishbara has fled to China and submitted to the Sui Ötüken 587 Ishbara dies; by his will his brother Bagha becomes khan and takes Apa alive; the khaganate is two Ishbara Khan 587 Bagha Khan reigns — begins Bagha Khan 587 Ishbara Khan reigns — ends Ishbara Khan 588 Drought after natural disasters drives Bagha's army toward the cities of the Oxus Göktürk–Persian war, 588–589 588 Tulan Khan reigns — begins Tulan Khan 588 Bagha Khan reigns — ends Bagha Khan 588 Faghfura dies Faghfura	580 Taspar's war with the Northern Zhou for the Qi resistance under Gao Shaoyi — ends Taspar Khan 581 Yang Jian takes the Zhou throne and founds the Sui; the Zhou court is slaughtered, Empress Ashina spared Sui 581 Sui — begins Sui 581 Northern Zhou — ends Northern Zhou 582 Empress Ashina dies at Chang'an, aged thirty-one Empress Ashina 582 In Ishbara's great invasion of the Sui his army fights a Sui force of two thousand under Daxi Zhangru for three days at Zhoupan Battle of Zhoupan (582) 582 Ishbara's war with the Sui: the invasion of 582, Baidao, the purge and the flight — begins Ishbara Khan 583 Ishbara, Apa, Tardush and Bagha invade Sui China; a Tiele rising draws Tardush off; the Sui break the Göktürks near Baidao in June First Göktürk Khaganate 584 Answering Ishbara's letter, the Sui send Yu Qingze; Ishbara receives the emperor's letter on his knees and calls himself the emperor's subject Embassy of Yu Qingze (584) 585 Ishbara's war with the Sui: the invasion of 582, Baidao, the purge and the flight — ends Ishbara Khan 588 Frontier markets are opened for the Göktürks; the Sui end the silk payments of the Zhou years Sogdians	588 Bagha crosses the Oxus, takes Balkh and Herat, is beaten by Bahram Chobin at the Hyrcanian rock in April and, reportedly, killed on the Oxus Bagha Khan 588 Göktürk–Persian war: Bagha crosses the Oxus and falls to Bahram Chobin — begins Göktürk–Persian war, 588–589 589 Bahram Chobin retakes Herat, is said to take the khan's golden throne, and reaches the country of Bukhara; then rises against his own king Bahram Chobin 589 Göktürk–Persian war: Bagha crosses the Oxus and falls to Bahram Chobin — ends Göktürk–Persian war, 588–589
590s	590 Hormizd IV dies Hormizd IV 592 Tomb of Yu Hong compiled Tomb of Yu Hong 593 Princess Qianjin dies Princess Qianjin 597 Yami sends secretly to the Sui and has the princess Qianjin, now Tulan's wife, murdered Yami Khan 598 Tardush has recovered from the defeat in Persia and domestic disturbances and moves to take the whole steppe empire Tardush 598 Göktürk Expansion into Europe — ends Göktürk Expansion into Europe 598 Kotzager — ends Kotzager 598 Tarniach — ends Tarniach 598 The Göktürk–Rouran Wars — ends The Göktürk–Rouran Wars 598 Zabender — ends Zabender 599 Tulan is killed by his own followers before the Sui army reaches the frontier; Tardush proclaims himself Bujia Khan Tulan Khan 599 Tardush's war with the Sui and their client Yami for the whole khaganate — begins Tardush 599 Tulan Khan reigns — ends Tulan Khan 599 Princess Anyi dies Princess Anyi	599 Tulan and Tardush destroy Yami's kin; Yami flees to the Sui with five horsemen and the envoy Zhangsun Sheng Yami Khan 599 Yami is made Qimin Khan, 'wise and strong', and given the walled town of Dali and the Yicheng princess Yami Khan	591 Bahram Chobin, beaten by Khosrow II, flees east; Tabari and aṯ-Ṯaʿālibī bring him to the Göktürk khan, whose khatun has him murdered, Sebeos to Balkh, where the inhabitants kill him Bahram Chobin 595 A Göktürk embassy brings the emperor Maurice the khan's letter of victory, in which he calls himself lord of seven races; Theophylact tells it under the summer of 595 The khan's letter to Maurice
600s	600 Lake Telmen stands 4.8 metres above its present level, a humid phase before the drying that follows Climate and the steppe empires 600 The Late Antique Little Ice Age reaches central Mongolia, by the lake record: long hard winters, livestock deaths, famine; the good grass of the khaganate's founding ends Climate and the steppe empires 600 The many small lords of the Chach oasis strike coins with legends entirely in Sogdian and the Sogdian title xwb, lord; a single very rare type carries the Göktürk title tudun Chach 600 Tardush holds supreme power in the united khaganates — begins Tardush 600 Alchon Huns — ends Alchon Huns 602 Tardush defeats Yami Yami Khan 603 A Tiele rising drives Tardush into exile, where he dies; the realm is finally divided Tardush 603 Yami marches into Ötüken with Göktürk and Chinese troops Yami Khan 603 Civil war among the Ashina princes — ends First Göktürk Khaganate 603 Tardush's war with the Sui and their client Yami for the whole khaganate — ends Tardush 603 Heshana (Chuluo) Khan rules the western Göktürks after Tardush — begins Heshana Khan 603 Yami Khan reigns as a Sui client — begins Yami Khan 603 Tardush holds supreme power in the united khaganates — ends Tardush 603 Tardush rules the western wing — ends Tardush 603 Niri Khan dies Niri Khan 605 The Tiele rise against the western ruler over taxation and the execution of their chiefs, set up a khan of the Qibi, and drive the Göktürks from Dzungaria to the Ili Tiele 606 Sui Variety Shows for Yami Khan (606–610) Sui Variety Shows for Yami Khan (606–610) 608 The Sui envoy Cui Junsu threatens the life of Heshana's Chinese mother; the western khan kneels to receive the emperor's letter Embassy of Cui Junsu (608) 609 Yami dies; his son Shibi succeeds Yami Khan 609 Yangdi receives the king of Gaochang, the tudun shad of Yiwu and the envoys of twenty-seven western states at Mount Yanzhi Assembly at Mount Yanzhi (609) 609 Shibi Khan reigns — begins Shibi Khan 609 Yami Khan reigns as a Sui client — ends Yami Khan	600 Tardush meets the Sui general Shi Wansui at Mount Dajin and flees without a fight Battle of Mount Dajin (600) 601 Yang Su leads Qimin north against the tribes that raided him and recovers six thousand people and two hundred thousand animals Yami Khan 607 Yangdi at Yulin feasts Qimin and three thousand five hundred chiefs; Qimin asks for Chinese dress and laws and is refused Yami Khan	602 The last war between Rome and Persia, twenty-six years long; both empires come out of it unable to hold their frontiers — begins Sasanian Persia 606 The great khan's host crosses the Oxus against the Persian general Smbat Bagratuni and raids as far as Rey and Isfahan Smbat Bagratuni's war with the khan 606 Second Göktürk war with Persia — begins Sasanian Persia 607 Second Göktürk war with Persia — ends Sasanian Persia

7th century

Decade	The steppe	China, Korea and Tibet	Persia, Rome and the caliphate
610s	611 Shegui, allied with the Sui through Pei Ju, drives Heshana to Gaochang; Heshana submits and receives the title Heshana Khan and a princess Shegui Khan 611 Shegui Khan rules the western Göktürks — begins Shegui Khan 611 Heshana (Chuluo) Khan rules the western Göktürks after Tardush — ends Heshana Khan 618 Tong Yabgu gives the kings of the western countries the title of ilteber and sets a tudun over them to supervise them and press in the revenue Tong Yabgu 618 Tong Yabgu rules the western Göktürks from Suyab — begins Tong Yabgu 619 Shibi dies on a raid; his brother Chula succeeds Shibi Khan 619 Shegui Khan rules the western Göktürks — ends Shegui Khan 619 Shibi Khan reigns — ends Shibi Khan	610 Pei Ju's plan: the Sui emperor gives Shegui's envoy a white-feathered arrow and the promise of the title Great Khan against Heshana Shegui Khan 612 The Sui send four armies against Goguryeo in three years; the failure and its cost begin the risings that end the dynasty — begins Goguryeo 614 The Sui send four armies against Goguryeo in three years; the failure and its cost begin the risings that end the dynasty — ends Goguryeo 615 Pei Ju lures Shishu Huxi, Shibi's trusted adviser, to a pretended market below Mayi and has him killed; Shibi stops coming to court Murder of Shishu Huxi 615 Shibi besieges the Sui emperor at Yanmen and withdraws when the relief armies come up; from this year the khaganate sends the Sui no tribute Shibi Khan 616 Shibi raids Mayi and is driven off by Li Yuan, duke of Tang Shibi Khan 617 Shibi sends two thousand horses and five hundred riders to Li Yuan Shibi Khan 618 Li Yuan founds the Tang Tang 618 The Tang cavalry grows from five thousand horses to more than seven hundred thousand, supplied by the Göktürks Sogdians 618 The empire of the Yarlung kings on the Tibetan plateau, the third great power of inner Asia beside China and the steppe — begins The Tibetan Empire 618 Sui — ends Sui 619 Heshana, having lost all control of his khaganate, is handed by the first Tang emperor to eastern Göktürk envoys at Chang'an and executed Heshana Khan	610 Heraclius takes the Roman throne in a coup, with the empire already losing its eastern provinces to Persia Byzantium 614 The Persians take Jerusalem and carry off the relic of the Cross Sasanian Persia
620s	620 Chula dies, perhaps poisoned; Ilig Khan takes the throne Chula Khan 620 Göktürk officials supervise and tax trade in the kingdom of Gaochang Sogdians 620 Ilig Khan reigns — begins Ilig Khan 620 Töles Khan, Shibi's son, lesser khan of the eastern wing with his camp north of Youzhou — begins Töles Khan 622 Tong Yabgu promises to march with the Tang against Ilig in the winter; Ilig, afraid, makes peace with him Tong Yabgu 625 Tong Yabgu asks the Tang for a princess, as he had in 622; the emperor agrees and sends Daoli, Prince of Gaoping, to his court Tong Yabgu 625 Turk Shahi of Kabul and Kapisa — begins Turk Shahi of Kabul and Kapisa 625 Yabgus of Tokharistan — begins Yabgus of Tokharistan 626 A large eruption in 626; a dimmed sky recorded in 626 and 627; the summer of 627 among the four coldest of fifteen hundred years Climate and the steppe empires 626 Tang conquest of the eastern Khaganate, 626–630 — begins Tang conquest of the eastern Khaganate, 626–630 627 The Karluks revolt against Tong Yabgu Karluk 627 The Xueyantuo, the Uyghurs and the Bayirku rise against Ilig and drive off his Yugu Shad; Töles, sent against them, loses his army Revolt of the Tiele (627) 627 Tong Yabgu sends a gold belt and five thousand horses to fetch the princess; Ilig threatens to stop her on his road Tong Yabgu 627 The Tang war against Ilig: the risings, the winter offensive, the Iron Mountain — begins Ilig Khan 628 Töles submits to the Tang on 21 April; the Xueyantuo secede from Ilig as a khaganate of their own Ilig Khan 628 The Xueyantuo hold the khanship north of the desert, from Ötüken and then from the Tula — begins Xueyantuo Khaganate (Syr Tardush) 629 Tang cavalry strike the Göktürks in winter Ilig Khan 629 The pilgrim Xuanzang visits Tong Yabgu's court at Suyab Suyab 629 Töles Khan, flogged by Ilig in 627 and refused troops since, leads his people over to the Tang Töles Khan 629 Göktürk Expansion along the Silk Road — ends Göktürk Expansion along the Silk Road 629 The Caucasus campaign, 627–629 — ends The Caucasus campaign, 627–629	620 Chula fetches the Sui empress Xiao and Yang Zhengdao and sets him up as king of Sui at Dingxiang with ten thousand followers Chula Khan 621 Ilig takes Yanmen, wins five battles, and advances into the Taiyuan region in August; the Tang offer tribute and a princess Ilig Khan 621 Ilig, checked at Yanmen, asks the Tang for peace and sends fish glue so that the two states may be as one Ilig Khan 622 Ilig's riders with Liu Heita surround and kill the Tang general Li Da'en; Ilig raids Fenzhou with fifty thousand horse Ilig Khan 624 Ilig and Tuli invade by Yuanzhou; Li Shimin rides to their line with a hundred horsemen and divides uncle from nephew Ilig Khan 625 Ilig plunders Shuozhou with a hundred thousand men and destroys Zhang Jin's army at Taiyuan Ilig Khan 626 Eighteen days after Taizong takes the throne, Ilig stands before Chang'an with a great army and withdraws Ilig Khan 627 A great snow, several feet on level ground, kills the Göktürk herds; the people starve Ilig Khan 628 Taizong refuses to rebuild the Long Wall against the Göktürks and names the signs of their coming ruin Taizong's Speech on the Signs of Ruin (628)	622 The community of Muhammad moves from Mecca to Medina; the year later becomes the first of the Islamic era Islam 625 Tong Yabgu campaigns against the Hephthalites, reaches the Indus and subdues most of Bactria; his son becomes the first yabgu of Tokharistan Tong Yabgu 626 The Avars and the Persians besiege Constantinople together and fail; Heraclius is in the east and does not come back for it Byzantium 627 Börü Shad appears before Derbent with forty thousand men; Tong Yabgu meets Heraclius before Tiflis, which the allies take and sack after Nineveh Tong Yabgu 627 The Göktürks in the Caucasus with Heraclius against Persia: Derbent and Tiflis — begins Tong Yabgu 628 Khosrow II is deposed and killed by his own nobles; four years of disputed succession follow Sasanian Persia 628 The Göktürks in the Caucasus with Heraclius against Persia: Derbent and Tiflis — ends Tong Yabgu 628 The last war between Rome and Persia, twenty-six years long; both empires come out of it unable to hold their frontiers — ends Sasanian Persia
630s	630 After Ilig's fall the lord of Yiwu comes to the Tang court and gives up his seven towns, which become a prefecture Submission of Yiwu (630) 630 Taizong reaches the Iron Mountain; Ilig is handed to the Tang by his own uncle; the eastern khaganate falls Tang conquest of the eastern Khaganate, 626–630 630 The Sui princess Yicheng, katun of four khans in turn, is killed when the Tang take Ilig's court Princess Yicheng 630 Tong Yabgu is murdered by his uncle, who briefly rules as Mohedu; civil war, and the west dissolves into the Ten Arrows Tong Yabgu 630 Civil war in the west after the murder of Tong Yabgu; the Ten Arrows emerge — begins Western Göktürk Khaganate 630 The Tang war against Ilig: the risings, the winter offensive, the Iron Mountain — ends Ilig Khan 630 The Göktürks under Tang rule; the fifty years the Kül Tegin inscription calls the loss of realm and khan — begins The Göktürk interregnum, 630–682 630 First Göktürk Khaganate — ends First Göktürk Khaganate 630 The Göktürk interregnum: fifty-two years with no khan of their own, under Tang protectorates — begins The Göktürk interregnum, 630–682 630 Ilig Khan reigns — ends Ilig Khan 630 Töles Khan, Shibi's son, lesser khan of the eastern wing with his camp north of Youzhou — ends Töles Khan 630 Tong Yabgu rules the western Göktürks from Suyab — ends Tong Yabgu 630 Baghatur Khan dies Baghatur Khan 630 Bugu — begins Bugu 630 Chumukun — begins Chumukun 630 Ediz — begins Ediz 630 Hun (Tiele tribe) — begins Hun (Tiele tribe) 630 Nushibi — begins Nushibi 630 Qibi — begins Qibi 630 Sijie — begins Sijie 630 Tongra — begins Tongra 630 Toquz Oghuz — begins Toquz Oghuz 630 Göktürk Face-Cutting — ends Göktürk Face-Cutting 630 Horses in Göktürk Law — ends Horses in Göktürk Law 631 Töles Khan dies Töles Khan 632 Si Yabgu Khan dies Si Yabgu Khan 634 Civil war in the west after the murder of Tong Yabgu; the Ten Arrows emerge — ends Western Göktürk Khaganate 634 Ishbara Tolis Khan, the Shaboluo Dielishi of the Chinese; the Ten Arrows fully manifest as two unions of five tribes, Duolu and Nushibi, each under its own khan — begins Ishbara Tolis Khan 634 Nishu Bagha Shad dies Nishu Bagha Shad 634 Suni Shi dies Suni Shi 634 Tuyuhun Hunye dies Tuyuhun Hunye 635 Old Great Bulgaria — begins Old Great Bulgaria 636 Bei Qi Shu (Book of Northern Qi) compiled Bei Qi Shu (Book of Northern Qi) 636 Zhou Shu (Book of Zhou) compiled Zhou Shu (Book of Zhou) 638 Üç Tuğlu Khan, Yukuk Shad, set up by the Duolu tribes as Yipi Duolu Khan; the west divided at the Ili — begins Üç Tuğlu Khan 639 A Sogdian contract in the bazaar of Gaochang is dated by the year of the Ilteber-king of Gaochang: the Chinese king of Turfan under a Turkic title Gaochang 639 Ashina Simo made khan by the Tang and settled north of the Yellow River — begins Ashina Simo 639 Irbis Ishbara Yabgu Khan, khan of the Nushibi at the Southern Court; killed on Yukuk Shad's orders — begins Irbis Ishbara Yabgu Khan 639 Ishbara Tolis Khan, the Shaboluo Dielishi of the Chinese; the Ten Arrows fully manifest as two unions of five tribes, Duolu and Nushibi, each under its own khan — ends Ishbara Tolis Khan	630 Kang Sumi surrenders to the Tang with the last Sui princes from the Göktürks; An Tuhan with 5,000 men; the Sogdian settlement of the Ordos begins Sogdians 630 The Tang settle the surrendered Göktürks on the Ordos loop in protectorates after the debate of Wen Yanbo and Wei Zheng Ordos 630 Hegemony Wars in Northern China: the wars from the break-up of the Northern Wei to the Tang capture of Ilig — ends Hegemony Wars in Northern China 631 The Tang redeem with gold and silk the Chinese who had fallen to the Göktürks in the Sui disorders; eighty thousand men and women are counted home Ransom of the Chinese from the Göktürks (631) 633 At a feast in the old Han palace of Weiyang the retired emperor Gaozu orders the captive Ilig to dance and hails Hu and Yue as one family Ilig Khan's Dance at the Weiyang Palace (633) 634 Ilig dies at Chang'an; the Tang burn his body east of the Ba river by Göktürk rite Ilig Khan	630 Čorpan Tarxan's vanguard draws a Persian army of ten thousand into an ambush by Lake Sevan and destroys it Battle of Lake Sevan (629–630) 632 Muhammad dies; within ten years the armies of the new state hold Syria, Egypt and Iraq Islam 636 The Persian field army is broken at Qadisiyya and Ctesiphon falls Sasanian Persia 636 The Roman field army in Syria is destroyed at the Yarmouk; the eastern provinces are lost within five years Byzantium
640s	640 The Tang take the kingdom of Gaochang and make it the prefecture of Xizhou Gaochang 640 Anxi Protectorate — begins Anxi Protectorate 640 The Tang conquest of the western Khaganate, 640–659 — begins The Tang conquest of the western Khaganate, 640–659 640 Farming and Taxes in Gaochang — ends Farming and Taxes in Gaochang 641 Irbis Ishbara Yabgu Khan, khan of the Nushibi at the Southern Court; killed on Yukuk Shad's orders — ends Irbis Ishbara Yabgu Khan 642 Irbis Shegui Khan, chosen with the Tang envoy Wen Wuyin; Yukuk Shad flees to Tokharistan — begins Irbis Shegui Khan 642 Üç Tuğlu Khan, Yukuk Shad, set up by the Duolu tribes as Yipi Duolu Khan; the west divided at the Ili — ends Üç Tuğlu Khan 642 Arab–Khazar Wars (642–737) — begins Arab–Khazar Wars (642–737) 642 Balanjar — begins Balanjar 643 Ashina Simo made khan by the Tang and settled north of the Yellow River — ends Ashina Simo 645 Yinan Khan dies Yinan Khan 646 The Xueyantuo hold the khanship north of the desert, from Ötüken and then from the Tula — ends Xueyantuo Khaganate (Syr Tardush) 647 Banquet of the Wine Fountain (647) Banquet of the Wine Fountain (647) 647 The Ten Steeds of 647 The Ten Steeds of 647 647 Ashina Simo dies Ashina Simo 647 Anbei Protectorate — begins Anbei Protectorate 648 Ashina Helu, driven from his yabgu's command on the Duoluosi, submits to the Tang with several thousand tents and guides the campaign against Kucha Ashina Helu	641 A Tang princess is sent to the Tibetan king; the plateau and the empire are neighbours on terms for the first time The Tibetan Empire 642 A leader of the western Göktürks sends thirty-eight thousand marten pelts to the Tang court Sogdians 643 The Xueyantuo send fifty thousand horses with other animals to the Tang Sogdians 645 The Tang campaign against Goguryeo fails before the walls of Anshi Goguryeo 648 Shiboqu Azhan, the chief of the Kirghiz, comes in person to Taizong's court and is made governor of the Jiankun command under the Yanran protectorate Kirghiz embassy of 648	642 The last Persian army is destroyed at Nihavand; the Iranian plateau is open Sasanian Persia 642 Arab–Khazar wars for the passes of the Caucasus — begins Khazar Khaganate
650s	650 Khazar Khaganate — begins Khazar Khaganate 650 Basmïl — begins Basmïl 650 Shanyu Protectorate — begins Shanyu Protectorate 650 Shiveet Ulaan — begins Shiveet Ulaan 650 The Khazar language — begins The Khazar language 650 Turkic Tribes in Europe — ends Turkic Tribes in Europe 651 Ashina Helu goes west, takes the Duolu lands, proclaims himself Shaboluo Khan at the Thousand Springs over the Ten Arrows, and raids Tingzhou Ashina Helu 651 Ashina Helu, self-proclaimed Shaboluo Khan, dominates the Ten Arrows — begins Ashina Helu 651 Irbis Shegui Khan, chosen with the Tang envoy Wen Wuyin; Yukuk Shad flees to Tokharistan — ends Irbis Shegui Khan 652 Battle of Balanjar (652) Battle of Balanjar (652) 653 Ashina Helu against the Tang: the last khan of the western Göktürks — begins Ashina Helu 654 Cheng Zhijie's campaign against Helu: the Karluks and the Chuyue beaten, the Chumukun city taken, Su Dingfang's first victory at the Yingsuo valley, and the massacre of Dadu city Ashina Helu 657 The Tang capture Ashina Helu, the last independent khan of the western Göktürks; the west is divided into ten prefectures Western Göktürk Khaganate 657 Ashina Helu, self-proclaimed Shaboluo Khan, dominates the Ten Arrows — ends Ashina Helu 659 Ashina Helu against the Tang: the last khan of the western Göktürks — ends Ashina Helu 659 Western Göktürk Khaganate: Istemi's wing, a state of its own after the civil war, to the capture of Ashina Helu — ends Western Göktürk Khaganate 659 Bei Shi (History of the Northern Dynasties) compiled Bei Shi (History of the Northern Dynasties) 659 Nan Shi compiled Nan Shi 659 Chumukun — ends Chumukun 659 Nushibi — ends Nushibi	659 Ashina Helu dies at Chang'an after his pardon and is buried beside the tomb of Ilig Khan Ashina Helu	650 The Khazars emerge at the head of the western steppe after the Göktürks; by the 670s they have beaten the Bulgars Khazar Khaganate 651 Irbis Shegui, a defeated khan of the Nushibi, moves to the Khazar lands and founds their ruling house: Artamonov's hypothesis, reported with reservations Irbis Shegui Khan 651 Yazdegerd III is killed in flight near Merv; the Sasanian empire ends and Khurasan becomes the eastern frontier of the caliphate Sasanian Persia
660s	660 Old Great Bulgaria — ends Old Great Bulgaria 660 Afrasiab paintings compiled Afrasiab paintings	660 Dry extremes on the monsoon margin of north-western China peak around 660, in a dry phase running from 346 to 763 Climate and the steppe empires 668 Goguryeo is destroyed by a Tang army working with Silla; the kingdom that had held the Liao for centuries ends Goguryeo	661 The Umayyad caliphate, ruled from Damascus; the power that crosses the Oxus and fights the Türgesh and the Khazars for forty years — begins The Umayyad Caliphate
670s	670 Tuyuhun — ends Tuyuhun 679 The rising of the Ashide: Nishufu made khan and twenty-four prefectures with him — begins Nishufu Khan 679 Ashide — begins Ashide 679 Göktürk war of restoration, 679–687 — begins Göktürk war of restoration, 679–687	670 Tibet takes the Four Garrisons of the Tarim from the Tang; the oases change hands repeatedly for thirty years The Tibetan Empire 676 Silla drives the Tang out of the peninsula and rules it alone Goguryeo 679 The Tang organise the Sogdo-Göktürk settlements of the Ordos as the six hu counties Sogdians	674 The first Arab siege of Constantinople — begins Byzantium 678 The first Arab siege of Constantinople — ends Byzantium
680s	680 The rising of the Ashide: Nishufu made khan and twenty-four prefectures with him — ends Nishufu Khan 681 Danube Bulgaria — begins Danube Bulgaria 681 Pliska — begins Pliska 682 A large sulphate signal in the ice of 682 Climate and the steppe empires 682 Kutluk of the Ashina gathers the fugitives of Funian's rising in the Zongcai mountains, makes himself khan as Ilterish and restores the Göktürk state Ilterish Khan 682 Second Göktürk Khaganate — begins Second Göktürk Khaganate 682 The Göktürks under Tang rule; the fifty years the Kül Tegin inscription calls the loss of realm and khan — ends The Göktürk interregnum, 630–682 682 Ilterish Khan, Kutluk of the Ashina, first khan of the Second Göktürk Khaganate; his brother Mochuo shad, Duoxifu yabgu, Ashide Yuanzhen Apa Tarkan in command of the army — begins Ilterish Khan 682 The Göktürk interregnum: fifty-two years with no khan of their own, under Tang protectorates — ends The Göktürk interregnum, 630–682 682 Funeral Games of the Caucasian Huns — begins Funeral Games of the Caucasian Huns 682 Funeral Games of the Caucasian Huns — ends Funeral Games of the Caucasian Huns	680 The Ashide chiefs fetch Ashina Funian, a nephew of Ilig, to Xiazhou to make him khan; Pei Xingjian breaks the rising, and Funian is beheaded in Chang'an the next year Second Göktürk Khaganate 680 The rising of Ashina Funian against the Tang — begins Göktürk war of restoration, 679–687 681 The rising of Ashina Funian against the Tang — ends Göktürk war of restoration, 679–687 682 Ilterish's yearly war with the Tang: Weizhou, Shuozhou, Daizhou, Xinzhou, Changping — begins Göktürk war of restoration, 679–687 683 Ilterish raids Weizhou and kills the governor of Fengzhou: the first of the yearly raids on Shanxi and Hebei that continue to 687 Ilterish Khan 686 A Tang relief force meets Ilterish at Xinzhou and loses more than five thousand men Ilterish Khan 687 Heichi Changzhi beats Ilterish at Huanghuadui and drives him north of the desert; Cuan Baobi follows with thirteen thousand picked men and loses them all Ilterish Khan 687 Ilterish's yearly war with the Tang: Weizhou, Shuozhou, Daizhou, Xinzhou, Changping — ends Göktürk war of restoration, 679–687
690s	690 Suyab becomes the urban centre of the Türgesh; the Duolu khan Hushile emigrates to China Türgesh 691 Kapgan Khan, Mochuo, takes the throne over his brother's small sons and rules until his death in 716 — begins Kapgan Khan 691 Ilterish Khan, Kutluk of the Ashina, first khan of the Second Göktürk Khaganate; his brother Mochuo shad, Duoxifu yabgu, Ashide Yuanzhen Apa Tarkan in command of the army — ends Ilterish Khan 696 Kapgan crushes the rebel Khitan for Empress Wu in exchange for the surrendered Göktürk households west of the River, and is invested as Great Shanyu and Ligong Baoguo Khan Kapgan Khan 698 Kapgan's Request for Farm Tools and Iron (698) Kapgan's Request for Farm Tools and Iron (698) 699 Kapgan sets a shad of the left and a shad of the right over twenty thousand men each and his son Fuju as Lesser Khan over forty thousand of the Ten Surnames, with the title Khan Who Expands the West Second Göktürk Khaganate 699 The Türgesh khans rule the western Göktürk lands from Suyab — begins Türgesh 699 Türgesh Khaganate — begins Türgesh Khaganate 699 Kapgan Khan of the east sets his brother and nephew over the two branches of the Ten Arrows; the tribes choose the Türgesh Baga Tarqan Wuzhile as their leader — begins Türgesh	693 Kapgan raids Lingzhou; a Tang army of ten generals under the monk Xue Huaiyi finds no enemy; Kapgan's first embassy brings him a title and five thousand pieces of silk Kapgan Khan 698 Empress Wu hands Kapgan the surrendered households of the six prefectures of the Ordos, forty thousand bushels of seed and three thousand farming tools; the Tang history calls it the source of his strength Kapgan Khan 698 Kapgan rejects the Wu bridegroom, leads a hundred thousand men into Hebei, takes Zhaozhou and Dingzhou and withdraws with eighty or ninety thousand captives Kapgan Khan 698 Kapgan's war with the Tang: Hebei in 698, Mingsha in 705 — begins Kapgan Khan
700s	700 Central Mongolia turns drier, by the lake record, and stays so to 1300; the droughts of the Medieval Climate Anomaly Climate and the steppe empires 700 Abusi — begins Abusi 700 Kül Tegin's Horses — begins Kül Tegin's Horses 700 Türgesh and Karluk Coinage — begins Türgesh and Karluk Coinage 700 Bronze Mirrors of the Steppe — ends Bronze Mirrors of the Steppe 700 Shiveet Ulaan — ends Shiveet Ulaan 700 Tashtyk Culture — ends Tashtyk Culture 703 An Lushan born, to a Sogdian officer of the Göktürk armies and a mother of the Ashide An Lushan 706 Qutayba takes and sacks Paikent, the merchant town of the Bukhara oasis that had called on the Türgesh; a captive offers five thousand rolls of Chinese silk for his life Paikent 706 Saqal, son of Wuzhile, leads the Türgesh, defeats the Tang in 708 and 709 and declares himself khan; perishes with his rival brother Zhenu — begins Türgesh 706 Kapgan Khan of the east sets his brother and nephew over the two branches of the Ten Arrows; the tribes choose the Türgesh Baga Tarqan Wuzhile as their leader — ends Türgesh 709 Kapgan's western war, 709–713 — begins Kapgan's western war, 709–713	705 Kapgan beats the Tang at Mingsha in Lingzhou, more than six thousand Chinese dead, and carries off the Longyou herds; the Tang answer with the three Shouxiang cities beyond the River Kapgan Khan 706 Kapgan's war with the Tang: Hebei in 698, Mingsha in 705 — ends Kapgan Khan	705 Qutayba ibn Muslim takes Sogdiana for the caliphate: Paikent, Bukhara, Samarkand, Khwarezm Qutayba ibn Muslim

8th century

Decade	The steppe	China, Korea and Tibet	Persia, Rome and the caliphate
710s	710 Tonyukuk crosses the Kögmen in winter by a single-horse track and kills the Kirghiz khan in his sleep, breaking the northern arm of the coalition of the Tang, the Ten Arrows and the Kirghiz Tonyukuk 710 Kapgan's western war: the Kirghiz in winter, the Türgesh at Bolchu, the Sogdians to the Iron Gate — begins Kapgan Khan 710 Bars Beg dies Bars Beg 711 Battle of Bolchu: Tonyukuk, against Kapgan's order, crosses the Altai and the Irtysh by night and destroys the Türgesh army; their khan taken, the Ten Arrows submit Battle of Bolchu 711 The Göktürk army, with the Ten Arrows behind it, crosses the Syr Darya and reaches the Iron Gate south of Samarkand; the Sogdians submit to Inel Khan Tonyukuk 711 Saqal, son of Wuzhile, leads the Türgesh, defeats the Tang in 708 and 709 and declares himself khan; perishes with his rival brother Zhenu — ends Türgesh 711 The Khalaj language — begins The Khalaj language 713 Kapgan's western war: the Kirghiz in winter, the Türgesh at Bolchu, the Sogdians to the Iron Gate — ends Kapgan Khan 714 Kapgan's son the Lesser Khan besieges Beiting and fails; a tegin is beheaded under the walls and the khan's brother-in-law defects to the Tang Kapgan Khan 714 The subject peoples against Kapgan: Beiting, the Ten Arrows, the Nine Surnames, the Bayirku — begins Kapgan Khan 714 Chinese Bans on the Export of Iron — ends Chinese Bans on the Export of Iron 715 The Ten Surnames of the west and more than ten thousand tents go over to the Tang; in the autumn Kapgan beats the Nine Surnames north of the desert and their leader Abusi defects too Kapgan Khan 716 Five battles against the Nine Oguz in one year, at Togu, Lake Antargu, the head of the Čuš and Ezginti Kadız; afterwards the Oguz leave for China and are brought back Toquz Oghuz 716 Kapgan beats the Bayirku on the Tola, rides home carelessly and is beheaded in a willow wood by a Bayirku straggler; his head is carried to Chang'an Kapgan Khan 716 Kül Tegin kills the Lesser Khan, Kapgan's brothers and his court, and sets his elder brother on the throne as Bilge Khan; Tonyukuk alone is spared and recalled as chief counsellor Kül Tegin 716 The subject peoples against Kapgan: Beiting, the Ten Arrows, the Nine Surnames, the Bayirku — ends Kapgan Khan 716 Bilge Khan, the Little Shad, khan of the Second Göktürk Khaganate; Kül Tegin commands the army, Tonyukuk advises — begins Bilge Khan 716 Kapgan Khan, Mochuo, takes the throne over his brother's small sons and rules until his death in 716 — ends Kapgan Khan 716 Old Turkic — begins Old Turkic 716 The Turkic languages — begins The Turkic languages 716 Kapgan's wars with the Tang, 698–716 — ends Kapgan's wars with the Tang, 698–716 717 Sulu takes the Türgesh throne and holds the western steppe for twenty years: victories over the Arabs in 720 and 724, peace with the Tang and an Ashina bride in 722, murder by his own commanders in 738 — begins Sulu Khan 719 Luntai — ends Luntai		712 Qutayba ibn Muslim takes Samarkand by a ruse; the treaty of surrender, with its tribute in dirhams, slaves and silk, survives The capture of Samarkand, 712 715 Qutayba ibn Muslim is killed by his own troops in Ferghana; the Sogdian cities begin to look north for help Qutayba ibn Muslim 717 The second Arab siege of Constantinople fails; the Khazars attack the caliphate in the Caucasus in the same years — begins Byzantium 718 The second Arab siege of Constantinople fails; the Khazars attack the caliphate in the Caucasus in the same years — ends Byzantium
720s	720 The Tonyukuk inscription is raised at Bain Tsokto on the upper Tola, by its author in his own lifetime Tonyukuk inscription 720 The Tang's three-sided attack on the Göktürk camp and the Basmïl campaign — begins Basmïl 720 Nezak Shahs — ends Nezak Shahs 721 Only the Basmïl arrive for the Tang's three-sided attack on the royal camp; Tonyukuk follows them home, takes Beiting before them, captures them whole and strips Liangzhou of its herds Tonyukuk 721 The Tang's three-sided attack on the Göktürk camp and the Basmïl campaign — ends Basmïl 727 Horse Market at the Western Shouxiang City (727) Horse Market at the Western Shouxiang City (727)	721 Bilge Khan asks the Tang for peace and is accepted as the emperor's son; the bride he asks for is refused, and refused again in 725 Bilge Khan 721 The six hu counties of the Ordos revolt under leaders with Sogdian names; other Sogdians in Tang service put them down Sogdians 725 Zhang Yue names Bilge Khan, Kül Tegin and Tonyukuk as the three men who make the Göktürk dangerous; a Göktürk minister is summoned to attend Xuanzong at the Mount Tai sacrifice Bilge Khan 727 A system of horse markets is set up in the Ordos to supply the Tang army Sogdians 727 Bilge Khan sends the Tibetan proposal for a joint invasion to Chang'an; Xuanzong grants a market at the western Shouxiang city, with several hundred thousand bolts of silk a year Bilge Khan 727 The Tibetan court proposes to Bilge Khan that they invade China together; Bilge sends the letter to Chang'an instead The Tibetan Empire	722 Dēwāštīč, lord of Panjikent, who had claimed the kingship of Sogdiana, dies; the Arabs lay waste to Panjikent Dēwāštīč 726 The Roman emperor turns against images; the quarrel divides the church for more than a century Byzantium
730s	730 Battle of Ardabil (730) Battle of Ardabil (730) 730 al-Jarrah ibn Abdallah dies al-Jarrah ibn Abdallah 731 Kül Tegin dies in the Year of the Sheep at forty-seven; the Tang send a letter of condolence, a stele composed by the emperor and craftsmen for the tomb Kül Tegin 731 Chinese Craftsmen at the Orkhon Monuments — begins Chinese Craftsmen at the Orkhon Monuments 732 The Kül Tegin inscription dates itself by the twelve-year animal cycle, the Year of the Sheep for the death and the Year of the Monkey for the finished stone; it is the only dating system the runiform corpus uses The twelve-year animal cycle 732 The Kül Tegin inscription is erected on the Orkhon Kül Tegin inscription 732 Gold and Silver in the Orkhon Inscriptions — begins Gold and Silver in the Orkhon Inscriptions 732 Khöshöö Tsaidam — begins Khöshöö Tsaidam 732 Roof Tiles of the Uyghur Khaganate — begins Roof Tiles of the Uyghur Khaganate 732 The Bökli question — begins The Bökli question 732 Kül Tegin's Horses — ends Kül Tegin's Horses 734 Bilge Khan is poisoned by his minister Meilu Chuo, has the minister and his faction destroyed before he dies, and dies in the Year of the Dog; his son Yiran is set up Bilge Khan 734 Tengri Khan, a boy, under the regency of his mother, Tonyukuk's daughter, and her lover; the army under two shads, his father's cousins — begins Tengri Khan 734 Yiran Khan, son of Bilge, invested by the Tang and dead of illness within months — begins Yiran Khan 734 Bilge Khan, the Little Shad, khan of the Second Göktürk Khaganate; Kül Tegin commands the army, Tonyukuk advises — ends Bilge Khan 734 Yiran Khan, son of Bilge, invested by the Tang and dead of illness within months — ends Yiran Khan 735 The Bilge Khan inscription is erected Bilge Khan inscription 735 Chinese Craftsmen at the Orkhon Monuments — ends Chinese Craftsmen at the Orkhon Monuments 735 Gold and Silver in the Orkhon Inscriptions — ends Gold and Silver in the Orkhon Inscriptions 735 Khöshöö Tsaidam — ends Khöshöö Tsaidam 737 Campaign of Marwan (737) Campaign of Marwan (737) 737 Arab–Khazar Wars (642–737) — ends Arab–Khazar Wars (642–737) 738 Sulu takes the Türgesh throne and holds the western steppe for twenty years: victories over the Arabs in 720 and 724, peace with the Tang and an Ashina bride in 722, murder by his own commanders in 738 — ends Sulu Khan	732 The Tibetans send a minister to the funeral of Kül Tegin, with the Chinese, the Sogdians and the Kirghiz The Tibetan Empire	732 Constantine, heir of Leo III, marries Čiček, daughter of the Khazar khagan Khazar Khaganate 737 Marwan defeats the Khazar khagan, who is forced to convert to Islam; the conversion lasts as long as the Arab army stands there Khazar Khaganate 737 The Arab victory at Kharistan ends the Türgesh threat to Arab rule in Transoxiana Türgesh 737 Arab–Khazar wars for the passes of the Caucasus — ends Khazar Khaganate
740s	740 Xuanzong sends Li Zhi with a sealed letter to invest Tengri as khan a second time Tengri Khan 741 Tengri and his mother lure the Right Shad to them and behead him; the Left Shad kills Tengri and sets himself up as Ozmish Khan Tengri Khan 741 Ozmish Khan, the former Left Shad, last Ashina khan on the Orkhon; rejected by the people, beaten by the Basmïl, toppled by 744 — begins Ozmish Khan 741 Tengri Khan, a boy, under the regency of his mother, Tonyukuk's daughter, and her lover; the army under two shads, his father's cousins — ends Tengri Khan 741 Fall of the Second Khaganate, 741–744 — begins Fall of the Second Khaganate, 741–744 742 The Basmïl rise against Ozmish and defeat him; the whole country falls into chaos, and in the eighth month the remnant of the Ashina house, princesses and widows and a grandson of Kapgan, is received at Chang'an Basmïl 742 Basmïl, Uyghurs and Karluk against the last Göktürk khans — begins Fall of the Second Khaganate, 741–744 742 Gulun Wugu — begins Gulun Wugu 744 Kül Čur of the Türgesh, who had recognised Tang overlordship in 740, perishes; the Ten Arrows begin to fade Türgesh 744 The Basmïl kill Ozmish Khan and send his head to Chang'an; his brother Baimei is set up Ozmish Khan 744 The Uyghurs and Karluk kill the Basmïl khan and raise the Uyghur Guli Peiluo as Kutluk Bilge Kül Khan Basmïl 744 The Uyghurs take the Orkhon from the last Göktürk khan; the Uyghur Khaganate begins Uyghur Khaganate 744 Uyghur Khaganate — begins Uyghur Khaganate 744 Second Göktürk Khaganate — ends Second Göktürk Khaganate 744 Türgesh Khaganate — ends Türgesh Khaganate 744 Kutlug Bilge Kül, first khan of the Uyghurs — begins Kutlug Bilge Kül Khan 744 Ozmish Khan, the former Left Shad, last Ashina khan on the Orkhon; rejected by the people, beaten by the Basmïl, toppled by 744 — ends Ozmish Khan 744 Uyghur Farming — begins Uyghur Farming 744 Yaglakar — begins Yaglakar 744 Fall of the Second Khaganate, 741–744 — ends Fall of the Second Khaganate, 741–744 744 Lesser Khan — ends Lesser Khan 745 Baimei Khan is killed and his head sent to the Tang; Bilge Khan's widow, the Katun Pofu, comes in with her people, and the Göktürk state of the east is no more Second Göktürk Khaganate 745 The Karluks, pushed out by the Uyghurs, migrate to the lands of the Ten Arrows Karluk 745 Basmïl, Uyghurs and Karluk against the last Göktürk khans — ends Fall of the Second Khaganate, 741–744 745 Karluk Yabgu State — begins Karluk Yabgu State 745 Xiongnu: Making the First Steppe Empire — ends Xiongnu: Making the First Steppe Empire 747 Moyanchuo builds the Uyghur capital on the Orkhon and a second city on the Selenga, Bay Balïq, with Sogdian and Chinese labour by the Shine-usu inscription Uyghur Khaganate 747 Bayanchur Khan: the Basmıl and the Karluks held down, the capital on the Orkhon built — begins Bayanchur Khan 747 Kutlug Bilge Kül, first khan of the Uyghurs — ends Kutlug Bilge Kül Khan
750s	750 Oghuz — begins Oghuz 750 Apa Tarkan — ends Apa Tarkan 750 Chinese transcriptions of Turkic — ends Chinese transcriptions of Turkic 750 Sabao — ends Sabao 750 The origin of the Old Turkic script — ends The origin of the Old Turkic script 751 Battle on the Talas: the Tang army is destroyed when its Karluk allies defect to the Arabs Karluk 757 Plunder of Luoyang and the Silk Payment (757) Plunder of Luoyang and the Silk Payment (757) 757 Bay Balïq — begins Bay Balïq 757 Gold and Silver Vessels as Tang Gifts to the Uyghurs — begins Gold and Silver Vessels as Tang Gifts to the Uyghurs 757 Uyghur Horse-Silk Trade — begins Uyghur Horse-Silk Trade 758 The Uyghurs report to the Tang court that they have broken 50,000 Kirghiz, who from then on cannot reach China Uyghur victory over the Kirghiz (758) 758 Are — begins Are 759 Yabgus of Tokharistan — ends Yabgus of Tokharistan 759 Bögü Khan: the height of Uyghur power and the adoption of Manichaeism — begins Bögü Khan 759 Bayanchur Khan: the Basmıl and the Karluks held down, the capital on the Orkhon built — ends Bayanchur Khan	755 An Lushan revolts in December An Lushan 755 Rebellion of An Lushan — begins An Lushan 756 An Lushan takes Chang'an in July; the Baoyu family changes its name from An to Li An Lushan 757 An Qingxu murders his father An Lushan in January; the Tang retake Chang'an in November and Luoyang in December with Uyghur help An Lushan	750 The Abbasids take the caliphate in a revolution that begins in Khurasan; the centre moves east from Damascus to Iraq The Abbasid Caliphate 750 The Umayyad caliphate, ruled from Damascus; the power that crosses the Oxus and fights the Türgesh and the Khazars for forty years — ends The Umayyad Caliphate
760s	762 Manichaean Diet of the Uyghurs — begins Manichaean Diet of the Uyghurs 766 The Karluks take Suyab and are masters of the western Göktürk lands; the Ten Arrows under Karluk authority Karluk 766 The Karluks hold Suyab and the lands of the Ten Arrows — begins Karluk 766 The Türgesh khans rule the western Göktürk lands from Suyab — ends Türgesh	760 A shift to wetter conditions on the monsoon margin of north-western China Climate and the steppe empires 762 Before the tent of the Uyghur khan Bögü at Shanzhou the officers of the Tang prince of Yong refuse the dance of homage for him; two of them die of their beating The Uyghur Demand for the Prince's Dance (762) 762 The Uyghur khan is converted to Manichaeism at Luoyang, by the Karabalghasun inscription Manichaeism 763 A Tibetan army enters Chang'an and holds it for a fortnight; the Tang have no armies left in the west The Tibetan Empire 763 The rebellion of An Lushan is finally put down in January An Lushan 763 Rebellion of An Lushan — ends An Lushan	762 Baghdad is founded as the seat of the caliphate The Abbasid Caliphate
770s	779 Dun Mohe kills the khan Mouyu, his kin and the Sogdians who urged an invasion of China, two thousand in all, and takes the throne Uyghur Khaganate 779 Tun Bagha Tarkan kills Bögü and rules ten years against the Sogdian party — begins Tun Bagha Tarkan 779 Bögü Khan: the height of Uyghur power and the adoption of Manichaeism — ends Bögü Khan
780s	783 Persistent drought in the Orkhon country through the last Uyghur decades, by the tree rings Climate and the steppe empires 789 Tun Bagha Tarkan kills Bögü and rules ten years against the Sogdian party — ends Tun Bagha Tarkan
790s	790 The Uyghurs lose Beiting to the Tibetans — begins Uyghur Khaganate 795 The Uyghurs lose Beiting to the Tibetans — ends Uyghur Khaganate 795 Yaglakar — ends Yaglakar 796 Avars — ends Avars
800s	800 The Karluks hold Suyab and the lands of the Ten Arrows — ends Karluk 800 Old Uyghur — begins Old Uyghur 800 Berel — ends Berel 800 Stone Figures — ends Stone Figures 804 A severe drought begins in central Mongolia, in the drought reconstruction over two thousand years Climate and the steppe empires

9th century

Decade	The steppe	China, Korea and Tibet	Persia, Rome and the caliphate
810s	813 Gold and Silver Vessels as Tang Gifts to the Uyghurs — ends Gold and Silver Vessels as Tang Gifts to the Uyghurs 815 The trilingual Karabalghasun inscription is composed, recording the khan's conversion to Manichaeism Manichaeism 819 Samanids — begins Samanids
820s	820 Uyghur–Kirghiz War — begins Uyghur–Kirghiz War 821 Tamim ibn Bahr travels the postal road of tents from Semirech'e to the Uyghur capital Sogdians 821 War of the Uyghurs with the Kirghiz, ending in the fall of Karabalghasun — begins Uyghur–Kirghiz War 822 Avar Craftsmen — ends Avar Craftsmen 825 Türgesh and Karluk Coinage — ends Türgesh and Karluk Coinage	821 The frontier between Tibet and the Tang is fixed by treaty and cut on a pillar in Lhasa The Tibetan Empire
830s	838 Sarkel — begins Sarkel 839 Famine, pestilence and heavy snow in the Uyghur lands; many sheep and horses die, the year before the Kirghiz come Uyghur Khaganate 839 Civil war at the Uyghur court: the minister kills the khan, a general brings a hundred thousand Kirghiz — begins Uyghur Khaganate		833 The caliphs raise guard regiments of Turkic soldiers and settle them at Samarra; within two generations the regiments make and unmake caliphs The Abbasid Caliphate 838 Byzantine engineers help the Khazars build the fortress of Sarkel on the Don Khazar Khaganate
840s	840 The Kirghiz destroy the Uyghur Khaganate Yenisei Kirghiz 840 Civil war at the Uyghur court: the minister kills the khan, a general brings a hundred thousand Kirghiz — ends Uyghur Khaganate 840 War of the Uyghurs with the Kirghiz, ending in the fall of Karabalghasun — ends Uyghur–Kirghiz War 840 Kara-Khanid Khanate — begins Kara-Khanid Khanate 840 The Yenisei Kirghiz Khaganate, from the fall of the Uyghurs to the Khitan on the Orkhon — begins Yenisei Kirghiz Khaganate 840 Uyghur Khaganate — ends Uyghur Khaganate 840 Hesa Khan dies Hesa Khan 840 Kürabir dies Kürabir 840 Abusi — ends Abusi 840 Archaeogenetics of the Steppe Empires — ends Archaeogenetics of the Steppe Empires 840 Army of the Steppe Empires — ends Army of the Steppe Empires 840 Bugu — ends Bugu 840 Craftsmen in the Steppe Empires — ends Craftsmen in the Steppe Empires 840 Ediz — ends Ediz 840 Gulun Wugu — ends Gulun Wugu 840 Hun (Tiele tribe) — ends Hun (Tiele tribe) 840 Livestock Losses in the Annals — ends Livestock Losses in the Annals 840 Manichaean Diet of the Uyghurs — ends Manichaean Diet of the Uyghurs 840 Ötüken — ends Ötüken 840 Post and Communication — ends Post and Communication 840 Qibi — ends Qibi 840 Roof Tiles of the Uyghur Khaganate — ends Roof Tiles of the Uyghur Khaganate 840 Sijie — ends Sijie 840 Silk in the Steppe — ends Silk in the Steppe 840 Tongra — ends Tongra 840 Toquz Oghuz — ends Toquz Oghuz 840 Tribute Missions and Bestowals — ends Tribute Missions and Bestowals 840 Turkic-Sogdian Synthesis — ends Turkic-Sogdian Synthesis 840 Uyghur Farming — ends Uyghur Farming 840 Uyghur Horse-Silk Trade — ends Uyghur Horse-Silk Trade 840 Uyghurs — ends Uyghurs 840 Warfare of the Steppe Empires — ends Warfare of the Steppe Empires 842 The first of four Kirghiz envoys reaches the Tang frontier; the exchange of letters and titles runs to 848 Kirghiz Embassies to the Tang (842–848) 842 Livestock Raids — ends Livestock Raids 843 Turk Shahi of Kabul and Kapisa — ends Turk Shahi of Kabul and Kapisa 843 Heichezi — begins Heichezi 843 Wagons of the Steppe Peoples — ends Wagons of the Steppe Peoples 846 Emperor Wuzong of Tang dies Emperor Wuzong of Tang 846 Ögä Khan dies Ögä Khan 846 Heichezi — ends Heichezi 847 Are — ends Are 847 Diplomacy of the Steppe Empires — ends Diplomacy of the Steppe Empires 847 The Kirghiz descent from Li Ling — ends The Kirghiz descent from Li Ling 848 The Kirghiz minister Apa beats the Shiwei with a force said to number 70,000 and takes the Uyghur remnants among them back north of the desert Kirghiz campaign against the Shiwei (848) 848 Shi Xiong dies Shi Xiong	842 The Tibetan empire comes apart in a succession quarrel, two years after the Kirghiz destroy the Uyghurs; inner Asia is left without a great power The Tibetan Empire 842 The empire of the Yarlung kings on the Tibetan plateau, the third great power of inner Asia beside China and the steppe — ends The Tibetan Empire 843 Tang troops break the camp of the Uyghur khan Ögä at Shahu Mountain and recover the princess Taihe, whom the Kirghiz had taken in 840 Rescue of Princess Taihe (840–843) 847 The Tang court invests the Kirghiz khan with the title Yingwu Chengming Khan, after a court debate had stopped the plan of 845 Tang investiture of the Kirghiz (847)
850s	850 Kimek Khaganate — begins Kimek Khaganate 850 Oghuz Yabgu State — begins Oghuz Yabgu State 850 Li Deyu dies Li Deyu 856 Uyghur Kingdom of Qocho — begins Uyghur Kingdom of Qocho
860s		867 A Kirghiz ruler receives imperial appointment from the Tang court under the emperor Yizong Kirghiz embassies of the Xiantong era (860–873)
870s	874 Bukhar Khuda — ends Bukhar Khuda
890s	890 Kirghiz and Tibetan troops at Hedong (890) Kirghiz and Tibetan troops at Hedong (890) 890 Pecheneg Confederation — begins Pecheneg Confederation 890 Pechenegs — begins Pechenegs
900s	900 Volga Bulgaria — begins Volga Bulgaria 900 Livestock in the Hudud al-Alam — begins Livestock in the Hudud al-Alam 902 Ganzhou Uyghur Kingdom — begins Ganzhou Uyghur Kingdom 907 Tang — ends Tang

10th century

Decade	The steppe	Persia, Rome and the caliphate
920s	921 Farming among the Volga Bulgars — begins Farming among the Volga Bulgars 921 Oghuz Herds in Ibn Fadlan's Account — begins Oghuz Herds in Ibn Fadlan's Account 922 Bride-Price in Livestock — ends Bride-Price in Livestock 922 Camels — ends Camels 922 Envoys and Embassies — ends Envoys and Embassies 922 Farming among the Volga Bulgars — ends Farming among the Volga Bulgars 922 Oghuz Herds in Ibn Fadlan's Account — ends Oghuz Herds in Ibn Fadlan's Account 922 Women among the Turkic Peoples — ends Women among the Turkic Peoples 923 Later Tang — begins Later Tang 924 The Khitan ruler Abaoji campaigns into the Orkhon region, the year taken as the conventional end of Kirghiz power on the steppe Abaoji's campaign to the Orkhon (924) 924 The Yenisei Kirghiz Khaganate, from the fall of the Uyghurs to the Khitan on the Orkhon — ends Yenisei Kirghiz Khaganate 926 Abaoji dies Abaoji
930s	930 Irk Bitig compiled Irk Bitig 936 Later Jin — begins Later Jin 936 Later Tang — ends Later Tang
940s	946 Later Jin — ends Later Jin 947 Later Han — begins Later Han
950s	951 Later Han — ends Later Han
960s	965 Sarkel — ends Sarkel 965 The Khazar language — ends The Khazar language 969 Khazar Khaganate — ends Khazar Khaganate 969 Ashina — ends Ashina 969 History of the Turkic peoples — ends History of the Turkic peoples 969 Khan (Khagan) — ends Khan (Khagan) 969 Khazar Dual Kingship — ends Khazar Dual Kingship 969 The Great Empires of the Steppe — ends The Great Empires of the Steppe	965 The Rus, allied with Oghuz, overrun Atil and probably Sarkel; the Khazar khaganate ends within a few years Khazar Khaganate
980s	982 Towns and Villages of the Turks in the Hudud al-ʿĀlam — begins Towns and Villages of the Turks in the Hudud al-ʿĀlam 982 Captives and the Unfree — ends Captives and the Unfree 982 Livestock in the Hudud al-Alam — ends Livestock in the Hudud al-Alam 982 Seasonal Pastures — ends Seasonal Pastures 982 Sheep — ends Sheep 982 Towns and Villages of the Turks in the Hudud al-ʿĀlam — ends Towns and Villages of the Turks in the Hudud al-ʿĀlam 982 Wood and Woodworking — ends Wood and Woodworking
990s	999 Samanids — ends Samanids
1000s	1000 Kipchak — begins Kipchak 1000 The Old Turkic script — ends The Old Turkic script 1000 The Sogdian language — ends The Sogdian language

11th century

Decade	The steppe	China, Korea and Tibet	Persia, Rome and the caliphate
1010s	1013 Cefu yuangui compiled Cefu yuangui
1020s	1028 Ganzhou Uyghur Kingdom — ends Ganzhou Uyghur Kingdom
1040s	1042 Oghuz Yabgu State — ends Oghuz Yabgu State
1050s	1050 Kimek Khaganate — ends Kimek Khaganate
1070s	1071 Atabeg — begins Atabeg 1072 Felt, Cloth, Leather and Wood in Kashgari's Dictionary — begins Felt, Cloth, Leather and Wood in Kashgari's Dictionary 1073 Oghuz and Kipchak speech in Kashgari — begins Oghuz and Kipchak speech in Kashgari 1074 Felt, Cloth, Leather and Wood in Kashgari's Dictionary — ends Felt, Cloth, Leather and Wood in Kashgari's Dictionary 1077 Oghuz and Kipchak speech in Kashgari — ends Oghuz and Kipchak speech in Kashgari
1080s	1084 Zizhi tongjian (Comprehensive Mirror in Aid of Governance) compiled Zizhi tongjian (Comprehensive Mirror in Aid of Governance)
1090s	1091 Pecheneg Confederation — ends Pecheneg Confederation 1091 Pechenegs — ends Pechenegs
1100s	1100 Oghuz — ends Oghuz

12th century

Decade	The steppe	China, Korea and Tibet	Persia, Rome and the caliphate
1200s	1209 Uyghur Kingdom of Qocho — ends Uyghur Kingdom of Qocho

13th century

Decade	The steppe	China, Korea and Tibet	Persia, Rome and the caliphate
1210s	1212 Kara-Khanid Khanate — ends Kara-Khanid Khanate
1240s	1240 Volga Bulgaria — ends Volga Bulgaria 1240 Alans — ends Alans
1250s	1250 Kipchak — ends Kipchak 1258 The Abbasid Caliphate — ends The Abbasid Caliphate
1300s	1300 Old Turkic — ends Old Turkic 1300 Old Uyghur — ends Old Uyghur

14th century

Decade	The steppe	China, Korea and Tibet	Persia, Rome and the caliphate
1400s	1400 Bulgars — ends Bulgars

15th century

Decade	The steppe	China, Korea and Tibet	Persia, Rome and the caliphate
1450s	1453 Byzantium — ends Byzantium

18th century

Decade	The steppe	China, Korea and Tibet	Persia, Rome and the caliphate
1750s	1756 The origin of the Avars — begins The origin of the Avars

19th century

Decade	The steppe	China, Korea and Tibet	Persia, Rome and the caliphate
1840s	1846 The making of Tengrism — begins The making of Tengrism
1880s	1883 The Khazar–Ashkenazi hypothesis — begins The Khazar–Ashkenazi hypothesis

20th century

Decade	The steppe	China, Korea and Tibet	Persia, Rome and the caliphate
1910s	1917 The Khakas name debate — begins The Khakas name debate
1920s	1926 The origin of the title Khan — begins The origin of the title Khan
1940s	1949 The Kirghiz origin debate — begins The Kirghiz origin debate
1950s	1950 The Turkish–Korean friendship narrative — begins The Turkish–Korean friendship narrative
1960s	1961 The Yenisei Kirghiz and the Kyrgyz — begins The Yenisei Kirghiz and the Kyrgyz
1990s	1992 The Khakas name debate — ends The Khakas name debate

21st century

Decade	The steppe	China, Korea and Tibet	Persia, Rome and the caliphate
2020s	2020 The origin of the title Khan — ends The origin of the title Khan 2021 The Kirghiz origin debate — ends The Kirghiz origin debate 2021 The Yenisei Kirghiz and the Kyrgyz — ends The Yenisei Kirghiz and the Kyrgyz 2026 The origin of the Avars — ends The origin of the Avars