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, the third Persia and Rome. 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 358 — Mongolia, the western steppe, the Tarim and Sogdiana
China 113 — The dynasties of the north and south, and Korea
Persia and Rome 32 — The Sasanians, Byzantium, and the Caucasus between them

503 entries in 89 decades. A year set in bold opens its own page, where the same material stands year by year with the sources beside it. The complete chronology gives every entry in one column, with the marks for politics, culture, economy, technology and environment.

25th c. BC
20th c. BC
15th c. BC
13th c. BC
10th c. BC
8th c. BC
7th c. BC
6th c. BC
4th c. BC
3rd c. BC
2nd c. BC
1st c. BC
1st c.
2nd c.
3rd c.
4th c.
5th c.
6th c.
7th c.
8th c.
9th c.
10th c.
11th c.
15th c.

25th century BC

Decade	The steppe	China	Persia and Rome
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

20th century BC

Decade	The steppe	China	Persia and Rome
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	Persia and Rome
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	Persia and Rome
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	Persia and Rome
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

8th century BC

Decade	The steppe	China	Persia and Rome
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
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	Persia and Rome
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	Persia and Rome
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

4th century BC

Decade	The steppe	China	Persia and Rome
400s BC	410 BC Equestrian nomadism adopted, possibly, by elements of the Turkic and other Altaic-speaking peoples by the late fifth century BC, in Golden's view; the Scytho-Siberian cultural community takes shape with Scytho-Saka elements in the lead The steppe before the Xiongnu
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

3rd century BC

Decade	The steppe	China	Persia and Rome
210s BC		215 BC The Qin push Touman north from the Ordos and build the fortifications that became the Great Wall Xiongnu

2nd century BC

Decade	The steppe	China
200s BC	210 BC The Xiongnu appear with the full panoply of the steppe warrior: compound bow, whistling arrows, swords, lances and maces Xiongnu 209 BC Modu kills his father Touman 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 Making of the first steppe empire — begins Making of the first steppe empire 209 BC The language of the Xiongnu — begins The language of the Xiongnu 209 BC The steppe before the Xiongnu — ends The steppe before the Xiongnu 201 BC Modu brings the Hunyu, Qushe, Dingling, Gekun (Kirghiz) and Xinli under Xiongnu control Xiongnu
190s BC	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 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
160s BC	162 BC Xiongnu wars in the west against the Yuezhi and the Wusun — ends Xiongnu	166 BC Laoshang invades China; the Han acquiesce for a time in Xiongnu dominance of the nomadic north Xiongnu
120s BC	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 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 Wudi's wars against the Xiongnu: the great offensives of 127, 121 and 119 BC — ends Xiongnu

1st century BC

Decade	The steppe	China
90s BC	91 BC Shiji compiled Shiji
70s BC	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
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	54 BC The southern Xiongnu under Huhanye submit to the Han and enter the tributary system Xiongnu
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

1st century

Decade	The steppe	China
40s	48 A succession struggle divides the Xiongnu into a northern and a southern confederation; the southern falls under Han control Xiongnu
80s	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	93 Han campaigns with the southern Xiongnu, the Xianbei and the Wuhuan against the northern Xiongnu — ends Xiongnu
100s		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	Persia and Rome
110s	111 Han Shu compiled Han Shu
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

3rd century

Decade	The steppe	China	Persia and Rome
220s	224 Sasanian Persia — begins Sasanian Persia
300s		304 Former Zhao (Northern Han), a dynasty of Xiongnu origin in northern China — begins Xiongnu

4th century

Decade	The steppe	China	Persia and Rome
310s	311 The language of the Xiongnu — ends The language of the Xiongnu	313 The Sogdian Ancient Letters, written probably in 313, show Sogdian merchants settled in Gansu and the Chinese capitals Sogdians
320s		329 Former Zhao (Northern Han), a dynasty of Xiongnu origin in northern China — ends Xiongnu
330s	330 Byzantium — begins Byzantium
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
370s	370 Huns — begins Huns
380s	386 Northern Wei — begins Northern Wei 386 Yujiulü — begins Yujiulü
390s	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	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 Huns
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 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

5th century

Decade	The steppe	China	Persia and Rome
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
420s	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 425 Taiwu marches into the steppe on five roads; Datan's people flee north Datan Khan 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	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 436 Wuti breaks the peace with the Wei and raids the frontier Wuti Khan 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; five hundred Ashina families migrate by Gaochang to the Altai as subjects of the Rouran Ashina	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
440s	440 Towns founded and walls built in Sogdiana under the Kidarites: Panjikent, Paikent, Bukhara; the citadel of Samarkand raised Sogdiana 444 Wuti Khan reigns over the Rouran — ends Wuti Khan 445 Hou Han Shu compiled Hou Han Shu 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	441 Sogdian embassies to China break off; they resume in 457 under a Kidarite king Sogdiana
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 Hephthalites — begins Hephthalites 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
460s	460 The Rouran subdue the Tiele in the west Rouran Khaganate 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 469 Huns — ends Huns
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 475 Yucheng asks the Wei for a marriage and is refused with a lecture in the rites Yucheng Khan
480s	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 Afuzhiluo rules the Gaoche kingdom north-west of Gaochang as 'great son of heaven' — begins Afuzhiluo	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
500s	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

6th century

Decade	The steppe	China	Persia and Rome
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 524 Poluomen, captured after trying to defect to the Hephthalites, dies in the lodge south of the Luo at Luoyang Poluomen Khan	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
530s	534 The Northern Wei split into the Eastern and Western Wei Northern Wei 534 Northern Wei — ends Northern Wei 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 a tree-ring study the editor cites; he reads 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 editor's name for 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
540s	540 A tropical eruption, larger than Tambora in its aerosol; summers cold again from 541 to almost 550 Climate and the steppe empires 542 Tuwu dies and Bumin takes hold of the Ashina Bumin Khan 545 Yuwen Tai sends the Sogdian An Nuopantuo to the Göktürk; Bumin receives the Western Wei embassy Western Wei embassy of 545 546 Anagui refuses Bumin a princess and calls him his blacksmith slave; Bumin kills the envoy; the War of Independence begins The Turkic War of Independence 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 547 A third, smaller eruption closes the volcanic cluster that opened the cold phase Climate and the steppe empires	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	551 Bumin marries the Western Wei princess Changle; the alliance secured by Yuwen Tai Bumin Khan 552 A Rouran force sent west is beaten by the Göktürk 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 Göktürk 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; 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 the operator 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 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 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 Avars — begins Avars	550 The Northern Qi replace the Eastern Wei in north-eastern China Northern Qi 551 Ten thousand Göktürk 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 553 Anlouchen, khan under Qi patronage, rises against the Qi with fifty thousand men and is beaten Anluochen 553 Issik overtakes Dengzhu's Rouran army and destroys it on the Ordos Issik Khan 553 The Göktürk send the Western Wei some fifty thousand horses and receive several hundred thousand bolts of silk Issik Khan 553 The Qi emperor forces Dengzhu to march against the Göktürk Issik Khan 553 The Western Wei seize Dengshuzi and three thousand Rouran at Mukan's request and hand them to the Göktürk envoys Western Wei 553 Three thousand Rouran handed over by the Western Wei are hanged by Mukan along the Yellow River Mukan Khan 554 The last Göktürk victory over the Rouran remnant Rouran Khaganate 557 The Western Wei give way to the Northern Zhou; Yuwen Tai dies, having handed the last Rouran to the Göktürk 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 the editor; he infers that the Göktürk had it too Avars
560s	560 Istemi takes Bukhara; the Hephthalite realm is destroyed in concert with Khosrow I Battle of Bukhara 560 Mukan conquers the Kirghiz on the Yenisei and the Khitan in the east — ends Mukan Khan 563 Istemi and Khosrow destroy the Hephthalite realm — ends Hephthalites 565 A second Zhou offensive fails; a Zhou delegation of a hundred and twenty comes for Mukan's daughter and is held Mukan Khan 568 Göktürk traders offer the Romans iron when Zemarchos reaches Sogdiana; the smiths of the Altai a generation on Istemi 569 Istemi receives Zemarchos at Ektag on a golden throne and takes him on a raid toward Persia Zemarchos 569 Maniakh dies Maniakh	563 A Göktürk and Zhou army enters Qi territory and advances on Taiyuan Mukan Khan 563 Göktürk and Zhou armies against the Northern Qi at Jinyang — begins Mukan Khan 564 The Qi hold Taiyuan through the winter siege and force the allies back Mukan Khan 564 Yang Zhong reports to the Zhou emperor that the Göktürk have bad armour, light rewards, many chiefs and no laws Hegemony Wars in Northern China 564 Göktürk 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 568 Istemi's letter to Justin II is written in Scythian letters: Old Turkic by the editor, 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 Göktürk and the Romans become allies Maniakh 568 Zemarchos leaves Constantinople for the Göktürk Zemarchos 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
570s	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 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 Tardush rules the western wing — begins Tardush 576 Istemi holds the western wing as yabgu — ends Istemi 578 The Chinese monk Huilin converts Taspar, who builds him a pagoda; no other Göktürk follows Taspar Khan 579 Khosrow I dies Khosrow I	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 577 The Northern Zhou conquer the Northern Qi; Gao Shaoyi flees to Taspar's court Taspar Khan 578 The Göktürk 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	575 Some hundred and six Göktürk are resident in Constantinople Istemi 576 The embassy of Valentinos is received; Göktürk forces besiege Bosporus in the Crimea First Göktürk Khaganate
580s	580 Gao Shaoyi is seized by a ruse and surrendered to the Zhou; peace and the princess Qianjin Taspar Khan 581 Extreme weather accompanies the first years of the civil war, by the tree-ring study the editor cites Civil war, 584–603 581 Taspar dies; the nobility assembles at Ötüken, overrides his wish for Töremen, and elects Amrak Succession crisis of 581 581 Amrak is khan — begins Amrak 581 Taspar Khan reigns — ends Taspar Khan 582 Amrak abdicates in Ishbara's favour; Töremen, as Apa Khan, goes to war, supported by Tardush Succession crisis of 581 582 Ishbara Khan reigns — begins Ishbara Khan 582 Amrak is khan — ends Amrak 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 and Apa both die; Tulan succeeds in the east; the khaganate is two Ishbara Khan 587 Tulan Khan reigns — begins Tulan 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	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 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 Göktürk near Baidao in June First Göktürk Khaganate 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 Göktürk; the Sui end the silk payments of the Zhou years Sogdians	588 Bagha crosses the Oxus, takes Balkh and Herat, and is beaten and killed by Bahram Chobin at the Hyrcanian rock in April 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	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, by Golden's account, and moves to take the whole steppe empire Tardush 599 Tardush's war with the Sui and their client Yami for the whole khaganate — begins Tardush	599 Tulan and Tardush destroy Yami's kin; Yami flees to the Sui with five horsemen and the envoy Changsun 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
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 Tardush holds supreme power in the united khaganates, by Golden's account — begins Tardush 602 Tardush defeats Yami Yami Khan 603 A Tiele rising drives Tardush into exile, where he dies; the realm is finally divided Tardush 603 Tulan is killed by his own followers; Yami marches into Ötüken with Göktürk and Chinese troops Tulan 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 Göktürk 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, by Golden's account — ends Tardush 603 Tardush rules the western wing — ends Tardush 603 Tulan Khan reigns — ends Tulan 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 Göktürk from Dzungaria to the Ili Tiele 609 Yami dies; his son Shibi succeeds Yami Khan 609 Shibi Khan reigns — begins Shibi Khan 609 Yami Khan reigns as a Sui client — ends Yami Khan	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	606 Second Göktürk war with Persia — begins Sasanian Persia 607 Second Göktürk war with Persia — ends Sasanian Persia

7th century

Decade	The steppe	China	Persia and Rome
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 Göktürk — begins Shegui Khan 611 Heshana (Chuluo) Khan rules the western Göktürk after Tardush — ends Heshana Khan 618 Tong Yabgu rules the western Göktürk from Suyab — begins Tong Yabgu 619 Shibi dies on a raid; his brother Chula succeeds Shibi Khan 619 Shegui Khan rules the western Göktürk — 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 615 Shibi besieges the Sui emperor at Yanmen and withdraws on a false report 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 Göktürk Sogdians 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
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 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, by Golden's account Karluk 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 629 Tang cavalry strike the Göktürk in winter Ilig Khan 629 The pilgrim Xuanzang visits Tong Yabgu's court at Suyab Suyab	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	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 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 Göktürk in the Caucasus with Heraclius against Persia: Derbent and Tiflis — begins Tong Yabgu 628 The Göktürk in the Caucasus with Heraclius against Persia: Derbent and Tiflis — ends Tong Yabgu
630s	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 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 Göktürk under Tang rule; the fifty years the Kül Tegin inscription calls the loss of realm and khan — begins Ashina 630 The Xueyantuo rule the Orkhon country between the fall of Ilig and their destruction by the Tang — begins Xueyantuo 630 First Göktürk Khaganate — ends First Göktürk Khaganate 630 Ilig Khan reigns — ends Ilig Khan 630 Tong Yabgu rules the western Göktürk from Suyab — ends Tong Yabgu 634 Civil war in the west after the murder of Tong Yabgu; the Ten Arrows emerge — ends Western Göktürk Khaganate 634 Shaboluo Dielishi Khan; the Ten Arrows fully manifest as two unions of five tribes, Duolu and Nushibi, each under its own khan — begins On Oq 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) 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 Shaboluo Dielishi Khan; the Ten Arrows fully manifest as two unions of five tribes, Duolu and Nushibi, each under its own khan — ends On Oq	630 Kang Sumi surrenders to the Tang with the last Sui princes from the Göktürk; An Tuhan with 5,000 men; the Sogdian settlement of the Ordos begins Sogdians 630 The Tang settle the surrendered Göktürk on the Ordos loop in protectorates after the debate of Wen Yanbo and Wei Zheng Ordos 630 Hegemony Wars in Northern China, the editor's name for the wars from the break-up of the Northern Wei to the Tang capture of Ilig — ends Hegemony Wars in Northern China 634 Ilig dies at Chang'an; the Tang burn his body east of the Ba river by Göktürk rite Ilig Khan
640s	640 The Tang take the kingdom of Gaochang and make it the prefecture of Xizhou Gaochang 646 The Xueyantuo rule the Orkhon country between the fall of Ilig and their destruction by the Tang — ends Xueyantuo 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	642 A leader of the western Göktürk 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	642 Arab–Khazar wars for the passes of the Caucasus — begins Khazar Khaganate
650s	650 Khazar Khaganate — begins Khazar Khaganate 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 Sasanian Persia — ends Sasanian Persia 651 Ashina Helu, self-proclaimed Shaboluo Khan, dominates the Ten Arrows — begins Ashina Helu 653 Ashina Helu against the Tang: the last khan of the western Göktürk — 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 Göktürk; 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 Göktürk — 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 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 Göktürk; by the 670s they have beaten the Bulgars Khazar Khaganate 651 Yipishekui, a defeated khan of the Nushibi, moves to the Khazar lands and founds their ruling house: Artamonov's hypothesis, reported by Golden with reservations Khazar Khaganate
660s		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
670s	679 Göktürk war of restoration, 679–687 — begins Göktürk war of restoration, 679–687	679 The Tang organise the Sogdo-Göktürk settlements of the Ordos as the six hu counties Sogdians
680s	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 Göktürk under Tang rule; the fifty years the Kül Tegin inscription calls the loss of realm and khan — ends Ashina 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	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 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 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 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	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

8th century

Decade	The steppe	China	Persia and Rome
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 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 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 son-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 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 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 Tonyukuk inscription is raised at Bain Tsokto on the upper Tola, by its author in his own lifetime Tonyukuk inscription 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 717 Sulu, khan of the Türgesh: victories over the Arabs in 720 and 724, peace with the Tang and an Ashina bride in 722; slain by the yellow tribes — begins Türgesh
720s	720 The Tang's three-sided attack on the Göktürk camp and the Basmïl campaign — begins Basmïl 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	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
730s	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 732 The Kül Tegin inscription is erected on the Orkhon Kül Tegin inscription 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 738 Sulu, khan of the Türgesh: victories over the Arabs in 720 and 724, peace with the Tang and an Ashina bride in 722; slain by the yellow tribes — ends Türgesh		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, 741–744 744 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 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 Fall of the Second Khaganate, 741–744 — ends Fall of the Second Khaganate, 741–744 745 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 Making of the first steppe empire — ends Making of 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
750s	751 Battle on the Talas: the Tang army is destroyed when its Karluk allies defect to the Arabs Karluk	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
760s	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 The Uyghur khan is converted to Manichaeism at Luoyang, by the Karabalghasun inscription Manichaeism 763 The rebellion of An Lushan is finally put down in January An Lushan 763 Rebellion of An Lushan — ends An Lushan
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
780s	783 Persistent drought in the Orkhon country through the last Uyghur decades, by the tree rings Climate and the steppe empires
790s	790 The Uyghurs lose Beiting to the Tibetans — begins Uyghur Khaganate 795 The Uyghurs lose Beiting to the Tibetans — ends Uyghur Khaganate 796 Avars — ends Avars
800s	800 The Karluks hold Suyab and the lands of the Ten Arrows — ends Karluk 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	Persia and Rome
810s	815 The trilingual Karabalghasun inscription is composed, recording the khan's conversion to Manichaeism Manichaeism
820s	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 Khaganate
830s	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	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 Khaganate 840 Kirghiz hegemony in the eastern steppe after the fall of the Uyghurs — begins Yenisei Kirghiz 840 Uyghur Khaganate — ends Uyghur Khaganate
900s	907 Tang — ends Tang

10th century

Decade	The steppe	China	Persia and Rome
920s	924 Kirghiz hegemony in the eastern steppe after the fall of the Uyghurs — ends Yenisei Kirghiz
960s	969 Khazar Khaganate — ends Khazar Khaganate 969 Ashina — ends Ashina 969 Khan (Khagan) — ends Khan (Khagan)		965 The Rus, allied with Oghuz, overrun Atil and probably Sarkel; the Khazar khaganate ends within a few years Khazar Khaganate

11th century

Decade	The steppe	China	Persia and Rome
1070s	1071 Atabeg — begins Atabeg 1074 Dīvān Lughāt al-Turk compiled Dīvān Lughāt al-Turk
1080s	1084 Zizhi tongjian (Comprehensive Mirror in Aid of Governance) compiled Zizhi tongjian (Comprehensive Mirror in Aid of Governance)

15th century

Decade	The steppe	China	Persia and Rome
1450s	1453 Byzantium — ends Byzantium