Who ruled
- First Göktürk Khaganate Mukan Khan 553–572
- Sasanian Persia Khosrow I 531–579
- Western Göktürk Khaganate Istemi 552–576
And beyond the steppe
- China Northern Qi Emperor Wenxuan 550–559 · Northern Zhou Emperor Ming 557–560
- Iran Sasanian Khosrow I 531–579
- Korea Goguryeo Yangwon 545–559
- Byzantium Justinian Justinian I 527–565
Eastern steppe
-
Environment · Late Antique Little Ice Age: the cold phase the Altai tree rings define from 536 to about 660 (536–660)
Climate and the steppe empires · First Göktürk Khaganate · Avars
The coldest decade in the Altai is the 540s
Western steppe
Byzantium
-
Technology · The Avars bring the stirrup to Europe, by one reading, which infers that the Göktürks had it too