Who ruled
- Byzantium Justin II 565–578
- First Göktürk Khaganate Mukan Khan 553–572
- Northern Qi Emperor Wucheng of Northern Qi 561–565
- Northern Zhou Emperor Wu of Northern Zhou 560–578
- Sasanian Persia Khosrow I 531–579
- Western Göktürk Khaganate Istemi 552–576
And beyond the steppe
- China Northern Zhou Emperor Wu 560–578 · Northern Qi Emperor Wucheng 561–565 · Gao Wei 565–577
- Iran Sasanian Khosrow I 531–579
- Korea Goguryeo Pyeongwon 559–590
- Byzantium Justinian Justinian I 527–565 · Justin II 565–578
Eastern steppe
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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
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spring · A Zhou delegation of a hundred and twenty under Yuwen Chun comes for Mukan's daughter and is held
Western steppe
China
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Four dukes and a hundred and twenty women go to Mukan's camp to fetch the empress and are kept there for years
