Who ruled
- Byzantium Justin II 565–578
- First Göktürk Khaganate Mukan Khan 553–572 · Taspar Khan 572–581
- 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 Gao Wei 565–577
- Iran Sasanian Khosrow I 531–579
- Korea Goguryeo Pyeongwon 559–590
- Byzantium Justinian 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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Mukan dies; his brother Taspar succeeds; envoys from Zhou and Qi hurry to the new khan
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Taspar sets his nephews Ishbara and Börü as lesser khans in the east and west of his domain
Taspar Khan · Khan (Khagan) · Ishbara Khan · Taspar's Appointment of the Lesser Khans (572)
Western steppe
China
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Economy · 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 (572–581)
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third month · Emperor Wu kills the regent Yuwen Hu; Hu's son is killed on embassy among the Göktürks
