Who ruled
- Byzantium Heraclius 610–641
- Western Göktürk Khaganate Nishu Bagha Shad 632–634
- Xueyantuo Khaganate (Syr Tardush) Yinan Khan 628–645
And beyond the steppe
- China Tang Taizong 626–649
- Iran Sasanian Yazdegerd III 632–651
- Korea Goguryeo Yeongnyu 618–642
- Byzantium Heraclian Heraclius 610–641
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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Environment · Lake Telmen stands 4.8 metres above its present level, a humid phase before the drying that follows (600–700)
China
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Economy · The Tang cavalry grows from five thousand horses to more than seven hundred thousand, supplied by the Göktürks (618–650)
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Culture · 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) · Ilig Khan · Tang
