Bumin founds the Türk empire
552
Bumin crushed the Rouran and founded the Türk khaganate; his brother Istemi ruled the western wing.
552 – 744 AD
Turkic Khaganates · Түрэгийн хаант улс
In 552 Bumin khagan overthrew the Rouran and built the largest steppe polity before the Mongols, stretching from Manchuria toward the Black Sea. After Tang overlordship (630–682), Ilterish restored the state. The Orkhon inscriptions, the earliest extensive Turkic-language texts, were erected in central Mongolia in this era.
Ends in 744, when the Uyghur-led revolt destroyed the Second Khaganate. Atwood ends the Türk empire at the revolt of 742; the last claimant was killed in 745.
This period has a page and its sources; the scroll-through chapter is not written yet.
Events
East–west split
583
The khaganate split into eastern and western halves. The eastern khaganate fell to the Tang in 630, beginning Tang overlordship of the plateau (630–682).
The Second Khaganate restored
682
Ilterish (Qutlugh) khagan threw off Tang control and restored the khaganate.
The Orkhon inscriptions
732–735
The memorial stelae of Kül Tegin and Bilge Khagan rose in the Orkhon valley: the earliest extensive Turkic texts and witnesses to the sacred political geography of central Mongolia.
Fall to the Uyghurs
744
A Uyghur-led coalition destroyed the Second Türk Khaganate.
People
- Bumin khagan d. 552/553 — Founder
- Bilge khagan r. 716–734 — Great khagan of the Second Khaganate
- Kül Tegin 684–731 — General, Bilge khagan's brother
Sources
- Sinor, D., “The establishment and dissolution of the Türk empire”, in The Cambridge History of Early Inner Asia (1990), pp. 285–316 (chapter verified).
- Honeychurch, W., “Inner Asian States and Empires” (2012): Türk era dates 552–742/744.