In 552, Bumin (of the Ashina clan) defeated the Rouran Khaganate and proclaimed a new steppe empire commonly called the First Turkic (Göktürk) Khaganate, establishing a durable model of Turkic imperial confederation across Inner Asia.
Soon after 552, Bumin’s brother Istämi (often titled yabghu) became the key western counterpart to the eastern court at Ötüken, enabling rapid expansion of Göktürk influence toward Central Asia and the western steppes.
Around the early 560s, the Göktürks and the Sasanians jointly defeated the Hephthalites (often associated with the Battle of Gol-Zarriun/Bukhara traditions), helping dissolve Hephthalite imperial power and reshaping control of Transoxiana and the Oxus frontier.
In 568, a Göktürk mission associated with Istämi reached the Byzantine court (the embassy of Zemarchus), reflecting the Khaganate’s diplomacy along Silk Road networks and its attempts to shape Eurasian trade and alliances.
After Taspar Qaghan died in 581, a contested succession helped trigger a prolonged interregnum and civil conflict, weakening central authority and accelerating the Khaganate’s institutional split into eastern and western power centers.
By the early 7th century, the earlier interregnum culminated in a durable split: the Eastern and Western Turkic Khaganates emerged as distinct polities, each with different strategic priorities and external relationships.
In 629–630, Tang forces under Emperor Taizong’s leadership destroyed the Eastern Turkic Khaganate; the campaign climaxed at the Battle of Yinshan on 27 March 630, after which Tang power expanded into the steppe frontier.
From 641 to 646, Tang campaigns against the Xueyantuo—who had risen in the vacuum after 630—reasserted Chinese influence in Mongolia and reduced a major intermediary confederation that had dominated former Eastern Turk territories.
In 657, Tang general Su Dingfang defeated Ashina Helu at the Irtysh River, effectively ending the Western Turkic Khaganate as an independent imperial power and strengthening Tang influence across the western steppe and Xinjiang corridor.
In 682, Kutlug (Ilterish Qaghan) reestablished a Turkic imperial center in the Ötüken region, founding what is commonly called the Second Turkic (Göktürk) Khaganate after decades of Tang-dominated steppe politics.
Under Qapaghan Qaghan (r. 692–716), the Second Turkic Khaganate reached a high point of military and political power, expanding influence over neighboring steppe groups and intensifying competition with Tang China.
In 711, Turkic forces under Tonyukuk (with Kül Tigin and Bilge also associated in later memory) defeated opponents including the Türgesh at Bolchu, illustrating the restored Khaganate’s capacity to project power across Inner Asia.
Kül Tigin—key military leader and royal prince—died on 27 February 731. His death removed a major stabilizing figure in the ruling elite remembered in later monumental texts.
In 732, an Orkhon monument honoring Kül Tigin was erected in the Orkhon Valley. These inscriptions are among the earliest surviving Old Turkic texts and provide a state-centered narrative of Turkic origins, rule, and relations with China.
Bilge Qaghan (r. 716–734) died in 734, marking a critical transition for the Second Turkic Khaganate. His reign is central to the political message later preserved in the Orkhon epigraphic tradition.
In 735, a second major Orkhon monument—honoring Bilge Qaghan—was erected, continuing the tradition of bilingual (Turkic and Chinese) monumental commemoration and preserving elite political counsel and historical memory.
In 744, an alliance involving Uyghurs (with Karluk and Basmyl support in many accounts) overthrew the Second Turkic Khaganate; the last Göktürk ruler Ozmish Qaghan was defeated and the balance of power in Mongolia shifted decisively to the Uyghurs.
Göktürk Khaganates: First and Second Turkic Khaganates (552–744)
