Rouran Khaganate: A Visual History

The Rouran Khaganate dominated the Mongolian steppe from around 330 (as a tribal power) and formally from 402, when Shelun took the title khagan, until the Turks destroyed it in 552-555. Probably an offshoot of the Xianbei, the Rouran fought the Northern Wei, controlled the Tarim Basin and Central Asian trade, and may have been the origin of the Avars who later terrorised Europe. Their Turkic vassals, the Ashina, rebelled under Bumin, and the last Rouran were executed in China at Turkic demand.

When it existed: the era ribbon

The bold bar is Rouran Khaganate. The lighter bars are empires and wars from the same era and the same part of the world. Click any bar to jump to its page.

Rouran territory

Timeline of the Rouran Khaganate

1. 330
   Rouran emerge as a tribal power
2. 402
   Shelun becomes khaganFirst use of the title.
3. 429
   Wei campaign scatters the Rouran
4. 460
   Rouran control the Tarim BasinGaochang taken.
5. 520
   Anagui KhaganCivil war and Wei intervention.
6. 552
   Turkic revoltAnagui defeated; kills himself.
7. 555
   Last Rouran executed

Rise

The Rouran (called Ruanruan, 'wriggling worms', by the Wei) were originally slaves or subjects of the Tuoba Xianbei. In 402 Shelun united the tribes, defeated the Tiele and Gaoche and took the new title khagan, later adopted by Turks, Mongols and Bulgars. He organised his army in units of 1,000 and 100.

War with the Wei

For 150 years the Rouran raided the Northern Wei frontier and the Wei launched punitive expeditions across the Gobi; Emperor Taiwu's 429 campaign scattered them. The Wei built the six frontier garrisons and repaired walls against them. The Rouran also dominated the Tarim states and Hephthalite borderlands and exchanged embassies with the southern Chinese dynasties.

Overthrow

Anagui Khagan spurned a marriage request from Bumin, chief of the Turkic Ashina clan who forged iron for the Rouran, calling him a blacksmith slave. Bumin, backed by the Western Wei, crushed the Rouran in 552; Anagui killed himself. Remnants fled to the Northern Qi and Western Wei, and in 555 the Western Wei handed 3,000 Rouran to the Turks for execution. Some scholars identify refugees who reached Europe in the 560s with the Avars.

Related empires and wars

Chosen automatically by overlap in time and geography, plus a few hand picked connections.

Empires of the same era and region

• Xianbei state (93 to 234)
• Northern Wei (386 to 535)
• First Turkic Khaganate (552 to 603)
• Hephthalite Empire (440 to 560)
• Avar Khaganate (567 to 822)
• Northern Qi (550 to 577)
• Northern Zhou (557 to 581)

Wars of the same era and region

• Goguryeo-Sui War (598 to 614)
• Three Kingdoms period (184 to 280)

8 surprising things about the Rouran Khaganate

1. 'Khagan', the title of the Turkic, Mongol and Khazar rulers, was first used by the Rouran in 402.
2. The name the Chinese used for them, Ruanruan, was a deliberate insult meaning 'wriggling insects'.
3. The Turks who overthrew the Rouran were their ironworkers, and the insult 'blacksmith slave' set off the revolt.
4. The Rouran are one candidate for the origin of the Avars, whose arrival in Europe coincided with the Rouran collapse.
5. The Mulan ballad's enemy, the 'Rouran' or northern nomads, and its khan reflect this period.
6. The Rouran adopted Buddhism, and one khagan sent a monk as envoy to the southern Chinese court.
7. The Wei emperor Taiwu's 429 campaign reportedly netted 300,000 prisoners and a million animals.
8. The Rouran ruled the Uyghurs' ancestors, the Tiele, whose revolts weakened them before the Turks struck.

Sources

• Rouran Khaganate Wikipedia
• Juan-juan Encyclopaedia Britannica
• Rouran Khaganate World History Encyclopedia
• Peter B. Golden, An Introduction to the History of the Turkic Peoples (1992) Harrassowitz

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