Istämi (or Dizabul or Ishtemi Sir Yabghu Khagan; ) was the ruler of the western part of the Göktürks, which became the

Western Turkic Khaganate The Western Turkic Khaganate () or Onoq Khaganate ( otk, 𐰆𐰣:𐰸:𐰉𐰆𐰑𐰣, On oq budun, Ten arrow people) was a Turkic khaganate in Eurasia, formed as a result of the wars in the beginning of the 7th century (593–603 CE) after t ...

and dominated the Sogdians. He was the yabgu (vassal) of his brother

Bumin Qaghan Bumin Qaghan ( otk, 𐰉𐰆𐰢𐰣:𐰴𐰍𐰣, Bumïn qaγan, also known as Illig Qaghan ( Chinese: 伊利可汗, Pinyin: Yīlì Kèhán, Wade–Giles: i-li k'o-han) or Yamï Qaghan ( otk, 𐰖𐰢𐰃:𐰴𐰍𐰣, Yаmï qaγan, died 552 A ...

in 552 AD. He was posthumously referred to as khagan in Turkic sources. His son was

Tardu Tardu or Tardush Yabghu was the second yabgu of the Western Turkic Khaganate (c. 575–603), and ninth Qaghans of the Turkic khaganates, Khagan of the First Turkic Khaganate (599–603). He was the son of Istämi. Names The regnal name in Turk ...

Activities

During his rule Istami established diplomatic relations with the

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

and

Byzantine Empire The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...

s, defeated the Hepthalites, and acted as an elder statesman during the disintegration of the eastern half of the empire. We know a great deal about him from the diplomatic missions of the Byzantine Empire. Shortly after the

smuggling of silkworm eggs into the Byzantine Empire In the mid-6th century CE, two monks, with the support of the Byzantine emperor Justinian I, acquired and smuggled living silkworms into the Byzantine Empire, which led to the establishment of an indigenous Byzantine silk industry that long held ...

from China by Nestorian Christian monks, the 6th-century Byzantine historian

Menander Protector Menander Protector (Menander the Guardsman, Menander the Byzantian; el, Μένανδρος Προτήκτωρ or Προτέκτωρ), Byzantine historian, was born in Constantinople in the middle of the 6th century AD. The little that is known of ...

writes of how the Sogdians attempted to establish a direct trade of Chinese silk with the Byzantine Empire. After forming an alliance with the Sassanid ruler Khosrow I to defeat the Hephthalite Empire, Istämi was approached by Sogdian merchants requesting permission to seek an audience with the Sassanid king of kings for the privilege of traveling through Persian territories in order to trade with the Byzantines.Howard, Michael C., ''Transnationalism in Ancient and Medieval Societies'', the Role of Cross Border Trade and Travel, McFarland & Company, 2012, p. 133. Istämi refused the first request, but when he sanctioned the second one and had the Sogdian embassy sent to the Sassanid king, the latter had the members of the embassy poisoned to death. Maniah, a Sogdian diplomat, convinced Istämi to send an embassy directly to Byzantium's capital

Constantinople la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه , alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth (Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya ( Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis ( ...

, which arrived in 568 and offered not only silk as a gift to Byzantine ruler

Justin II Justin II ( la, Iustinus; grc-gre, Ἰουστῖνος, Ioustînos; died 5 October 578) or Justin the Younger ( la, Iustinus minor) was Eastern Roman Emperor from 565 until 578. He was the nephew of Justinian I and the husband of Sophia, the ...

, but also proposed an alliance against Sassanid Persia. Justin II agreed and sent an embassy to the Turkic Khaganate, ensuring the direct silk trade desired by the Sogdians.Liu, Xinru, "The Silk Road: Overland Trade and Cultural Interactions in Eurasia", in ''Agricultural and Pastoral Societies in Ancient and Classical History'', ed. Michael Adas, American Historical Association, Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 2001, p. 168. As the brother of Bumin he ruled the far-western region of their khanate. His son was Tardu. As a Yabghu, he was autonomous and had de facto sovereignty while officially recognizing the authority of the qaghan. After Khushu's death he arranged the division of the territory into three realms east, central, and west and distributed them between Jotan, Arslan, and Shetu, respectively.

Activities

See also

References

Further reading