Taspar Qaghan ( Sogdian: ''t’asp’r γ’γ’n'') or Tatpar Qaghan (Sogdian: ''t’tp’r x’γ’n'',

Rouran The Rouran Khaganate, also Juan-Juan Khaganate (), was a tribal confederation and later state founded by a people of Proto-Mongolic Donghu origin.*Pulleyblank, Edwin G. (2000)"Ji 姬 and Jiang 姜: The Role of Exogamic Clans in the Organizat ...

: ''Tadpar qaɣan'';

Old Turkic Old Turkic (also East Old Turkic, Orkhon Turkic language, Old Uyghur) is the earliest attested form of the Turkic languages, found in Göktürk and Uyghur Khaganate inscriptions dating from about the eighth to the 13th century. It is the old ...

: 𐱃𐱃𐰯𐰺𐰴𐰍𐰣 Tatpar qaγan, 佗缽可汗/佗钵可汗,

Pinyin Hanyu Pinyin (), often shortened to just pinyin, is the official romanization system for Standard Mandarin Chinese in China, and to some extent, in Singapore and Malaysia. It is often used to teach Mandarin, normally written in Chinese fo ...

: tuóbō kěhàn, Wade-Giles: t'o-po k'o-han) was the third son of Bumin Qaghan and Wei Changle (長樂公主), and the fourth

khagan Khagan or Qaghan (Mongolian:; or ''Khagan''; otk, 𐰴𐰍𐰣 ), or , tr, Kağan or ; ug, قاغان, Qaghan, Mongolian Script: ; or ; fa, خاقان ''Khāqān'', alternatively spelled Kağan, Kagan, Khaghan, Kaghan, Khakan, Khakhan ...

of the Turkic Khaganate (572–581).

Reign

His reign saw further rise of Turkic power even to the point calling both Zhou and Qi emperors as his sons.'' Book of Zhou, Volume 50'' He appointed his nephews Ashina Shetu as Erzhu khagan to east and Börü khagan to west as lesser khagans. He switched his alliance from Zhou to Qi. Sent a horse as gift in 572 and granted defeated Qi prince

Gao Shaoyi Gao Shaoyi (), often known by his princely title Prince of Fanyang (), was an imperial prince of the Chinese Northern Qi dynasty. He claimed the Northern Qi throne in exile under the protection of Tujue after the rival Northern Zhou dynasty se ...

asylum. He transferred the former Northern Qi subjects, whether they fled to or were captured to Tujue, to be under Gao Shaoyi's command. However, he still maintained good relationship with Zhou, sending another horse as gift in 574. Around the new year 578, Gao Baoning, sent a petition to Gao Shaoyi, requesting that he take imperial title. Gao Shaoyi therefore declared himself emperor, with military assistance from Tujue. Taspar attacked Zhou repeatedly until spring 579, when he sought peace with Northern Zhou. Emperor Xuan of Northern Zhou created the daughter of his uncle Yuwen Zhao (宇文招) the Princess Qianjin, offering to give her to Taspar in marriage if khagan would be willing to surrender Gao Shaoyi. Khagan refused. In 580, after Emperor Xuan's death, Yang Jian, the regent for Emperor Xuan's son

Emperor Jing of Northern Zhou Emperor Jing of Northern Zhou ((北)周靜帝) (July or August 573 – 10 July 581), personally name né Yuwen Yan (宇文衍), later Yuwen Chan (宇文闡), was the last emperor of the Xianbei-led Chinese Northern Zhou dynasty. He became empero ...

, nevertheless sent Princess Qianjin to Tujue to marry Tuobo Khan. After the marriage, Yang then sent the official Heruo Yi (賀若誼) to Tujue to bribe khagan to give up Gao Shaoyi. Khagan agreed, and as a ruse, he invited Gao Shaoyi to a hunt, but instead had Heruo Yi capture Gao Shaoyi. In fall 580, Gao Shaoyi was delivered to Northern Zhou's capital

Chang'an Chang'an (; ) is the traditional name of Xi'an. The site had been settled since Neolithic times, during which the Yangshao culture was established in Banpo, in the city's suburbs. Furthermore, in the northern vicinity of modern Xi'an, Qin ...

, and he was exiled to modern

Sichuan Sichuan (; zh, c=, labels=no, ; zh, p=Sìchuān; alternatively romanized as Szechuan or Szechwan; formerly also referred to as "West China" or "Western China" by Protestant missions) is a province in Southwest China occupying most of t ...

. Taspar died in 581 from illness, leaving throne to his nephew

Talopien Apa Qaghan (Chinese: 阿波可汗, Chinese: Pinyin: ābō kěhàn, Wade-Giles: a-po k'o-han, Middle Chinese: ( Guangyun) , personal name: 大邏便/大逻便, dàluóbiàn, ta-lo-pien, reigned: 581–587) was son of Muqan Qaghan, declared himself ...

Legacy

Unlike his father and older brothers he embraced

Chinese culture Chinese culture () is one of the world's oldest cultures, originating thousands of years ago. The culture prevails across a large geographical region in East Asia and is extremely diverse and varying, with customs and traditions varying grea ...

, especially

Buddhism Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...

. He was converted to Buddhism by the Qi monk Huilin, for whom he built a

pagoda A pagoda is an Asian tiered tower with multiple eaves common to Nepal, India, China, Japan, Korea, Myanmar, Vietnam, and other parts of Asia. Most pagodas were built to have a religious function, most often Buddhist but sometimes Taoist, ...

. Taspar's death marked the beginning of a long decline and subjugation of the Göktürks to China. During his reign there was a veritable flood of Sogdian Manichean refugees from Persia and Buddhist Refugees from Qi and Zhou, both the result of pogroms. These Sogdians devised the Göktürk Runes to write the Turkic language, for translations of the sutras to Turkic, notably the Nirvana Sutra in 575.

Succession

Taspar's death created a dynastic crisis in the khaganate. His Chinese wife Qianjin survived him, but Taspar bequeathed the throne of the Empire to

, the son of his elder brother Muqan Qaghan. His bequest ran contrary to the traditional system of inheritance which demanded the throne to be passed to the son of the eldest brother, in this case Ishbara Qaghan. The council rejected the legality of Taspar's will stating his mother's non-Turkic origin. Thus appointed

Amrak Ashina Anluo ( Sogdian: ''wmn’ x’γ’n'', trad. 阿史那庵邏 ;simp. 阿史那庵逻) was the fifth ruler of the Turkic Khaganate. in the sixth century. His regnal title is not recorded in Chinese sources. Reign Although he was enthroned ...

as the next khagan. Talopien's faction did not recognize Amrak. This crisis ultimately resulted in the civil war of 581-603, which greatly weakened the state.

Family

He had at least two issues: * Amrak Khagan * Tughrul shad ** Qilibi Khagan

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Taspar, Qaghan Göktürk rulers 6th-century monarchs in Asia Converts to Buddhism Converts to Buddhism from Islam Turkic Buddhists 581 deaths Ashina house of the Turkic Empire 6th-century Turkic people Year of birth unknown Turkic Buddhist monarchs