Bumin Qaghan (, also known as Illig Qaghan ( Chinese: 伊利可汗,

Pinyin Hanyu Pinyin, or simply pinyin, officially the Chinese Phonetic Alphabet, is the most common romanization system for Standard Chinese. ''Hanyu'' () literally means 'Han Chinese, Han language'—that is, the Chinese language—while ''pinyin' ...

: Yīlì Kèhán,

Wade–Giles Wade–Giles ( ) is a romanization system for Mandarin Chinese. It developed from the system produced by Thomas Francis Wade during the mid-19th century, and was given completed form with Herbert Giles's '' A Chinese–English Dictionary'' ...

: i-li k'o-han) or Yamï Qaghan (, died 552 AD) was the founder of the

Turkic Khaganate The Göktürks founded two major khanates known as the Turkic Khaganate: * First Turkic Khaganate, which then fractured into ** Western Turkic Khaganate ** Eastern Turkic Khaganate * Second Turkic Khaganate The Second Turkic Khaganate was a kha ...

. He was the eldest son of Ashina Tuwu (吐務 / 吐务). He was the chieftain of the Turks under the sovereignty of

Rouran Khaganate The Rouran Khaganate ( Chinese: zh, c=, p=Róurán, label=no), also known as Ruanruan or Juan-juan ( zh, c=, p=Ruǎnruǎn, label=no) (or variously ''Jou-jan'', ''Ruruan'', ''Ju-juan'', ''Ruru'', ''Ruirui'', ''Rouru'', ''Rouruan'' or ''Tantan'') ...

.馬長壽, 《突厥人和突厥汗國》, 上海人民出版社, 1957, (Ma Zhangshou, ''Tujue ve Tujue Khaganate''), pp. 10-11. 陳豐祥, 余英時, 《中國通史》, 五南圖書出版股份有限公司, 2002, (Chen Fengxiang, Yu Yingshi, ''General history of China''), p. 155. Burhan Oğuz, ''Türkiye halkının kültür kökenleri: Giriş, beslenme teknikleri'', İstanbul Matbaası, 1976, p. 147.
«Demirci köle» olmaktan kurtulup reisleri Bumin'e
He is also mentioned as Tumen (, , commander of ten thousand) of the Rouran Khaganate.

Early life and reign

According to ''

History of Northern Dynasties The ''History of the Northern Dynasties'' () is one of the official Chinese historical works in the ''Twenty-Four Histories'' canon. The text contains 100 volumes and covers the period from 386 to 618 CE: the histories of Northern Wei, Western ...

'' and ''

Zizhi Tongjian The ''Zizhi Tongjian'' (1084) is a chronicle published during the Northern Song dynasty (960–1127) that provides a record of Chinese history from 403 BC to 959 AD, covering 16 dynasties and spanning almost 1400 years. The main text is ...

'', in 545 Tumen's tribe started to rise and frequently invaded the western frontier of Wei. The

chancellor Chancellor () is a title of various official positions in the governments of many countries. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the (lattice work screens) of a basilica (court hall), which separa ...

Western Wei Wei (), known in historiography as the Western Wei (), was an imperial dynasty of China that followed the disintegration of the Northern Wei. One of the Northern dynasties during the era of the Northern and Southern dynasties, it ruled the weste ...

Yuwen Tai Yuwen Tai () (505/7 – 21 November 556According to Yuwen Tai's biography in ''Book of Zhou'', he died aged 52 (by East Asian reckoning) on the ''yihai'' day of the 10th month of the 3rd year of the reign of Emperor Gong of Western Wei. This co ...

, sent An Nuopanto (安諾盤陀, Nanai-Banda, a Sogdian from

Bukhara Bukhara ( ) is the List of cities in Uzbekistan, seventh-largest city in Uzbekistan by population, with 280,187 residents . It is the capital of Bukhara Region. People have inhabited the region around Bukhara for at least five millennia, and t ...

,) as an emissary to the Göktürk chieftain Tumen, in an attempt to establish a commercial relationship.Li Yanshou (李延寿), ''History of Northern Dynasties'', Vol. 99.

Sima Guang Sima Guang (17 November 1019 – 11 October 1086), courtesy name Junshi, was a Chinese historian, politician, and writer. He was a high-ranking Song dynasty scholar-official who authored the ''Zizhi Tongjian'', a monumental work of history. B ...

, ''

'', Vol. 159. In 546, Tumen paid tribute to the Western Wei state. In that same year, Tumen put down a revolt of the Tiele tribes against the Rouran Khaganate, their overlords. Following this, Tumen felt entitled to request of the Rouran a princess as his wife. The Rouran khagan, Anagui, sent a message refusing this request and adding: "You are my blacksmith slave. How dare you utter these words?" Bumin got angry, killed Anagui's emissary, and severed relations with the Rouran Khaganate.

Linghu Defen Linghu Defen () (583–666), formally Duke Xian of Pengyang (), was a Chinese historian and politician. He was an official of the Chinese Sui and Tang dynasties. During the Tang era, he was a major proponent for the compilation of the histories ...

et al., ''

Book of Zhou The ''Book of Zhou'' () records the official history of the Xianbei-led Western Wei and Northern Zhou dynasties of China, and ranks among the official Twenty-Four Histories of imperial China. Compiled by the Tang dynasty The Tang dy ...

'', Vol. 50. Sima Guang, ''Zizhi Tongjian'', Vol. 164. Anagui's "blacksmith" ( 鍛奴 / 锻奴, Pinyin: duàn nú, Wade–Giles: tuan-nu) insult was recorded in Chinese chronicles. Some sources state that members of the Turks (referred as "Tujue" in Chinese sources) did serve as blacksmiths for the Rouran elite, and that "blacksmith slavery" may refer to a kind of vassalage that prevailed in Rouran society. Nevertheless, after this incident Bumin emerged as the leader of the revolt against Rouran. In 551, Bumin requested a Western Wei princess in marriage. Yuwen Tai permitted it and sent Princess Changle(長樂公主) of Western Wei to Bumin. In the same year when

Emperor Wen of Western Wei Emperor Wen of Western Wei ((西)魏文帝) (507 – 28 March 551), personal name Yuan Baoju (元寶炬), was the first emperor of the Western Wei dynasty of China. In 534, Yuan Baoju, then the Prince of Nanyang, followed his cousin Emperor Xiao ...

died, Bumin sent mission and gave two hundred horses. The beginning of formal diplomatic relations with China propped up Bumin's authority among the Turks. He eventually united the local Turkic tribes and threw off the yoke of the

Rouran The Rouran Khaganate ( Chinese: zh, c=, p=Róurán, label=no), also known as Ruanruan or Juan-juan ( zh, c=, p=Ruǎnruǎn, label=no) (or variously ''Jou-jan'', ''Ruruan'', ''Ju-juan'', ''Ruru'', ''Ruirui'', ''Rouru'', ''Rouruan'' or ''Tantan'') ...

domination. In 552 Bumin's army defeated Anagui's forces at the north of Huaihuang and then Anagui committed suicide. With their defeat Bumin proclaimed himself "Illig Qaghan" and made his wife qaghatun. "Illig" means

Ilkhan Il Khan (also ''il-khan'', ''ilkhan'', ''elkhan'', etc.), in Turkic languages and Mongolian, is a title of leadership. It combines the title ''khan'' with the prefix ''el/il'', from the word ''ulus'' – 'tribe, clan', 'the people', 'nation', ' ...

(i.e. ruler of people) in

Old Turkic Old Siberian Turkic, generally known as East Old Turkic and often shortened to Old Turkic, was a Siberian Turkic language spoken around East Turkistan and Mongolia. It was first discovered in inscriptions originating from the Second Turkic Kh ...

. According to the Bilge Qaghan's memorial complex and the Kul Tigin's memorial complex, Bumin and Istemi ruled people by Turkic laws and they developed them.

Death and family

Bumin died within several months after proclaiming himself Illig Qaghan. He was married to Princess Changle of

. Issue: * Ashina Keluo (阿史那科罗) - Issig Qaghan * Ashina Qijin (阿史那俟斤) -

Muqan Qaghan Muqan Qaghan (, , , Rouran: 𑀫𑀼𑀖𑀅𑀦 𑀕𑀅𑀖𑀅𑀦, romanized: ''Muɣan Qaɣan'') was the second son of Bumin Qaghan and the third khagan of the Göktürks who expanded their khaganate and secured the borders against the Hephth ...

Taspar Qaghan Taspar Qaghan ( Sogdian: ''t’asp’r γ’γ’n'') or Tatpar Qaghan (Sogdian: ''t’tp’r x’γ’n'', Rouran: ''Tadpar qaɣan''; Old Turkic: 𐱃𐱃𐰯𐰺𐰴𐰍𐰣 Tatpar qaγan, 佗缽可汗/佗钵可汗, Pinyin: tuóbō Kèhán, Wade ...

* Ashina Kutou (阿史那庫頭) - Ditou Qaghan (appointed by

to be lesser khagan of eastern wing of Turkic Empire) * Mahan Tigin - Lesser khagan appointed by

* Rudan Qaghan (褥但可汗) ** Böri Qaghan (步離可汗) - Lesser khagan of appointed by

Legacy

He was succeeded by his younger brother Istemi in the western part and by his son

Issik Qaghan Kara Issik Qaghan () was the second ruler of the Turkic Khaganate. Biography His personal name was Ashina Keluo () which is reconstructible in Middle Chinese as *''kʰuâ-lâ'', which is transliterated as either Old Turkic ''Qara''. His regnal n ...

in the eastern part. In less than one century, his khaganate expanded to comprise most of

Central Asia Central Asia is a region of Asia consisting of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. The countries as a group are also colloquially referred to as the "-stans" as all have names ending with the Persian language, Pers ...

Notes

References

552 deaths Göktürk khagans 6th-century monarchs in Asia Year of birth unknown Ashina house of the Turkic Empire Founding monarchs in Asia Leaders who took power by coup Rouran Khaganate {{Rouran rulers