Tumgan (also known as Turkshad, Turxanthos) was a

shad The Alosidae, or the shads, are a family (biology), family of clupeiform fishes. The family currently comprises four genera worldwide, and about 32 species. The shads are Pelagic fish, pelagic (open water) schooling fish, of which many are anadr ...

(governor prince) of the Turkic Empire (also called Göktürk) in the late 6th century. According to

Edward Gibbon Edward Gibbon (; 8 May 173716 January 1794) was an English essayist, historian, and politician. His most important work, ''The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire'', published in six volumes between 1776 and 1789, is known for ...

his name may be a title rather than a proper name.

Background

In 552 Bumin founded the Gokturk Empire. His younger brother Istämi was viceroy ( Yabghu) in the west. In 575 Istämi was followed by Tardu. By 575/76 Tamgan held some kind of power in the far west around the Volga River. He was probably Tardu's younger brother.

Relations with the Byzantine Empire

Because of the geographic position of his region, Tamgan was responsible in diplomatic relations with

Byzantine Empire The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived History of the Roman Empire, the events that caused the ...

. (Hence, the historical sources about Tamgan are mostly the reports of Byzantine envoys). Initially Turkic and Byzantine Empires were allies against Sassanid Iran and

Pannonian Avars The Pannonian Avars ( ) were an alliance of several groups of Eurasian nomads of various origins. The peoples were also known as the Obri in the chronicles of the Rus' people, Rus, the Abaroi or Varchonitai (), or Pseudo-Avars in Byzantine Empi ...

. However, according to Byzantine historian Menander Protector, a Byzantine envoy named Valentinos visited Tamgan's headquarters where Tamgan accused Byzantines for the recently signed treaty between the Byzantine Empire and the Avars. He said that the Byzantines were liars and had ten tongues, meaning they were unreliable as allies. He also threatened the Byzantine side mentioning the rivers Danapr, Istr and Evr. (Former names of

Dnieper The Dnieper or Dnepr ( ), also called Dnipro ( ), is one of the major transboundary rivers of Europe, rising in the Valdai Hills near Smolensk, Russia, before flowing through Belarus and Ukraine to the Black Sea. Approximately long, with ...

Danube The Danube ( ; see also #Names and etymology, other names) is the List of rivers of Europe#Longest rivers, second-longest river in Europe, after the Volga in Russia. It flows through Central and Southeastern Europe, from the Black Forest sou ...

and

Maritsa Maritsa or Maritza ( ), also known as Evros ( ) and Meriç ( ), is a river that runs through the Balkans in Southeast Europe. With a length of ,

.) L.M.Gümilev :''Eski Türkler'', tr:Ahsen Batur, Selenge yayınları, İstanbul, 2002, , , p.69, 141 Following this accusation, Turks began to capture Byzantine possessions around north east

Black Sea The Black Sea is a marginal sea, marginal Mediterranean sea (oceanography), mediterranean sea lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bound ...

coasts and even

Crimea Crimea ( ) is a peninsula in Eastern Europe, on the northern coast of the Black Sea, almost entirely surrounded by the Black Sea and the smaller Sea of Azov. The Isthmus of Perekop connects the peninsula to Kherson Oblast in mainland Ukrain ...

. Briefly, a part of Bosporan Kingdom in Crimea, a vassal of Byzantine Empire fell to Turks.S.G.Klashtorny-T,I.Sultanov:Türkün Üçbinyılı (tr:D.Ahsen batur),Selenge yayınları, , p.102 Tardu effectively fought in this area, but left his gains to Tamgan. (About half a century later Byzantine Turkic relations recovered and Turks collaborated with

Heraclius Heraclius (; 11 February 641) was Byzantine emperor from 610 to 641. His rise to power began in 608, when he and his father, Heraclius the Elder, the Exarch of Africa, led a revolt against the unpopular emperor Phocas. Heraclius's reign was ...

in the invasion of North Caucasus.)

Death

There is no record of Tamgan's death. However it is known that together with his brother he supported Apa Khagan during the Turkic interregnum after 584. Thus Tamgan's death year can be located to be later than 584.

References

External links

{{Göktürks 6th-century European people Göktürk people Ashina house of the Turkic Empire Year of birth unknown