Ashina Xian was a Western Turk khagan, also a general of

Protectorate General to Pacify the West The Protectorate General to Pacify the West (Anxi Grand Protectorate), initially the Protectorate to Pacify the West (Anxi Protectorate), was a protectorate (640 – ) established by the Chinese Tang dynasty in 640 to control the Tarim Basin. Th ...

from 708 to 717, appointed by the

Tang dynasty The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, t= ), or Tang Empire, was an imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907 AD, with an interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dynasty and followed by the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdom ...

Life

When his father was executed by

Lai Junchen Lai Junchen ( Chinese: 來俊臣) (died April 28, 697) was a Chinese politician and writer. He was a well-known secret police official during the Chinese Tang and Wu Zhou dynasties, whose ability to interrogate and falsely implicate officials of ...

in 692, he was exiled to Yazhou. However, he was recalled to court in 703. In 708, he was appointed ''Xingxiwang Khagan'' () by Zhongzhong. However, Suoge was appointed as his subordinate, who was going to appointed ''Shisixing Khagan'' () later. In 714, after the death of Suoge in the

Battle of Bolchu The Battle of Bolchu was a critical battle in the Turkic Khaganate history in 711. Background In the 7th century, the First Turkic Khaganate was divided into two rival states. Both states were subsequently defeated and annexed by the Tang dynast ...

, Xian was created Qixi (碛西) Military Commissioner and sent to Suyab to fill in the power vacuum. Nevertheless, when Suluk rose to prominence, the Tang appointed Ashina Xian as the ''Shixing Qaghan'' in 716 and appointed Suluk as his deputy, to appease Suluk. Suluk's growing ambition over Xian's overlordship resulted in war and defeat of Xian in June and July in 717. After defeat he left for

Changan 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 Shi ...

and died sometime during the

Kaiyuan era Emperor Xuanzong of Tang (; 8 September 685 – 3 May 762), personal name Li Longji, was the seventh emperor of the Tang dynasty in China, reigning from 712 to 756 CE. His reign of 44 years was the longest during the Tang dynasty. In the early ...

. His successor was his son Ashina Zhen.

References

8th-century Turkic people Ashina house of the Turkic Empire Tang dynasty generals Göktürk rulers {{China-bio-stub