Shekui Kaghan (r. 611–619 or possibly 610–617;

Middle Chinese Middle Chinese (formerly known as Ancient Chinese) or the Qieyun system (QYS) is the historical variety of Chinese recorded in the '' Qieyun'', a rime dictionary first published in 601 and followed by several revised and expanded editions. The ...

: *''ʑia-gwi'';

Middle Persian Middle Persian or Pahlavi, also known by its endonym Pārsīk or Pārsīg () in its later form, is a Western Middle Iranian language which became the literary language of the Sasanian Empire. For some time after the Sasanian collapse, Middle Per ...

''Zyk'', ''Žeg'') was the third

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

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 ...

. He was the grandson of

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 ...

(575–603) through his son Tulu (都六).

Background

Western Turkic Empire in present-day

Turkestan Turkestan, also spelled Turkistan ( fa, ترکستان, Torkestân, lit=Land of the Turks), is a historical region in Central Asia corresponding to the regions of Transoxiana and Xinjiang. Overview Known as Turan to the Persians, western Turke ...

was founded as the result of the partition of the main empire after the death of

in 603. It was also called ''On Ok'' ("Ten arrows") referring to ten powerful tribes in the empire. Five tribes (called

Duolu Duolu (Wade–Giles: To-lu; c. 603-651 as a minimum) was a tribal confederation in the Western Turkic Khaganate (c. 581-659). The Turgesh Khaganate (699-766) may have been founded by Duolu remnants. There existed several Chinese transcriptions ...

) to the northeast and five tribes to the southwest (called

Nushibi Nushibi (Nu-shibi, ; Middle Chinese: *''nuoXɕiɪt̚piɪt̚'') was a Chinese collective name for five tribes of the right (western) wingYu. Zuev, ''"The Strongest tribe - Izgil"''//Historical And Cultural Relations Between Iran And Dasht-i Kipc ...

) formed the two rival factions, the border line being

Ili River The Ili ( ug, ئىلى دەرياسى, Ili deryasi, Ili dəryasi, 6=Или Дәряси; kk, Ile, ; russian: Или; zh, c=伊犁河, p=Yīlí Hé, dng, Йили хә, Xiao'erjing: اِلِ حْ; mn, Ил, literally "Bareness") is a river sit ...

After Partitioning

Sheguy was Tardu's grandson and governor of Chach (

Tashkent Tashkent (, uz, Toshkent, Тошкент/, ) (from russian: Ташкент), or Toshkent (; ), also historically known as Chach is the capital and largest city of Uzbekistan. It is the most populous city in Central Asia, with a population of ...

) He was expected to be enthroned after the death of Tardu. But the Dulu faction enthroned

Taman Taman may refer to: Places *Taman Peninsula, a peninsula in southern Russia **Taman Bay, an inlet of the Strait of Kerch off the peninsula **Taman, Russia, a rural locality located on the peninsula ** Port of Taman, a seaport on the Peninsula * ...

(also called Heshana Khan) who was a generation younger than Sheguy. But Taman was a very inexperienced ruler and was a puppet of Dulu clan. Nushibi clan as well as

Silk road The Silk Road () was a network of Eurasian trade routes active from the second century BCE until the mid-15th century. Spanning over 6,400 kilometers (4,000 miles), it played a central role in facilitating economic, cultural, political, and reli ...

merchants who suffered from the increasing anarchy supported Sheguy to throne in 611. When Taman partisans arrested a Chinese ambassador to Sheguy, Sheguy revolted and Taman had to flee to Sui China where he was killed.L.N.Gumilev: ''Eski Türkler'' (tr: Ahsen Batur), İstanbul, 2002, Selenge Yayınları. . , p.199-200. Sheguy maintained order in his empire and provided security of the silk road. His term marks the beginning of Nushibi supremacy. In 618, he was succeeded by his brother

Tong Tong may refer to: Chinese *Tang Dynasty, a dynasty in Chinese history when transliterated from Cantonese *Tong (organization), a type of social organization found in Chinese immigrant communities *''tong'', pronunciation of several Chinese char ...

during whose reign Western Turkic Empire reached to apogee.

References

7th-century Turkic people 618 deaths Göktürk rulers Silk Road Ashina house of the Turkic Empire Year of birth unknown {{Asia-bio-stub