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 Turkic was Tarduš ( otk, 𐱃𐰺𐰑𐰆𐱁),
Medieval Greek
Medieval Greek (also known as Middle Greek, Byzantine Greek, or Romaic) is the stage of the Greek language between the end of classical antiquity in the 5th–6th centuries and the end of the Middle Ages, conventionally dated to the Ottoman c ...
: , ,
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 ...
: , Wade-Giles: , personal name: , , ). According to Lev Gumilev his personal name was Kara-Churin-Turk (Кара Чурин Тюрк).Lev Nikolayrviç Gumilev: ''Eski Türkler ''(trans. D.Ahsen Batur) Selenge yayınları, İstanbul, 2002 p. 140, 550 However, when he subjugated the eastern half after the death of Tulan Qaghan, he assumed the regnal name Bilge (Wise) Khagan.
Background
The Turkic Khaganate was a vast khaganate (empire); from
Manchuria
Manchuria is an exonym (derived from the endo demonym " Manchu") for a historical and geographic region in Northeast Asia encompassing the entirety of present-day Northeast China (Inner Manchuria) and parts of the Russian Far East (Outer M ...
and the
Great Wall of China
The Great Wall of China (, literally "ten thousand ''li'' wall") is a series of fortifications that were built across the historical northern borders of ancient Chinese states and Imperial China as protection against various nomadic grou ...
to the
Black sea
The Black Sea is a marginal mediterranean sea of the Atlantic Ocean 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 bounded by Bulgaria, Georgia, Rom ...
. It was impossible to govern the whole khaganate from a certain capital. So while the eastern part was directly ruled by the ''
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 ...
'' (emperor), the western part was governed by the ''
yabgu
Yabghu ( otk, 𐰖𐰉𐰍𐰆, yabγu,Entrabγu">"𐰖𐰉𐰍𐰆_ Ordukent (Suyab) (present-day Kyrgyzstan). Istemi, who was the ''khagan'''s brother, was the first and Tardu (İstemi's son) was the second ''yabgu''.
Years of civil war
Tardu became the ''yabgu'' in c. 575. That year, he met the
Byzantine
The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...
ambassador Valentinius. Being a very ambitious ''yabgu'', he was planning to seize power in the entire khaganate. He saw his chance in 581 when ''khagan''
kurultai
Kurultai ( Mongolian: , Хуралдай, ''Khuraldai'') or ; Kazakh: Құрылтай, ''Qūryltai''; tt-Cyrl, Корылтай, ; ba, Ҡоролтай, ; az, Qurultay; tk, Gurultaý was a political and military council of ancient Mongol a ...
'' (council of tribal leaders), which was authorized to appoint the new ''khagan'', refused to follow the former ''khagan'''s will and appointed the former ''khagan'''s son, who in turn acknowledged
as the new ''khagan''. This gave Tardu the necessary cause to interfere. He sent an army to back Talopien. Ishbara applied to
Sui China
The Sui dynasty (, ) was a short-lived imperial dynasty of China that lasted from 581 to 618. The Sui unified the Northern and Southern dynasties, thus ending the long period of division following the fall of the Western Jin dynasty, and layi ...
for protection and both sides were played off each other by China.
Later years
While the east part of the khaganate suffered from civil war, Tardu was waiting for a suitable moment to realize his plans. After the
Battle of Blarathon
The Battle of the Blarathon, also known as the Battle of Ganzak, was fought in 591 near Ganzak between a combined Byzantine– Persian force and a Persian army led by the usurper Bahram Chobin.
Background
In 590, Sasanian Shah Hormizd IV grew ...
in 591 in
Sassanid Persia
The Sasanian () or Sassanid Empire, officially known as the Empire of Iranians (, ) and also referred to by historians as the Neo-Persian Empire, was the last Iranian empire before the early Muslim conquests of the 7th-8th centuries AD. Named ...
,
Bahram Chobin
Bahrām Chōbīn ( fa, بهرام چوبین) or Wahrām Chōbēn ( Middle Persian: ), also known by his epithet Mehrbandak ("servant of Mithra"), was a nobleman, general, and political leader of the late Sasanian Empire and briefly its ruler as ...
who was a short-term Sasanid emperor, sought asylum in Western Turks.
In 599 Tardu declared himself to be ''khagan'' of the united khaganate (east and west)Melek Tekin: ''Türk tarihi'', p. 87, Milliyet yayınları, 1991 But his new status was not recognised widely. Probably to persuade the ''kurultai'', he began a campaign against China. But unlike the Turks of the eastern part, his target of the campaign was too far away and his army suffered intensely from the poisoned water wells during the long expedition through the steppe. Finally, he had to retreat without serious combat, but this defeat was disastrous for him. After a rebellion of his subjects, he disappeared (was likely killed) in 603 or 604.
He was succeeded in the west by
Niri Qaghan
Niri Qaghan (; Sogdian: ''nry x’γ’n'', Ruanruan: ''nı̣rı̣ kagan'') was a ruler of the Western Turkic Khaganate.
Reign
According to Baumer he ruled from 579 to circa 602/03. Baumer notes that the better-documented Tardu ruled from 575 ...
, a son of Talopien.
Family
He was father to Tulu () and
Külüg Sibir
Külüg Sibir or Baghatur Khagan (r. 630) was a ruler of the Western Turkic Khaganate (empire) in the 7th century. He was probably Tardu's son and the governor of the northern provinces of the empire during the reigns of his nephews. (''see'' Gö ...
.
Sheguy
Shekui Kaghan (r. 611–619 or possibly 610–617; Middle Chinese: *''ʑia-gwi''; Middle Persian ''Zyk'', ''Žeg'') was the third khagan of the Western Turkic Khaganate. He was the grandson of Tardu (575–603) through his son Tulu (都六).
Bac ...
and
Tong Yabghu
Tong Yabghu Qaghan (r. 618–628 or 630) (also known as T'ung Yabghu, Tong Yabghu Khagan, and Tong Yabğu, Traditional Chinese 統葉護可汗, Simplified Chinese: 统叶护可汗, pinyin ''Tǒng Yèhù Kěhán'', Wade-Giles: ''T'ung Yeh-hu K'o- ...