Rouran Khaganate
Khaganate
← 330–555 →   →   →   →
The Rouran Khaganate (green), c. 500.
Capital	Not specified
Religion	Tengrism Buddhism
Political structure	Khaganate
Khagan
- 330	Yùjiǔlǘ Mùgǔlǘ
- 555	Yujiulü Dengshuzi
Legislature	Kurultai
Historical era	1st millennium
- Established	330
- Disestablished	555

Rouran (Mongolian: Нирун, Nirun; Chinese: 柔然; pinyin: Róurán; literally "soft-like"; Wade-Giles: Jou-jan), Ruanruan/Ruru (Chinese: 蠕蠕/茹茹; pinyin: Ruǎnruǎn/Rúrú; literally "wriggling insects/fodder")), Tan Tan^[1] (Chinese: 檀; pinyin: Tántán), Juan-Juan or Zhu-Zhu^{[citation needed]} was the name of a confederation of nomadic tribes on the northern borders of Inner China from the late 4th century until the middle 6th century.^[2] It has sometimes been hypothesized that the Rouran are identical to the Eurasian Avars who later appeared in Europe.^[3]

The term Rouran is a Mandarin Chinese transcription of the pronunciation of the name the confederacy used to refer to itself. Ruanruan and Ruru remained in modern usage despite once being derogatory. They derived from orders given by the Emperor Taiwu of Northern Wei, who waged war against the Rouran and intended to intimidate the confederacy.

The power of the Rouran was broken by an alliance of Göktürks, the Chinese Northern Qi and Northern Zhou dynasties and tribes in Central Asia in 552.

Origin and expansion[link]

The Rouran were a confederation led by Mongolic Xianbei people who remained in the Mongolian steppes after most Xianbei migrated south to Northern China and set up various kingdoms. They were first noted as having defeated the Tiele and establishing an empire extending all the way to the Hulun, in eastern Inner Mongolia. To the west of the Rouran was a horde known in the west as the Hephthalites who originally, until the beginning of the 5th century, were a vassal horde of the Rouran.^[4]

The Rouran controlled the area of Mongolia from the Manchurian border to Turpan and, perhaps, the east coast of Lake Balkhash, and from the Orkhon River to China Proper. Their ancestor Mugulu is said to have been originally a slave of the Tuoba tribes, situated at the north banks of Yellow River Bend. Mugulu's descendant Yujiulü Shelun is said to be the first chieftain who was able to unify the Rouran tribes and to found the power of the Rouran by defeating the Tiele and Xianbei. Shelun was also the first of the steppe peoples to adopt the title of khagan (可汗) in 402, originally a title of Xianbei nobility.

The Rouran and the Hephthalites had a falling out and problems within their confederation were encouraged by Chinese agents. In 508, the Tiele defeated the Rouran in battle. In 516, the Rouran defeated the Tiele. Within the Rouran confederation was a Turkic tribe noted in Chinese annals as the Tujue. After a marriage proposal to the Rouran was rebuffed, the Tujue joined with the Western Wei, successor state to the Northern Wei, and revolted against the Rouran. In 555, they beheaded 3,000 Rouran. Some scholars claim that the Rouran then fled west across the steppes and became the Avars, though many other scholars contest this claim.^[2] The remainder of the Rouran fled into China, were absorbed into the border guards, and disappeared forever as an entity. The last Rouran khagan fled to the court of Western Wei, but at the demand of Tujue, Western Wei executed him and the nobles that accompanied him.

Asia in 500 AD, showing the Rouran Empire and its neighbors.

Little is known of the Rouran ruling elite, which the Book of Wei cited as an offshoot of the Xianbei. The Rouran subdued modern regions of Xinjiang, Mongolia, Central Asia, and parts of Siberia and Manchuria from the late 4th century. Their frequent interventions and invasions profoundly affected neighboring countries. Though they admitted the Ashina of Göktürks into their federation, the power of the Rouran was broken by an alliance of Göktürks, the Chinese Northern Qi and Northern Zhou dynasties and tribes in Central Asia in 552. The Northern Wei, for instance, established the Six Garrisons bordering the Rouran, which later became the foci of several major mutinies in the early 6th century.

Qaghans of the Rouran[link]

The Rourans were the first people who used the titles Khagan and Khan for their emperors (which are, therefore, assumed to be Mongolic in origin), replacing the Chanyu of the Xiongnu, whom Grousset and others assume to be Turkic.^[5]

References[link]

Sources[link]

• Findley, Carter Vaughn. (2005). The Turks in World History. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-516770-8 (cloth); ISBN 0-19-517726-6 (pbk).
• Grousset, René. (1970). The Empire of the Steppes: a History of Central Asia. Translated by Naomi Walford. Rutgers University Press. New Brunswick, New Jersey, U.S.A.Third Paperback printing, 1991. ISBN 0-8135-0627-1 (casebound); ISBN 0-8135-1304-9 (pbk).
• Map of their empire
• Definition
• information about the Rouran
• Kradin, Nikolay. "From Tribal Confederation to Empire: the Evolution of the Rouran Society". Acta Orientalia Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae, Vol. 58, No 2 (2005): 149-169.