Rouran Khaganate

Template:Short description Template:Use dmy dates Template:Infobox Former Country Template:Infobox Chinese Template:History of Mongolia The Rouran Khaganate (Chinese:Template:Lang-zh), also known as Ruanruan or Juan-juan (Template:Lang-zh) (or variously Jou-jan, Ruruan, Ju-juan, Ruru, Ruirui, Rouru, Rouruan or Tantan),<ref name="Zhang 2003" /><ref name="Kradin 2016" /> was a tribal confederation and later state. The Rouran state was undoubtedly multi-ethnic. As the ancient sources regard the Rouran as a separate branch of the Xiongnu<ref>Litvinsky (2006). History of Civilizations of Central Asia The crossroads of civilizations: A.D. 250 to 750. p. 317.</ref> Book of Song and Book of Liang connected Rourans to the earlier Xiongnu<ref>Songshu vol. 95 Archived 2020-06-06 at the Wayback Machine. "芮芮一號大檀，又號檀檀，亦匈奴別種。" tr. "Ruìruì, one appellation is Dàtán, also called Tántán; they were also a separate stock of the Xiōngnú."</ref><ref>Liangshu vol. 54 Archived 2018-11-22 at the Wayback Machine. quote: "芮芮國，蓋匈奴別種。" translation: "The Ruìruì nation, possibly a separate stock of the Xiōngnú."</ref> while the Book of Wei connected them to Proto-Mongolic Donghu.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref name="web.archive.org" /> The Rouran supreme rulers used the title of Template:Lang, a popular title borrowed from the Xianbei.<ref name="Vovin_2007" /> The Rouran Khaganate lasted from the late 4th century until the middle 6th century with territory that covered all of modern-day Mongolia and Inner Mongolia, as well as parts of Manchuria in Northeast China, Eastern Siberia, Xinjiang, and Kazakhstan. The Hephthalites were vassals of the Rouran Khaganate until the beginning of the 5th century, with the royal house of Rourans intermarrying with the royal houses of the Hephthalites.<ref name="Sneath" />Template:Sfnp The Rouran Khaganate ended when they were defeated by a Göktürk rebellion at the peak of their power, which subsequently led to the rise of the Turks in world history.

Their Khaganate overthrown, some Rouran remnants possibly became Tatars<ref name="helda.helsinki.fi" />Template:Sfnp while others possibly migrated west and became the Pannonian Avars (known by such names as Varchonites or Pseudo Avars), who settled in Pannonia (centred on modern Hungary) during the 6th century.<ref>Findley (2005), p. 35.</ref><ref name = "SA&HE-2002"/> These Avars were pursued into the Byzantine Empire by the Göktürks, who referred to the Avars as a slave or vassal people, and requested that the Byzantines expel them. While this Rouran-Avars link remains a controversial theory, a recent DNA study has confirmed the genetic origins of the Avar elite as originating from the Mongolian plains.<ref name="Gnecchi-Ruscone Szécsényi-Nagy Koncz Csiky 2022 pp. 1402–1413.e21"/> Other theories instead link the origins of the Pannonian Avars to peoples such as the Uar.

An imperial confederation, the Rouran Khaganate was based on the "distant exploitation of agrarian societies", although according to Nikolay Kradin the Rouran had a feudal system, or "nomadic feudalism". The Rouran controlled trade routes, and raided and subjugated oases and outposts such as Gaochang. They are said to have shown the signs of "both an early state and a chiefdom". The Rouran have been credited as "a band of steppe robbers", because they adopted a strategy of raids and extortion of Northern China. The Khaganate was an aggressive militarized society, a "military-hierarchical polity established to solve the exclusively foreign-policy problems of requisitioning surplus products from neighbouring nations and states."<ref name="Kradin"/>

Name

Nomenclature

Róurán 柔然 is a Classical Chinese transcription of the endonym of the confederacy;<ref name = "ws103-endonym">Template:Cite book</ref> meanwhile, 蠕蠕 Ruǎnruǎn ~ Rúrú (Book of Wei), which connoted something akin to "wriggling worm" , was used derogatorily in Tuoba-Xianbei sources.<ref name = "ws103-exonym">Template:Cite book</ref><ref name=Rene>Template:Harvp</ref><ref name = "pohl">Template:Cite book</ref> Other transcriptions are 蝚蠕 Róurú ~ Róuruǎn (Book of Jin); 茹茹 Rúrú (Book of Northern Qi, Book of Zhou, Book of Sui); 芮芮 Ruìruì (Book of Qi, Book of Liang, Book of Song), 大檀 Dàtán and 檀檀 Tántán (Book of Song). However, Baumer (2018), while acknowledging that Ruanruan (蠕蠕) was a "derogatory pun" on Rouran (柔然), proposes that the ethnonym Rouran (柔然) is indeed derived from the name Ruru (茹茹) or Ruirui (芮芮) of a "tribal father".Template:Efn<ref name = "Baumer-2018">Template:Cite book</ref>

Mongolian Sinologist Sükhbaatar suggests Nirun Нирун as the modern Mongolian term for the Rouran, as Нирун resembles reconstructed Chinese forms beginning with *ń- or *ŋ-. Rashid-al-Din Hamadani recorded Niru'un and Dürlükin as two divisions of the Mongols.Template:Sfnp

Etymology

Klyastorny reconstructed the ethnonym behind the Chinese transcription 柔然 Róurán (LHC: *ńu-ńan; EMC: *ɲuw-ɲian > LMC: *riw-rian) as *nönör and compares it to Mongolic нөкүр nökür "friend, comrade, companion" (Khalkha нөхөр nöhör). According to Klyashtorny, *nönör denotes "stepnaja vol'nica" "a free, roving band in the steppe, the 'companions' of the early Rouran leaders". In early Mongol society, a nökür was someone who had left his clan or tribe to pledge loyalty to and serve a charismatic warlord; if this derivation were correct, Róurán 柔然 was originally not an ethnonym, but a social term referring to the dynastic founder's origins or the core circle of companions who helped him build his state.<ref>Golden, Peter B. (2016) "Turks and Iranians: Aspects of Türk and Khazaro-Iranian Interaction" in Turcologica 105. p. 5</ref>

However, Golden identifies philological problems: the ethnonym should have been *nöŋör to be cognate to nökür, & possible assimilation of -/k/- to -/n/- in Chinese transcription needs further linguistic proofs. Even if 柔然 somehow transmitted nökür, it more likely denoted the Rouran's status as the subjects of the Tuoba. Before being used as an ethnonym, Rouran had originally been the byname of chief Cheluhui (車鹿會), possibly denoting his status "as a Wei servitor".<ref name = "Golden-2013-58">Template:Harvp</ref>

History

Origin

The Book of Song and Book of Liang, which are primary sources connected Rouran to the earlier Xiongnu while the Book of Wei traced the Rouran's origins back to the Donghu,Template:Sfnp generally agreed to be Proto-Mongols.<ref name="web.archive.org"/> Xu proposed that "the main body of the Rouran were of Xiongnu origin" and Rourans' descendants, namely Da Shiwei (aka Tatars), contained Turkic elements, besides the Mongolic Xianbei.<ref name="helda.helsinki.fi"/> Even so, the Xiongnu's language is still unknown<ref name="Lee 2016">Template:Cite journal</ref> and Chinese historians routinely ascribed Xiongnu origins to various nomadic groups, yet such ascriptions do not necessarily indicate the subjects' exact origins: for examples, Xiongnu ancestry was ascribed to Turkic-speaking Göktürks and Tiele as well as Para-Mongolic-speaking Kumo Xi and Khitans.<ref name="Lee 2016" /> According to Savelyev and Jeong (2020), the Xiongnu resulted from the admixture of two groups, Turkic origin group which brought by eastern Eurasian genetic substratum and Iranian Saka group (like Chandman). They further write The predominant part of the Xiongnu population is likely to have spoken Turkic and Arguably, these Iranian-speaking groups were assimilated over time by the predominant Turkic-speaking part of the Xiongnu population.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>Template:Sfn

Kwok Kin Poon additionally proposes that the and Rouran were descended specifically from Donghu's Xianbei lineage,<ref name="kwok">Template:Cite thesis</ref> i.e. from Xianbei who remained in the eastern Eurasian Steppe after most Xianbei had migrated south and settled in Northern China.<ref>Hyacinth (Bichurin), Collection of information on peoples lived in Central Asia in ancient times, 1950. p. 209</ref> Genetic testing on Rourans' remains suggested Donghu-Xianbei paternal genetic contribution to Rourans.<ref name="Li et al.">Template:Harvp: "We conclude that F3889 downstream of F3830 is an important paternal lineage of the ancient Donghu nomads. The Donghu‐Xianbei branch is expected to have made an important paternal genetic contribution to Rouran. This component of gene flow ultimately entered the gene pool of modern Mongolic‐ and Manchu‐speaking populations."</ref>

Khaganate

The founder of the Rouran Khaganate, Yujiulü Shelun, was descended from Mugulü, a slave of the Xianbei. Rouran women were commonly taken as wives or concubines by the Xianbei.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

After the Xianbei migrated south and settled in Chinese lands during the late 3rd century AD, the Rouran made a name for themselves as fierce warriors. However they remained politically fragmented until 402 AD when Shelun gained support of all the Rouran chieftains and united the Rouran under one banner. Immediately after uniting, the Rouran entered a perpetual conflict with Northern Wei, beginning with a Wei offensive that drove the Rouran from the Ordos region. The Rouran expanded westward and defeated the neighboring Tiele people and expanded their territory over the Silk Roads, even vassalizing the Hephthalites which remained vassals until the beginning of the 5th century.<ref name="Grousset 1970, p. 67">Template:Harvp</ref><ref name="Kurbanov">Template:Cite thesis</ref>

The Hepthalites migrated southeast due to pressure from the Rouran and displaced the Yuezhi in Bactria, forcing them to migrate further south. Despite the conflict between the Hephthalites and Rouran, the Hephthalites borrowed much from their eastern overlords, in particular the title of "Khan" which was first used by the Rouran as a title for their rulers.<ref name="Kurbanov" />

The Rouran were considered vassals (Template:Transliteration) by Tuoba Wei. By 506 they were considered a vassal state (Template:Transliteration). Following the growth of the Rouran and the turning of Wei into a classical Chinese state, they were considered partners of equal rights by Wei (lindi gangli).<ref name="Kurbanov" />Template:Chinese script needed inline

In 424, the Rouran invaded Northern Wei but were repulsed.Template:Sfn

In 429, Northern Wei launched a major offensive against the Rouran and killed a large number of people.<ref name="Grousset 1970, p. 67"/>

In 434, the Rouran entered a marriage alliance with Northern Wei.Template:Sfn In 443, Northern Wei attacked the Rouran.<ref name="Grousset 1970, p. 67"/> In 449, the Rouran were defeated in battle by Northern Wei.Template:Sfn In 456, Northern Wei attacked the Rouran.<ref name="Grousset 1970, p. 67"/> In 458, Northern Wei attacked the Rouran.<ref name="Grousset 1970, p. 67"/>

In 460, the Rouran subjugated the Ashina tribe residing around modern Turpan and resettled them in the Altai Mountains.Template:Sfn The Rouran also ousted the previous dynasty of Gaochang (the remnants of the Northern Liang) and installed Kan Bozhou as its king.<ref name="Grousset 1970, p. 67"/>

In 492, Emperor Tuoba Hong sent 70 thousand horsemen against the Rouran. The outcome of the expedition does not appear in Chinese sources. According to Nikolay Kradin, since Chinese sources don't mention the outcome of the expedition, it is probable that it was unsuccessful.<ref name="Kradin"/> Kradin notes that, possibly strained after the battle with Wei, the Rourans were not able to prevent the Uighur chief Abuzhiluo from heading "a 100 thousand tents" west, in a series of events that led to the overthrowing and killing of Doulun Khan.<ref name="Kradin"/> Two armies were sent in pursuit of the rebels, one led by Doulun, the other by Nagai, his uncle. The Rouran emerged victorious. In the war against the Uighurs, Doulan fought well, but his uncle Nagai won all the battles against the Uighurs. Thus, the soldiers thought that Heaven didn't favor Doulan anymore, and that he should be deposed in favor of Nagai. The latter declined. Nonetheless, the subjects killed Doulan and murdered his next of kin, installing Nagai on the throne. In 518, Nagai married the sorceress Diwan, conferring her the title of khagatun for her outstanding service.<ref name="Kradin"/>

Between 525 and 527, Rouran was employed by Northern Wei in the suppression of rebellions in their territory, with the Rourans then plundering the local population.<ref name="Kradin"/>

The Rouran Khaganate arranged for one of their princesses, Khagan Yujiulü Anagui's daughter Princess Ruru, to be married to the Han Chinese ruler of the Eastern Wei, Gao Huan.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

Heqin

The Rouran were involved in many royal intermarriage (also known as heqin in China), with the Northern Yan as well as the Northern Wei dynasty and its successors Eastern and Western Wei, which were fighting each other, and each seeking the support of the Rouran to defeat the other. Both parties, in turn, took the initiative of proposing such marriages to forge important alliances or solidify relations.Template:Citation needed

In the 1970s, the Tomb of Princess Linhe was unearthed in Ci County, Hebei. It contained artistically invaluable murals, a mostly pillaged but still consistent treasure, Byzantine coins and about a thousand vessels and clay figurines. Among the latter was the figurine of a shaman, standing in a dancing posture and holding a saw-like instrument. This figurine is thought to reflect the young princess' Rouran/nomadic roots.<ref name="jstor"/>

On one occasion, in 540, the Rourans allegedly attacked Western Wei reportedly with a million warriors because a Rouran princess reported being dissatisfied with being second to Emperor Wendi's principal wife.<ref name="jstor">Template:Cite journal</ref>

The first khagan Shelun is said to have concluded a "treaty of peace based on kinship" (Template:Transliteration) with the rulers of the Jin.<ref name="Kradin"/> The royal house of Rouran is also said to have intermarried with the royal house of the Hephthalites in the 6th century.<ref name="Sneath"/>

Society

Since the time of Shelun Khan, the khans were bestowed with additional titles at their enthronement. After 464, starting with Yucheng Khan they started to use epoch names, in imitation of the Chinese. The Rouran dignitaries of the ruling elite also adopted nicknames referring to their deeds, similar to the titles the Chinese bestowed posthumously. Kradin notes that this practice is analogous with that of later Mongolian chiefs. There appears to have been a wide circle composing the nomadic aristocracy, including elders, chieftains and military commanders. The grandees could be high or low ranking. According to Kradin, the khagan could confer titles as rewards for services rendered and outstanding deeds. He cites an example of this; an event occurred in 518, when Nagai entitled the sorceress Diwai khagatun, taking her as his wife, and gave a compensation, a post and a title to Fushengmou, her then former husband.<ref name="Kradin"/> The Rouran titles included Template:Transliteration, Template:Transliteration (cf. Mongolian batur, baghatur), Template:Tlit (cf. Mongolian Template:Tlit), Template:Tlit, Template:Tlit and Template:Tlit, Template:Tlit, Template:Tlit, Template:Tlit (cf. Turkic irkin), Template:Tlit (cf. Turkic eltäbär).

Gaochang was subjugated by the Rouran in 460.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

It is known that in 521 Khagan Anagui was given two bondmaids as a gift from the Chinese, while Khagan Shelun is said to have once declared that the soldiers who fought outstandingly would receive captives. However, "there is nothing in the sources about the enslavement of prisoners of war".<ref name="Kradin"/> There is, however, evidence that the Rouran resettled people in the steppe.<ref name="Kradin"/>

Initially the Rouran chiefs, having no letters to make records, "counted approximately the number of warriors by using sheep's droppings".<ref name="Kradin"/> Later, they made records using notches on wood. A later source claims that the Rouran later adopted the Chinese written language for diplomatic relations,Template:Sfn and under Anagui, started to write internal records. According to the same source, there were also many literate people among the Rouran by that time.<ref name="Kradin"/> Kradin notes that the level of literacy "based on the knowledge of written Chinese" was rather high, and that it didn't affect only the elite and the immigrants, but also some cattle-breeders were able to use Chinese ideograms.<ref name="Kradin"/> In the Book of Song there is a story of an educated Rouran "whose knowledge shamed a wise Chinese functionary". There is no record of monuments erected by the Rouran, though there is evidence of the latter requesting doctors, weavers and other artisans to be sent from China.<ref name="Kradin"/>

The Rouran Khaganate and main polities around 500 AD

Imitating the Chinese, Anagui Khan introduced the use of officials at court, "surrounded himself with advisers trained in the tradition of Chinese bibliophily", and adopted a staff of bodyguards, or chamberlains.<ref name="Kradin"/> Hyun Jin Kim notes a similar use of bodyguards performing the same function in the contemporary Hunnic Empire to the west.<ref name="HyunJinKim">Template:Cite book</ref> Kim also compared the "rudimentary bureaucratic organisation" of the Rourans to that of the Huns, as well as their "hierarchical, stratified structure of government".<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Anagui's chief advisor was the Chinese Shunyu Tan, whose role is comparable to that of Yelü Chucai with the Mongols and Zhonghang Yue with the Xiongnu (or Huns).<ref name="Kradin"/>

Recent archeological finds in Mongolia (the Urd Ulaan Uneet Burial and Khukh Nuur Burial) suggest that the Mongolic Rouran tribes had sophisticated, wooden frame saddles and iron stirrups by at least the fourth and fifth centuries AD. Radiocarbon dating of related items date them to between the 3rd century and 6th century AD.<ref name="Bayarsaikhan 2023">Template:Cite journal</ref> The wooden frame saddle and the iron stirrups found at these burials are one of the earliest examples found in Central and East Asia.<ref name="Bayarsaikhan 2023" />

Capital

The capital of the Rouran likely changed over time. The headquarters of the Rouran khan (ting) was said to be initially northwest of Gansu. Later the capital of the Rouran became the legendary town of Mumocheng, said to have been "encircled with two walls constructed by Liang Shu".<ref name="Kradin"/> The existence of this city would be proof of early urbanization among the Rouran.<ref name="Kradin"/> However, no trace of it has been found so far; its location is unknown, and debated among historians.<ref name="Kradin"/>

Decline

In 461, Lü Pi, Duke of Hedong, a Northern Wei general and Grand chancellor of royal Rouran descent, died in Northern Wei. The Rouran and the Hephthalites had a falling out and problems within their confederation were encouraged by Chinese agents.Template:Citation needed

Epitaph of Yujiulü Furen (郁久闾伏仁), died on 29 November 586

In 508, the Tiele defeated the Rouran in battle. In 516, the Rouran defeated the Tiele. In 551, Bumin of the Ashina Göktürks quelled a Tiele revolt for the Rouran and asked for a Rouran princess for his service. The Rouran refused claiming that he was only a Blacksmith slave. This angered Bumin who in response declared independence.Template:Sfn<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

Bumin entered a marriage alliance with Western Wei, a successor state of Northern Wei, and attacked the Rouran in 552. The Rouran, now at the peak of their might, were defeated by the Turks. After a defeat at Huaihuang (in present-day Zhangjiakou, Hebei) the last great khan Anagui, realizing he had been defeated, took his own life. Bumin declared himself Illig Khagan of the Turkic Khaganate after conquering Otuken; Bumin died soon after and his son Issik Qaghan succeeded him. Issik continued attacking the Rouran, their khaganate now fallen into decay, but died a year later in 553.Template:Citation needed

In 555, Turks invaded and occupied the Rouran and Yujiulü Dengshuzi led 3,000 soldiers in retreat to Western Wei.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> He was later delivered to Turks by Emperor Gong with his soldiers under pressure from Muqan Qaghan.<ref name=avar>Template:Cite book</ref> In the same year, Muqan annihilated the Rouran.Template:Sfn<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>Template:Sfn All the Rouran handed over to the Turks, reportedly with the exception of children under sixteen, were brutally killed.<ref name="Kradin"/>

On 29 November 586 Yujiulü Furen (郁久闾伏仁), an official of Sui and a descendant of the ruling clan, died in Hebei, leaving an epitaph reporting his royal descent from the Yujiulü clan.<ref name="epitaph">Template:Cite periodical</ref>

Possible descendants

Tatars

According to Xu (2005), some Rouran remnants fled to the northwest of the Greater Khingan mountain range, and renamed themselves 大檀 Dàtán (MC: *da^H-dan) or 檀檀 Tántán (MC: *dan-dan) after Tantan, the personal name of a historical Rouran Khagan. Tantan were gradually incorporated into the Shiwei tribal complex and later emerged as Great-Da Shiwei (大室韋) in Template:Lang.<ref name="helda.helsinki.fi"/> Klyashtorny, apud Golden (2013), reconstructed 大檀 / 檀檀 as *tatar / dadar, "the people who, [Klyashtorny] concludes, assisted Datan in the 420s in his internal struggles and who later are noted as the Otuz Tatar ("Thirty Tatars") who were among the mourners at the funeral of Bumın Qağan (see the inscriptions of Kül Tegin, E4 and Bilge Qağan, E5)".Template:Sfnp

Avars

Some scholars claim that the Rouran then fled west across the steppes and became the Avars, though many other scholars contest this claim.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> New genetic data seem to answer that question, says Walter Pohl, a historian at the University of Vienna. "We have a very clear indication that they must have come from the core of the Rouran Empire. They were the neighbors of the Chinese." "Genetically speaking, the elite Avars have a very, very eastern profile," says Choongwon Jeong, a co-author and a geneticist at Seoul National University.<ref name="Mystery">Template:Cite periodical</ref>

Template:Continental Asia in 400 CE That genetic data backs up two historical accounts of the Avar's origins. One sixth century Chinese source describes an enigmatic steppe people called the Rouran, one of many horse-riding nomadic groups attack their northern borders from the Mongolian steppes. The Rouran's grassland empire was reportedly defeated by rival nomads in 552. In 567, diplomats from the Eastern Roman Empire reported the arrival of a new group from the east on the shores of the Caspian Sea. The newcomers called themselves the Avars, and claimed to be related to a far-off people known as the Rouran.<ref name="Mystery"/>

However, it's unlikely that Rouran would have migrated to Europe in any sufficient strength to establish themselves there, due to the desperate resistances, military disasters, and massacres.<ref name=avar /> The remainder of the Rouran fled into China, were absorbed into the border guards, and disappeared as an entity. The last khagan fled to the court of the Western Wei, but at the demand of the Göktürks, Western Wei executed him and the nobles who accompanied him.Template:Citation needed

The Avars were pursued west by the Göktürks as fugitives and accused them of unlawfully usurping the imperial title of khagan and also the prestigious name of the Avars. Contemporary sources indicate the Avars were not native to the Western Steppe but came to the region after a long wandering. Nor were they native to Central Asia to the south of which lay the Hephthalite Empire which has on and off been identified with the Avars by certain scholars. Instead the Avars' origins were further to the east, a fact which has been corroborated through DNA studies of Avar individuals buried in the Pannonian Basin which have shown that they were primarily East Asian. Their pretensions to empire despite their relatively small numbers indicate descendance from a previously hegemonic power in the Far East. The first embassy of the Avars to Justinian I in 557 corresponds directly to the fall of the Rouran Khaganate in 555. The Rouran Khaganate had fallen not through gradual decline but through a sudden internal revolution led by the Göktürks, hence the still vivid memories of empire in the Avar Khagan, a fact paralleled later by the Kara-Khitans who migrated a long distance west after being suddenly dislodged from northern China but still kept their pretensions to empire and defeated the Great Seljuk Empire in the Battle of Qatwan as the Western Liao. The Hephthalite Empire in southern Central Asia would not fall to the Göktürks until 560. The Hephthalites themselves had previously been vassals to the Rouran and adopted the title khagan from them. They were also already known as the Hephthalites to the Byzantines. In view of these facts a strong Rouran component in the Avar Khaganate has been seen as likely, although the khaganate later included many other peoples such as Slavs and Goths.<ref name = "SA&HE-2002">Template:Cite journal</ref>

Genetics

Component analysis of the Ruanruan (Template:Colorsample) and the Xiongnu (Template:Colorsample) against modern population (Template:Colorsample). The Rouran are closest to modern East Asian populations such as the Buryats, the Oroqen or the Mongols.Template:Sfn

Template:Harvnb examined the remains of a Rouran male buried at the Khermen Tal site in Mongolia. He was found to be a carrier of the paternal haplogroup C2b1a1b and the maternal haplogroup D4b1a2a1. Haplogroup C2b1a1b has also been detected among the Xiongnu, Xianbei and Göktürks.Template:Sfn<ref>Template:Citation</ref><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>

Several genetic studies have shown that early Pannonian Avar elites carried a large amount of East Asian ancestry, and some have suggested this as evidence for a connection between the Pannonian Avars and the earlier Rouran.<ref>Template:Harvnb. "The Avar group carried predominantly East Eurasian lineages in accordance with their known Inner Asian origin inferred from archaeological and anthropological parallels as well as historical sources. However, the unanticipated prevalence of their Siberian N1a Hg-s, sheds new light on their prehistory. Accepting their presumed Rouran origin would implicate a ruling class with Siberian ancestry in Inner Asia before Turkic take-over. The surprisingly high frequency of N1a1a1a1a3 Hg reveals that ancestors of contemporary eastern Siberians and Buryats could give a considerable part the Rouran and Avar elite..."; Template:Harvnb. "A recent manuscript described 23 mitogenomes from the 7th–8th century Avar elite group5 and found that 64% of the lineages belong to East Asian haplogroups (C, D, F, M, R, Y and Z) with affinities to ancient and modern Inner Asian populations corroborating their Rouran origin."</ref> However, Savelyev & Jeong 2020 notes that there is still little genetic data on the Rouran themselves, and that their genetic relationship with the Pannonian Avars therefore still remains inconclusive.<ref>Template:Harvnb. "Population genetics in the current state of research is neutral as regards the question of continuity between the Rourans and the Avars. What it is supported is that at least some European Avar individuals were of Eastern Asian ancestry, be it Rouran-related or not."</ref>

Language

Template:Main The Rouran state was undoubtedly multi-ethnic, but there is no definite evidence as to their language.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> The received view is that the relationships of the language remain a puzzle and that it may be an isolate.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Alexander Vovin (2004, 2010)<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref>Template:Cite conference</ref> considered the Rouran language to be an extinct non-Altaic language that is not related to any modern-day language (i.e., a language isolate) and is hence unrelated to Mongolic. Vovin (2004) notes that Old Turkic had borrowed some words from an unknown non-Altaic language that may have been Rouran. In 2018 Vovin changed his opinion after new evidence was found through the analysis of the Brāhmī Bugut and Khüis Tolgoi inscriptions and suggests that the Rouran language was in fact a Mongolic language, close but not identical to Middle Mongolian.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> According to Alexander Savelyev and Choongwon Jeong the identification of Brāhmī Bugut and Khüis Tolgoi with the Rouran language remains problematic because of the dating. They further write According to Vovin (2019a), the Brāhmī Bugut inscription is dated to ca. 584–587 AD, and the Khüis Tolgoi inscription must have been erected between 604 and 620 AD. As both were created several decades after the Rouran Khaganate had been destroyed, it is unsafe to make conclusions on the composition of the Rouran population, or its elite, on the basis of these inscriptions.Template:Sfn

Rulers of the Rouran

The Rourans were the first people who used the titles khagan and khan for their emperors, replacing the chanyu of the Xiongnu. The etymology of the title chanyu is controversial: there are Mongolic,<ref name="Таскин">Template:Cite book</ref> Turkic,<ref name="Grousset 1970 pp. 61, 585">Grousset (1970), pp. 61, 585, n. 91.</ref> and Yeniseian versions.<ref name=Vovin_2007 /><ref>Vovin A. "Did the Xiongnu speak a Yeniseian language? Part 2: Vocabulary", in Altaica Budapestinensia MMII, Proceedings of the 45th Permanent International Altaistic Conference, Budapest, June 23–28, pp. 389–394.</ref>

Tribal chiefs

1. Mugulü, 4th century
2. Yujiulü Cheluhui, 4th century
3. Yujiulü Tunugui, 4th century
4. Yujiulü Bati, 4th century
5. Yujiulü Disuyuan, 4th century
6. Yujiulü Pihouba, 4th century
7. Yujiulü Wenheti, 4th century
8. Yujiulü Heduohan, 4th century

Khagans

Personal name	Regnal name<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>	Reign	Era names
Yujiulü Shelun	Qiudoufa Khagan (丘豆伐可汗, Template:Langx)	402–410
Yujiulü Hulü	Aikugai Khagan (藹苦蓋可汗, Template:Langx)	410–414
Yujiulü Buluzhen		414
Yujiulü Datan	Mouhanheshenggai Khagan (牟汗紇升蓋可汗, Template:Langx)	414–429
Yujiulü Wuti	Chilian Khagan (敕連可汗, Template:Langx)	429–444
Yujiulü Tuhezhen	Chu Khagan (處可汗, Template:Langx)	444–464
Yujiulü Yucheng	Shouluobuzhen Khagan (受羅部真可汗, Template:Langx)	464–485	Yongkang (永康)
Yujiulü Doulun	Fugudun Khagan (伏古敦可汗, Template:Langx)	485–492	Taiping (太平)
Yujiulü Nagai	Houqifudaikezhe Khagan (侯其伏代庫者可汗, Template:Langx)	492–506	Taian (太安)
Yujiulü Futu	Tuohan Khagan (佗汗可汗, Template:Langx)	506–508	Shiping (始平)
Yujiulü Chounu	Douluofubadoufa Khagan (豆羅伏跋豆伐可汗, Template:Langx)	508–520	Jianchang (建昌)
Yujiulü Anagui	Chiliantoubingdoufa Khagan (敕連頭兵豆伐可汗, Template:Langx)	520–521
Yujiulü Poluomen	Mioukesheju Khagan (彌偶可社句可汗, Template:Langx)	521–524
Yujiulü Anagui	Chiliantoubingdoufa Khagan (敕連頭兵豆伐可汗, Template:Langx)	522–552

Khagans of West

1. Yujiulü Dengshuzi, 555

Khagans of East

1. Yujiulü Tiefa, 552–553
2. Yujiulü Dengzhu, 553
3. Yujiulü Kangti, 553
4. Yujiulü Anluochen, 553–554

See also

• History of the eastern steppe

References

Sources

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• Findley, Carter Vaughn. (2005). The Turks in World History. Oxford University Press. Template:ISBN (cloth); Template:ISBN (pbk).
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• 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.
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External links

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• Map of their empire
• Definition Template:Webarchive
• information about the Rouran Template:Webarchive