Rouran Khaganate

{{Short description|330–550 AD Proto-Mongolic state}} {{Use dmy dates|date=August 2020}} {{Infobox Former Country | native_name = 柔然汗国 | conventional_long_name = Rouran Khaganate | common_name = Rouran | era = Late antiquity | status = Khaganate | year_start = 330 | year_end = 555 | p1 = Xianbei | s1 = First Turkic Khaganate | s2 = Northern Qi | s3 = Northern Zhou | image_map = {{Continental Asia in 500 CE|center|||Map of the Rouran Khaganate.png}} | image_map_caption = Core territories of the Rouran Khaganate | image_map_size = 300 | capital = ''Ting'' northwest of Gansu<ref name="Kradin"/> Mumocheng<ref name="Kradin"/> | national_motto = | national_anthem = | common_languages = Rouran<ref>{{Cite book |title=History of Civilizations of Central Asia |publisher=UNESCO |year=2006 |isbn=978-92-3-103211-0 |page=317}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Crossley |first1=Pamela Kyle |title=Hammer and Anvil: Nomad Rulers at the Forge of the Modern World |date=2019 |page=49|author1-link=Pamela Kyle Crossley |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield | isbn= 978-1-4422-1445-3}}</ref> Turkic<ref name="helda.helsinki.fi">{{cite thesis| last=Xu |first=Elina-Qian|url=https://helda.helsinki.fi/handle/10138/19205 |hdl=10138/19205|title=Historical Development of the Pre-Dynastic Khitan|institution =University of Helsinki|date= 2005|pages= 179–180|degree=PhD}}</ref><ref>Clauson Gerard 1972 An Etymological Dictionary of pre-thirteenth-century Turkish Oxford Clarendon Press p.946</ref><ref>Vovin, Alexander (3–5 December 2010). "Once Again on the Ruanruan Language". Ötüken'den İstanbul'a Türkçenin 1290 Yılı (720–2010) Sempozyumu From Ötüken to Istanbul, 1290 Years of Turkish (720–2010).</ref><ref>{{Cite book |title=History of Civilizations of Central Asia |publisher=UNESCO |year=2006 |isbn=978-92-3-103211-0 |page=317}}</ref>{{sfn|Kradin|2004|p=163}} Mongolic<ref name="Seregin and Matrenin" />{{sfn|Kradin|2004|p=163}}<ref name="Vovin 2019 162–197">{{cite journal|last=Vovin |first=Alexander |author-link=Alexander Vovin |title=A Sketch of the Earliest Mongolic Language: the Brāhmī Bugut and Khüis Tolgoi Inscriptions |url=https://www.academia.edu/39716045 |year=2019 |journal=International Journal of Eurasian Linguistics |language=en |volume=1 |issue=1 |pages=162–197 |issn=2589-8825 |doi=10.1163/25898833-12340008|s2cid=198833565 }}</ref> Middle Chinese (diplomacy){{sfn|Kradin|2004|p=163}} | religion = Tengrism Shamanism Buddhism | currency = | legislature = Kurultai | leader1 = Mugulü | leader2 = Yujiulü Dengshuzi | year_leader1 = 330 AD | year_leader2 = 555 AD | title_leader = Khagan | stat_area1 = 2800000 | stat_year1 = 405<ref name="Taagepera129"/><ref name="Turchin222"/> | today = China Kazakhstan Mongolia Russia | demonym = }} {{Infobox Chinese | title = Rouran | c = {{linktext|柔然}} | p = Róurán | w = Jou2-jan2 | mi = {{IPAc-cmn|r|ou|2|.|r|an|2}} | mc = /ȵɨu ȵiᴇn/ | altname = Ruru or Ruanruan | c2 = {{linktext|蠕蠕}} | p2 = Rúrú, Ruǎnruǎn | w2 = Ju2-ju2, Juan3-juan3 | mi2 = {{IPAc-cmn|r|u|2|.|r|u|2}}, {{IPAc-cmn|r|u|an|3|.|r|u|an|3}} | mc2 = /ȵɨo ȵɨo/, /ȵiuᴇnX ȵiuᴇnX/ | altname3 = Ruru | c3 = {{linktext|茹|茹}} | p3 = Rúrú | w3 = Ju2-ju2 | mi3 = {{IPAc-cmn|r|u|2|.|r|u|2}} | altname4 = Ruirui | c4 = {{linktext|芮|芮}} | p4 = Ruìruì | w4 = Jui4-jui4 | mi4 = {{IPAc-cmn|r|ui|4|.|r|ui|4}} | altname5 = Rouru or Rouruan | c5 = {{linktext|蝚蠕}} | p5 = Róurú, Róuruǎn | w5 = Jou2-ju2, Jou2-juan3 | mi5 = {{IPAc-cmn|r|ou|2|.|r|u|2}}, {{IPAc-cmn|r|ou|2|.|r|u|an|3}} | altname6 = Tantan | c6 = {{linktext|檀|檀}} | p6 = Tántán | w6 = T'an2-t'an2 | mi6 = {{IPAc-cmn|t|an|2|.|t|an|2}} }} {{History of Mongolia}} The '''Rouran Khaganate''' (Chinese: {{lang-zh|c={{nowrap|柔然|label=no}}|p=Róurán|label=no}}), also known as '''Ruanruan''' or '''Juan-juan''' ({{lang-zh|c={{nowrap|蠕蠕}}|p=Ruǎnruǎn|label=no}}) (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> The Book of Song and Book of Liang connected Rourans to the earlier Xiongnu<ref>Songshu [https://zh.wikisource.org/wiki/%E5%AE%8B%E6%9B%B8/%E5%8D%B795 vol. 95] [https://web.archive.org/web/20200606171010/https://zh.wikisource.org/wiki/%E5%AE%8B%E6%9B%B8/%E5%8D%B795 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'' [https://zh.wikisource.org/wiki/%E6%A2%81%E6%9B%B8/%E5%8D%B754#%E8%8A%AE%E8%8A%AE%E5%9C%8B vol. 54] [https://web.archive.org/web/20181122131951/https://zh.wikisource.org/wiki/%E6%A2%81%E6%9B%B8/%E5%8D%B754#%E8%8A%AE%E8%8A%AE%E5%9C%8B 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>{{cite book | author-link=Wei Shou|author=Wei Shou|title-link = Book of Wei | trans-title= Book of Wei|title=Weishu |script-title=zh:魏書|language=zh|chapter=vol. 103|date=554|quote= 蠕蠕，東胡之苗裔也，姓郁久閭氏|trans-quote=Rúrú, offsprings of Dōnghú, surnamed Yùjiŭlǘ}}</ref><ref name="web.archive.org" /> The Rouran supreme rulers used the title of {{lang|mn|khagan}}, 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" />{{sfnp|Grousset|1970|p=67}} 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" />{{sfnp|Golden|2013|pp=54–56}} 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">{{cite book | author-link=Wei Shou|author=Wei Shou|title-link = Book of Wei | trans-title= Book of Wei|title=Weishu |script-title=zh:魏書|language=zh|chapter=vol. 103|date=554|quote=木骨閭死，子車鹿會雄健，始有部眾，'''自號柔然'''|trans-quote=Mugulü died; [his] son Cheluhui, fierce and vigorous, began to gather the tribal multitude, [his/their] '''self-appellation Rouran'''}}</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">{{cite book | author-link=Wei Shou|author=Wei Shou|title-link = Book of Wei | trans-title= Book of Wei|title=Weishu |script-title=zh:魏書|language=zh|chapter=vol. 103|date=554|quote=而役屬於國。後世祖以其無知，狀類於蟲，故改其號為蠕蠕。|trans-quote=...[Y]et [Cheluhui/Rouran] [was/were] vassal(s) of (our) state. Later, (Emperor) Shizu took him/them as ignorant and [his/their] appearance worm-like, so [the Emperor] changed his/their appellation to Ruanruan ~ Ruru.}}</ref><ref name=Rene>{{harvp|Grousset|1970|pp= [https://archive.org/details/empireofsteppesh00prof/page/60 60–61]}}</ref><ref name = "pohl">{{cite book |last1=Pohl |first1=Walter |title=The Avars: A Steppe Empire in Central Europe, 567–822 |date=2018 |publisher=Cornell University Press |isbn=978-1-5017-2940-9 |page=31 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZoR1DwAAQBAJ |quote=Additionally, the Chinese often sought to translate names into their language, or replaced them with a similarly sounding Chinese word that seemed to fit: for instance, the Rouran were also called Ruanruan, "wriggling worms."}}</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".{{efn|likely Cheluhui, compare ''Book of Wei'' 103<ref name = "ws103-endonym"/> and Golden (2013).<ref name = "Golden-2013-58"/>}}<ref name = "Baumer-2018">{{cite book |last1=Baumer |first1=Christoph |title=The History of Central Asia, 4-volume Set |date=2018 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing |isbn=978-1-83860-868-2 |page=90|volume =One|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DhiWDwAAQBAJ |quote=in Mongolia the tribal confederation of the Rouran, whose name derives from that of tribal father Ruru or Ruirui.50 The name Juan Juan was given to them by the Tuoba emperor Taiwudi, a derogatory pun meaning 'wriggling worms'.}}</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.{{sfnp|Golden|2013|p=54}}

===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">{{harvp|Golden|2013|p=58}}</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,{{sfnp|Golden|2013|pp=54–55}} 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">{{cite journal|first= Joo-Yup|last= Lee|title= The Historical Meaning of the Term ''Turk'' and the Nature of the Turkic Identity of the Chinggisid and Timurid Elites in Post-Mongol Central Asia|journal= Central Asiatic Journal |volume=59 |issue=1–2|pages=105, 116|year= 2016 |jstor=10.13173/centasiaj.59.1-2.0101 |doi=10.13173/centasiaj.59.1-2.0101 }}</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>{{Cite journal |last1=Jeong |first1=Choongwon |last2=Wang |first2=Ke |last3=Wilkin |first3=Shevan |last4=Taylor |first4=William Timothy Treal |last5=Miller |first5=Bryan K. |last6=Bemmann |first6=Jan H. |last7=Stahl |first7=Raphaela |last8=Chiovelli |first8=Chelsea |last9=Knolle |first9=Florian |last10=Ulziibayar |first10=Sodnom |last11=Khatanbaatar |first11=Dorjpurev |last12=Erdenebaatar |first12=Diimaajav |last13=Erdenebat |first13=Ulambayar |last14=Ochir |first14=Ayudai |last15=Ankhsanaa |first15=Ganbold |date=2020-11-12 |title=A Dynamic 6,000-Year Genetic History of Eurasia's Eastern Steppe |journal=Cell |volume=183 |issue=4 |pages=890–904.e29 |doi=10.1016/j.cell.2020.10.015 |issn=1097-4172 |pmc=7664836 |pmid=33157037 |bibcode=2020Cell..183..890J }}</ref>{{sfn|Savelyev|Jeong|2020}}

Kwok Kin Poon additionally proposes that the Rouran were descended specifically from Donghu's Xianbei lineage,<ref name="kwok">{{cite thesis |degree =PhD |url = https://hub.hku.hk/handle/10722/34790|title = The Northern Wei state and the Juan-juan nomadic tribe| year=1983 |access-date = 16 November 2015|publisher = The University of Hong Kong | doi=10.5353/th_b3123015 | last1=Poon |first1= Kwok-kin | author1-mask = Poon Kwok-kin (潘國鍵) | author1-link = Kwok Kin Poon | hdl =10722/34790 |url-access = subscription }}</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.">{{harvp|Li et al.|2018|pp=895–905}}: "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=== {{Multiple image| total_width=400| direction=horizontal|image1=Rouran (芮芮國) 526-539 CE.png|caption1=Portrait of a Rouran (芮芮國, ''Ruirui'') ambassador by Emperor Yuan of Liang in 526–539 CE.<ref>{{cite journal |quote=他的《番客人朝图》及《职贡图》至今在中国画史上占据重要的位置。| last1=Yi |first1=Xuehua |author1-mask =Yi Xuehua |script-title=zh:江南天子皆词客——梁元帝萧绎之评价 |via= 百度文库 |journal=Journal of Huanche S&T University |date=2015 |volume=17 |page=83 |url=https://wenku.baidu.com/view/01851484a45177232e60a29e.html|language=zh}}</ref> ''Portraits of Periodical Offering'', 10th century copy.|image2=Ruiruiguo Rouruan in 王会图, circa 650 CE.jpg|caption2=Ambassador from the Ruoran (''Ruiruiguo'' 芮芮國) in ''The Gathering of Kings'' (王會圖), circa 650 CE}}

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>{{cite book |last1=West |first1=Barbara A. |title=Encyclopedia of the Peoples of Asia and Oceania |date=2009 |publisher=Infobase Publishing |isbn=978-1-4381-1913-7 |pages=687–688 |entry-url=https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaofpe0000west/page/688/mode/2up |language=en |volume=II (M to Z)|oclc=1345566908 |entry-url-access= registration|entry= Rouran (Djudjani, Geougen, Jeu-jen, Jorjan, Jou-jen, Juan-juan, Jujan, Jwen-jwen, Ruanruan, Rui Rui, Ruru) |quote=Yujiulu Mugulu, the grandfather of Yujiulu Shelun, who was the first to unite the various Rouran clans, is believed to have been a slave of the Xianbei, and many Rouran women were taken by Xianbei as wives or concubines. The name ''Rouran'' also stems from the derogatory term used by the Xianbei to refer to them, ruanrua or ''ru'', meaning "worms"}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Theobald |first1=Ulrich |title=Rouran 柔然 |url=http://www.chinaknowledge.de/History/Altera/rouran.html |publisher=Chinaknowledge |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220407022014/http://www.chinaknowledge.de/History/Altera/rouran.html |archive-date=7 April 2022 |quote=[Mugulu] had been a slave of the Taɣbač, a sub-division of the Xianbei. His descendants later chose the name Yujiulü 郁久閭 as their family name. Mugulü's son Che-lu-hui 車鹿會 was the first to assemble a lot of other families around him, and in the mid-4th century the tribal federation of the Rouran took shape.}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Golden |first1=Peter B. |title=Central Asia in World History |date=2010 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-972203-7 |page=35 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lRZwAgAAQBAJ |quote=According to the Wei dynastic annals, [the Rouran] ruling house descended from an early fourth-century Wei slave.}}</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">{{harvp|Grousset|1970|p=67}}</ref><ref name="Kurbanov">{{cite thesis|last=Kurbanov|first= Aydogdy|title= The Hephthalites: Archaeological and historical analysis|degree=PhD |institution=Free University, Berlin|date= 2010 |url=https://refubium.fu-berlin.de/bitstream/handle/fub188/8366/01_Text.pdf }}</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 ({{transliteration|mis|chen}}) by Tuoba Wei. By 506 they were considered a vassal state ({{transliteration|mis|fanli}}). 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" />{{chinese script needed inline|date=August 2024}}

In 424, the Rouran invaded Northern Wei but were repulsed.{{sfn|Grousset|1970|p=61}}

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

{{blockquote|The Chinese are foot soldiers and we are horsemen. What can a herd of colts and heifers do against tigers or a pack of wolves? As for the Rouran, they graze in the north during the summer; in autumn, they come south and in winter raid our frontiers. We have only to attack them in summer in their pasture lands. At that time their horses are useless: the stallions are busy with the fillies, and the mares with their foals. If we but come upon them there and cut them off from their grazing and their water, within a few days they will be either taken or destroyed.<ref name="Grousset 1970, p. 67" />|Emperor Daowu of Northern Wei}}

In 434, the Rouran entered a marriage alliance with Northern Wei.{{sfn|Xiong|2009|p=xcix}} In 443, Northern Wei attacked the Rouran.<ref name="Grousset 1970, p. 67"/> In 449, the Rouran were defeated in battle by Northern Wei.{{sfn|Xiong|2009|p=c}} 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.{{sfn|Bregel|2003|p=14}} 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>{{cite book|editor-last1=Lee|editor-first1=Lily Xiao Hong|editor-last2=Stefanowska|editor-first2=A. D. |title=Biographical Dictionary of Chinese Women: Antiquity Through Sui, 1600 B.C.E.–618 C.E.|year=2007|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=u7mLql4TAxoC&pg=PA316|publisher=M.E. Sharpe|isbn=978-0-7656-4182-3|page= 316|first1=Priscilla|last1=Ching-Chung |last2=Tai |first2=Po Ying | chapter=Lou Zhaojun}}</ref>

===''Heqin''=== {{Continental Asia in 500 CE|right|The Rouran Khaganate and contemporary continental Asian polities c. 500 CE||Map of Rouran.png|none|{{Annotation|0|0|300px}}}}

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.{{citation needed|date=May 2023}}

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">{{cite journal |last1=Cheng |first1=Bonnie |date=2007 |title= Fashioning a Political Body: The Tomb of a Rouran Princess|journal=Archives of Asian Art |volume=57|issue= |pages=23–49 |publisher= Duke University Press |doi=10.1484/aaa.2007.0001 |jstor=20111346 }}</ref>

The first ''khagan'' Shelun is said to have concluded a "treaty of peace based on kinship" ({{transliteration|mis|huoqin}}) 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 {{transliteration|mis|mofu}}, {{transliteration|mis|mohetu}} (cf. Mongolian batur, baghatur), {{tlit|mis|mohe rufei}} (cf. Mongolian {{tlit|mn|baga köbegün}}), {{tlit|mis|hexi}}, {{tlit|mis|sili}} and {{tlit|mis|sili-mohe}}, {{tlit|mis|totoufa}}, {{tlit|mis|totouteng}}, {{tlit|mis|sijin}} (cf. Turkic irkin), {{tlit|mis|xielifa}} (cf. Turkic eltäbär).

[[File:Turpan-gaochang-d10.jpg|thumb|Gaochang was subjugated by the Rouran in 460.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Abe|first1= Stanley Kenji |title=Mogao Cave 254: A Case Study in Early Chinese Buddhist Art |date=1989|publisher=University of California, Berkeley|page=147|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=juTpAAAAMAAJ |language=en}}</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,{{sfn|Kradin|2004|p=163}} 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"/> thumb|270px|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">{{cite book |last1=Kim |first1=Hyun Jin |author1-link=Hyun Jin Kim |title=The Huns |date=2015 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |isbn=978-1-317-34091-1 |page=83 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bnv4CgAAQBAJ&dq=similar+royal+bodyguards+performing+the+same+tunctions+as+edeco&pg=PA83}}</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>{{cite book |last1=Kim |first1=Hyun Jin |author1-link=Hyun Jin Kim |title=Geopolitics in Late Antiquity The Fate of Superpowers from China to Rome |date=2018 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |isbn=978-1-351-86926-3 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=in10DwAAQBAJ}}</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">{{cite journal|author1-last=Bayarsaikhan |author1-first=Jamsramjav |display-authors=etal| title=The origins of saddles and riding technology in East Asia: Discoveries from the Mongolian Altai|journal=Antiquity |volume =98 | issue =397 |date= February 2024 |pages=102–118 |doi= 10.15184/aqy.2023.172| doi-access= free}}</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.{{citation needed|date=August 2022}} [[File:Epitaph of Furen.png|thumb|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.{{sfn|Barfield|1989|p=132}}<ref>{{Cite book |title=History of Civilizations of Central Asia |publisher=UNESCO |year=2006 |isbn=978-92-3-103211-0 |page=326}}</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.{{citation needed|date=August 2022}}

In 555, Turks invaded and occupied the Rouran and Yujiulü Dengshuzi led 3,000 soldiers in retreat to Western Wei.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://repository.kulib.kyoto-u.ac.jp/dspace/handle/2433/120966|title=Across the Hindukush of the First Millennium: a collection of the papers|last=Kuwayama|first=Shoshin|date=2002|publisher=Institute for Research in Humanities, Kyoto University|page=123 }}</ref> He was later delivered to Turks by Emperor Gong with his soldiers under pressure from Muqan Qaghan.<ref name=avar>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZoR1DwAAQBAJ&q=Dengshuzi%20%22Rouran%22&pg=PA36|title=The Avars: A Steppe Empire in Central Europe, 567–822|last=Pohl|first=Walter|date=2018|publisher=Cornell University Press|isbn=978-1-5017-2940-9|page=36|language=en}}</ref> In the same year, Muqan annihilated the Rouran.{{sfn|Barfield|1989|p=132}}<ref>{{cite book |last1=Syvänne |first1=Ilkka |title=Military History of Late Rome 565–602 |date=2022 |publisher=Pen and Sword |isbn=978-1-4738-7221-9 |at=Appendix I |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6MSAEAAAQBAJ |quote=Soon after his accession Muhan began a campaign of conquest by destroying the remnants of the Juan-juan.}}</ref>{{sfn|Xiong|2009|p=103}} 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">{{Cite periodical | author1= Wang Meng (王萌) | author2= Du Hanchao (杜汉超) | script-work=zh:草原文物 |date=2017 | issue=1 | magazine = Caoyuan Wenwu |url=http://www.wenwuchina.com/article/201741/296777.html|script-title=zh:隋代《郁久闾伏仁墓志》考释 |via=www.wenwuchina.com|trans-title=An Interpretation of the Sui dynasty Epitaph of Yujiulü Furen|access-date=2019-11-09}}</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: *''daH-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 {{lang|zh|Suishu}}.<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)".{{sfnp|Golden|2013|pp=54–56}}

===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>{{Cite web| title=Avars| url=https://www.worldhistory.org/Avars/| access-date=6 August 2020| website=World History Encyclopedia |date =2014 | last= Mark | first= Joshua J.}}</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">{{Cite periodical|title = Mystery warriors made the fastest migration in ancient history. The Avar traveled from Mongolia to Hungary in the span of a decade or two, DNA evidence confirms| url=https://www.science.org/content/article/mystery-warriors-made-fastest-migration-ancient-history?et_rid=552422497&et_cid=4178406&fbclid=IwAR1_3IxZSP-QB9FKOnVKa8E0YHYjt3zv9tMKNWVPPChuvPZrK1VKnIGOGQ4/Avars/|access-date=April 4, 2022|magazine=Science |date= 2022 | first= Andrew | last = Curry | doi = 10.1126/science.abq3374 }}</ref>

{{Continental Asia in 400 CE|right|The Eurasian Steppe Belt (in {{Colorsample|#8ca65c}} on the map), the Rouran Khaganate, and main contemporary continental Asian polities circa 400 CE. Towards the east of the Steppe Belt, the rise of the powerful Rouran Khaganate may have encouraged the migration of the Huns to the west.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Haug |first1=Robert |title=The Eastern Frontier: Limits of Empire in Late Antique and Early Medieval Central Asia |date=27 June 2019 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing |isbn=978-1-78831-722-1|page=64 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=K_2ZDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT98 |language=en|quote="the Róurán Khāqānate, a nomadic confederation that had ruled Mongolia from the mid-fourth until the mid-sixth century and whose rise to power may have initiated the Hunnic migrations of the fourth century."}}</ref> On the other hand, other historians have noted a high synchronicity between the "reign of terror" of Attila in the west and the southern expansion of the Hephthalites, a vassal state of the Rourans, with extensive territorial overlap between the Huns and the Hephthalites in Central Asia.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Lomazoff |first1=Amanda |last2=Ralby |first2=Aaron |title=The Atlas of Military History |date=August 2013 |publisher=Simon and Schuster |isbn=978-1-60710-985-3 |page=246 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8ilZDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT246}}</ref>|{{Annotation|-1|32|32px}}|Map of the Eurasian steppe belt.png}} 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.{{Citation needed|date=April 2020}}

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">{{Cite journal|last1=Silić|first1=Ana|last2=Heršak|first2=Emil|date=2002-09-30|title=The Avars: A Review of Their Ethnogenesis and History|url=https://hrcak.srce.hr/index.php?show=clanak&id_clanak_jezik=158267|journal=Migracijske I Etničke Teme|language=hr|volume=18|issue=2–3|pages=201–202|issn=1333-2546}}</ref>

==Genetics== {{See also|Donghu people#Genetics|Xianbei#Genetics|Xiongnu#Genetics|Huns#Genetics|Pannonian Avars#Genetics}} [[File:Component analysis Ruanruan.png|thumb|Component analysis of the Ruanruan ({{Colorsample|#FF0000|0.6}}) and the Xiongnu ({{Colorsample|#000080|0.6}}) against modern population ({{Colorsample|#C0C0C0|0.6}}). The Rouran are closest to modern East Asian populations such as the Buryats, the Oroqen or the Mongols.{{sfn|Savelyev|Jeong|2020}}]] {{harvnb|Li et al.|2018}} 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.{{sfn|Li et al.|2018|pp=1, 8–9}}<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Jeong |first1=Choongwon |language=en |biorxiv=10.1101/2020.03.25.008078 |last2=Wang |first2=Ke |last3=Wilkin |first3=Shevan |last4=Taylor |first4=William Timothy Treal |last5=Miller |first5=Bryan K. |last6=Ulziibayar |first6=Sodnom |last7=Stahl |first7=Raphaela |last8=Chiovelli |first8=Chelsea |last9=Bemmann |first9=Jan H. |title=A Dynamic 6,000-Year Genetic History of Eurasia's Eastern Steppe |journal=Cell |date=2020 |volume=183 |issue=4 |pages=890–904.e29 |doi=10.1016/j.cell.2020.10.015 |pmid=33157037 |pmc=7664836 |bibcode=2020Cell..183..890J }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Lee |first1=Juhyeon |last2=Miller |first2=Bryan K. |last3=Bayarsaikhan |first3=Jamsranjav |last4=Johannesson |first4=Erik |last5=Ventresca Miller |first5=Alicia |last6=Warinner |first6=Christina |last7=Jeong |first7=Choongwon |date=2023-04-14 |title=Genetic population structure of the Xiongnu Empire at imperial and local scales |journal=Science Advances |volume=9 |issue=15 |article-number=eadf3904 |doi=10.1126/sciadv.adf3904 |pmc=10104459 |pmid=37058560 |bibcode=2023SciA....9F3904L }}</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>{{harvnb|Neparáczki et al.|2019|pp=5–6, 9}}. "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..."; {{harvnb|Csáky et al.|2020|pp=1, 9}}. "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>{{harvnb|Savelyev|Jeong|2020|p=17}}. "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 == {{Main|Rouran language}}

The Rouran state was undoubtedly multi-ethnic, but there is no definite evidence as to their language.<ref>{{Cite book |title=History of Civilizations of Central Asia |publisher=UNESCO |year=2006 |isbn=978-92-3-103211-0 |page=317}}</ref> The received view is that the relationships of the language remain a puzzle and that it may be an isolate.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Crossley |first1=Pamela Kyle |title=Hammer and Anvil: Nomad Rulers at the Forge of the Modern World |date=2019 |page=49|author1-link=Pamela Kyle Crossley |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield | isbn= 978-1-4422-1445-3}}</ref> Alexander Vovin (2004, 2010)<ref>{{cite journal| jstor=41928342| last= Vovin|first= Alexander|author-link =Alexander Vovin |date=2004|title=Some Thoughts on the Origins of the Old Turkic 12-Year Animal Cycle|journal =Central Asiatic Journal |volume=48|issue=1|pages= 118–132}}</ref><ref>{{cite conference|last=Vovin|first= Alexander|date= 2010|title =Once Again on the Ruan-ruan Language|work= Ötüken'den İstanbul'a Türkçenin 1290 Yılı (720–2010) Sempozyumu|trans-work= From Ötüken to Istanbul, 1290 Years of Turkish (720–2010) Symposium|conference=3–5 December 2010, İstanbul|pages= 1–10}}</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>{{Cite journal|last=Vovin|first=Alexander|title=A Sketch of the Earliest Mongolic Language: the Brāhmī Bugut and Khüis Tolgoi Inscriptions|url=https://www.academia.edu/39716045|journal=International Journal of Eurasian Linguistics|year=2019|language=en|volume=1|issue=1|pages=162–197|doi=10.1163/25898833-12340008|s2cid=198833565|issn=2589-8825}}</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.{{sfn|Savelyev|Jeong|2020}}

== 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">{{cite book |author=Таскин В. С. |title=Материалы по истории древних кочевых народов группы дунху |editor=Н. Ц. Мункуев |location=Москва |date=1984 |publisher=Наука |pages=305–306}}</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 ===

#Mugulü, 4th century #Yujiulü Cheluhui, 4th century #Yujiulü Tunugui, 4th century #Yujiulü Bati, 4th century #Yujiulü Disuyuan, 4th century #Yujiulü Pihouba, 4th century #Yujiulü Wenheti, 4th century #Yujiulü Heduohan, 4th century

=== Khagans === {| class="wikitable" |- !Personal name !Regnal name<ref>{{cite journal |date = April 1923 |title = 蠕蠕の国号及び可汗号につきて |journal = 東洋学報 |volume = 13 |issue = 1 |pages = 55–70 |author = 藤田豊八 |language = ja |url = https://toyo-bunko.repo.nii.ac.jp/index.php?action=pages_view_main&active_action=repository_action_common_download&item_id=4168&item_no=1&attribute_id=22&file_no=1&page_id=25&block_id=47 |access-date = 21 October 2022 |archive-date = 19 October 2022 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20221019183157/https://toyo-bunko.repo.nii.ac.jp/index.php?action=pages_view_main&active_action=repository_action_common_download&item_id=4168&item_no=1&attribute_id=22&file_no=1&page_id=25&block_id=47 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Kang|first1=Junyoung|last2=Seong Gyu|first2=L. E. E.|date=2019|title=Rouran Khan Titles Research|url=https://cms.dankook.ac.kr/web/-oriental/-23?p_p_id=Bbs_WAR_bbsportlet&p_p_lifecycle=2&p_p_cacheability=cacheLevelPage&_Bbs_WAR_bbsportlet_extFileId=117546|journal=The Oriental Studies|issue=77|pages=131–159|language=ko|doi=10.17320/orient.2019..77.131|issn=1229-3199|archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20221020001142/https://cms.dankook.ac.kr/web/-oriental/-23?p_p_id=Bbs_WAR_bbsportlet&p_p_lifecycle=2&p_p_cacheability=cacheLevelPage&_Bbs_WAR_bbsportlet_extFileId=117546|archive-date=2022-10-20}}</ref> !Reign !Era names |- |Yujiulü Shelun |Qiudoufa Khagan (丘豆伐可汗) |402–410 | |- |Yujiulü Hulü |Aikugai Khagan (藹苦蓋可汗) |410–414 | |- |Yujiulü Buluzhen | |414 | |- |Yujiulü Datan |Mouhanheshenggai Khagan (牟汗紇升蓋可汗) |414–429 | |- |Yujiulü Wuti |Chilian Khagan (敕連可汗) |429–444 | |- |Yujiulü Tuhezhen |Chu Khagan (處可汗) |444–464 | |- |Yujiulü Yucheng |Shouluobuzhen Khagan (受羅部真可) |464–485 |Yongkang (永康) |- |Yujiulü Doulun |Fugudun Khagan (伏古敦可汗) |485–492 |Taiping (太平) |- |Yujiulü Nagai |Houqifudaikezhe Khagan (侯其伏代庫者可汗) |492–506 |Taian (太安) |- |Yujiulü Futu |Tuohan Khagan (佗汗可汗) |506–508 |Shiping (始平) |- |Yujiulü Chounu |Douluofubadoufa Khagan (豆羅伏跋豆伐可汗) |508–520 |Jianchang (建昌) |- |Yujiulü Anagui |Chiliantoubingdoufa Khagan (敕連頭兵豆伐可汗) |520–521 | |- |Yujiulü Poluomen |Mioukesheju Khagan (彌偶可社句可汗) |521–524 | |- |Yujiulü Anagui |Chiliantoubingdoufa Khagan (敕連頭兵豆伐) |522–552 | |}

==== Khagans of West ====

#Yujiulü Dengshuzi, 555

==== Khagans of East ====

# Yujiulü Tiefa, 552–553 # Yujiulü Dengzhu, 553 # Yujiulü Kangti, 553 # Yujiulü Anluochen, 553–554

== Rulers family tree == {{chart top|The family tree of the Khaghans of the Rouran|width=auto|collapsed=yes}} {{tree chart/start|align=center|style=font-size:112%|summary=Yujiulü clan}} {{tree chart|border=1| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |!| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | }} {{tree chart|border=1| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |Mg | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |Mg=Mugulü 木骨闾|boxstyle_Mg=border-width:2px}} {{tree chart|border=1| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |!| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | }} {{tree chart|border=1| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |Cl | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |Cl=Cheluhui 车鹿会|boxstyle_Cl=border-width:2px}} {{tree chart|border=1| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |!| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | }} {{tree chart|border=1| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |Tn | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |Tn=Tunugui 吐奴傀|boxstyle_Tn=border-width:2px}} {{tree chart|border=1| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |!| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | }} {{tree chart|border=1| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |Bt | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |Bt=Bati 跋提|boxstyle_Bt=border-width:2px}} {{tree chart|border=1| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |!| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | }} {{tree chart|border=1| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |Ds| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |Ds=Disuyuan 地粟袁|boxstyle_Ds=border-width:2px}} {{tree chart|border=1| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |,|-|-|-|+|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|.| | | | | | | | | | | | | }} {{tree chart|border=1| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |Wh | |Pb | | | | | | Ph | | | | | | | | | | | | ||Wh=Wenheti 缊纥提|boxstyle_Wh=border-width:2px|Pb=Pihouba 匹候跋|boxstyle_Pb=border-width:2px|Ph=Puhun 僕渾}} {{tree chart|border=1| |,|-|-|-|v|-|-|-|v|-|-|-|v|-|-|-|(| | | |)|-|-|-|.| | | |)|-|-|-|v|-|-|-|v|-|-|-|.| }} {{tree chart|border=1| Mo | | Jg | |Sl | |Hl | | Hd | | Qb | | Wj | | |!| | | Df | | Db | | Li |Mo=□|Jg=Jiguizhi 诘归之|Sl=Shelun 社崘 ?-'''402–410'''|boxstyle_Sl=border-width:2px|Hl=Hulü 斛律 ?-'''410–414'''|boxstyle_Hl=border-width:2px|Hd=Héduōhàn 曷多汗 ?-?'''–402'''|boxstyle_Hd=border-width:2px|Qb=Qiba 启拔|Wj=Wujie 吴颉|Df=Lü Dafei 闾大肥|Db=Lu Dàníbèiyí 闾大埿倍颐|Li=Lu Lín 闾驎}} {{tree chart|border=1| |!| | | |,|-|-|-|(| | | |!| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |)|-|-|-|v|-|-|-|v|-|-|-|.| }} {{tree chart|border=1|Bl | | Db2 | | Sb | | Zy |~| Fa | | | | | | | | | | |Dd | | Tw | | Pl | | Fe |Bl=Buluzhen 步鹿真 '''?–414'''|boxstyle_Bl=border-width:2px|Db2=Duba 度拔|Sb=Shèba 社拔 ?–414|Zy=Zhāoyí 昭仪|Fa={{nowrap|Feng Ba 馮跋 (d. 430)}}|Dd=Datan 大檀 ?-'''414–429'''|boxstyle_Dd=border-width:2px|Tw=Tāw Wúluhú 他吾无鹿胡|Pl=Pili 匹黎|Fe=Lu Fèng 闾凤}} {{tree chart|border=1| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |,|-|-|-|+|-|-|-|v|-|-|-|v|-|-|-|.| }} {{tree chart|border=1| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |Xh |~| Wt | | Tl | | Ql | | Sl2 | | Zz|~|Tw|Xh=Princess Xihai 西海公主|Wt=Wuti 吴提 ?-'''429–444'''|boxstyle_Wt=border-width:2px|Tl=Tulugui 秃鹿傀|Ql=Qǐlièguī 乞列归|Sl2=Qilifu 俟力弗|Zz=Lu Zuǒzhāoyí 闾左昭仪|Tw=Emperor Taiwu 北魏太武帝 408–452}} {{tree chart|border=1| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |!| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |! }} {{tree chart|border=1| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |Ch | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |Ty |Ch=Tuhezhen 吐贺真 ?-'''444–464'''|boxstyle_Ch=border-width:2px|Ty=Emperor Tuoba Yu 拓拔余}} {{tree chart|border=1| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |,|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|(| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | }} {{tree chart|border=1| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |Sl3 | | | | | |Hq | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |Sl3=Yucheng 予成 ?-'''464–485'''|boxstyle_Sl3=border-width:2px|Hq=Nagai 那盖 ?-'''492–506'''|boxstyle_Hq=border-width:2px}} {{tree chart|border=1| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |!| | | |,|-|-|-|+|-|-|-|v|-|-|-|.| | | | | | | | | }} {{tree chart|border=1| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |Fm | |Ds2 | |Th | | Mo | | Mo | | | | | | | | |Fm=Doulun 豆仑 ?-'''485–492'''|boxstyle_Fm=border-width:2px|Ds2=Dengshuzi 邓叔子 ?-'''553–555'''|boxstyle_Ds2=border-width:2px|Th=Futu 伏图 ?-'''506–508'''|boxstyle_Th=border-width:2px|Mo=□}} {{tree chart|border=1| |,|-|-|-|v|-|-|-|v|-|-|-|v|-|-|-|v|-|-|-|v|-|-|-|(| | | |!| | | |!| | | | | | | | | }} {{tree chart|border=1|Dl | | Sn | |Cl2 | | Zh | | Yj | | Th2 | | Tt | |Pl2 | |Dz | | | | | | | | |Dl=Chounu 丑奴 ?-'''508–520'''|boxstyle_Dl=border-width:2px|Sn=Qínifa 俟匿伐|Cl2=Anagui 阿那瓌 ?-'''520–552'''|boxstyle_Cl2=border-width:2px|Zh=Zuhui 祖惠|Yj=Yǐjufa 乙居伐 ?–520|Th2=Tahan 塔寒|Tt=Tutujiā 秃突佳|Pl2=Poluomen 婆羅門 ?-'''521–525'''|boxstyle_Pl2=border-width:2px|Dz=Dengzhu 登注俟利 ?-'''552–553'''|boxstyle_Dz=border-width:2px}} {{tree chart|border=1| | | | | | | | | |)|-|-|-|v|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|.| | | | | | | | | | | | |)|-|-|-|.| | | | | }} {{tree chart|border=1| | | | | SBN |~| Da | |Al |~| Ln | | Gz |y| Hu | | | | | | |Kt | |Tf | | | | |SBN=Wen of Western Wei {{nowrap|507–'''535–551'''}}|Da=Empress Dao 悼皇后 525–540|Al=Anluochen 庵罗辰 ?-'''553–554'''|boxstyle_Al=border-width:2px|Ln={{nowrap|Lanling of Eastern Wei 乐安公主}}|Gz=Princess Ruru 蠕蠕公主|Hu={{nowrap|Gao Cheng 高澄 (521–549)}}|Kt=Kangti 库提 '''?–553'''|boxstyle_Kt=border-width:2px|Tf=Tiefa 铁伐 ?-'''552–553'''|boxstyle_Tf=border-width:2px}} {{tree chart|border=1| | | | | | | | | | | | | |!| | | | | | | | | | ! | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | }} {{tree chart|border=1| | | | | | | | | | | | | Cd |~| Wh | | | | Gs | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |Cd=Lu Chidelian 郁久閭叱地連 537–550|Wh={{nowrap|Wucheng of Northern Qi 537–569}}|Gs=Gao Shi 高氏}} {{tree chart|border=1| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |}} {{tree chart|border=1| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |}} {{tree chart|border=1| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |!| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |}} {{tree chart|border=1| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |Rt | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |Rt=□}} {{tree chart|border=1| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |!| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |}} {{tree chart|border=1| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |Fu | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |Fu=Yujiulü Furen<ref name="epitaph"/> Died on 29 November 586}}  {{tree chart|He=闾贺|Ps=晋阳公 闾菩萨|Ys=于陟斤|Dn=大泥鹊起|Tw2=吐万度吐河入弗|Ag=安富侯 闾阿各头|Cz=郁久闾车朱浑|Xu=闾炫|Ye=郁久闾业|Fr=郁久闾伏仁}} {{tree chart/end}} {{chart bottom}} == See also == *History of the eastern steppe

== References == ===Footnotes=== {{Notelist}}

===Citations=== {{Reflist|refs= <ref name="Kradin">{{cite journal |last1=Kradin |first1= Nikolay Nikolaevich |author-link=Nikolay Kradin|date=2005 |title= From Tribal Confederation to Empire: The Evolution of the Rouran Society|url= |journal=Acta Orientalia Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae |volume=58 |issue=2 |pages=149–169 (1–21) |doi= 10.1556/AOrient.58.2005.2.3}}</ref> <ref name="Seregin and Matrenin">{{cite journal |title=Mongolia in Rouran time: main aspects of the interpretation of archaeological materials |journal=Povolzhskaya Arkheologiya |trans-work=The Volga River Region Archaeology |date=December 2020 |volume=4 |pages=36–49 |doi=10.24852/pa2020.4.34.36.49|last1=Seregin |first1=Nikolai N. |last2=Matrenin |first2=Sergey S. |issue=34 |s2cid=234514608 |doi-access=free }}</ref> <ref name="Taagepera129">{{cite journal|year=1979|title=Size and Duration of Empires: Growth-Decline Curves, 600 B.C. to 600 A.D.|jstor=170959|journal=Social Science History|volume=3|issue=3/4|page=129|doi=10.2307/1170959|last1=Taagepera|first1=Rein}}</ref> <ref name="Turchin222">{{cite journal|last2=Adams|first2=Jonathan M.|last3=Hall|first3=Thomas D|date=December 2006|title=East-West Orientation of Historical Empires|url=http://jwsr.pitt.edu/ojs/index.php/jwsr/article/view/369/381|journal=Journal of World-Systems Research|volume=12|issue=2|page=222|issn=1076-156X|last1=Turchin|first1=Peter|access-date=16 September 2016}}</ref> <ref name="Zhang 2003">{{cite journal| author= Zhang Min | url=http://caod.oriprobe.com/articles/5687434/On_the_Defensive_System_of_Great_Wall__Military_Town_of_Northern_Wei_D.htm |title=On the Defensive System of Great Wall Military Town of Northern Wei Dynasty | journal= China's Borderland History and Geography Studies | date= June 2003 | volume= 13 | number=2 | page=15}}</ref> <ref name="Kradin 2016">{{cite encyclopedia |last1=Kradin |first1=Nikolay N. |author-link=Nikolay Kradin|entry=Rouran (Juan Juan) Khaganate |title=The Encyclopedia of Empire |date=2016 |publisher=John Wiley & Sons |pages=1–2 |entry-url=https://www.academia.edu/22010535 |language=en}}</ref> <ref name="web.archive.org">{{cite journal | last= Pulleyblank | first= Edwin G. | date= 2000 | url= http://www.dartmouth.edu/~earlychina/docs/2008/ec25_pulleyblank.pdf | title= Ji 姬 and Jiang 姜: The Role of Exogamic Clans in the Organization of the Zhou Polity | journal= Early China | publisher= Cambridge University Press | page= 20 | volume= 25 | doi= 10.1017/S0362502800004259 | jstor= 23354272 | access-date= 27 March 2020 | archive-date= 18 November 2017 | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20171118181857/http://www.dartmouth.edu/~earlychina/docs/2008/ec25_pulleyblank.pdf }}</ref> <ref name="Vovin_2007">{{cite journal|last=Vovin|first= Alexander |date=2007|title=Once again on the etymology of the title ''qaɣan''|pages=177–185|journal=Studia Etymologica Cracoviensia|volume=12 |url=http://ejournals.eu/sj/index.php/SEC/article/viewFile/1100/1096 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190327123032/https://ejournals.eu/sj/index.php/SEC/article/viewFile/1100/1096 |archive-date=27 March 2019 }}</ref> <ref name=Sneath>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jgLICgAAQBAJ|first=David|last= Sneath |title=The Headless State: Aristocratic Orders, Kinship Society, & Misrepresentations of Nomadic Inner Asia |publisher=Columbia University Press|year=2007|isbn=978-0-231-14054-6 |pages= }}</ref> <ref name="helda.helsinki.fi">{{cite thesis| last=Xu |first=Elina-Qian|url=https://helda.helsinki.fi/handle/10138/19205 |hdl=10138/19205|title=Historical Development of the Pre-Dynastic Khitan|institution =University of Helsinki|date= 2005|pages= 179–180|degree=PhD}}</ref> <ref name="Gnecchi-Ruscone Szécsényi-Nagy Koncz Csiky 2022 pp. 1402–1413.e21">{{cite journal | last1=Gnecchi-Ruscone | first1=Guido Alberto | last2=Szécsényi-Nagy | first2=Anna | last3=Koncz | 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== External links == * {{Commons category-inline}} *[https://web.archive.org/web/20030804114713/http://www.shuku.net:8080/novels/zatan/cydglngls/03.html Map of their empire] *[http://www.human.toyogakuen-u.ac.jp/~acmuller/dicts/dealt/data/88/c8815.htm Definition] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030917052106/http://www.human.toyogakuen-u.ac.jp/~acmuller/dicts/dealt/data/88/c8815.htm |date=17 September 2003 }} *[http://www.chinaknowledge.de/History/Altera/rouran.html information about the Rouran] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150118100401/http://www.chinaknowledge.de/History/Altera/rouran.html |date=18 January 2015 }}

{{Rouran rulers}} {{Mongolic ethnic groups |state=expanded}} {{Mongolia topics}} {{Inner Asia}} {{Empires}} {{Authority control}}

Category:Rouran Khaganate Category:Khanates Category:Former countries in Mongolian history Category:Nomadic groups in Eurasia Category:Ethnic groups in Chinese history Category:Former countries in Chinese history Category:Inner Asia Category:States and territories established in the 4th century Category:555 disestablishments Category:States and territories disestablished in the 6th century Category:330 establishments Category:Donghu people Category:Former confederations Category:Former empires