Rouran Khaganate

The Rouran were a confederation of nomadic peoples who dominated the Mongolian steppe from the late fourth century to the mid-sixth. They were the first steppe rulers known to have used the title khagan, later taken up by the Turks and the Mongols, and they were the overlords of the Turks before the Turks overthrew them.

Chinese sources say the Rouran were descended from a slave named Mugulü, who served the Tuoba Xianbei and fled to the steppe with followers in the fourth century. His son Cheluhui organised them into a group. The Rouran were probably related to the Xianbei, the people who ruled northern China at that time as the Northern Wei dynasty, and may have spoken a Mongolic language, though this is debated. The Northern Wei gave them an insulting name, Ruanruan, meaning "wriggling insects".

Around 402, the Rouran leader Shelun united the tribes of the Mongolian steppe, defeated rivals and took the title khagan, "khan of khans". The Rouran built an empire across Mongolia and into Central Asia, ruling or receiving tribute from many peoples, including the Gaoche, Tiele and Turks. They had a capital, or main camp, in the Orkhon valley region, though they were nomads. The Rouran organised their army into units of a thousand and a hundred.

The Rouran and the Northern Wei fought for over a century. Northern Wei emperors, such as Taiwu, led great campaigns into the steppe, in 429 capturing hundreds of thousands of people and animals. The Wei built defensive lines and garrison towns along their northern frontier, the Six Garrisons. The Rouran raided Wei territory and sought alliances with the southern Chinese dynasties, the Tuyuhun in the west and states in Central Asia to encircle the Wei. At times they made peace and exchanged marriages.

In the early sixth century, the Rouran faced internal strife. In 520, the khagan Anagui fled to the Northern Wei after a civil war and was restored with Wei help. When the Northern Wei split into Eastern and Western Wei in 534–535, both sought Rouran alliances and married into the khagan's family.

Among the peoples subject to the Rouran were the Turks, who worked as ironsmiths in the Altai mountains. In 552 the Turkic leader Bumin asked for a Rouran princess in marriage; Anagui refused, insulting him as a "blacksmith slave". Bumin allied with the Western Wei, attacked the Rouran and defeated them. Anagui took his own life. The Turks founded the First Turkic Khaganate. By 555, the remaining Rouran groups had been destroyed, killed by the Turks with Chinese help, or scattered.

Some historians link fleeing Rouran groups to the Avars, who appeared in Europe in the 550s and 560s and founded a powerful khaganate on the Hungarian plain, but the evidence is uncertain, and other scholars connect the Avars with other peoples. The Rouran's use of the titles khagan and khatun, for the queen, passed to later steppe empires.

Our maps show the Rouran on the 400 and 500 maps. Their largest outline, about 2.8 million square kilometres on the 400 map, is nearly half in today's Mongolia, with the rest in Russia, China and Kazakhstan. Ulaanbaatar's site lies inside it. On the 600 map, the steppe belongs to the Göktürks.