First Turkic Khaganate

First Turkic Khaganate
552–603
Tamga of Ashina tribe.[1]
FIRST TURKIC KHAGANATE The First Turkic Khaganate at its greatest extent, in 576.
Status	Khaganate (Nomadic empire)
Capital	Ötüken (eastern) Suyab (western)
Common languages	Old Turkic (official, dynastic and common)[2][3][4]: 37  Sogdian (official, diplomacy, coinage)[5][6] Rouran (official)[7]
Religion	Tengrism
Demonym(s)	Türük Türk
Qaghan
• 552	Bumin Qaghan (first)
• 599–603	Tardu (last)
Yabgu
• 552–575	Istämi (first)
• 575–599	Tardu (last)
Historical era	Post-classical
• Bumin Qaghan revolts against Rouran Khaganate	542
• Established	552
• Göktürk civil war	581
• Brief re-unification	603
• Division of Western and Eastern Turkic Khaganates	603
Area
571[8][9]	9,300,000 km2 (3,600,000 sq mi)
Population
• 6th century[10]	3 million
Preceded by Succeeded by Rouran Khaganate Hephthalite Empire Eastern Turkic Khaganate Western Turkic Khaganate

The First Turkic Khaganate, also referred to as the First Turkic Empire,^[11] the Turkic Khaganate or the Göktürk Khaganate, was a Turkic khaganate established by the Ashina clan of the Göktürks in medieval Inner Asia under the leadership of Bumin Qaghan (d. 552) and his brother Istämi. The First Turkic Khaganate succeeded the Rouran Khaganate as the hegemonic power of the Mongolian Plateau and rapidly expanded their territories in Central Asia, and became the first Central Asian transcontinental empire from Manchuria to the Black Sea.^{[4]: 49 [12]}

Although the Göktürks spoke a Siberian Turkic language directly antecedent to the Orkhon Turkic of the Second Turkic Khaganate, the First Khaganate's early official texts and coins were written in Sogdian.^[5][13] It was the first Turkic state to use the name Türk politically.^[14] The Old Turkic script was invented at the first half of the sixth century.^[15][16]

The Khaganate collapsed in 603, after a series of conflicts and civil wars which separated the polity into the Eastern Turkic Khaganate and Western Turkic Khaganate. The Tang China conquered the Eastern Turkic Khaganate in 630 and the Western Turkic Khaganate in 657 in a series of military campaigns. The Second Turkic Khaganate emerged in 682 and lasted until 744, when it was overthrown by the Uyghur Khaganate.