Göktürk civil war
583-603 civil war in the Göktürk Empire
The Göktürk civil war or Turkic interregnum was a number of political crises in the Turkic Khaganate first between 583 and 603, which resulted the khaganate being split into Western and Eastern parts.
Background
The Turkic Khaganate was an empire stretching from Manchuria to the Black Sea. The name of the ruling clan was Ashina. The khagans were appointed by the kurultay (council of tribe leaders), normally from the sons, brothers and nephews of the last ruler.
Beginning of the interregnum
In 581, the fourth khagan, Taspar Qaghan, died. There were four claimants to the throne.
Bumin Qaghan had founded the dynasty and was followed in succession by his three sons: Issik, Muqan and Taspar. Prince Anluo (Amrak Khagan) was Taspar Qaghan's son, Talopien (Apa Qaghan) and Shetu (Ishbara Qaghan) were Taspar's nephews, while Tien-chueh (Tardu) was Taspar's cousin.
Before dying, Taspar Qaghan had announced his preference for Talopien to succeed him instead of his son Anluo, although he had no right to determine the succession. During the kurultay after Taspar's death, Ishbara (then called Shetu), who was also a claimant, saw that he had no chance and supported the pacifist Anluo against Apa on the ground that Apa's mother was not of noble birth.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Göktürk civil war” is 583-603 civil war in the Göktürk Empire. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Göktürk, civil and 583-603, not as a finished interpretation.
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The phrase “583-603 civil war in the Göktürk Empire” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.
The record creator and administrative purpose are central evidence, because official documentation reflects both action and institutional priorities. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 1, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q154875. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference.
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This entry incorporates text from “Göktürk civil war” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.