Rouran Khaganate

Overview

The Rouran Khaganate, also known as Ruanruan or Juan-juan, 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. The Book of Song and Book of Liang connected Rourans to the earlier Xiongnu while the Book of Wei connected them to Proto-Mongolic Donghu. The Rouran supreme rulers used the title of khagan, a popular title borrowed from the Xianbei. 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. 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.

Wikipedia: Rouran Khaganate·CC BY-SA 4.0

Borders & accuracy

A pastoralist or hunter-gatherer range whose extent shifted constantly with seasons and alliances.

• SOURCEhand-crafted from scholarly atlases
• DETAILhand-crafted-from-atlases
• SNAPSHOT450 CE
• MATCHEDRouran Khaganate at peak
• POLITY TYPEnomadic-range

Northern Wei blocked southern advance; Tarim held only loosely.

Also during this period

No conflict record yet names this polity as a belligerent; these overlap its dates only.

• Barbarian Invasions of the Roman Empire375–476 CE
  World-changing · 1.0M dead
• Aksumite conquest of Meroë330–360 CE
  World-changing
• Aksumite invasion of Himyar (Kaleb)518–525 CE
  World-changing
• Northern and Southern Dynasties Conflicts420–589 CE
  Major conflict · 2.0M dead
• Fu Jian's Northern Unification350–385 CE
  Major conflict · 1.0M dead
• Gupta Empire Expansion320–467 CE
  Major conflict · 300K dead