Rouran
The Rouran Khaganate (Chinese: 柔然; pinyin: Róurán), Ruru (Chinese: 蠕蠕/茹茹; pinyin: Rúrú), or Tantan (Chinese: 檀檀; pinyin: Tántán) was the name of a state established by proto-Mongols, from the late 4th century until the middle 6th century.
Rouran is a Classical Chinese transcription of the endonym of the confederacy. Ruanruan and Ruru remained in usage despite being derogatory. They derived from orders given by the Emperor Taiwu of Northern Wei, who waged war against the Rouran and intended to intimidate the confederacy. According to René Grousset, Ju-juan – an alternate Chinese name for the Rouran – was a "disparaging pun" derived from Juan-Juan: "unpleasantly wriggling insects".
The power of the Rouran was broken in 555 by an alliance of Göktürks, the states of Northern Qi and Northern Zhou, and tribes in Central Asia.
It has sometimes been hypothesized that the Rouran are synonymous with the Pannonian Avars – also known by names such as Varchonites and "Pseudo Avars" – who settled in Eastern Europe during the 6th century.
The Rouran were a confederation led by Xianbei people who remained in the Mongolian steppes after most Xianbei migrated south to Northern China and set up various kingdoms. They considered the Tuoba and Rourans to be descended from common ancestors. Also some contemporary historians studying the history of Northern Wei, like Kwok Kin Poon, proposed that the Rouran descended specifically from Xianbei of Donghu heritage. They were first noted as having defeated the Tiele and establishing an empire extending all the way to the Hulun (clarification needed), an alliance in eastern Inner Mongolia. During the reign of Yujiulü Shelun (402-410), Rouran became a powerful empire. To the west of the Rouran Khaganate was the Hephthalite Empire (408–670), which was a vassal of the Rouran until the beginning of the 5th century.
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