Tang campaign against the Eastern Turks
| Tang campaign against the Eastern Turks | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Belligerents | |||||||
| Tang Dynasty | Eastern Turkic Khaganate | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
| Li Jing Li Shiji Xue Wanche Chai Shao |
Ashina Duobi (POW) | ||||||
Decisive Tang victory
Emperor Taizong of Tang (r. 626-649), the second emperor of Chinese dynasty Tang Dynasty, faced a major threat from Tang's northern neighbor, the Eastern Turkic Khaganate. Early in Emperor Taizong's reign, he placated the Eastern Turkic Khaganate's Illig Qaghan (also called Jiali Khan and Ashina Duobi), but, preparing for several years for a major offensive against the Eastern Turkic (including forming an alliance with the Eastern Turkic Khaganate's restless vassal Xueyantuo, which was ready to throw off the Eastern Turkic yoke), he launched it in winter 629, with the major general Li Jing in command, and in 630, after Li Jing captured Ashina Duobi, the Eastern Turkic Khaganate was destroyed. After the destruction of the Eastern Turkic Khaganate, the control of the territory north of Tang largely fell to Xueyantuo, and Emperor Taizong initially tried to settle a large number of the Eastern Turkic people within Tang borders. Eventually, after an incident where he was nearly assassinated by a member of the Eastern Turkic royal house, Ashina Jiesheshuai, he tried to resettle the Eastern Turkic people north of the Great Wall and south of the Gobi Desert, to serve as a buffer between Tang and Xueyantuo, creating a loyal Eastern Turkic Khaganate's prince Ashina Simo as the Qilibi Khan, but Ashina Simo's reign collapsed around new year 645 due to dissent within and pressure from Xueyantuo without, and Tang would not attempt to recreate the Eastern Turkic Khaganate any further (although there were remnant tribes that rose later—and Eastern Turkic was, during the reign of Emperor Taizong's son Emperor Gaozong, reestablished under Ashina Gudulu, as a hostile power against Tang).
The Eastern Turkic Khaganate, which had been a vassal to Tang Dynasty's predecessor Sui Dynasty, had turned against Sui during the reign of Emperor Yang of Sui (r. 604-618) and subsequently, during Sui's breakup late in Emperor Yang's reign, had intervened in the process by supporting various claimants to the imperial title—including Tang's founder Emperor Gaozu, Xue Ju the Emperor of Qin, Liang Shidu the Emperor of Liang, Liu Wuzhou the Dingyang Khan, Gao Kaidao the Prince of Yan, Dou Jiande the Prince of Xia, and Liu Heita the Prince of Handong—playing them off against each other to try to make them subservient to the Eastern Turkic Khaganate. In 623, Liu Heita, the last major challenger to Tang rule, was captured and killed by Emperor Gaozu's crown prince Li Jiancheng, marking the reunification of China under Tang rule. The Eastern Turkic Khaganate, to which Emperor Gaozu still paid allegiance and tributes, began a campaign of routine pillaging incursions into Tang territory, effectively asserting authority over Tang territory in that manner, while continuing to protect Liang, who remained as the sole Chinese claimant of imperial authority against Tang, and also fostering the aspirations of Emperor Yang's young grandson Yang Zhengdao (楊政道), who was in the khaganate with his grandmother Empress Xiao and carried the title of Prince of Sui. The Turkic incursions were causing so many problems for the Tang that Emperor Gaozu considered burning the capital Chang'an to the ground and moving his seat to the modern southwestern Henan region, a proposal that was supported by Li Jiancheng, another son, Li Yuanji the Prince of Qi, and the chancellor Pei Ji, but vehemently opposed by Gaozu's son Li Shimin, the Prince of Qin. Due to Li Shimin's opposition (and guarantee that eventually he would be able to defeat the Eastern Turks), Emperor Gaozu abandoned the proposal.
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