Zhenzhu Khan facts for kids

Zhenzhu Khan (also known as Inchü Qaghan, Chinese: 真珠可汗), whose personal name was Inan (Chinese: 夷男), was a powerful leader of the Xueyantuo people. He lived until October 21, 645. Under his rule, the Xueyantuo grew from being a smaller group under the Eastern Tujue into a strong empire across northern and central Asia.

During his time as leader, the Xueyantuo often worked with the Tang dynasty of China. However, they sometimes had disagreements. One big problem was when the Tang dynasty tried to bring back the Eastern Tujue as a smaller state under a leader called Qilibi Khan Ashina Simo. This plan failed because Inan's army often attacked Ashina Simo.

The Xueyantuo remained powerful throughout Inan's reign, even though Tang tried to limit their strength. After Inan died, his sons, Bazhuo and Yemang (曳莽), fought over who would rule next. Bazhuo killed Yemang, which caused problems within the Xueyantuo. Bazhuo then attacked Tang. This led to a big fight back from Tang, and along with a rebellion by the Huige people, the Xueyantuo empire was destroyed in 646.

How Inan Became a Powerful Leader

It's not known exactly when Inan was born. We do know he was the grandson of Yishibo, the first ruler of the Xueyantuo. At that time, the Xueyantuo were part of a group called the Chile confederation, which was under the control of the Eastern Tujue khans. When Inan first became the Xueyantuo leader under the Eastern Tujue's Jiali Khan Ashina Duobi, he had about 70,000 people living in tents under his command.

Rebellions Against Eastern Tujue

By 627, many groups within the Chile confederation, including the Xueyantuo, Huige, and Bayegu (拔野谷), rebelled. They were unhappy with Ashina Duobi's leadership. Ashina Duobi sent his son, Ashina Yugu, with a huge army of 400,000 horsemen to fight the rebels. But a small army of only 5,000 horsemen, led by the Huige chieftain Pusa (菩薩), defeated them.

At the same time, the Xueyantuo also defeated four Eastern Tujue generals. Ashina Duobi couldn't stop the rebellions. He then sent another leader, Tuli Khan Ashina Shibobi (阿史那什鉢苾), to fight the Chile groups. But both the Huige and the Xueyantuo defeated Ashina Shibobi, making him run away. Ashina Duobi was so angry that he briefly held Ashina Shibobi captive. This eventually led Ashina Shibobi to rebel too and join forces with the Tang dynasty.

Inan Becomes Khan

By late 628, all the northern groups that used to be under Eastern Tujue had rebelled. They all chose Inan as their leader, offering him the title of khan. At first, Inan didn't want to use the title because he was nervous.

However, Emperor Taizong of Tang wanted to team up with the Xueyantuo against Eastern Tujue. So, he sent a general named Qiao Shiwang (喬師望) to Inan. Emperor Taizong officially recognized Inan as the Zhenzhupiqie Khan (or Zhenzhu Khan for short) and gave him special drums and banners. Inan was very happy and sent gifts to Emperor Taizong.

At this point, Inan's territory was huge. It stretched from the Mohe in the east to Western Tujue in the west, and south to the Gobi Desert. Many tribes, including Huige (回纥), Bayegu (拔也古), Adie (阿跌), Tongluo (同羅), Pugu (僕骨), and Baixi (白霫), all followed him.

In fall 629, Inan sent his brother Tong (統) to give gifts to Emperor Taizong. In return, Emperor Taizong gave Inan a sword and a whip. He said, "Lord, if your people commit serious crimes, you can use the sword to punish them. For smaller crimes, use the whip." Inan was pleased. This made Ashina Duobi of Eastern Tujue scared, and he tried to arrange a marriage with the Tang royal family, but it didn't work out.

In 630, a Tang army led by general Li Jing defeated the Eastern Tujue and captured Ashina Duobi. Some Eastern Tujue people surrendered to Tang, some to Xueyantuo, and some fled west. The Xueyantuo now became the most powerful group north of the Tang empire.

Zhenzhu Khan's Reign and Challenges

As the main ruler over the lands that used to belong to Eastern Tujue, Inan tried to keep peace with Tang. He formally submitted to Tang while also making his own state stronger.

Conflicts with Other Groups

In 632, the Siyehu Khan Ashina Dieli of Western Tujue attacked Xueyantuo. But the Xueyantuo forces defeated him, which helped lead to Ashina Dieli's later downfall.

Inan also faced attacks from an Eastern Tujue prince named Ashina She'er (阿史那社爾). Ashina She'er had fled to Western Tujue when Eastern Tujue fell and took over some land, calling himself Dubu Khan. Ashina She'er blamed Xueyantuo for Ashina Duobi's defeat and wanted revenge. He attacked Xueyantuo around 634. The fighting didn't have a clear winner at first. However, a new Western Tujue khan, the Dielishi Khan Ashina Tong'e, had just taken power. Many of Ashina She'er's people didn't want to keep fighting and went to Ashina Tong'e. This allowed Xueyantuo to fight back and defeat Ashina She'er. (Ashina She'er later fled to Gaochang and then to Tang, where he became an important Tang general.)

Growing Power and Tang's Concerns

Meanwhile, Inan's power continued to grow. By 638, he was said to have over 200,000 soldiers. He had divided his army, giving command to his sons, Bazhuo and Jialibi (頡利苾). Bazhuo was in charge of the southern army, and Jialibi led the northern army.

Emperor Taizong of Tang believed that Xueyantuo was becoming too strong and hard to control. So, he made both Bazhuo and Jialibi subordinate khans under their father. He gave them drums and banners. He said this was to honor them, but he secretly hoped it would cause disagreements between the brothers.

Around this time, Qu Wentai (麴文泰), the king of Gaochang, teamed up with Western Tujue against Tang. He also tried to get Xueyantuo to join their alliance. He sent a messenger to Inan, saying, "You are a khan, and you are powerful enough to stand up to the emperor. Why do you bow to his messengers?" Inan, however, told Emperor Taizong about Qu's attempt to cause trouble. When Emperor Taizong sent general Hou Junji to attack Gaochang in 638, Inan offered to send his army to help Hou. Emperor Taizong sent officials to Inan to give him silk for his loyalty and to talk about working together. (However, when Hou actually attacked and conquered Gaochang in 639, Xueyantuo didn't seem to take part in the fighting.)

The Eastern Tujue Problem and Conflict with Tang

In 639, there was a failed plot by an Eastern Tujue prince, Ashina Jiesheshuai, to kill Emperor Taizong. After this, Emperor Taizong changed his mind about letting Eastern Tujue people live inside Tang borders. He had originally allowed this in 630. He then made another Eastern Tujue prince, Ashina Simo, the Qilibi Khan. He ordered Ashina Simo to take the Eastern Tujue people and settle them between the Yellow River and the Gobi Desert. Emperor Taizong sent a messenger to Inan, explaining his reasons and telling Inan to keep peace with the rebuilt Eastern Tujue. Inan was not happy about this, but he agreed. By 641, Ashina Simo had settled near Dingxiang (定襄, in modern Hohhot, Inner Mongolia).

However, Inan didn't like this situation. Later that year, he thought Emperor Taizong was going to perform special ceremonies at Mount Tai and would take his soldiers with him. Inan wanted to use this chance to destroy Ashina Simo. He sent his son Dadu (大度) with an army of 200,000 men from various tribes, including Tongluo, Pugu, Huige, Mohe, and Xi. They attacked Eastern Tujue. Ashina Simo couldn't fight them off and retreated inside the Great Wall, asking for urgent help from Emperor Taizong.

In winter 641, Emperor Taizong sent several generals, including Zhang Jian and Li Shiji, to attack Xueyantuo and save Ashina Simo. Around the new year of 642, Li Shiji fought Dadu's army. Dadu's army initially used arrows to kill Li Shiji's army's horses. But Li Shiji's officer, Xue Wanche (薛萬徹), focused on attacking the Xueyantuo army's horses. Li Shiji then defeated Dadu, forcing him to run away. (At the same time, Inan had sent a messenger to Emperor Taizong, offering peace with Eastern Tujue. After Li Shiji defeated Dadu, Emperor Taizong sent the messenger back to Inan with strong words, but he didn't attack Xueyantuo further.)

Marriage Proposal and Its Cancellation

Later in 642, Inan tried to arrange a marriage with a Tang princess to make their relationship stronger. He sent his uncle Nishou (泥熟) to Emperor Taizong, offering gifts of 3,000 horses, 38,000 mink coats, and an amber mirror.

Meanwhile, a Tang general named Qibi Heli (契苾何力) was being held in Xueyantuo. He was the chief of the Qibi tribe, which was part of the Chile group. He had been visiting his tribe when his own people seized him and took him to Xueyantuo. They wanted to join Xueyantuo instead of Tang. Emperor Taizong was worried about Qibi Heli's safety. So, he agreed to the marriage proposal. He sent an official named Cui Dunli to discuss the terms with Inan. The plan was for Emperor Taizong's daughter, Princess Xinxing, to marry Inan in exchange for Qibi Heli's release.

In 643, Inan again sent his nephew Tuli (突利) to offer more gifts as a bride price. These included 50,000 horses, 10,000 cattle or camels, and 100,000 goats. Emperor Taizong welcomed Tuli with a grand ceremony. Tuli then held a big dinner in Emperor Taizong's honor, which the emperor and his officials attended.

However, because Qibi Heli urged him, Emperor Taizong thought about canceling the marriage. First, he told Inan to personally meet him and Princess Xinxing at Ling Prefecture (靈州, roughly modern Yinchuan, Ningxia) for the wedding. Emperor Taizong believed Inan would refuse, giving him an excuse to break off the marriage. But Inan agreed to go to Ling Prefecture. So, Emperor Taizong found another reason to cancel the marriage treaty: the bride price hadn't all been collected. (To gather all the animals for the bride price, Inan had to collect them from different tribes, which took a long time, and some animals died crossing the Gobi Desert.)

Despite strong objections from his official Chu Suiliang, who said this would make the emperor's word seem less valuable, Emperor Taizong canceled the marriage. He explained his decision by saying that if Inan married a Tang princess, he would gain more power over the Chile tribes and become even harder to control.

Final Years and Death

Meanwhile, Inan continued to attack Eastern Tujue from time to time. When Emperor Taizong sent messengers to try to stop him, Inan replied: "How can I not follow the emperor's order? But the Tujue people are tricky and cannot be trusted. Before their state was destroyed, they attacked China every year and killed thousands of people. I thought that after the emperor defeated them, he would make them slaves and give them to the Chinese people. But instead, the emperor raised them like his own sons and showed them much kindness. Despite this, Ashina Jiesheshuai rebelled. They look human, but they have hearts like animals and should not be treated as humans. I have received much kindness from the emperor, and I have nothing to repay him for. I am willing to kill the Tujue for China."

By the end of 644, the Eastern Tujue people, who weren't fully supporting Ashina Simo anyway, fell apart because of the Xueyantuo threat. They fled back to Tang territory and were settled there again. Ashina Simo also returned to Tang and became a Tang general once more. This ended Tang's attempt to bring back Eastern Tujue as a smaller state.

This made Emperor Taizong unhappy. When Inan later sent a messenger to offer gifts to Emperor Taizong, who was busy preparing to attack Goguryeo, Emperor Taizong replied, "Go back and tell your khan: My son and I are now about to attack Goguryeo. If he thinks he can take advantage of this, he is welcome to come!" Inan was scared of Emperor Taizong's anger. He sent another messenger to apologize and offered to help in the military campaign against Goguryeo. Emperor Taizong refused his offer.

In 645, after Emperor Taizong defeated the main Goguryeo forces, Goguryeo's mangniji (regent) Yeon Gaesomun asked Inan to attack Tang. He offered Inan great gifts if he did. But Inan, fearing Tang's power, did not attack. (However, Emperor Taizong eventually had to stop his campaign anyway after failing to capture the fortress of Anshi.)

Inan died in fall 645. Even though there had been some tension in his later years, Emperor Taizong held a grand ceremony to mourn Inan. It was said that Inan, with Tang's permission, had previously made his oldest son, Yemang, the Tulishi Khan, giving him the eastern lands to rule over various tribes. He made his wife's son, Bazhuo, the Siyehu Khan, giving him the western lands to rule over the Xueyantuo people. Emperor Taizong had even held grand ceremonies for these appointments.

Yemang was said to be violent and troubled, and he had a bad relationship with Bazhuo. After Inan's death, both sons attended the funeral. After the funeral, Yemang was afraid that Bazhuo would harm him, so he left suddenly. This led Bazhuo to chase him down and kill him. Bazhuo then took the throne with the title of Jialijulixueshaduomi Khan (or Duomi Khan, for short).

More Information

• Tang Huiyao, vol. 96.
• Zizhi Tongjian, vols. 192, 193, 194, 195, 196, 197, 198.