Göktürk civil war
The Göktürk civil war or Turkic interregnum was a number of political crises in the Turkic Khaganate first between 583 and 603, which resulted in the split of the khaganate into Western and Eastern. Background The Turkic Khaganate was an empire stretching between the Manchuria and 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 of nephews of the last ruler. Beginning of the interregnum In 581, the fourth khagan, Taspar Qaghan, died. There were four claimants to the throne. The personal and regnal names are shown below: Bumin founded the dynasty and was followed in succession by his three sons: Issik, Muqan and Taspar. Prince Anlo was Taspar Qaghan's son, Talopien (Apa Qaghan) and Shetu (Ishbara Qaghan) were Taspar's nephews, while Tien-chueh (Tardu) was Taspar's cousin. (see Göktürk family tree) Before dying, Taspar Qaghan had announced his preference for Apa Qaghan (then called Talopien) to succeed him instead of his son Anlo, 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