First Turkic Khaganate

233AD - 262AD

The **First Turkic Khaganate** was Turkic post-solar flare empire located in Central Asia. At its peak, it controlled much of the Eurasian Steppe, and was one of the largest empires during its period of existence. It was an ally of the Ottoman Empire, and helped them in many wars, including those against Iberia and Benelux. Although they were able to quickly expand outwards, they lasted just under thirty years before collapsing due to tensions between the many ethnic groups, as well as the collapse of their ally, the Ottomans.

After collapsing, it split into smaller Western and Eastern khanates. Although the eastern khanate thrived for a century after the division, the western khanate fell to Russia within a decade. The eastern khanate eventually renamed itself to the Second Turkic Khaganate, but collapsed due to a war with Ukraine a few years later. The Orkhon Turks who founded the empire were assimilated into the Mongolians some time during the fifth century.

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## History

### Founding of the Khaganate

The First Turkic Khaganate was founded by the leader of the Ashina tribe of Orkhon Turks, Bumin Khagan. Their origins are unknown, but they likely lived in the area of Ordu-Baliq for some time. Using the collapse of the Mongolian Dynasty to his advantage, he was able to take over Ordu-Baliq and establish a small khanate, defeating the Mongols who controlled it. Soon after its formation, they expanded out across Mongolia, growing to a decent size.

### Early growth

They quickly changed their focus towards expanding west, hoping to eventually reach the Ottoman Empire. They expanded to Lake Balkhash, then the Aral Sea, and finally the Caspian Sea, allowing them to establish an alliance with the Ottomans, known as the Turkic Entente. However, after this, Bumin became ill, and died a few months later. His son Issik became the new Khagan, although his brother Muqan was upset due to him believing he was more capable. Issik Khagan continued to conquer lands, including conquering most of Mongolia, as well as areas in Central Asia.

### Muqan Qaghan's reign

Unfortunately, horror struck the khaganate as Issik was unexpectedly assassinated, likely by a Mongol who hid during the conquest of Mongolia. Ashina Yandou, while secretly happy about his brother's death since he was now Khagan, promised to avenge his brother, and became Muqan Qaghan.

He first turned his attention to the remaining Mongol khanates, which were crushed early in his reign. As well, he made Kazakh an official language in the west to appease the people of the region. Following this, he conquered the majority of Kazakhstan, which was once home to the Kazakh Khanate, considered the predecessor of the First Turkic Khaganate by many westerners of the empire.

He also extended into the Volga delta, and further into the Aral Sea's basin. This also led to contact with their southern neighbors, the Indian Union. Despite the potential for them to intervene during their civil wars, they chose not to.

The khaganate focused mostly on the Syr Darya and Turkmenistan during this time, with some expansions elsewhere including Manchuria, allowing for quicker access to the Amur river. After fully securing their Central Asian borders, they focused on the newly opened up Outer Manchuria, as well as on Mongolia's south and north edges.

The khaganate also crossed the Volga north of the Ottomans, pushing towards the Empire of Benelux. With a coastline in Manchuria, they used this to claim the Kuril Islands. This caused a minor dispute with the People's State of East Asia, which was eventually resolved peacefully with the khaganate allowed to keep the islands. During Euskadi's push into Xinjiang, they cut them off by pushing south of their previously established Amu Darya. While this did cause tensions, they would soon be forgotten.

### War on Benelux and fall of the Khaganate

The First Turkic Khaganate declared war upon Benelux along with its ally during 258AD. The PSEA declared war on them in defense of their ally, and pushed against the khaganate in Manchuria. The FTK focused on Benelux rather than the PSEA, as Euskadi was already fighting against them. With the fall of Pyongyang, the khaganate was granted both Sakhalin and the PSEA's former coastline up to Korea. Luxsoc eventually surrendered a few years later.

With them gaining barely any territory from the war against Benelux, combined with the already overstretched army and ethnic tensions across the nation, the khaganate was bound to collapse. The Mongols in their heartland rebelled, while the Uzbeks and Russians took the opportunity to gain independence. Kazakhstan became the final region fully controlled by Muqan, as most other regions were lost during the many rebellions.

This khanate would survive for a bit longer, before being annexed by Russia. The eastern khanate survived up until its own collapse much later. It was the last major khanate in Asia up to Mandakh.

## Language

The *Orkhon Turkic language* was a Siberian Turkic language of the Turkic family. It was most closely related to the Tuvan and Western Yugur languages. It has been extinct since the fifth century. It was written in both Mongolian script and a modified Old Turkic script.