Battle of Yinshan
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changes Annexation of the Eastern Turkic Khaganate by the Tang
| Battle of Yinshan | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of Tang campaign against the Eastern Turks | |||||||||
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| Belligerents | |||||||||
| Tang dynasty | Eastern Turkic Khaganate | ||||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
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Li Jing Wei Xiaojie Li Daozong Chai Shao Xue Wanche (薛萬徹) | Illig Qaghan | ||||||||
| Strength | |||||||||
| 20,000[2] | 40,000[2] | ||||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||||
| Light | 100,000 captured, 10,000+ dead | ||||||||
The Battle of Yinshan (Chinese: 陰山之戰; pinyin: Yīnshān zhī zhàn) was fought on 27 March 630 near the Yin Mountains, close to the city of Dingxiang (定襄, in modern Hohhot, Inner Mongolia). Emperor Taizong (598–649) commissioned the famed Tang military officer Li Jing (李靖, 571–649), along with Li Shiji, Wei Xiaojie, Li Daozong, Chai Shao (柴紹), and Xue Wanche (薛萬徹) to attack forces under the command of Illig Qaghan, leader of the Eastern Turkic Khaganate,[2] a nomadic confederation of Turkic peoples based in Inner Asia.[3] The battle ended in defeat for the Eastern Turkic Khaganate and resulted in its dissolution,[4] and was eventually replaced by the Protectorate General to Pacify the North, otherwise known as the Anbei Protectorate (安北都護府) in 647 after the Tang dynasty definitively conquered the Xueyantuo.
In 623, The Eastern Turkic Khaganate began a campaign of routine pillaging incursions into Tang territory, while continuing to protect Liang Shidu, who claimed the title of Emperor of Liang. In 626, Li Shimin succeeded Emperor Gaozu as Emperor Taizong of the Tang. Less than a month later, the Turkic ruler Illig Qaghan and his nephew, Ashina Shibobi, invaded Tang territory, advancing all the way to the ancient capital Chang'an, shocking Tang officials. Emperor Taizong personally met with them at the Wei River Bridge outside Chang'an, gave them and major Eastern Turkic officials gifts, and promised further tribute.[5] Only after he did so did Illig Qaghan and Ashina Shibobi withdraw.
For the next several years, there was relative peace between the Tang and the Eastern Turkic Khaganate. Meanwhile, Illig Qaghan's territory suffered two unusually cold winters that led to mass livestock deaths and famine and he was forced to suppress a number of rebellions.[6] By 627, Emperor Taizong contemplated taking advantage of Illig Qaghan's weakened state by launching an attack, but ultimately refrained after his advisers convinced him not to break the peace.
Internal strife within the Eastern Turkic Khaganate continued as vassal tribes became restless under Illig Qaghan's rule. Illig Qaghan and Ashina Shibobi also fell into conflict after the latter was unable to defeat rebellious Xueyantuo and Uyghur vassal tribes. After Illig Qaghan attacked Asina Shibobi's forces in 628, Emperor Taizong, who had sworn to be a blood brother of Ashina Shibobi on a prior occasion, agreed to launch troops to protect Ashina Shibobi—and at the same time use the opportunity to attack Liang Shidu, who by this point was still under the Eastern Turkic Khaganate's protection. Liang Shidu was assassinated in 628,[7] ending the final rival claim to Emperor Taizong for China's imperial throne. To head off Taizong's efforts to ally with rebellious vassal tribes against him, Illig Qaghan sought long-term peace in the form of a marriage to a Tang princess, which Emperor Taizong did not answer. Instead, he prepared for a major assault on the Eastern Turkic Khaganate, with the major general Li Jing commanding and with the general Zhang Gongjin assisting Li Jing.