Immerse yourself in the captivating world of ancient steppe music with 'Night Yurt Fever.' Experience the ambient sounds that echo through the vast, open steppes. Buy my Göktürk book: here #ancientsteppemusic #ambientmusic #NightYurtFever #Göktürkbook See show notes: https://inlet.fm/khans-den/episodes/6910d767bf74dfd5cf78f817 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Explore the transformation from the Xiongnu Empire to the rise of the Göktürks in this detailed discussion with fellow researcher CopperAxe. We examine the decline, remnants, and legacy of the Xiongnu and explore how later steppe groups like the Huns, Onogur (Sabirs, Kutrigurs, Utigurs, Bulgars), and Göktürks likely emerged as their heirs. Discover insights from recent archaeology and ancient DNA studies, and compare Chinese dynastic accounts with steppe inscriptions. Delve into cultural continuities in burial rites, Balbal statues, titles, and military organization. What we cover: Who the Xiongnu were and why their empire collapsed Xianbei & Donghu aftershocks and the Rouran Khaganate Westward movements: Huns and the Onogur clusters (Sabirs, Kutrigurs, Utigurs, Bulgars) The Ashina and the birth of the Göktürks (Tujue) Signals of Turkic continuity Genetics and linguistics of the Xiongnu and other Turkic groups #Xiongnu #Göktürks #steppepolities #Huns #Onogur #Turkiccontinuity #archaeology #ancientDNA See show notes: https://inlet.fm/khans-den/episodes/68fd10df1886a66a99314237 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Göktürk Movie has received a significant visual update. Discover the latest enhancements and features that bring new life to the epic story of Bumin's destiny. Check out my music and buy my Göktürk book. #GöktürkMovie #visualupdate #Bumin'sdestiny #epicstory #music #book See show notes: https://inlet.fm/khans-den/episodes/68f2657830450a985e846428 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

What if the saviors of a dying empire were the same warriors who would later rule its ruins? That is precisely the story of the Shatuo Turks: a small tribe of exiled nomads who became the most powerful dynasty-makers in medieval China. Join Khan's Den as we follow the legendary Shatuo leader, Li Keyong, and his fierce cavalry. We uncover their obscure origins on the frontiers of the steppe, their early alliance with the Tang Dynasty, and their pivotal role in crushing the apocalyptic Huang Chao Rebellion, the uprising that brought China to its knees. But the story doesn't end there. We explore how the Shatuo transformed from loyal saviors into ambitious warlords, picking apart the empire they once protected to forge their own powerful dynasties in the chaotic era that followed. The Shatuo Turks are some of the lesser-known Turkic peoples, yet their meaning for Turkic, Chinese and overall Asian history cannot be overstated. Visit my site: KhansDen.net Read my blog on Substack.com Donate to my Göktürk movie project: GoFundMe.com Become a member on Patreon Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The 25-year-old steppe nomad Modu, also known as Mete and Bagatur, boldly challenges his father Touman for the title of Chanyu, the leader of the nomadic Xiongnu tribes in the Eastern Eurasian Steppe Belt. This pivotal moment marked the last conversation before Modu's dramatic takeover, resulting in the expansion of the tribal realm into the Xiongnu Empire. This scene is grounded in historical accounts provided by Chinese sources, detailing Modu Chanyu's strategic power grab. The script includes references to significant historical events leading up to Modu's challenge in 209 BC, with animations generated by AI. #Modu #Touman #Xiongnu #Chanyu #EasternEurasianSteppe #209BC #nomadictribes #XiongnuEmpire #Chinesesources #historicalevents See show notes: https://inlet.fm/khans-den/episodes/68c30edf1dae3ad3c719284f Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Discover 'Bumin's Destiny' with the captivating Göktürk movie trailer. Check out my music on Bandcamp. Buy my Göktürk book on Amazon. Visit my site for more information. #Bumin'sDestiny #Göktürk #movietrailer #music #book See show notes: https://inlet.fm/khans-den/episodes/68b33ce72cc5fa2730288f01 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Full Lyrics in English: Soaring over the Altai mountains, the gallop of the horses summons the wind.A brand new dawn on the snow-capped hills, the blood of Genghis has crossed the earthen road. My Genghis Khan, the majesty and might of the heavens, the sound of the Khuur, a path as vast as the ocean.A fire's fierce power awakens in the heart, be eternal, created as our vanguard! An endless steppe, where the golden banner was raised, his valor fills the distant expanse.A light of wisdom and of will, with pride, flourishing for a thousand years. Huu, huu, Genghis, ascend!Huu, huu, Great Khan, prosper!Huu, huu, forged in sweat!Huu, huu, your glory ascends! My Genghis Khan, the majesty and might of the heavens, the sound of the Khuur, a path as vast as the ocean.A fire's fierce power awakens in the heart, be eternal, created as our vanguard! #GenghisKhan #Mongolianmusic #Altaimountains #Khuur #goldenbanner #steppe See show notes: https://inlet.fm/khans-den/episodes/68a0c7db0c01f7c2fe3289ea Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In this episode, we dive right into two core concepts of ancient Turkic culture: the sacred forest called Ötüken and the nearby Orkhon valley in Mongolia, which served as the capital of major steppe states like the Rouran, Göktürk, and Uyghur Khaganates. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Creating a steppe empire is not easy, but ruling it is especially difficult. To keep all the semi-nomadic tribes under your banner, you will want to posess both military prowess as well as decent economic supply. As the Göktürks expanded into the west of Asia and even into Europe, their semi-nomadic economy evolved due to the addition of control over the legendary Silk Road. This, in turn, led to significant diplomatic missions to Byzantium and a large-scale conflict against the Sassanian Persians which would last half a century. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Following the Mongol conquests, a former warrior of the Mongol Empire roams the unfamiliar Ponto-Caspian steppe alone. Stripped of his comrades, his only companion was his horse, which fell ill and passed away. In an act of ingenuity and tradition, he crafted strings from his horse's hair for a new Morin Khuur, an ancient Mongolian instrument. He plays it in hopes that his people will hear his lament and rescue him. This song showcases a Morin Khuur solo, a horsehead fiddle similar to instruments like the Tuvan igil, Kazakh kobyz, and Kyrgyz Kyl kyyak, highlighting the shared musical heritage of the region's various Khaganates. #Mongol #MorinKhuur #MedievalSteppeMusic #Ponto-Caspiansteppe #horseheadfiddle #Khanates #musicalheritage See show notes: https://inlet.fm/khans-den/episodes/6898dedf86e03a9f5d1b3158 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In this episode, Copper Axe from Musaeum Scythia and I delve into why the Xiongnu and Attila's Huns did not speak Yenisean and were not a Yenisean people. This serves as our rebuttal to Svenja Bonmann's and Simon Fries' June article, where they theorized that the Xiongnu and Huns in Europe were Yenisean rather than Turkic at their core. Visit CopperAxe's blog. Visit my blog. Buy my Göktürk book. 00:00:00: Khan's Den is back... with a guest!00:02:20: A strange theory about the Xiongnu and Huns00:16:23: Who were the Yenisean peoples anyway?00:23:00: Steppe Peoples and the factors of Nomadism and Migration00:29:35: The Jie People in China: a key to the Yenisean-Xiongnu theory?00:40:34: DNA of the Steppes00:53:26: The Xiongnu-Turkic Connection00:59:33: The Political Argument for the Xiongnu-Turkic theory01:03:50: Conclusion and final remarks #Xiongnu #Huns #Yenisean #Turkic #CopperAxe #Nomadism #Migration #SteppePeoples See show notes: https://inlet.fm/khans-den/episodes/68978d5d9625ed7fe2ab8de3 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

It is time to ask some uncomfortable questions about Turkic history. Journey through the heart of Eurasia to discover the dramatic ideological clash between two mighty Turkic empires. This episode contrasts the Göktürk's traditional Tengrist militarism, fueled by a heaven-mandated drive for conquest, with the Uyghurs' revolutionary strategic adoption of Manichaeism. Explore how this religious and economic transformation, spurred partly by the An Lushan rebellion and its complex implications for Turkic solidarity, reshaped the Uyghurs' political structures, economic priorities, and international relations, ultimately contributing to the complex factors leading to the downfall of the Uyghur Khaganate. Further topics of this episode include: - Tengrism and its main concepts - Manicheism and why the Uyghurs converted - The Role of the Uyghurs during the An Lushan rebellion - Uyghur-Chinese diplomacy - Invasion of the Kyrgyz Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The ancient steppe had more to offer than "just" Turkic states. In this episode, we dive deep into the history of the Rouran: founders of the first "true" steppe empire, as Peter B. Golden once claimed, and predecessors of the Göktürks. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Experience the soothing sounds of the solitary Tengri Tagh mountain. Check out my music on Bandcamp. Buy my Göktürk book on Amazon. Visit my site at khansden.net. #TengriTagh #Bumin'sDestiny #soundtrack #Göktürkbook #music #solitarymountain See show notes: https://inlet.fm/khans-den/episodes/689398e848ef1f4b2fb6767f Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

We've covered these extensively here and on the YouTube channel, yet for most people, they are STILL part of a hidden chapter of world history. Now, it is time to reveal the enduring power and sophisticated empires that shaped the Eurasian heartland all-in-one! Join us to re-evaluate the true complexity, innovation, and surprising stability of these ancient and medieval Turkic civilizations that shaped a vast continent, offering a counter-narrative to common misconceptions about steppe history. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Explore the ethereal essence of Tengri with Bumin's Destiny Original Soundtrack. Dive into the spiritual world with Göktürk prayer vocals. Check out my music: here Buy my Göktürk book: here Visit my site: here #Tengri #Bumin'sDestiny #OST #Göktürk #prayervocals #music #book See show notes: https://inlet.fm/khans-den/episodes/6892476146d3f5823754a2e8 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Tired of historical clichés? This episode debunks the myth of 'unstable steppe states' by delving into the rich histories of the Göktürk, Uyghur, and Kyrgyz Khaganates. Far from fleeting, these Turkic empires defied expectations with sophisticated organization, enduring governance, and profound cultural legacies. Discover how the First Turkic Khaganate, led by the Ashina clan, established the first transcontinental steppe empire in history, spanning from Manchuria to the Black Sea by 572 AD. Learn about their structured society governed by the Töre (law), their religious tolerance rooted in Tengrism, and their unique Old Turkic (Orkhon) script which documented their impressive achievements. The Göktürks successfully united diverse peoples under a single banner, a feat unparalleled until the Mongols. We'll explore the Uyghur Khaganate, who succeeded the Göktürks and built permanent urban centers like Ordu-Baliq, demonstrating a more settled imperial model while still embracing their Turkic identity and adapting the Old Uyghur alphabet. Finally, delve into the Yenisei Kyrgyz Khaganate, a curious state known for their mixed economy combining nomadic life with agriculture and skilled metalworking in southern Siberia, and their pivotal victory over the Uyghurs in 840 AD. This episode challenges prevailing narratives, revealing the complex political structures, cultural innovations, and surprising stability that defined these powerful ancient Turkic civilizations of Eurasia's steppe. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In this short special episode, discover the Kyrgyz Khaganate, a powerful Turkic empire that emerged from the Yenisei River region of Southern Siberia in the 7th century just as the Göktürks were regaining independence from Chinese rule. Learn about the Yenisei Kyrgyz people's unique origins, from their mythological ancestry linked to a "god and a cow" to their distinct physical descriptions of "red hair, white faces, and green eyes" in Chinese records, which some suggest may indicate non-Turkic admixture. Explore their history, including their significant victory over the Uyghur Khaganate in 840 AD, and how they differed from the preceding Göktürk and Uyghur Empires. While all were Turkic, the Kyrgyz Khaganate notably did not establish lasting imperial control over the Mongolian Plateau like the Göktürks or Uyghurs, preferring their Yenisei homeland. Unlike the Ashina clan of the Göktürks, who traced their origins to a she-wolf, the Kyrgyz Khagans further claimed shared lineage with the Chinese (!) general Li Ling, using this connection for political alliances with the Tang Dynasty. Delve into their mixed economy, combining nomadic life with agriculture and skilled crafts, and their religiously tolerant policies. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This episode shines a light on the formidable Uyghur Khaganate. Emerging from the Tiele confederation in the mid-6th century, the Uyghurs rose to power by first aligning with the Tang dynasty against the Western Turkic Khaganate in 657. Later, they led a rebellion against the Second Turkic Khaganate, eventually killing its last Khagan in 744 AD. Far from being fleeting nomads, the Uyghurs established a powerful Turkic empire (744-840 AD) that defied stereotypes with its sophisticated organization and enduring governance. They built permanent urban centers like Ordu-Baliq in Mongolia's Orkhon Valley, their capital, demonstrating a settled imperial model. Their territory covered the ancient Xiongnu lands, stretching from Shiwei in the east to the Altai Mountains in the west, and south to the Gobi Desert. The Uyghur Khaganate embraced Manichaeism as its official state religion after Bögü Qaghan's conversion in 762, while notably maintaining religious tolerance for Buddhism, Christianity, and Tengrism. They developed extensive trade relations, particularly with China and Sogdian merchants, and produced significant literature using their Old Uyghur alphabet. Discover how this powerful Turkic state, known for its distinct Sogdian and even Chinese influences in government, eventually faced its downfall in 840 AD when the Yenisei Kyrgyz, invited by an internal rival, sacked Ordu-Baliq and beheaded their Khagan. Despite their collapse, the Uyghurs migrated south, establishing successor kingdoms and leaving a profound cultural and political legacy across Central Asia. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The rise of the Mongol Empire is often seen as a sudden, violent explosion that changed the world. But what if it wasn't an exception? What if it was the inevitable climax of a 400-year story of power, collapse, and consolidation on the vast Mongolian steppe? This fourth special episode travels back to the chaotic centuries before Chinggis Khan, beginning with the power vacuum left by the fallen Uyghur Khaganate in 840 AD. We explore how the powerful Khitan-Liao and Jurchen-Jin dynasties shaped the landscape, building massive walls, reorganizing tribes, and sowing the seeds of conflict through "divide and rule" tactics. This was a world of constant warfare, where shifting identities and strategic alliances were key to survival. We then unravel the surprising role of the climate itself—how drought and famine pushed nomadic peoples to their limits, while a sudden period of warmth and rain provided the fuel for an unprecedented military expansion. Against this backdrop, we trace the epic rise of a young leader named Temüjin, who mastered these chaotic forces through brilliant campaigns and strategic genius. Join us as we uncover the hidden technologies of steppe blacksmiths, the surprising prevalence of Eastern Christianity alongside Tengrism, and how Chinggis Khan himself deliberately revived the traditions of past empires to legitimize his own. This is the story of how the Mongol Empire was forged not in one specific moment, but over generations. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices