Tong Yabghu Qaghan

Tong Yabghu brought the Western Turkic Khaganate to its widest extent, with lands from the Altai to the Hindu Kush and from the Tarim to the Caspian under his rule. In 627 a Göktürk army led by his kinsman Böri Shad passed Derbent and besieged Tbilisi together with Emperor Heraclius.

Around 630 the Buddhist pilgrim Xuanzang came to Tong Yabghu's camp near Suyab and described the khagan in a green satin robe with his long hair, and his nobles and horses decked in silk. Tong Yabghu was murdered by his uncle around 628, and the khaganate fell into internal strife.