Ashina Simo

Biography

Turkic Noble and Early Career Ashina Simo was the son of Tughruq Shad and belonged to the Turkic royal Ashina clan. In 599, when Yami Qaghan had fled to the Sui Dynasty, tribes north of the Gobi acclaimed Simo as Khagan. After Yami returned, Simo immediately relinquished the title. The New Book of Tang records that Shibi Qaghan and Chuluo Qaghan favored Simo. During the reigns of Chuluo and Illig Qaghan, Simo frequently held the title Jiabi Tegin but was not entrusted with command as a shad. The same source describes him as intelligent and quick-witted and records that Chuluo doubted whether he was truly of the Ashina clan because of his appearance. In the early Tang period, Simo repeatedly represented the Eastern Turks on missions to the Tang Dynasty. In August 624, after Illig Qaghan and Tuli Khan had campaigned against Tang, Illig sent Tuli and Simo to negotiate peace. Emperor Gaozu of Tang received Simo in Chang'an and granted him the title Prince of Heshun Commandery. The surviving sources emphasize the diplomatic mission and the grant of rank but do not detail the specific terms of the agreement. ### Capture and Service under Tang In 630, Tang forces defeated the Eastern Turkic Khaganate and captured Illig Qaghan. While other followers successively submitted to Tang, Simo continued to accompany Illig and was ultimately captured with him. Emperor Taizong of Tang praised Simo for not abandoning his former ruler and appointed him General-in-Chief of the Right Martial Guard and Military Governor of Huazhou, ordering him to lead former followers of Illig and settle south of the Yellow River. The court subsequently granted him the surname Li and redesignated him Prince of Huaihua. He was later appointed Military Governor of Northern Kaizhou. ### Investiture as Khagan and Resettlement South of the Gobi In 639, because of issues involving the settlement of Turkic followers and frontier defence, the Tang court invested Simo as Yiminishuqilibi Qaghan, granted him drums and standards, and ordered him to lead his people back to the steppe south of the Gobi. Ashina Zhong and Ashina Nishou were appointed Left and Right Wise Princes to assist him. The Tang court also informed Xueyantuo of the arrangement that the two groups should remain within their respective boundaries. The investiture and migration were both a measure to restore political organization among Turkic followers and part of Tang frontier policy. In 641, Simo led more than 100,000 followers, including 40,000 fighting men and 90,000 horses, across the Yellow River and established his headquarters at the former city of Dingxiang. Inan, the Zhenzhu Khan of Xueyantuo, then ordered his son Dadu Shad to lead an army south. Unable to resist independently, Simo withdrew inside the Great Wall, defended Shuo Prefecture, and appealed to the Tang court for urgent assistance. Tang forces then intervened and defeated the Xueyantuo army. The Turkic followers nonetheless continued to face external military pressure, while Simo's authority over them remained unstable. ### Return South and Later Years By 643, many of Simo's followers no longer accepted his leadership and successively crossed south of the Yellow River, requesting settlement between Shengzhou and Xiazhou. Simo entered the Tang court and asked to remain in palace-guard service, and he was reassigned as General of the Right Martial Guard. In 645, Simo accompanied Emperor Taizong of Tang on the campaign against Goguryeo and was struck by a stray arrow. The historical sources record that the emperor personally sucked blood from his wound. Simo died in the imperial capital in 647. The Tang court posthumously awarded him the offices of Minister of War and Military Governor of Xiazhou, arranged for him to be buried near Zhaoling, constructed his tomb mound in the form of Baidao Mountain, and erected a stele at Huazhou.

Ashina Simo came of the Turkic nobility of the Eastern Qaghanate, son of Ashina Duoliushe and kinsman of Qaghan Jieli. In 599, when Qaghan Qimin fled south to the Sui, the tribes north of the desert acclaimed Simo as qaghan; after Qimin returned to the Eastern Qaghanate Simo laid the title aside. Simo was open and quick of mind and ready in reply, and the qaghans Shibi and Chuluo both liked him; but because his face was that of a Sogdian rather than a Turk, Chuluo suspected he was not of the Ashina clan, and through two reigns he held only the rank of Jiebi tegin and was never given a command as a shad.

In the early Wude years Simo several times served as envoy to the Tang. In 624, when Qaghans Jieli and Tuli invaded with the whole strength of the state, Li Shimin sent a man to set the advantages before Tuli; the Turks asked for a marriage alliance, and Jieli sent Simo and Tuli to meet Li Shimin. Simo came to court, where Emperor Gaozu drew him up to the imperial couch, spoke kindly to him, praised his plain honesty, and enfeoffed him as prince of Heshun commandery. When the Eastern Qaghanate fell in 630 and Jieli fled in defeat, the chiefs of the tribes one after another abandoned him and submitted to the Tang; Simo alone stayed with Jieli and was taken with him. Emperor Taizong, admiring his loyalty, made him general of the right Wuwei guard and commandant of Huazhou, charged him with leading Jieli's old people, settled south of the Yellow River, and enfeoffed him as prince of Huaihua commandery; he was afterward made commandant of Beikaizhou.

After the revolt of Jieshelü, those who memorialized on affairs often said that it was inconvenient to keep the Turks south of the Yellow River. In 639 Taizong decreed that Simo be made qaghan under the title Yimi Nishu Sili Bi, gave him drum and banner, and ordered the Turks and the Sogdians settled in the several prefectures to cross the river to their old lands and be for ever a bulwark of the Tang. Simo and his people feared the Xueyantuo and would not go out beyond the passes. Taizong sent the Xueyantuo a sealed letter fixing that the north of the desert should be theirs and the south the Turks', each keeping to its own bounds, and had Li Xiaogong, president of the board of rites and prince of Zhao commandery, carry the patent to Simo's tribe, where an altar was raised by the river for his investiture with drum and banner; Ashina Zhong was made prince of the left and Ashina Nishu prince of the right to assist him. In 641 Simo crossed the river with more than a hundred thousand people, forty thousand fighting men and ninety thousand horses, and pitched his court at the old city of Dingxiang, a land bounded by the great river to the south and the Baidao road to the north, rich in water and grass. He sent an envoy to thank the emperor, saying that he hoped for generation upon generation to be a dog of the state, barking guard at the Son of Heaven's north gate, and that if the Xueyantuo pressed him he would take refuge within the Great Wall; Taizong consented by decree.

In the eleventh month of that year the Xueyantuo qaghan, taking advantage of the emperor's coming sacrifice on Mount Tai, sent his son Daduoshi with the troops of the Tongluo, Pugu, Uighur and other tribes, two hundred thousand in all, across the desert to camp at the Baidao river and seize the Shanyang ridge to attack the Turks. Simo could not hold them; he led his tribesmen inside the Great Wall, fell back on Shuozhou and sent word of the emergency. The Tang sent troops to his aid, and Li Ji with three thousand cavalry and the main army following broke the Xueyantuo utterly, taking three thousand heads and more than fifty thousand prisoners. In 643, after three years in which Simo could not hold his people's allegiance and many of his subordinates were of two minds, he was ashamed and asked to come to court to serve in the guards, and was made general of the right Wuwei guard. He afterward went with the campaign against Liaodong, where he was struck by a stray arrow and Taizong himself sucked the blood from the wound. He died soon after in the capital, and was given posthumously the offices of president of the board of war and commandant of Xiazhou, buried among the attendants at Zhaoling with a tomb shaped like Mount Baidao, and a stele was decreed for him at Huazhou.

Through his life Simo served both the Turks and the Tang, changing his place between them: first Jiebi tegin of the Eastern Qaghanate, for a time acclaimed qaghan by the tribes north of the desert, and afterward a qaghan and commander invested by the Tang, his people a bulwark of the northern frontier. His crossing of the river to settle south of the desert moved the balance between Tang and Xueyantuo, and the battle of the Baidao river followed from it.

Major Activities

Diplomatic Missions and Peace Negotiations In the early Tang period, Simo several times served as an envoy for the Eastern Turks. In 624, acting on Illig Qaghan's orders, he went to the Tang Dynasty with Tuli Khan to negotiate peace, and Emperor Gaozu of Tang received him and granted him the title Prince of Heshun Commandery. The episode shows that he served as a diplomatic intermediary between the Eastern Turks and the Tang Dynasty, but the surviving sources do not indicate that he independently directed negotiations or determined the terms of the agreement. ### Leadership of Turkic Followers and Frontier Arrangements After the collapse of the Eastern Turkic Khaganate, the Tang court ordered Simo to lead former followers of Illig Qaghan and, in 639, invested him as Khagan and directed his people to move to the steppe south of the Gobi. After crossing the Yellow River and establishing headquarters in 641, his followers faced attacks from Xueyantuo, prompting Tang military intervention. Under combined external pressure and internal dispersal, the followers returned south in 643, and this resettlement and attempted political restoration did not produce stable rule. ### Campaign with Tang Forces in Liaodong In his later years, Simo served as a palace-guard general of the Tang Dynasty. In 645, he accompanied Emperor Taizong on the campaign in Liaodong and was struck by a stray arrow. The histories also record that the emperor personally sucked blood from his wound, illustrating the imperial favor described in the Old Book of Tang and New Book of Tang. The surviving sources do not show that Simo held an independent supreme command in the campaign.

Personal Relations

• Tughruq Shad: Father; a Turkic noble of the Ashina clan.
• Illig Qaghan: Member of the same Ashina royal lineage; the Comprehensive Mirror in Aid of Governance describes Simo as a younger paternal cousin of Illig Qaghan's father. Simo continued to follow Illig when the Eastern Turkic Khaganate fell and was captured with him.
• Yami Qaghan: Turkic khagan; after Yami returned, Simo relinquished the title of Khagan under which he had briefly been acclaimed.
• Tuli Khan: Eastern Turkic khan; went with Simo to the Tang court for peace negotiations in 624.
• Emperor Gaozu of Tang, Li Yuan: Emperor of the Tang Dynasty who received Simo and granted him the title Prince of Heshun Commandery.
• Emperor Taizong of Tang, Li Shimin: Emperor of the Tang Dynasty who granted Simo offices and titles, gave him the surname Li, invested him as Khagan, and later had a palace-guard and Liaodong campaign relationship with him.
• Ashina Zhong: Turkic noble; appointed Left Wise Prince when the Tang court invested Simo as khagan.
• Ashina Nishou: Turkic noble; appointed Right Wise Prince under Simo by the Tang court.
• Inan: Zhenzhu Khan of Xueyantuo; sent an army against the followers led by Simo.
• Dadu Shad: Son of Inan; led the Xueyantuo army into the steppe south of the Gobi and was later defeated by Tang forces.

Historical Assessment

The New Book of Tang describes Simo as intelligent and quick in response and records that Shibi and Chuluo Qaghan favored him. Both Tang histories also record that he remained with Illig Qaghan when the Eastern Turkic Khaganate collapsed and that Emperor Taizong praised his loyalty for this reason. On the other hand, both the Old Book of Tang and New Book of Tang record that Simo struggled to command the loyalty of his followers and that his people eventually returned south. The surviving sources offer limited evidence on the effectiveness of his actual rule as a tribal leader, so an assessment should preserve both the Tang court's favorable treatment and the difficulties he faced in maintaining control.