Ili River Treaty

The Ili River Treaty was a treaty between the warring eastern and western parts of the Western Turkic Kaganate that concluded the civil war between warring parties. It split the Western Turkic Kaganate into two political divisions, with a power structure that guaranteed participation of the constituent tribes in the governance of their divisions.

The Ili river treaty of 638 CE is named after the Ili river, it formalized a division of the Western Turkic Kaganate (582-659 CE) into two political divisions, Duolu and Nushibi, with the border between two divisions fixed along the Ili river. The splinter resolved a conflict started with re-districting of 634 CE, which re-distributed the Kaganate lands between constituent tribes, with a strong bias in favor of the eastern tribes. A leading role in the conflict and ensuing war played Ezgil leader Kül-erkin, who initiated and participated in summoning the most important officials of the state to a council to demote the reigning Shaboluo Dielishi Kehan and to raise Yukuk-shad as a Supreme Kagan. After the treaty, the head of the Western Turkic Kaganate Dielishi Kehan (634-638) retained control of the eastern part of the Kaganate, and the western part was headed by Yukuk Shad of the royal Ashina clan, who became a Kagan of the "western surnames", with a throne name Yipi Duolu Kehan.[1] Separation of the Western Turkic Kaganate set a stage for the later emergence of the Turgesh Kaganate (699-766) of the Western Türks.[2]