Turkshad's campaign in Crimea (576–581)

Turkshad's campaign in Crimea (576–581) was an expedition launched by the Khagans of the Turkic Khaganate Turkshad and Böri-Khan, together with the Utigur khagan Anagay, leading to Turkic control over parts of Byzantine Crimea, although the Göktürk forces withdrew in the 580s.

History

At the end of 575, or at the beginning of 576, Istemi Yabgu died. Following this, in the spring of 576, Emperor Tiberius II sent an embassy to the Göktürk realm. After a long journey, this delegation arrived —likely somewhere near the Syr Darya— at the war headquarters of Türk Shad, the son of Istemi Khagan.

The purpose of the embassy was to persuade the Göktürks to resume their campaign against the Sasanians and to renew the military alliance. The Roman envoy treated Türk Shad with great courtesy; however, the shad accused the Romans of being deceitful. He stated that they had accepted the Varhonites (Avars), "who were slaves of the Göktürks," and had settled them in Pannonia. He declared that the alliance would never take place, that the Avars would eventually be trampled under the hooves of Göktürk horses, and that the Turks were the masters of all peoples from east to west.

After this, in 576, the Göktürks —supported by the Utigurs— captured the Bosporus (Kerch). This marked the furthest western point reached by the Turks. Following the capture of Kerch, another Göktürk army under the command of an Utigur leader named Anagay established a camp there to defend the fortress.

In 580, the army advanced again and began threatening Chersonesos. It reached the shores of the city that same year, although the Turkic army was unable to successfully besiege the city and withdrew. The withdrawal could be attributed to internal succession struggles, as in 581, Taspar Khagan died and he had designated Ta-lo-pien, whose mother was not Turkic, as his successor. However, the people refused to accept him as khagan for this reason. Following the Göktürk civil war, the Göktürks were unable to retain their gains in the Crimea, and an inscription from 590 AD described Bosporus as being under Byzantine rule, which suggests that the Byzantines had recovered the territory.