Tamgan

Tumgan (Turkshad, Turksanf, Ta'n han, Turxanthos, Turxath) was a shad (governor prince) of the Turkic Empire (also called Göktürk) in the late 6th century. According to Edward Gibbon his name may be a title rather than a proper name.

Background

The Turkic Empire included vast territories in Asia and in parts of eastern Europe. Up to 603, while the east part of the empire was considered as the main empire, the western part (roughly west of Altai and Tengri Mountains) was considered as the dependency of the main empire. The western territories came under the rule of a yabgu. (Yabgu was the title of a co-khagan tasked with ruling the western territories on behalf of the main khagan.)

As a shad

Tamgan’s father was İstemi yabgu who was the younger brother of Bumin, the founder of the empire. İstemi died in 576 and he was succeeded by Tamgan and Tamgan's elder brother Tardu. Although most of the western territories were ruled by Tardu, Volga River region was under Tamgan's rule. According to Cambridge History of Inner Asia, Tardu was Tamgan's superior. (Cambridge History also questions whether or not Tardu and Tamgan were brothers.)