Yujiulü Shelun


Yujiulü Shelun or Qiudoufa Khagan was khagan of the Rouran from 402 to 410.

Early years

After his father Heduohan was defeated and killed by the Northern Wei general Zhangsun Fei, Shelun fled to west in 394, breaking ties with Wei. He found refuge among his uncle Yujiulü Pihouba and cousins. However, they were unhappy about his growing power, which forced Shelun to quickly gather his supporters and capture the sons of Pihouba. Soon, Shelun killed Pihouba as well, and his sons fled to Wei. Shelun was afraid of the revenge of the empire and migrated north through the Gobi, uniting nomadic tribes on his way.

Reign

Shelun led retaliatory raids against Northern Wei, but suffered a serious defeat in 399 and was forced to flee westward. There he subjugated the Hulu tribe and with an aid of a Hulu called Chiluohou he defeated the Gaoche, then declared himself Khagan. Shelun was the first major leader of the steppes to adopt the title of Qiudoufa Khagan which was originally a title used by Xianbei nobles. He reorganized military-administrative system, modeling it after Xiongnu, divided the army into hundreds and thousands.
In order to strengthen his place, he became allied to Yao Xing, emperor of Later Qin. He aided Later Qin against Daowu in 403. In one occasion, his horse tributes to Qin were seized by Helian Bobo in 407. He continued to raid Northern Wei in 407 and 409. In one of those battles in 410, Emperor Mingyuan sent one of his advisors, Baba Song the Duke of Nanping to attack the Rouran, and when Baba was surrounded by Shelun's troops, Emperor Mingyuan personally led an army to relieve Baba. Shelun died from his wounds in May 410 and was succeeded by his brother Yujiulü Hulü, because his sons Duba and Sheba were still young.

Personality

He was described as cruel and artful person by Chinese sources.