Qilibi Khan

Who was Qilibi Khan?

Qilibi Khan, personal name Ashina Simo, full regal title Yiminishuqilibi Khan (乙彌泥孰俟力苾可汗), Tang noble title Prince of Huaihua (懷化王), was a member of the Eastern Tujue (Göktürk) royal house who was given the title of Khan of Eastern Tujue for several years, as a vassal of the Chinese dynasty Tang Dynasty.

After Emperor Taizong of Tang conquered Eastern Tujue in 630, he briefly settled the Eastern Tujue people within Tang borders, but after a failed assassination attempt against him by a member of the Eastern Tujue royal house, Ashina Jiesheshuai in 639, he changed his mind and decided to resettle the Eastern Tujue people between the Great Wall and the Gobi Desert, to serve as a buffer between Tang and Xueyantuo. He created Ashina Simo, a member of Eastern Tujue's royal house as well, as Yiminishuqilibi Khan (or Qilibi Khan for short), and Ashina Simo served as the khan of the recreated Eastern Tujue khanate for several years. However, in 644, faced with constant pressure from Xueyantuo, Ashina Simo's people abandoned him and fled south back to Tang territory. Ashina Simo himself also returned to Tang and served as a Tang general until his death, probably in 645.