Above the khan's gate stood a golden wolf's head, a potent symbol from Chinese annals reflecting the Göktürks' remembrance of their origins. This origin story revolves around Asena: a boy saved by a she-wolf, a mysterious cave with a verdant plain, and ten sons birthing the Ashina dynasty.

The episode delves into various versions of the legend, from the earliest account in the Zhou Shu (636), to the Sui Shu, and a later narrative where Asena departs the cave with her sons. Discover the tale of Suo, Ichinishidu's birth from a she-wolf, and the birth of Türk.

Explore three genealogical lines in one chapter, the Gansu exodus in 439, and the significance of iron in the Altai. Visualize the fuli bodyguards, wolf-head standards, and Bugut stone wolf reliefs.

Uncover insights from the Orkhon inscriptions about the wolf, the Wusun she-wolf in the Shiji, and the Cave of the Ancestors.

Chapters:
0:00 Cold open
0:18 The Legend
2:07 The Second Version
2:39 The Third Version: Suo
4:12 Three Descents
4:37 Flight and Iron
5:25 What Could Be Seen
5:58 The Bugut Stone
6:35 What the Stones Say
7:03 The She-Wolf of the Wusun
7:50 Heaven, Cave, Mountain
8:36 Ending

Explore more on TurkicAtlas.org, a digital encyclopedia of Old Turkic history.

Created by Emre-E Yavuz. Maps by Emre-E Yavuz © 2026.