Yujiulü Nagai


Yujiulü Nagai was ruler of the Rouran with the title of Houqifudaikezhe Khagan. He was the second son of Yujiulü Tuhezhen. According to Pengling Wang, his name might be cognate with Mongolian word "Nogai".

Under reign of Yujiulü Doulun

He fought against Gaoche ruler Afuzhiluo who together with his younger cousin Qiongqi, they managed their clans of over 100,000 yurts to escape from the pursuing armies, led by Doulun and Nagai in 487. While Doulun had limited success, Nagai won all his battles against the Gaoche.

Reign

In 492, he seized the position of khagan from his nephew Yujiulü Doulun thanks to a successful coup d'état by nobles. He later asked for physicians, craftsmans and artisans from Southern Qi emperor Wu, which was denied.
In 501, King of Gaochang, Ma Ru was overthrown and killed, and the people of Gaochang appointed Qu Jia of Jincheng as their king. Qu Jia hailed from the Zhong district of Jincheng commandery Qu Jia at first pledged allegiance to the Rouran. Having secured his borders, Nagai started to raid northern borders of Northern Wei same year.
In September 504, he led the 120,000 cavalry to Northern Wei in six directions. He directly drove Woye Town, Huaiyu Town and went to Dai Commandery and Heng Commandery, however he was eventually stopped by Wei general Yuan Huai.
He died in 506 and succeeded by Yujiulü Futu.

Family

He had four sons, two of them is known to history - Futu and Dengshuzi of whom both became khagans.