| Toumen | |
|---|---|
| Xiongnu king | |
 |
|
| Domain and influence of the Xiongnu. | |
| Reign | 220 BCE - 209 BCE |
| Successor | Modun |
Touman (Turkish: Teoman, Tuman) was the earliest known Hiungnu (Xiongnu) chanyu, reigning from 220 BC to 209 BC. He reformed the Hunnic nomad military system, formed the army unit of 10000 men: Tumen. This later became the base unit of the armies of steppe tribes. During his reign, he united the nomadic tribes living in Mongolia and invaded Northern China. With this new military, his son Mao-Tun (Mete Han) could establish the Asian Hun Empire. Many Turkish historians consider Teoman to be the founder of the first proto-Turkic state preceding the division of the Huns, the Turks, the Mongols, and other Altaic and Uralic peoples. His name's meaning is straight, raw, packed and hard smoke in old Hunnic.
