The Kyrgyz Khaganate was a Turkic empire that existed for about a century between the early 6th and 13th centuries. It ruled over the Yenisei Kyrgyz people, who had been located in southern Siberia since the 6th century. By the 9th century, the Kyrgyz had asserted dominance over the Uyghurs who had previously ruled the Kyrgyz. The empire was established as a khaganate from 539 to 1218, lasting 679 years. The khaganate's territory at its height would briefly include parts of modern-day China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, and Russia. After the 10th century, there was little information on the Yenisei Kyrgyz. It is believed the khaganate had survived in its traditional homeland until 1207.

The Yenisei Kyrgyz, were an ancient Turkic-speaking people who dwelled along the upper Yenisei River in the southern portion of the Minusinsk Depression from the 3rd century BCE to the 13th century CE. The heart of their homeland was the forested Tannu-Ola mountain range, in modern-day Tuva, just north of Mongolia. The Sayan mountains were also included in their territory at different times. The Yenisei Kyrgyz Khaganate existed from 538 to 1219 CE; in 840, it took over the leadership of the Turkic Khaganate from the Uyghurs, expanding the state from the Yenisei territories into Central Asia and the Tarim Basin.