# Timeline of the Xiongnu

This is a timeline of the Xiongnu, a nomadic people that dominated the ancient eastern Eurasian steppes from 209 BC to 89 AD. The Xiongnu settled down in northern China during the late 3rd century AD following the Three Kingdoms period, and founded several states lasting until the Northern Liang was conquered by the Xianbei Northern Wei in 439 AD.

## 4th century BC

| Year | Date | Event |
| 318 BC | | The Xiongnu attack Qin in conjunction with the other Warring States |

## 3rd century BC

| Year | Event |
| 265 BC | Zhao–Xiongnu War: Li Mu of Zhao draws the Xiongnu into an ambush and defeats them |
| 214 BC | Qin's campaign against the Xiongnu: Meng Tian defeats the Xiongnu and conquers the Ordos region |
| 209 BC | Modu Chanyu assumes power over the Xiongnu and defeats the Donghu people, who become the Wuhuan and Xianbei |
| 203 BC | Modu Chanyu defeats the Yuezhi |
| 201 BC | Battle of Baideng: Emperor Gaozu of Han's army is defeated by the Xiongnu |
| 201 BC | Xin, King of Han defects to the Xiongnu |

## 2nd century BC

| Year | Date | Event |
| 197 BC | | The Xiongnu invade Dai Commandery with the help of Chen Xi and Han Xin |
| 196 BC | | The Xiongnu invade Dai Commandery with the help of Han Xin |
| 195 BC | | The Xiongnu invade You Province with the help of Lu Wan |
| 182 BC | | The Xiongnu invade Longxi Commandery and Tianshui |
| 181 BC | | The Xiongnu invade Longxi Commandery |
| 179 BC | | The Xiongnu invade Yunzhong Commandery |
| 177 BC | | The Xiongnu invade Ordos |
| 176 BC | | The Xiongnu evict the Yuezhi in the west and gain hegemony over the Western Regions as well as the Wusun |
| 174 BC | | Modu Chanyu dies and is succeeded by his son Laoshang |
| 169 BC | | The Xiongnu raid Han |
| 166 BC | | A 140,000 strong Xiongnu force invade near Chang'an |
| 160 BC | | Laoshang dies and is succeeded by his son Junchen |
| 158 BC | | A 30,000 strong Xiongnu force attacks Yunzhong Commandery and Dai Commandery |
| 148 BC | | The Xiongnu attack Yan Province |
| 144 BC | | The Xiongnu raid Yanmen Pass for horses |
| 142 BC | | The Xiongnu attack Yanmen Pass |
| 133 BC | June | Battle of Mayi: The Han army fails to ambush the Xiongnu |
| 129 BC | | Han forces (40,000) under Wei Qing, Gongsun Ao, Gongsun He, and Li Guang engage in combat with the Xiongnu |
| 128 BC | | The Xiongnu attack Liaoxi and engage in combat with Han forces (40,000) under Wei Qing and Li Xi |
| 127 BC | | The Xiongnu raid Liaoxi and Yanmen |
| 127 BC | | Han forces under Wei Qing, Hao Xian, and Li Xi plunder the Xiongnu for livestock |
| 126 BC | | Junchen dies and is succeeded by his brother Yizhixie, who attacks Junchen's son Yudan, forcing him to flee to the Han |
| 126 BC | | The Xiongnu army (900,000) raids Han territory |
| 124 BC | | Han forces (100,000) under Wei Qing attack the Xiongnu |
| 123 BC | | Han forces (100,000) under Wei Qing attack the Xiongnu |
| 122 BC | | The Xiongnu raid Shanggu |
| 121 BC | | Han forces under Huo Qubing, Zhao Ponu, Zhang Qian, and Li Guang attack the Xiongnu |
| 120 BC | | The Xiongnu raid Youbeiping and Xingxiang, taking 1,000 captives |
| 119 BC | June | Battle of Mobei: Han generals Huo Qubing and Wei Qing defeat the Xiongnu |
| 116 BC | | The Xiongnu raid Liang Province |
| 114 BC | | Yizhixie dies and is succeeded by his son Wuwei Chanyu |
| 111 BC | | Han forces (25,000)) under Gongsun He and Zhao Ponu try to attack the Xiongnu but can't find them |
| 110 BC | | Emperor Wu of Han personally leads Han forces (180,000) against the Xiongnu but their chanyu decides to retreat |
| 105 BC | | Wuwei Chanyu dies and is succeeded by his son Er Chanyu |
| 103 BC | | Han forces (20,000) under Zhao Ponu attack the Xiongnu but are defeated |
| 102 BC | | Er Chanyu dies and is succeeded by his uncle Xulihu |
| 102 BC | | The Xiongnu raid Jiuquan and Zhangye, capturing several thousand people |
| 101 BC | | Xulihu dies and is succeeded by his brother Chedihou Chanyu |

## 1st century BC

| Year | Event |
| 99 BC | Battle of Tian Shan: Han forces (35,000) under Li Guangli and Li Ling are defeated by the Xiongnu |
| 97 BC | Han forces (140,000) under Li Guangli attack the Xiongnu without results |
| 96 BC | Chedihou Chanyu dies and is succeeded by his son Hulugu |
| 90 BC | Han forces (79,000) under Li Guangli are defeated by the Xiongnu but another Han army (30,000) under Shang Qiucheng manages to force the Xiongnu to flee |
| 85 BC | Hulugu dies and is succeeded by his son Huyandi |
| 78 BC | The Wuhuan pillage Xiongnu tombs |
| 71 BC | The Han, Wusun, Dingling, and Wuhuan coalition defeats the Xiongnu |
| 68 BC | Huyandi dies and is succeeded by his uncle Xulüquanqu |
| 64 BC | The Xiongnu attack Jiaohe in the aftermath of the Battle of Jushi |
| 60 BC | Xulüquanqu dies and is succeeded by a lesser noble Woyanqudi |
| 58 BC | Woyanqudi upsets traditional customs, causing a rebellion that defeats his army, so he kills himself and the Xiongnu split up into five warring factions |
| 55 BC | The Xiongnu coalesce into two groups, one under Zhizhi Chanyu and the other under his brother Huhanye |
| 51 BC | Huhanye is defeated by Zhizhi Chanyu and flees to the Han |
| 50 BC | Zhizhi Chanyu nominally submits to the Han |
| 48 BC | Zhizhi Chanyu declares independence after seeing the Han favor his brother Huhanye, moves further west, and attacks Fergana and the Wusun |
| 43 BC | Huhanye moves back to the north, starting the era of Western and Eastern Xiongnu. |
| 36 BC | Battle of Zhizhi: Han forces defeat the Xiongnu and kill Zhizhi Chanyu |
| 31 BC | Huhanye dies and is succeeded by his son Fuzhulei Ruodi |
| 20 BC | Fuzhulei Ruodi dies and is succeeded by his brother Souxie |
| 12 BC | Souxie dies and is succeeded by his half brother Juya |
| 8 BC | Juya dies and is succeeded by his brother Wuzhuliu |

## 1st century

| Year | Event |
| 6 | A petty king in the area of the former Jushi Kingdom defects to the Xiongnu, who turned him over to the Han |
| 7 | The Han convince the Wuhuan to stop sending tribute to the Xiongnu, who immediately attack and defeat the Wuhuan |
| 10 | Some officers of the Protector General Dan Qin kill him and flee to the Xiongnu |
| 13 | Wuzhuliu dies and is succeeded by his half brother Wulei |
| 18 | Wulei dies and is succeeded by his half brother Huduershidaogao |
| 44 | Han forces under Ma Yuan are defeated by Xiongnu |
| 45 | Xiongnu raid Changshan |
| 46 | Huduershidaogao dies and is succeeded by his son Wudadihou who dies the same year, dividing the Xiongnu into two factions between Punu Chanyu and Sutuhu |
| 50 | Sutuhu and the Southern Xiongnu settle in Bing Province |
| 62 | The Northern Xiongnu raid Han territory but are repelled |
| 63 | The Xiongnu gain control of the Western Regions and start raiding Han |
| 73 | Battle of Yiwulu: Han general Dou Gu defeats the Xiongnu and restores the Protectorate of the Western Regions |
| 75 | The Xiongnu attack Jushi and Chen Mu is killed by the locals |
| 83 | Punu Chanyu dies and is succeeded by Youliu; the Northern Xiongnu start disintegrating as tribes defect to the south and neighboring tribes invade |
| 87 | The Xianbei kill the Xiongnu Chanyu Youliu |
| 89 | Battle of the Altai Mountains: Han general Dou Xian defeats the Northern Chanyu and create Yuchujian as a puppet chanyu |
| 93 | The Xiongnu settle in southern Shaanxi |
| 94 | Northern Xiongnu refugees numbering 200,000 rebel and name Fenghou, son of Tuntuhe, as their chanyu - they fail to defeat the Southern Xiongnu and flee across the Yellow River to take refuge at Zhuoye Mountain (Gurvan Saikhan Mountains) |
| 96 | Ten thousand Northern Xiongnu defect to the Han |

## 2nd century

| Year | Event |
| 104 | Fenghou offers to become a Han tributary but does not gain formal acceptance |
| 105 | Fenghou offers to become a Han tributary but is rejected |
| 109 | Southern Xiongnu rebel |
| 118 | Fenghou surrenders to the Han; his followers are resettled in Yingchuan Commandery |
| 123 | Qizhijian of the Xianbei defeats the Southern Xiongnu in Wuyuan Commandery |
| 140 | The Xiongnu overrun the Tiger's Teeth encampment near Chang'an |
| 188 | The Xiuchuge people ousts Qiangqu from power but their replacements fail to hold power; so ends the Southern Xiongnu |
| 189 | The wandering Xiongnu chanyu Yufuluo seeks aid from the Han dynasty unsuccessfully and becomes a mercenary |
| 194 | Yufuluo dies and is succeeded by his brother Huchuquan |

## 3rd century

| Year | Event |
| 202 | Huchuquan is defeated by Cao Cao's officer Zhong Yao and his Xiongnu tribes are settled in Taiyuan Commandery |
| 216 | The remnant Xiongnu in the Ordos region is pacified by Cao Wei |
| 284 | 30,000 Xiongnu submit and settle in Xihe in Shanxi |
| 286 | 100,000 Xiongnu submit at Yongzhou |
| 290 | Liu Yuan is appointed area commander-in-chief of the Five Regions of Xiongnu |

## 4th century

| Year | Event |
| 304 | Former Zhao: Liu Yuan of the Xiongnu declares himself Prince of Han (漢) |
| 307 | Former Zhao: Shi Le joins Liu Yuan |
| 308 | Former Zhao: Liu Yuan takes Pingyang and declares himself emperor |
| 310 | Former Zhao: Liu Yao, Shi Le and Wang Mi invade Luoyang, Xuzhou, Yuzhou, and Yanzhou |
| 310 | Former Zhao: Liu Yuan dies and his successor Liu He is killed by Liu Cong, who takes over |
| 311 | Former Zhao: Sima Yue dies and his funeral procession is ambushed by Shi Le, who annihilates the Jin army |
| 311 | Disaster of Yongjia: Liu Yao and Wang Mi sack Luoyang and capture Emperor Huai of Jin |
| 311 | Former Zhao: Liu Yao takes Chang'an |
| 311 | Former Zhao: Wang Mi is killed by Shi Le |
| 312 | Former Zhao: Jin retakes Chang'an after routing Liu Yao |
| 312 | Former Zhao: Shi Le captures Xiangguo (襄國) (Xingtai, Hebei) |
| 312 | Former Zhao: Liu Cong briefly takes Jinyang (southwest of Taiyuan, Shanxi) but is routed by Liu Kun |
| 313 | Emperor Huai of Jin is killed by Liu Cong and is succeeded by Sima Ye (Emperor Min of Jin) |
| 316 | Former Zhao: Emperor Min of Jin surrenders Chang'an to Liu Yao |
| 318 | Emperor Min of Jin is killed by Liu Cong and is succeeded by Sima Rui (Emperor Yuan of Jin) |
| 318 | Former Zhao: Liu Cong dies and his successor Liu Can is killed by Xiongnu general Jin Zhun, and is succeeded by Liu Yao |
| 319 | Former Zhao: Jin Zhun is killed |
| 319 | Former Zhao: Liu Yao moves to Chang'an and renames his state Zhao |
| 319 | Former Zhao: Fu Hong joins Former Zhao |
| 319 | Later Zhao: Shi Le defeats Jin general Zu Ti at Xunyi and declares himself Prince of [Later] Zhao |
| 320 | Former Zhao: Juqu Zhi rebels and is defeated |

## 5th century

| Year | Event |
| 401 | Northern Liang: Juqu Mengxun kills Duan Ye and declares himself Duke of Zhangye |
| 407 | Xia: Helian Bobo declares himself Heavenly King |
| 418 | Xia (Sixteen Kingdoms): Helian Bobo takes Chang'an |
| 419 | Xia (Sixteen Kingdoms): Helian Bobo leaves Chang'an |
| 421 | Northern Liang: Juqu Mengxun conquers Western Liang |
| 426 | Northern Wei: Attacks Xia |
| 427 | Northern Wei: Takes Chang'an and sacks the Xia capital, Tongwan |
| 428 | Xia: Retakes Chang'an |
| 431 | Xia: Conquers Western Qin and are in turn conquered by the Tuyuhun |
| 439 | Northern Wei: Conquers Northern Liang; so ends the Sixteen Kingdoms |