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Hsiung-nu is the Chinese name for the vast alliance of nomad tribes that dominated much
of central Asia from the late 3rd century BC to the 4th century AD.
They were first identified in the 5th century BC, when their constant raids prompted construction of the fortifications which later became the Great Wall of China. Their power was largely broken by the emperor Wu-ti; around 50 BC the tribes split into two great groups; the eastern horde, more or less submitting to Chinsee control, and the western, which migrated to the steppes. No reference to them after the 5th century is extant. |