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40 Awe-Inspiring Facts About Genghis Khan and the Mongol Empire

Khalid Elhassan February 3, 2019 24 min

31. Other Mongol Predecessors: The Xiongnu

In 200 BC, China’s emperor Gaozu, founder of the Han dynasty, was plagued by Xiongnu tribesmen raiding his realm, so he invaded their territory. The Xiongnu led the Chinese army on a merry chase through the Steppe, while harrying its supply lines and fraying its nerves with frequent skirmishes. When the Chinese were exhausted, the Xiongnu ambushed and trapped them in a disadvantageous locale, cutting them off from resupply and reinforcement. Emperor Gaozu bought his life with an appeasement treaty that recognized the Xiongnu as equals, sent their leaders Chinese princesses as brides, and sought to buy them off with tribute payments, face-savingly referred to as “gifts”.

Written by

Khalid Elhassan

A lifelong history buff, I developed a particular passion for WW2 history as a child, when I spent hours listening to my grandfather, enraptured, as he recounted his wartime experiences in the British East African Campaign and with the British 8th Army in North Africa.

I graduated with a history BA from George Mason University, then went on to get a JD from the University of Virginia School of Law. After lawyering for a decade, I moved to sunny Rio de Janeiro and a less demanding career, opening a tourism agency in Copacabana.

A big chunk of my free time is spent blogging (you can follow me on Quora https://www.quora.com/profile/Khalid-Elhassan ) or freelance writing, mostly about my favorite subject, history.