The Battle of Altai Mountains (), was a major expedition launched against the

Northern Xiongnu The Xiongnu (, ) were a tribal confederation of nomads, nomadic peoples who, according to ancient Chinese historiography, Chinese sources, inhabited the eastern Eurasian Steppe from the 3rd century BC to the late 1st century AD. Modu Chanyu, ...

by the

Han Dynasty The Han dynasty (, ; ) was an imperial dynasty of China (202 BC – 9 AD, 25–220 AD), established by Liu Bang (Emperor Gao) and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by the short-lived Qin dynasty (221–207 BC) and a warr ...

in June AD 89. The battle was a success for the Han under

Dou Xian Dou Xian (; died August 92) was a Chinese general and consort kin of the Eastern Han Dynasty, famous for destroying the Xiongnu nomadic empire. Early life A native of modern-day Xianyang, Shaanxi Province, he was part of the powerful Dou clan whi ...

(d. AD 92).''

Book of Later Han The ''Book of the Later Han'', also known as the ''History of the Later Han'' and by its Chinese name ''Hou Hanshu'' (), is one of the Twenty-Four Histories and covers the history of the Han dynasty from 6 to 189 CE, a period known as the Later ...

'', vols. 04, 19, 23, 88, 89, 90.''

Zizhi Tongjian ''Zizhi Tongjian'' () is a pioneering reference work in Chinese historiography, published in 1084 AD during the Northern Song dynasty in the form of a chronicle recording Chinese history from 403 BC to 959 AD, covering 16 dynast ...

'', vol. 47.An Tian
"Dou Xian Po Beixiongnu Zhi Zhan" ("The Battle of Dou Xian's Defeating on the Northern Xiongnu")
In June AD 89, the Han dispatched a force which promptly advanced from

Jilu Jīlū was a district located in the Hakkari region of upper Mesopotamia in modern-day Turkey. Before 1915 Jīlū was home to Assyrians and as well as a minority of Kurds. There were 20 Assyrian villages in this district. The area was traditiona ...

, Manyi, and Guyang in three great columns that included their allies, specifically the main army of the

Southern Xiongnu The Xiongnu (, ) were a tribal confederation of nomads, nomadic peoples who, according to ancient Chinese historiography, Chinese sources, inhabited the eastern Eurasian Steppe from the 3rd century BC to the late 1st century AD. Modu Chanyu, ...

. The force of General

advanced towards the Northern Chanyu into the

Altai Mountains The Altai Mountains (), also spelled Altay Mountains, are a mountain range in Central Asia, Central and East Asia, where Russia, China, Mongolia and Kazakhstan converge, and where the rivers Irtysh and Ob River, Ob have their headwaters. The m ...

.Yü (1986), 415; Crespigny (2007), 171. A large detachment then moved to the northwest, and in the major battle of the campaign they defeated the Northern Chanyu at the Altai Mountains and pursued them westwards. The Han forces killed 13,000 Xiongnu troops and accepted the surrender of 200,000 Xiongnu from 81 tribes. Dou Xian brought the main body of his troops in triumphal progress north to the

Khangai Mountains The Khangai Mountains ( mn, Хангайн нуруу, Hangain nuruu, ); form a mountain range, range in central Mongolia, some west of Ulaanbaatar. Name Two provinces of Mongolia are named after the Khangai mountains: Arkhangai (North Khangai) ...

, west of present-day

Kharkhorin Kharkhorin ( mn, Хархорин) is a town and sum (district) center in Övörkhangai Province in Mongolia. The sum population was 13,828 (1994), 13,964 (2000), and 14,765 (2017). The population of Kharkhorin town itself was 14,765 in 2017 and ...

. There he carved the cliff Inscriptions of Yanran, composed by his client, the historian

Ban Gu Ban Gu (AD32–92) was a Chinese historian, politician, and poet best known for his part in compiling the ''Book of Han'', the second of China's 24 dynastic histories. He also wrote a number of '' fu'', a major literary form, part prose ...

, which celebrated the achievement of the battle. This inscription was identified in

Dundgovi Province Dundgovi or Dundgobi ( mn, Дундговь, ''Middle Gobi'') is one of the 21 aimags (provinces) of Mongolia. It is located in the south of the country, approximately south of Ulaanbaatar. Its capital is Mandalgovi. Dundgovi is the second leas ...

by scholars from Mongolia and China in August 2017.

Aftermath

After the successful campaign of AD 89, the Xiongnu state was destroyed. After the battle, Dou Xian led his forces back, and the "

Northern Chanyu The Northern Chanyu (, reigned 89–91) was an unnamed and obscure chanyu or ruler of the Xiongnu who lived in the 1st century CE. In February 91, he was defeated by Geng Kui during the Battle of the Altai Mountains, on an expedition sent ...

", whose name has not survived, sought to negotiate peace. Tuntuhe

Chanyu Chanyu () or Shanyu (), short for Chengli Gutu Chanyu (), was the title used by the supreme rulers of Inner Asian nomads for eight centuries until superseded by the title "''Khagan''" in 402 CE. The title was most famously used by the ruling L ...

of the Southern Xiongnu, however, was anxious to destroy his rival completely, and early in AD 90, as embassies were still being exchanged, Dou Xian launched an attack, captured his rival's seal and treasure and his wives and daughters.''

'', vols. 47, 48 (for modern annotation on location see ''

Bo Yang Bo Yang (; 7 March 1920 – 29 April 2008), sometimes also erroneously called Bai Yang, was a Chinese historian, novelist, philosopher, poet, and politician based in Taiwan. He is also regarded as a social critic. According to his own memoir, t ...

's Edition of Zhi Tongjian''). General

soon initiated a punitive expedition against the remaining hostile Xiongnu tribes, subsequently causing the tribes to flee westwards.Tucker ''et al.'' (2010), 142. Dou Xian had reported that the ''Northern Chanyu'' was so weak there was no point in treating with him further. In February 91, he mounted a final invasion, with two of his generals

Geng Kui Geng Kui (), born in Xianyang, Shaanxi, was a general sent by Dou Xian to defeat the unnamed Northern Chanyu, leader of the Xiongnu nomads. He achieved this in 91 AD, shortly after the Battle of Ikh Bayan. The Northern Chanyu was defeated once m ...

and

Ren Shang Ren Shang (, died 118) was the Protector General of the Western Regions under Eastern Han between 102-106 CE. In February, 91, he and Geng Kui defeated the unnamed Northern Shanyu shortly after the Battle of Ikh Bayan, on commission by Dou Xian ...

in charge. They advanced from

Juyan The Juyan Lake (; mn, Gashuun Nuur (shown on Chinese maps as 嘎顺淖尔 ''Gāshùn nào'ěr'' or 嘎顺诺尔, ''Gāshùn nuò'ěr'') for western lake, Sogo Nuur for eastern lake) is a former lake in the Gobi desert. It is located in the wes ...

and defeated the Northern Xiongnu ruler, captured his mother and killed 5,000 of his armies, drove him in flight again to the west from Altayn Nuruu. He was not heard from again. The rest of the Xiongnu left in

Dzungaria Dzungaria (; from the Mongolian language, Mongolian words , meaning 'left hand') is a geographical subregion in Northwest China that corresponds to the northern half of Xinjiang. It is thus also known as Beijiang, which means "Northern Xinjiang" ...

, specifically near

Lake Barkol Barkol Kazakh Autonomous County (sometimes Barkul or Balikul in English) is part of Hami Prefecture in Xinjiang and has an area of . It forms part of the China–Mongolia border (bordering the Mongolian provinces of Khovd and Govi-Altai) on the co ...

, had not been directly affected, and some part of the shattered polity was reconstructed under a new chanyu. The new chanyu, however, was killed in 93, and after him no chanyu of the Northern Xiongnu was ever heard of again.Though there was a rebellion by Xiongnu of the north, they elected a chanyu named Fenghou in 94, but he was of a ''Southern Xiongnu's'' royal house (a son of Tuntuhe) and soon due to intimidation from the

Xianbei The Xianbei (; ) were a Proto-Mongolic ancient nomadic people that once resided in the eastern Eurasian steppes in what is today Mongolia, Inner Mongolia, and Northeastern China. They originated from the Donghu people who splintered into the ...

, he was forced to surrender to the

Han Han may refer to: Ethnic groups * Han Chinese, or Han People (): the name for the largest ethnic group in China, which also constitutes the world's largest ethnic group. ** Han Taiwanese (): the name for the ethnic group of the Taiwanese p ...

court by 118. ''

'', vol. 88 and ''

'', vols. 48, 50. On the frontier of the Han dynasty in present-day Mongolia, the hostile Xiongnu state was ended.

References

Bibliography

* *Fan Ye et al., ''Hou Hanshu''. Beijing: Zhonghua Shuju, 1965. * *Sima Guang, comp. ''Zizhi Tongjian''. Beijing: Zhonghua Shuju, 1956. * * Tucker, Spencer C. ''et al.'' (2010). ''A global chronology of conflict: From the ancient world to the modern Middle East''. Santa Barbara: ABC-CLIO . *An, Tian
"Dou Xian Po Beixiongnu Zhi Zhan" ("The Battle of Dou Xian's Defeating on the Northern Xiongnu")
''

Encyclopedia of China The ''Encyclopedia of China'' () is the first large-entry modern encyclopedia in the Chinese language. The compilation began in 1978. Published by the Encyclopedia of China Publishing House, the encyclopedia was issued one volume at a time, begin ...

'', 1st ed. * {{coord missing, Mongolia

1st century in China