Hunnu

Hunnu, also rendered Hünnu or Xiongnu, refers to a major ancient nomadic confederation that dominated parts of the eastern Eurasian steppe from roughly the 3rd century BCE to the 1st century CE. The term is widely used in Mongolian sources as Хүннү (Hünnu) and in Chinese historiography as Xiongnu. The Hunnu consisted of a multi-ethnic coalition of tribes led by a supreme ruler called the Chanyu.

Geographically, their core territory lay in the present-day Mongolian Plateau and northern China, with movements across the steppes to the north and west. The Hunnu economy was pastoral, centered on horse-based mobility, cattle, sheep, and camels, and supported a mounted warrior culture. They conducted raids and controlled major routes across the steppe, and engaged in limited long-distance trade with Chinese dynasties and other polities along the Silk Road.

Politically, the Hunnu were a centralized confederation, with a paramount chanyu at the apex and a system of noble clans under him. They became a major military power after consolidating the tribes under their rule and expanded into Manchuria and parts of northern China. The Han Dynasty fought a long series of wars with the Xiongnu, culminating in a policy of alternating conflict and diplomacy, including marriage alliances known as heqin.

By the late 1st century CE, internal strife weakened the confederation and it split into the Northern Xiongnu and Southern Xiongnu. The Southern Xiongnu submitted to Han suzerainty and faded; the Northern Xiongnu persisted for several centuries before dissipating, with their populations and political influence giving way to successor steppe powers such as the Rouran. The Hunnu are often associated in popular lore with the later Huns of Europe, though direct continuity is uncertain and widely debated. The Xiongnu left a lasting impact on Eurasian politics and on Chinese security policy, shaping frontier relations and Silk Road dynamics for centuries.