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Modu Chanyu

Type Figure Region Mongolian Plateau Time c. -234–-174 Also known as Modu

Modu was a brilliant Xiongnu leader who seized the chanyu throne through whistling-arrow training and decisive action, defeating the Donghu, Yuezhi, …

Timeline

  1. c. -234–-209Mongolian Plateau · Mongolian PlateauModu was a son of Chanyu Touman and once served as a hostage among the Donghu. When Touman intended to name his younger son heir, Modu trained his followers with whistling arrows and in 209 BCE shot Touman dead, proclaiming himself chanyu and opening the era of Xiongnu expansion.
  2. -209–-200Mongolian Plateau · Mongolian PlateauAfter taking power, Modu first feigned weakness toward the Donghu to lull them into complacency, then launched a surprise attack and destroyed them, defeated the Yuezhi, and brought Loulan, Wusun, and other tribes under western control, reaching the Great Wall in the south and establishing a Xiongnu empire spanning the steppe.
  3. -200–-174Baideng · ShanxiIn the early Han, Modu invaded southward and in 200 BCE besieged Liu Bang at Baideng, forcing the Han to adopt the heqin marriage alliance policy. Thereafter the Xiongnu long controlled the Hetao region and the lands south of the Gobi, forming a standoff with the Han that lasted until Modu's late years.

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