BCE

81 Jincheng becomes a prefectural capital.

78 Xiongnu Huyandi Chanyu unsuccessfully is defeated while trying to win back the Hexi corridor.

77 On the death of the Loulan king Angui, Huyandi Chanyu sends his hostage son to claim back Loulan, but Chinese general Fu Jiezu kills him and puts his brother, who had been a hostage in China, on the throne.

71 The Xiongnu empire comes under attack from the Dingling steppe horseman in the north, the Wuhuan in the east, China from the south, and the Wusun from the West.

64 Xiongnu Chanyu Xuluquanqu recaptures Jushi (Turpan) after an initial failure 3 years earlier, but the brutality of his successor, Woyanqudi Chanyu, causes the sub-king of Jushi, Rizhu Wang, to surrender to the Chinese, who split Jushi in two.

58-4 Provoked by Xiongnu Chanyu Xuluquanqu's brutality and suicide and 5 competing chanyus are whittled down to 2 of Xuluquanqu's sons: Huhanye Chanyu and Zizhi Guduhou Chanyu.

52-1 After a bad defeat by Zizhi Guduhou Chanyu, Huhanye Chanyu seeks support from the Han emperor, and settles his people between the Ordos and the Gobi. With Chinese support, he then drives his brother to the West, where he eventually finds a base on the Talas river, probably near Taraz.

43 Huhanye Chanyu moves north, unopposed by the weakening Chinese, to consolidate his Xiongnu base.

36 Chinese general Chen Tang counterfeits imperial orders to attack Zizhi Chanyu's base on the Talas river, defeating and killing him. It is thought that 'lost' Roman legionaries fought on the chanyu's side.

CE

9 Wang Mang siezes power in China, and establishes the Xin dynasty. His attitude to the Xiongnu provokes escalating border raids and conflict.

13 Yanqi (Karashahr) rebels.

16 Yanqi defeats a chinese army and China loses it's grip on Xiyu and brings external peace to Huduershidaogaoruodi Chanyu and the Xiongnu.

23 Wang Mang is killed, and Han descendants vie for power.

25 Han Guang Wudi begins reign as emperor of the Later Han, but the revolts continue for many years after (Sichuan and central plain around 30 CE, Gansu 34 CE, etc.). No attempt is made to regain the Western Regions for almost 50 years. The Han capital is moved from Chang'an, which is repeatedly burned, to Luoyang.

35-9 Chinese general Ma Yuan subdues the region from Xining to Kokonor and settles large numbers of Qiang there.

43 General Ma puts down what is said to be the first stirrings of independence by the Vietnamese, after the indigenous Yue rise against Han immigration into the Red river basin.

45 By now the Xiongnu have taken advantage of disturbances elsewhere in the empire to regain almost all the territories formerly owned under shanyu Maodun. This includes Ordos, many oasis cities in northern Xinjiang, and parts of Shanxi and Hebei. They are helped by the Wuhuan and Xianbei peoples. General Ma heads to intercept them, but has little to do as the Wuhuan attack the Xiongnu and internal divisions arise. After this, perhaps 3 million Wuhuan are settled within the chinese border in the north, north-west and north-east frontier regions of the Han empire.

48 Huduershidaogaoruodi Chanyu dies and the Xiongnu empire is irrevocably split between the Northern Xiongnu, led by Punu Chanyu, and the Southern Xiongnu, led by Bi Chanyu.

50 Plagued by famine and threats from the north, the Southern Xiongnu are resettled in uninhabited northern China by Han Guangwudi as a buffer state. The latter sent crop farmers from central China to mix with the Xiongnu.

73-7Han military expeditions against the Xiongnu pursue them deep into Mongolia and reclaim Turfan and Hami.

87 The Xianbei (mongol descendants of the Donghu) kill the Northern Xiongnu chanyu and occupy a large part of Mongolia.

89 Xianbei, Southern Xiongnu and Chinese troops defeat the Northern Xiongnu, and 200,000 Xiongnu transfer their alliegance to the Xianbei.

90s Han general Ban Chao reestablishes Han supremacy throughout Xinjiang.

93 After another defeat 2 years earlier, the last chanyu, Yuchujian, is killed and the Xiongnu empire ceases to exist. Remaining Xiongnu roam northern Xinjiang, join the Wusun, or move to the Aral and later Black Sea area.

155 The Xianbei defeat the Xiongnu in Mongolia and become the most powerful force in north-east central asia for almost 100 years.

189 Han emperor Lingdi dies, and is succeeded by one of two half-brothers, Han Shaodi, who are spirited away just as the palace and its eunuchs are burned. This is the beginning of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms and the effective end of the Han empire. Warlord Dong Zhuo murders Han Shaodi, installs his half-brother, Han Xiandi as puppet emperor, and moves the capital back to Chang'an and is murdered 3 years later. Other forces mobilise to split the empire.

196 Han emperor Xiandi comes under the protection of the Cao family. They move the capital back to Luoyang.

?? Sun Quan is appointed King of Wu by Han Xiandi. Liu Bei gains support in Sichuan in what will become Shu.

208 Southern expansion by Cao Cao is checked by Sun Quan and Liu Bei at the Red Cliffs. Sun Quan sets up his capital temporarily at Wuchang.

215 Chinese warlord Cao Cao deposes the last Southern Xiongnu chanyu, Huchuquan and splits the Xiongnu into 5 separate tribes.

216 Cao Cao is named King of Wei by Han Xiandi.

258 The Tuoba Xianbei clan migrate from their ancestral home in the Greater Khingan range of Inner Mongolia to the Yin Mountains and spread into the Ordos loop.