Xianbei in the context of Xiongnu

Mongolia is a landlocked country in East Asia. Bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south and southeast, it covers an area of 1,564,116 square kilometres (603,909 square miles), making it the 18th-largest country in the world and the second largest landlocked country after Kazakhstan, as well as the largest landlocked country that does not border an inland sea. With a population of 3.5 million, it is the world's most sparsely populated sovereign state. The country constitutes a significant portion of the Mongolian Plateau, and its natural environment is characterized by grassy steppe, mountains to the north and west, and the Gobi Desert to the south. Ulaanbaatar, the capital and largest city, is home to roughly half of the country's population.

The territory of modern-day Mongolia has been ruled by various nomadic empires, including the Xiongnu, the Xianbei, the Rouran, the First Turkic Khaganate, the Second Turkic Khaganate, the Uyghur Khaganate and others. In 1206, Genghis Khan founded the Mongol Empire, which became the largest contiguous land empire in history. His grandson Kublai Khan conquered China proper and established the Yuan dynasty. After the collapse of the Yuan, the Mongols retreated to Mongolia and resumed their earlier pattern of factional conflict, except during the era of Dayan Khan and Tumen Zasagt Khan.

The Eurasian Steppe, also called the Great Steppe or The Steppes, is the vast steppe ecoregion of Eurasia in the temperate grasslands, savannas and shrublands biome. It stretches through Manchuria, Mongolia, Xinjiang, Kazakhstan, Siberia, European Russia, Ukraine, Moldova, Romania, Bulgaria, Hungary and Slovakia.

Since the Paleolithic age, the Steppe Route has been the main overland route between Eastern Europe, North Asia, Central Asia and East Asia economically, politically, and culturally. The Steppe route is a predecessor not only of the Silk Road, which developed during antiquity and the Middle Ages, but also of the Eurasian Land Bridge in the modern era. It has been home to nomadic empires and many large tribal confederations and ancient states throughout history, such as the Xiongnu, Scythia, Cimmeria, Sarmatia, Hunnic Empire, Sogdia, Xianbei, Mongol Empire, Magyar tribes, and Göktürk Khaganate.

Tengrism (also known as Tengriism, Tengerism, or Tengrianism) is a belief system originating in the Eurasian steppes, based on shamanism and animism. It generally involves the titular sky god Tengri. According to some scholars, adherents of Tengrism view the purpose of life as to be in harmony with the universe.

It was the prevailing religion of the Göktürk, Hun, Xianbei, Bulgar, Xiongnu, Yeniseian and Mongolic peoples, as well as the state religion of several medieval states such as the First Turkic Khaganate, the Western Turkic Khaganate, the Eastern Turkic Khaganate, Old Great Bulgaria, the First Bulgarian Empire, Volga Bulgaria, Khazaria, and the Mongol Empire. In the Irk Bitig, a ninth century manuscript on divination, Tengri is mentioned as Türük Tängrisi (God of Turks). According to many academics, Tengrism was, and to some extent still is, a predominantly polytheistic religion based on the shamanistic concept of animism, and was first influenced by monotheism during the imperial period, especially by the 12th–13th centuries. Abdulkadir Inan argues that Yakut and Altai shamanism are not entirely equal to the ancient Turkic religion.

The Rouran Khaganate (Chinese:柔然; Róurán), also known as Ruanruan or Juan-juan (蠕蠕; Ruǎnruǎn) (or variously Jou-jan, Ruruan, Ju-juan, Ruru, Ruirui, Rouru, Rouruan or Tantan), was a tribal confederation and later state. The Rouran state was undoubtedly multi-ethnic. As the ancient sources regard the Rouran as a separate branch of the Xiongnu Book of Song and Book of Liang connected Rourans to the earlier Xiongnu while the Book of Wei connected them to Proto-Mongolic Donghu. The Rouran supreme rulers used the title of khagan, a popular title borrowed from the Xianbei. The Rouran Khaganate lasted from the late 4th century until the middle 6th century with territory that covered all of modern-day Mongolia and Inner Mongolia, as well as parts of Manchuria in Northeast China, Eastern Siberia, Xinjiang, and Kazakhstan. The Hephthalites were vassals of the Rouran Khaganate until the beginning of the 5th century, with the royal house of Rourans intermarrying with the royal houses of the Hephthalites. The Rouran Khaganate ended when they were defeated by a Göktürk rebellion at the peak of their power, which subsequently led to the rise of the Turks in world history.

Their Khaganate overthrown, some Rouran remnants possibly became Tatars while others possibly migrated west and became the Pannonian Avars (known by such names as Varchonites or Pseudo Avars), who settled in Pannonia (centred on modern Hungary) during the 6th century. These Avars were pursued into the Byzantine Empire by the Göktürks, who referred to the Avars as a slave or vassal people, and requested that the Byzantines expel them. While this Rouran-Avars link remains a controversial theory, a recent DNA study has confirmed the genetic origins of the Avar elite as originating from the Mongolian plains. Other theories instead link the origins of the Pannonian Avars to peoples such as the Uar.

The Khitan people (Khitan small script: ; Chinese: 契丹; pinyin: Qìdān) were a historical nomadic people from East Asia and parts of North Asia who, from the 4th century, inhabited an area corresponding to parts of modern Mongolia, Northeast China and the Russian Far East.

As a people descended from the proto-Mongols through the Xianbei, Khitans spoke the now-extinct Khitan language, a Para-Mongolic language related to the Mongolic languages. The Khitan people founded and led the Liao dynasty (916–1125), which dominated a vast area of Siberia, Mongolia and Northern China. The Khitans of the Liao dynasty used two independent writing systems for their language: Khitan small script and Khitan large script.

The Greater Khingan Range or Da Hinggan Range (simplified Chinese: 大兴安岭; traditional Chinese: 大興安嶺; pinyin: Dà Xīng'ān Lǐng; IPA: [tâ ɕíŋ.án.lìŋ]) is a 1,200-kilometer-long (750 mi) volcanic mountain range in the Inner Mongolia region of Northeast China.It was originally called the Xianbei Mountains, which later became the name of the northern branch of the Donghu, the Xianbei.

Zhou (/dʒoʊ/), known in historiography as the Northern Zhou (Chinese: 北周; pinyin: Běi Zhōu), was a Xianbei-led dynasty of China (founded by member of Yuwen tribe of Xiongnu origin) that lasted from 557 to 581. One of the Northern dynasties of China's Northern and Southern dynasties period, it succeeded the Western Wei dynasty and was eventually overthrown by the Sui dynasty.

The Shanhai Pass (simplified Chinese: 山海关; traditional Chinese: 山海關; pinyin: Shānhǎi Guān; lit. 'Mountain Sea Pass') is a major fortified gateway at the eastern end of the Great Wall of China and one of its most crucial fortifications, as the pass commands the narrowest choke point in the strategic Liaoxi Corridor, an elongated coastal plain between the Yan Mountains foothills and the Bohai Sea, which is the only easily traversable landway between North and Northeast China. It is located in present-day Shanhaiguan District, Qinhuangdao, Hebei province, on the east bank of the Shi River, with defensive walls stretching from the Yan Mountains all the way to the shores of the Liaodong Bay.

Throughout Chinese history, garrisons around the pass served as frontline defensive outposts against raids and incursions into the North China Plain by various non-Sinitic ethnic groups from the Northeast (also known as Manchuria since the 19th century), including the Dongyi, Donghu (Xianbei and Wuhuan), Khitan and Jurchen (Manchus). The current Shanhai Pass was built during the early Ming dynasty as the easternmost fortification of the Ming Great Wall, and was extensively reinforced after Yongle Emperor moved the capital from Nanjing to Beijing following the Jingnan campaign, making it the most important defensive barrier in all of China, as it shielded the heartland region around the imperial capital. The pass' strategic location dictated that without mounting a costly direct siege, the only way an invading army can get past the pass' defense was to circumvent it around the north through a few treacherously narrow mountain passes deep within the Yan Mountains, which would make it very difficult to maintain supply lines and thus any sizeable invasions. This defensive significance therefore earned the pass the famous nickname "Greatest Pass Under Heaven" (天下第一关).

The Sixteen Kingdoms (simplified Chinese: 十六国; traditional Chinese: 十六國; pinyin: Shíliù Guó), less commonly the Sixteen States, was a chaotic period in Chinese history from AD 304 to 439 when northern China fragmented into a series of short-lived dynastic states. Most of these regimes were created by groups such as the Xiongnu, Xianbei, Di, Jie, and Qiang, who had moved into northern and western China over earlier centuries and rose in rebellion against the Western Jin dynasty in the early fourth century. Some states were founded by the Han as well. Regardless of their rulers' background, every state adopted dynastic institutions in the Han tradition and styled itself as a legitimate monarchy. These states often fought one another and also contended with the Eastern Jin dynasty, which governed the south after the collapse of Western Jin in 317. The era ended in 439, when Northern Wei, founded by the Tuoba clan of the Xianbei, reunified the north. The Eastern Jin dynasty had already collapsed in 420 and been replaced by the Liu Song dynasty, the first of the Southern Dynasties. After the consolidation of the north, Chinese history entered the period known as the Northern and Southern Dynasties.

The term "Sixteen Kingdoms" was first used by the 6th-century historian Cui Hong in the Spring and Autumn Annals of the Sixteen Kingdoms and refers to the five Liangs (Former, Later, Northern, Southern and Western), four Yans (Former, Later, Northern, and Southern), three Qins (Former, Later and Western), two Zhaos (Han/Former and Later), Cheng-Han and Xia. Cui Hong did not count several other kingdoms that appeared at the time including the Ran Wei, Zhai Wei, Chouchi, Duan Qi, Qiao Shu, Huan Chu, Tuyuhun and Western Yan. Nor did he include the Northern Wei and its predecessor Dai, because the Northern Wei is considered to be the first of the Northern Dynasties in the period that followed the Sixteen Kingdoms.

The Five Barbarians, or Wu Hu (Chinese: 五胡; pinyin: Wǔ Hú), is a Chinese historical exonym for five ancient non-Han "Hu" peoples who immigrated to northern China in the Eastern Han dynasty, and then overthrew the Western Jin dynasty and established their own kingdoms in the 4th–5th centuries. The peoples categorized as the Five Barbarians were:

• Xiongnu
• Jie
• Xianbei
• Qiang
• Di

Of these five tribal ethnic groups, the Xiongnu and Xianbei were nomadic peoples from the northern steppes. The ethnic identity of the Xiongnu is uncertain, but the Xianbei appear to have been Mongolic. The Jie, another pastoral people, may have been a branch of the Xiongnu, who may have been Yeniseian or Iranian. The Di and Qiang were from the highlands of western China. The Qiang were predominantly herdsmen and spoke Sino-Tibetan (Tibeto-Burman) languages, while the Di were farmers who may have spoken a Sino-Tibetan or Turkic language.

Xia (Chinese: 夏; pinyin: Xià), known in historiography as Hu Xia (胡夏), Xiongnu Xia (匈奴夏), Helian Xia (赫連夏) or the Great Xia (大夏), was a dynastic state of China ruled by the Helian clan of Tiefu-Xiongnu ethnicity during the Sixteen Kingdoms period. Prior to establishing the Xia, the imperial clan existed as a tribal entity known as the Tiefu (simplified Chinese: 铁弗; traditional Chinese: 鐵弗; pinyin: Tiěfú).

All rulers of the Xia declared themselves "emperors". Both the Tiefu and Xia were based in the Ordos Desert, and during the reign of Helian Bobo, they constructed their capital of Tongwan, a heavily fortified and state-of-the-art city that served as a frontier garrison until the Song dynasty. Its ruins were discovered during the Qing dynasty and can still be seen in present-day Northern Shaanxi. At its peak, the Xia also controlled the Guanzhong region in modern-day central Shaanxi. Due to being a mix of the Xiongnu and Xianbei ethnicities, the Tiefu were initially known as a group of Wuhuan, which in the 4th century, was another term for "miscellaneous hu" or "zahu" (雜胡). It was not until Helian Bobo came to power that they fully affirm their Xiongnu lineage in a bid for legitimacy by claiming descent from the ancient Xia dynasty.

The Yuwen (Chinese: 宇文; pinyin: Yǔwén < Eastern Han Chinese: *wa-mun < Old Chinese *waʔ-mən) is a Chinese compound surname which originated from a pre-state clan of Xianbei ethnicity of Xiongnu origin during the era of Sixteen Kingdoms in China, until its destruction by Former Yan's prince Murong Huang in 345. Among the eastern Xianbei clans that ranged from the central part of the present day Liaoning province and eastward, Yuwen clan was the largest, and was awarded the position of the leader of eastern Xianbei (東部大人) by Chinese rulers. A descendant of the Yuwen tribe, Yuwen Tai, established the Northern Zhou dynasty in the 6th century.

Yuwen were descendants of the nomadic Xiongnu who assimilated into the Xianbei after 89 CE and ruled the Kumo Xi and Khitan (both Mongolic peoples) before being defeated by Murong Huang in 344, upon which Yuwen separated from the Kumo Xi and Khitan. The language of the Yuwen is thought to be Turkic or a very distant branch of Mongolic.

The Kumo Xi (traditional Chinese: 庫莫奚; simplified Chinese: 库莫奚; pinyin: Kùmò Xī), also known as the Tatabi, were ancient steppe people located in modern Northeast China from 207 to 907 AD. After the death of their ancestor Tadun in 207, they were no longer called Wuhuan but joined the Khitan Xianbei in submitting to the Yuwen Xianbei. Their history is closely linked to the more famous Khitan.

The Kumo Xi engaged in conflicts with numerous Chinese dynasties and with the Khitan tribes, eventually suffering a series of disastrous defeats to Chinese armies and coming under the domination of the Khitans. In 907, the Kumo Xi were completely assimilated into the Khitan-led Liao dynasty of China.

Qi, known as the Northern Qi (traditional Chinese: 北齊; simplified Chinese: 北齐; pinyin: Běi Qí; Wade–Giles: Pei-Ch'i), Later Qi (後齊) or Gao Qi (高齊) in historiography, was a Chinese imperial dynasty and one of the Northern dynasties during the Northern and Southern dynasties era. It ruled the eastern part of northern China from 550 to 577. The dynasty was founded by Gao Yang (Emperor Wenxuan), and was eventually conquered by the Xianbei-led Northern Zhou dynasty in 577.

Khanum, Qanysham, Kanysham, Khanym, Hanum, Hanım, Hanem, Khanom, or Khanoum (Uzbek: Xonim/Хоним, Kyrgyz: Канышам/Qanysham and Каныш/Qanysh or Каныша/Qanysha, Kazakh: Ханым/Hanym, Mongolian: Ханым; Azerbaijani: Xanım; Turkish: Hanım; Egyptian Arabic: هانم; Levantine Arabic, Persian, Urdu: خانم; Hindi: ख़ानुम; Bengali: খাঁনম/খানম) is a female royal and aristocratic title that was originally derived through a Central Asian title, and later used in the Middle East and South Asia. It is the feminine equivalent of the title Khan for a sovereign or military ruler, widely used by medieval nomadic Turkic peoples living in Asia and Europe and also Mongol tribes living north and northwest of modern-day China. In the construction of words of the Turkic languages, the suffix "-um / -ım" adds "my", making the word "Khanum" as "my Khan". This arises from the tale, depicting a Khan announcing to his subjects I am your Khan, and She is my Khan (Khanum). "Khan" is also seen as a title in the Xianbei confederation for their chief between 283 and 289. The Rourans were the first people who used the titles Khagan and Khan for their emperors, replacing the Chanyu of the Xiongnu, whom René Grousset and others assume to be Turkic.

In Modern Turkish, it is spelled Hanım and is used similarly to the titles of "lady" or "mrs." or "miss" in the English language. The title of Hanımefendi is a combination of the words Khanum (tr. Hanım) and efendi, and is a more formal title to address women in the modern age.