A xianbeiek sztyeppei jelenléte és a Xiongnu Birodalom bukása

Since the late 3rd century B.C., the Northern steppes, i.e. the steppe zone situated north of China, south of the Baikal region and between the ranges of the Altai and Hingan mountains, were dominated by a succession of nomadic peoples. The first people that established a highly centralized polity, daresay an empire, on the steppes were the Xiongnu. The demise of their empire was brought about by a constellation of a number of factors; internal division, Chinese military expeditions, loss of strategically crucial territories and defections of allies as a result. Towards the end of the 1st century A.D., one of their former allies, the Xianbei took over the old Xiongnu territories, but failed to establish a centralized rule on the steppes. The Xianbei ruler, who united all the steppe tribes under his control and created an ephemeral tribal alliance that somewhat resembled the Xiongnu Empire, appeared as late as the mid-2nd century, and even this unity came to an end less than thirty years later.