Far East Kingdoms

Donghu (Turkics? / Proto-Mongolians?)

Turkic Tribes All Modern States Caucasus Tribes Finno-Ugric & Samoyed Tribes Indo-Iranian/Aryan Tribes

Starting in the fourth century AD a general invasion of nomadic tribes began to overwhelm southern Central Asia and northern South Asia (a region which can be combined under the label of 'eastern Iran'). This wave of barbarian invasions is attributed to tribal confederations which originated on the Central Asian steppe to overwhelm longstanding Indo-Iranian populations (see feature link).

Claimed as being inner Asians, Turkic groups may in part be related to the Xiongnu, and can best be described as Turko-Mongolians (see map link, right, for more details about early Turks). The first fully-formed Turkic ethnic group was that of the 'Gök Türks' (or Göktürks). Semi-nomads who dwelt largely in Mongolia, they emerged into history in the early sixth century AD from obscure tribal origins.

However, they were preceded by the Rouran khaganate, which was preceded even earlier by the Donghu. This group emerged in north-eastern East Asia, seemingly during the later third millennium BC or early second, as they were certainly in existence during the later first half of the second millennium. Together with the Sushen and Yemok, they are sometimes collectively referred to as the 'three ancient tribes' of north-eastern China.

They occupied territory in today's northern Chinese province of Hebei, south-eastern Inner Mongolia, and the western parts of the three north-eastern Chinese provinces of Liaoning, Jilin, and Heilongjiang. This places them along the Yan Mountains (or Yanshan mountains) and the Greater Khingan range which separates north-eastern China from Mongolia and part of Russia.

The Donghu were one of the earliest north-eastern groups to form a degree of nomadic civilisation. They developed bronze technology which is tentatively linked to archaeology's Upper Xiajiadian culture between 1000-600 BC. They practised agriculture and animal husbandry, supplementing that with handicrafts and bronze art. Initially their mastery of bronze weapons brought them a degree of mastery over the neighbouring Xiongnu, but that did not last.

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(Information by Trish Wilson, with additional information by Peter Kessler and Hayreddin Barbarossa (drawn from Turkish editions of the Encyclopaedia Britannica and Grand Larousse), from The Origin of the Turks and the Turkish Khanate, Gao Yang (Tenth Türk Tarih Kongresi, Ankara 1986), from The Turks in World History, Carter Vaughn Findley (Oxford University Press 2005), from The Origins of Northern China's Ethnicities, Zhu Xueyuan (Beijing 2004), from Ethnogenesis in the tribal zone: The Shaping of the Turks, Peter Benjamin Golden (2005), from Hammond's Historical Atlas (C S Hammond & Co, 1963), from The Mongols, David Morgan (Basil Blackwell, 1986), from Times Atlas of World History, Geoffrey Barraclough (Ed, Maplewood, New Jersey, 1979), from Cambridge History of Ancient China: The Northern Frontier in Pre-imperial China, Nicola Di Cosmo (Cambridge University Press, 1999), and from External Links: Encyclopaedia Iranica, and Rouran (ChinaKnowledge.de), and Y Chromosome analysis of prehistoric human populations in the West Liao River Valley, Northeast China, Yinqiu Cui et al (BMC Evol Biol, 30 Sep 2013:13:216).)

500s BC

During the later part of the 'Spring and Autumn' period, the Donghu migrate southwards towards the Laoha and Xilamulun river basins.

The Late Zhou period also heralded the 'Warring States Era' which saw almost three centuries of bitter rivalry and warfare between a mass of fractured Chinese kingdoms (click or tap on map to view full sized)

Tombs which have been excavated in Kaigouzi are generally classified as being Donghu in nature. The pre-Qin dynasty work, Classic of Mountains and Seas, relates the Donghu location as bring to the 'east of Daze, and [the] Yi people are [to the] east of Donghu'. The 'Daze' in the text is equated with Lake Hulun in today's Inner Mongolia.

481 - 221 BC

The 'Warring States' period finds the Donghu inhabiting territory to the north of the Yan and Zhao states. The work, Records of the Grand Historian: Biographies of the Xiongnu, states that 'to the north of Yan there were the Donghu and Shanrong', with the Donghu now at their most powerful.

They can boast of an army of about twenty thousand, with which they invade the Yan state many times, although apparently without any lasting effect. In fact, despite their apparent strength they are defeated by the Yan general, Qin Kai. The Donghu subsequently decline.

The burial of a pre-Donghu individual of the Upper Xiajiadian culture at Zhoujiadi cemetery (with the mussel face mask having been removed) (External Link: Creative Commons Licence 4.0 International)

206 BC

The Donghu are defeated by the Xiongnu leader, Maodun while the Qin state is in the process of being conquered by the Han. The Donghu remnant is absorbed into the Xiongnu nomadic empire, albeit with them retaining at least something of their own identity, and with their name later being used for a short-lived vassal state known as the 'Kingdom of Donghu'.

The Xiongnu are now free to attack the powerful Yuezhi to their west, and then the Wusun. Remaining Donghu eventually settle around Wuhuan and Xianbei mountains where the Donghu identity finally does fade out. The Wuhuan and Xianbei tribes are formed here, at least partially from Donghu elements.

The Xianbei go on to be a formidable force on the Mongolian plateau. They form the Northern Wei dynasty through the Tuoba tribe, and their subject Rouran go on to create their own empire in the fifth century AD.

In 221 BC the Qin controlled the entire former imperial territories of the north, plus the recently-incorporated Shu and Ba, but expansion beckoned to the north (a little, largely constrained by the construction of the Great Wall - shown here as a general border rather than specifying all of its different construction phases and locations) and to the south, where several campaigns between 221-209 BC greatly increased the empire (click or tap on map to view full sized)