East Asia · Fragmentation, Song and the conquest dynasties
Western Xia
1038–1227
The Western Xia (Tangut Empire; 1038–1227) was founded by Li Yuanhao (Emperor Jingzong) of the Tangut people in the northwest (capital Xingqing/Yinchuan), controlling the Hexi Corridor and Silk Road trade. It created the complex Tangut script and was strongly Buddhist.
- Existed
- 1038–1227
- Shown on the map
- AD 990–1226
- Peak area
- 476k km²
- Region
- East Asia
Overview
The Western Xia (Tangut Empire; 1038–1227) was founded by Li Yuanhao (Emperor Jingzong) of the Tangut people in the northwest (capital Xingqing/Yinchuan), controlling the Hexi Corridor and Silk Road trade. It created the complex Tangut script and was strongly Buddhist. Balancing Song, Liao, and Jin, it survived two centuries until annihilated by the Mongols under Genghis Khan in 1227 (Genghis died during the campaign).
Common questions
- What was Western Xia?
- The Western Xia (Tangut Empire; 1038–1227) was founded by Li Yuanhao (Emperor Jingzong) of the Tangut people in the northwest (capital Xingqing/Yinchuan), controlling the Hexi Corridor and Silk Road trade. It created the complex Tangut script and was strongly Buddhist.
- When did Western Xia exist?
- Western Xia existed 1038–1227. On this map it is drawn AD 990–1226.
- How large was Western Xia?
- At its greatest extent drawn on this map, Western Xia covered about 476,000 km². That is the largest area the border data gives it across the years it is drawn, not necessarily its greatest extent in history.
Sources
This compendium cites its sources once for the whole document rather than per territory. Its bibliography names the English Wikipedia article for each polity as the basis of these profiles, supplemented by Encyclopaedia Britannica, chinaknowledge.de, the World History Encyclopedia, museum and university sources, and the academic works it lists. The article this entry is anchored on:
- Wikipedia — Western Xia en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_Xia
This entry was last updated .
This entry was researched and drafted with AI from the sources above, and has not been reviewed by a historian. How entries are made
Text available under CC BY-SA 4.0: reuse it with a credit to The World Through Time and a link to this page. Passages drawing on the Wikipedia articles listed above are also licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 by their contributors.
Border geometry for the map itself comes from Cliopatria v0.12 (Seshat Global History Databank, CC-BY-4.0).
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