Modu Chanyu built a steppe empire that made Han China pay tribute
Around 200 BCE, the founder of the Han dynasty marched north and found himself trapped in the city of Pingcheng, encircled by Xiongnu cavalry. The man who had surrounded him, Modu Chanyu, had seized power only nine years earlier and forged scattered grassland tribes into one of the largest empires of his era.
According to the historian Sima Qian, Modu's father Touman preferred a son by another wife, so he sent Modu as a hostage to the Yuezhi and then attacked them, hoping they would kill the boy. Modu stole a fast horse, escaped and returned home a hero, and was given command of 10,000 horsemen. He then trained a fiercely loyal band using a whistling arrow, ordering his men to shoot wherever it flew and punishing any who hesitated. In 209 BCE he turned that obedience against Touman during a hunt and took the title of chanyu, then removed rivals including a half-brother.
The timing favoured him. Qin forces under Meng Tian had seized Xiongnu pastures in 215 BCE, pushing the tribes toward unity, and the Qin state fell into chaos after its first emperor died in 210 BCE. Modu crushed the Donghu to the east by 208 BCE, their survivors splitting into the Xianbei and Wuhuan, subdued the Dingling to the north and beat the Yuezhi in 203 BCE. His realm eventually stretched from the Liao River to the Pamirs and north to Lake Baikal, and control of trade routes brought steady income.
Emperor Gaozu set out with 320,000 soldiers, but cold and short supplies slowed them, and he pressed ahead with only 40,000 to Pingcheng. Modu encircled him, then for unclear reasons let his lines thin; Sima Qian credits the chanyu's consort. Gaozu broke out in what became the Battle of Baideng, and his close call pushed him into heqin, a marriage alliance. The Han sent a 'princess', often in fact a commoner, together with silk, wine and food, and paid yearly tribute.
Modu kept pressing. In 192 BCE he sent Empress Dowager Lü Zhi a mocking marriage proposal, and in 178 BCE his armies swept over the Yuezhi and Wusun peoples living in Gansu and the Tarim Basin. He died in 174 BCE, and his son Jiyu succeeded him as Laoshang Chanyu.
Source: Modu Chanyu
