Western Xia

Western Xia was a Tangut-led empire in northwestern China from 1038 to 1227. It developed a distinctive state, script, and Buddhist culture before Mongol conquest.

Tangut people: A Tibeto-Burman-speaking people who founded Western Xia and lived chiefly across northwestern China. Tangut rulers and communities formed the empire’s political and cultural core.
Tibetan Empire: A Himalayan empire that expanded across Central Asia and China from the seventh to ninth centuries. Its weakening helped create space for Tangut political autonomy.
Tangut language: A now-extinct Tibeto-Burman language spoken by the Tangut people. It was the language of Western Xia’s court and much of its written culture.
Genghis Khan: The founder of the Mongol Empire, who led its expansion across Asia in the early thirteenth century. His campaigns against Western Xia culminated in the empire’s destruction.
Tangut script: A logographic writing system created for the Tangut language and used in Western Xia. The state used this script for administration, literature, and religious texts.
Dingnan Jiedushi: A Tangut-controlled military governorship in the Ordos region under the Tang and later Chinese dynasties. This regional base preceded the founding of Western Xia.
Buddhism in Western Xia: The Buddhist traditions and institutions supported by Western Xia rulers and communities. Buddhist texts and institutions were central to the empire’s cultural life.
Mongol Empire: A transcontinental empire founded by Genghis Khan and expanded by his successors. Its westward and eastward expansion absorbed Western Xia and altered its neighbors.
Karakhanid Khanate: A Turkic Muslim dynasty that ruled parts of Central Asia from the ninth to thirteenth centuries. Its conflicts and diplomacy formed part of Western Xia’s shifting western frontier.
Li Jiqian: A Tangut leader who expanded his family’s power in the late tenth century. His successes laid foundations for the dynasty later proclaimed by his grandson.

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