kingdom · China, Tibet and Mongolia

Western Xia

1038 CE – 1227 CE · capital Xingqing

The empire of the Tangut people in north-west China, with its own script and Buddhist culture, destroyed by Genghis Khan in 1227.

Origins

The Tanguts were a Tibeto-Burman people whose Tuoba chiefs governed the Xiazhou region in the Ordos as Tang and Song governors. Li Jiqian broke with the Song in 982, his son Li Deming expanded west into the Hexi Corridor, and in 1038 Li Yuanhao proclaimed himself emperor of Great Xia, with his capital at Xingqing (modern Yinchuan).

Rule and society

Western Xia combined a tribal military aristocracy with Chinese-style ministries. Li Yuanhao introduced a distinctive Tangut script in 1036, used for laws, histories and a huge translation of the Buddhist canon. The state controlled trade routes between China and Central Asia and fought the Song Dynasty, the Liao dynasty and the Jin dynasty (1115-1234), extracting subsidies from Song after 1044.

Decline and legacy

The Mongols attacked from 1205. After Western Xia refused to join the campaign against the Khwarazmian Empire, Genghis Khan invaded in 1226; he died during the siege in 1227, and the capital fell soon after. The Tangut population was massacred or scattered.

Connections (5)

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Cite this page
APA
The Epoch Institute. (2026). Western Xia. In The Epoch Institute States Register. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/western-xia
MLA
“Western Xia.” The Epoch Institute States Register, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/western-xia. Accessed .
Chicago
The Epoch Institute. “Western Xia.” The Epoch Institute States Register. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/western-xia.
Harvard
The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Western Xia’, The Epoch Institute States Register. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/western-xia (Accessed: ).

Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻