Nomadic confederacy, possibly of Turkish origin, that fought against the Chinese states in the 3rd century
BC. Their power began in Mongolia in about 200
BC, but they were forced back to the Gobi Desert in 119
BC by China's Han-dynasty emperor Wudi (Wu-ti (reigned 14187
BC) and Qin Shi Huangdi built the Great Wall of China against them. They were eventually conquered and the survivors were employed as frontier troops.
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