There are very few records left about these guys, but what is know is this: t hey were a group of nomads which dominated the north part of China, from the 3rd Century to the 1st, BC. They were technically like Genghis Khan’s Mongol army, but a century earlier and with chariots, which made them a fearsome force.

They were so badass that they inspired the Qin Emperor to begin work on the Great Wall, and 50 years later, they were still attacking it, while the Chinese kept on rebuilding it. Even then, they nearly made it close enough to the Chinese capital to sack it several times.

Somehow, around the year 166 BC, internal discord and conflict with other nomadic tribes, weakened the Xiongnu enough for the Chinese to take care of them.