History of Western Xia Dynasty

Western Xia Dynasty was a feodal kingdom established in the early 11th century by the Dangxiang ethnic group. At its peak, the dynasty's territory covered “ten thousand li, reaching the Yellow River in the east, Yumen in the west and Xiaoguan in the south, and controlling the great desert in the north.” It occupied an area of approximately 830,000 square kilometers, covering today China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, Gansu Province, western part of Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, northern part of Shaanxi Province and eastern part of Qinghai Province. As a powerful state in northwest China, Western Xia Dynasty rivaled the Song and Liao Dynasties. The dynasty lasted 190 years from 1038 until it was destroyed by the Mongolia in 1227, and had ten kings. It made an important contribution to the formation of a unified and multinational China.