Modu Chanyu

Modu was born around 234 BCE, son of Touman, a military leader among the Xiongnu on the Mongolian Plateau. In 209 BCE he ordered his men to kill his father and seized the throne as chanyu. The timing favored him: Qin forces under Meng Tian had taken Xiongnu pasture lands in 215 BCE, pressuring the tribes toward unity, and then the Qin emperor died in 210 BCE, leaving China in disarray. Modu centralized Xiongnu power and pushed the borders out — east to the Liao River, west to the Pamir Mountains, north to Lake Baikal — creating one of the largest empires of the era. His raids into China extrac…