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Western Xia Wikipedia

Image:China 11b.jpg|left|thumb|200px|China in 1142. History of China

See Xia for other meanings of the Chinese character 夏 xi?.

Western Xia (西夏 pinyin: Xīxi?), was a kingdom from 1032 up to 1227 of the Tibetan language|Tibetan-speaking Tangut tribes that was established in the 11th century and flourished through the early 13th century until it was conquered by the Mongols of the Yuan dynasty. It was located in what are now the northwestern provinces of China|Chinese provinces of Gansu, Shaanxi, and Ningxia.

Occupying the area along the trade route between Central Asia and the West, the Tangut were formally a tributary state of first the Song Dynasty (960-1279)|Song and then the Jin Dynasty (1115-1234)|Jin. In actuality, they were de facto independent, and the interaction between the Jin, the Song, and the Western Xia is of interest to historians of diplomacy because they are an example of diplomatic relations between states of de facto equal power but within a diplomatic framework in which one state was formally superior.

Western Xia had its own written language that disappeared after the kingdom was annihilated by the Mongols.

Last Modified:   2005-04-13