The Largest Empire You’ve Never Heard Of
Before the Tengri and the Mongols there was the Xiongnu
The list of the world’s largest historic empires is filled with familiar faces and well known names. The British Empire, Czarist Russia, the Mongolian Empire, Napoleon. All of these people and places cut large swaths of territory for themselves and forged some of the largest empires the world has ever seen.
However, among the top ten largest empires in human history, one name stood out for not standing out. That name is the Xiongnu Empire. On the list, Xiongnu is sandwiched between the 19th century Empire of Brazil and the Medival Yuan Dynasty. It is the tenth largest empire ever constructed.
Xiongnu stats
The Xiongnu Empire rose alongside Han China. The Xiongnu confederacy of tribes was united into an empire in 209BCE, just a few years before Han China was formed. The people were steppe people that lived nomadic lives in the plains west of central China. Like many of the people that would come after them, the Xiongnu used their nomadic hardiness to expand at a rapid rate.
