When did Northern Liang exist?

Northern Liang existed 397–439. On this map it is drawn AD 397–440.

How large was Northern Liang?

At its greatest extent drawn on this map, Northern Liang covered about 120,000 km². That is the largest area the border data gives it across the years it is drawn, not necessarily its greatest extent in history.

East Asia · The Sixteen Kingdoms and the Northern and Southern dynasties

Northern Liang

397–439

Northern Liang (397–439) was a Hexi state, most notably ruled by the Xiongnu Juqu clan (Juqu Mengxun). Capital Zhangye then Guzang.

See it on the map → Wikipedia ↗

Existed: 397–439
Shown on the map: AD 397–440
Peak area: 120k km²
Region: East Asia

Overview

Northern Liang (397–439) was a Hexi state, most notably ruled by the Xiongnu Juqu clan (Juqu Mengxun). Capital Zhangye then Guzang. A vibrant Buddhist center (early cave temples), it was the last of the Sixteen Kingdoms in the northwest, conquered by the Northern Wei in 439—the event conventionally ending the period.

Common questions

What was Northern Liang?: Northern Liang (397–439) was a Hexi state, most notably ruled by the Xiongnu Juqu clan (Juqu Mengxun). Capital Zhangye then Guzang.
When did Northern Liang exist?: Northern Liang existed 397–439. On this map it is drawn AD 397–440.
How large was Northern Liang?: At its greatest extent drawn on this map, Northern Liang covered about 120,000 km². That is the largest area the border data gives it across the years it is drawn, not necessarily its greatest extent in history.

Sources

This compendium cites its sources once for the whole document rather than per territory. Its bibliography names the English Wikipedia article for each polity as the basis of these profiles, supplemented by Encyclopaedia Britannica, chinaknowledge.de, the World History Encyclopedia, museum and university sources, and the academic works it lists. The article this entry is anchored on:

Wikipedia — Northern Liang en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northern_Liang

This entry was last updated 12 September 2026.

This entry was researched and drafted with AI from the sources above, and has not been reviewed by a historian. How entries are made

Text available under CC BY-SA 4.0: reuse it with a credit to The World Through Time and a link to this page. Passages drawing on the Wikipedia articles listed above are also licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 by their contributors.

Border geometry for the map itself comes from Cliopatria v0.12 (Seshat Global History Databank, CC-BY-4.0).

See Northern Liang in its world

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Overview

Common questions

Sources

Around the same time

See Northern Liang in its world