15 Facts About Modu Chanyu

Modu Chanyu came to power by ordering his men to kill his father in 209 BCE.

Modu Chanyu was a military leader under his father Touman and later chanyu of the Xiongnu Empire, based on the Mongolian Plateau.

However, Modu Chanyu escaped by stealing a fast horse and returned to the Xiongnu, who welcomed him as a hero.

Modu Chanyu invented a signaling arrow that made a whistling sound in flight and trained his men to shoot in the direction of the sound in synchrony.

Modu Chanyu later repeated this test of loyalty, but with one of his favourite wives and executed those who hesitated to carry out his order.

Modu Chanyu saw his chance to turn the tide and immediately surrounded the city with only 40,000 cavalry, cutting the emperor off from the rest of his army.

For unclear reasons, the Modu Chanyu eventually withdrew some of his men.

Modu Chanyu sent a "princess" to the Chanyu and offered him silk, wine, and food stuffs.

The Modu Chanyu accepted the offer and restricted himself to minor raids throughout the duration of Gaozu's reign.

In 192 BCE Empress Dowager Lu Zhi received a marriage proposal from Modu Chanyu, who wrote as follows in a letter meant to intimidate and mock her:.

Modu Chanyu took advantage of the Xiongnu militarization process that came in response to the Qin invasion, and ably created a newly centralized political structure that made his empire possible.

Modu Chanyu was aided by the rapid fall of Qin and the fact that the Han initially set up independent "kingdoms", whose leaders, like Xin, King of Han, were as likely to ally with Xiongnu and attack Han as the other way around.

Christopher I Beckwith has pointed out that the story of the young Modu resembles a widespread class of folk tales in which a young hero is abandoned, goes on a quest, proves his worth, gains a group of trusted companions, returns to his home country, slays a powerful figure and becomes a king.

The name Modu Chanyu has been associated with Oghuz Khagan, a legendary ancestor of Oghuz Turks.

Modu Chanyu is known as Mete Khan across a number of Turkic languages.