It is believed that they stemmed from the Siberian branch of the Mongolian race, although it has been hotly debated whether they are ethnically Turkic, Mongolic, Yeniseian, Tocharian, Iranian, Uralic, or some mixture.
This political unification allowed them to build stronger armies and use better strategic coordination, turning them into a more formidable state.
They adopted many Chinese agriculture techniques, built Chinese-styled homes, and wore silk like the Chinese.
The Xiongnu worshipped the sun, moon, heaven, earth, as well as their ancestors.
They formed a number of tribes, called the Chubei, Huyan, Lan, Luandi, Qiulin, and Suibu. The leaders following Modu Chanyu formed a dualistic political system, with branches to the right and left.
Between approximately 300 BC and 450 AD, there existed a nomadic group known as the Xiongnu.
Their ethnic identity has been greatly contested, but they were a very powerful tribal confederation that were considered a great threat to China.
In fact, it was their repeated invasions that prompted the small kingdoms of North China to begin erecting barriers, in what later became the Great Wall of China.
The Xiongnu formed their tribal league in the area that is now known as Mongolia.
The supreme ruler was known as the “Chanyu” and was equivalent to the Chinese “Son of Heaven.” Under the Chanyu were the “Wise Kings of the Left and Right.” Beneath the Wise Kings were the guli (kuli, 'kings'), the army commanders, the great governors, the dunghu (tung-hu), the gudu (ku-tu).
Directly beneath them were the commanders of groups of either 1000, 100, or ten men.
When a Chanyu died, power would pass to his son, or to a younger brother if he did not have a son of age.