The Tanguts (Xia) were a people of Tibetan origin, whose home originally was in the highlands of western Sichuan. By the middle of the 9th Century, like the Uighurs, they were important enough to earn the gratitude of the Tang Dynasty for helping suppress the An Lu-shan rebellion. In 1006 AD, they were able to take advantage of the political rivalry between the Qidan (Liao) ruling in the north and the Song dynasty to gain de facto independence, and in 1020 they moved their capital across the Yellow River to Xingzhou.

It was called Hsi Hia (Wade-Giles) or Xi Xia (Pinyin) after the ancient Chinese state of Xia (for aiding the Tang Dynasty, the Tangut ruler was allowed to use the name Xia to denote the lands awarded by the Tang). This put them in a position to assert their control over the Hexi Corridor, the key section of the Silk Road leading west from central China. The Tangut ruler proclaimed his equality with the Song emperor. By the 1040s, the Song were sending the Tanguts a huge annual tribute of silk, silver and tea. The kingdom survived until conquered by the Mongols in 1227 AD.

The Tanguts evolved from the Qiangic peoples by way of the Danxiang nomads. The Dangxiang people lived south of the Tuyuhun people. This area occupied by the Dangxiang people and the Tuyuhun people would be called Frontal Tibet or Outer Tibet in later times. There were eight Danxiang tribes of Qiangic nature by the 9th Century with one tribal group carrying the old Toba name. The Toba Tribe had inter-marriage with the Tuyuhuns, and at one time made an alliance against the Tang army.

Xixia Dynasty, or Western Xia Dynasty was the exception in Chinese history chronicles; namely, there was no separate volume for this dynasty. At most, it was treated as a section in the books such as History of Song Dynasty, History of Liao Dynasty, History of Jurchen (Gold) Dynasty, and History of Yuan (Mongol) Dynasty.

The Western Xia kingdom did not adopt Chinese customs and habits as quickly as the Liao-Khitan ruling class did; the main part of their ruling class remained tribal. They adopted their own script, modelled on the Chinese script, because Indian or Tibetian alphabets proved not to be suitable for their language.

Eurasian Nomads: Part 2

Magyars
Székely
Pechenegs
The Uighur Empire (744-840)
Xueyantuo
Kirghiz or Kyrgyz
Kipchaks
Kimeks
Tatars or Tartar
Steppe Kingdoms (840-1278)
Khitan or Kidan
Tanguts
Jurchen or Jurchid
Turks or Turkmen
Mongol World Empire (1206-1368)
Steppe Peoples' Political Decline (14th C. onward)
Descriptions of Non-Mongolian Physiques

Eurasian Nomads: Part 1

Background
Indo-European Period (4,000 BC-300 AD)
Hsiung-nu Period (250 BC-450 AD)
Turkic Kaganate (552-744)