emperor Wu of Han

WU OF HAN, emperor of the Han dynasty of China from 141 to 87 BC. He is known for his military victories against Han China’s neighbours: the nomadic Xiongnu of Mongolia and Siberia (ancestors of the Huns that contributed to the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century and the Gupta Empire of India in the 6th century), the Dayuan of Central Asia’s Fergana Valley (in what is known as the “War of the Heavenly Horses”), the Austroasiatic / Austronesian kingdom of Nanyue (located in modern-day south-eastern China and northern Vietnam), and the Dian kingdom (located in modern Yunnan, south-western China, possibly Tibeto-Burman speakers). Emperor Wu is also known for sending the envoy Zhang Qian to the Greco-Bactrian kingdom of modern-day Tajikistan and Afghanistan, being the first direct contact between ancient China and a Mediterranean civilization, in this case the Hellenistic successors of Alexander the Great in Central Asia.