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Juqu clan and Northern Liang dynasty (401–460)

The Juqu clan were a Lushuihu family that founded the Northern Liang dynasty in modern-day Gansu in 397. Recent historiographies often classify the Northern Liang as a "Xiongnu" state, but there is still ongoing debate on the exact origin of the Lushuihu. A leading theory is that the Lushuihu were descendants of the Lesser Yuezhi that had intermingled with the Qiang people, but based on the fact that the Juqu's ancestors once served the Xiongnu empire, the Lushuihu could still be considered a branch of the Xiongnu. Regardless, contemporaneous records treat the Lushuihu as a distinct ethnic group. The Northern Liang was known for its propagation of Buddhism in Gansu through their construction of Buddhist sites such as the Tiantishan and Mogao caves, and for being the last of the so-called Sixteen Kingdoms after it was conquered by the Northern Wei dynasty in 439. There was also the Northern Liang of Gaochang, which existed between 442 and 460.