According to Han historian, Sima Qian, it was established in 279 BCE when King Qingxiang of Chu sent a military force to the southwest.

When the Chu homeland was invaded by the Qin, Zhuang Qiao decided to stay in Yunnan and adopt the native ways, establishing the Dian kingdom.

In 122 BCE, Emperor Wu dispatched four groups of envoys to the southwest in search of a route to Daxia in Central Asia.

However they learned that further west there was a kingdom called Dianyue where the people rode elephants and traded with the merchants from Shu in secret.

[11] In 111 BCE, Emperor Wu of Han ordered the barbarian tribes of Jianwei Commandery to raise troops for the campaign against Nanyue.

After Nanyue was defeated, Han forces turned north and subjugated the various tribes of Yelang, Julan, Toulan, Qiong, Zuo, Ran, and Mang.

[15] Emperor Wu sent Wang Ranyu to persuade the king of Dian to submit, pointing out that many of the neighboring tribes had already been defeated.

The king of Dian was initially reluctant to accept the offer for he still possessed some 30,000 troops as well as the allegiance of the nearby Laojin and Mimo tribes.

While Dian became Yizhou Commandery, the king was allowed to continue his rule until a rebellion during the reign of Emperor Zhao of Han.

[21] The largest tin deposits on the Eurasian continent are located on the Malay peninsula,[citation needed] and as such, the Dian people were sophisticated metal workers, casting both bronze and iron.

[21] Iaroslav Lebedynsky and Victor H. Mair speculate that some Sakas may also have migrated to the area of Yunnan in southern China following their expulsion by the Yuezhi in the 2nd century BCE.

Excavations of the prehistoric art of the Dian civilization of Yunnan have revealed hunting scenes similar to that of Indo-European artwork depicting horsemen in Central Asian clothing.

The kingdom was based on agriculture, the bronzes also showed head hunting, human sacrifice, and slaves as part of Dian society.

[25][26][27][28] Archaeologists recently discovered the inundated remains of Dian-period buildings and pottery fragments under Fuxian Lake and were able to verify their age with carbon dating.