They later went on to rule the entirety of the Hexi Corridor with the key city of Guzang (姑臧, in modern Wuwei, Gansu) as their capital.

At their funeral, their nephew, Juqu Mengxun riled up the ten thousands in attendant to rebel and avenge their kin.

He was defeated early on, but his cousin, Juqu Nancheng, rallied his troops and convinced Duan Ye, the Administrator of Jiankang (建康, in modern Zhangye, Gansu) and a Han Chinese, to lead their rebellion.

However, in 400, the Administrator of Dunhuang, Li Gao rebelled in his commandery and established the Western Liang, taking over the westernmost region and attracting the local Han Chinese.

He repelled several attacks by Southern Liang, and in 410, even besieged their capital Guzang (姑臧, in modern Wuwei, Gansu) but without success.

By 421, he captured their capital, Jiuquan and destroyed their last pocket of resistance in Dunhuang, ending the Western Liang.

Previously, Northern Liang had submitted to the Eastern Jin in the south vassal, and they continued to send tribute to their successor, the Liu Song, who affirmed Mengxun's imperial title in 423.

Meanwhile, he was also a vassal to the Liu Song, who he engaged with in cultural exchange by trading literature works from their respective territories.

The Northern Liang was the last of the so-called Sixteen Kingdoms, and their fall in 439 marked a formal end to the period.

[5] The Juqu were strong propagators of Buddhism, and it was during the Northern Liang that the first Buddhist cave shrine sites appear in Gansu Province.

Maijishan lies more or less on a main route connecting China proper and Central Asia (approximately 150 miles (240 km) west of modern Xi'an), just south of the Weihe (Wei River).

It had the additional advantage of located not too distant from a main route that also ran N-S to Chengdu and the Indian subcontinent.