Noin-Ula burial site
Many immigrants lived in the Xiongnu pasturelands, but at first they did not mix with the Xiongnu. To be a Xiongnu, one had to be a member of a clan, born of Xiongnu parents. The newcomers were well off, but were outsiders, and could marry only among themselves, not the Xiongnu. Only later did they intermix, increase in numbers, even created a state that existed from 318 to 350 AD.
Xiongnu
After Modu, later leaders formed a dualistic system of political organisation with the left and right branches of the Xiongnu divided on a regional basis. The "chanyu" or "shanyu", a ruler equivalent to the Emperor of China, exercised direct authority over the central territory. Longcheng (蘢城), near the Orkhon inscriptions in modern Mongolia, became the annual meeting place and served as the Xiongnu capital.