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.
Han–Xiongnu War
Due to the many losses inflicted on the Xiongnu, rebellion soon broke out and former enslaved people rose up in arms. Around 80 BC, the Xiongnu attacked the Wusun in a punitive campaign and soon the Wusun monarch requested military support from the Han empire. In 72 BC, the joint forces of the Wusun and Han invaded the territory of the Luli King of the Right. Around 40,000 Xiongnu people and many of their livestock were captured before their city was sacked after the battle. The very next year, various tribes invaded and raided the Xiongnu territory from all fronts; Wusun from the west, Dingling from the north, and Wuhuan from the east. The Han forces had set out in five columns and invaded from the south. According to "Hanshu", this event marks the beginning of Xiongnu decline and the dismantlement of the confederation.