it is not known when juqu anzhou was born. the first historical reference to him was in 431, when juqu mengxun sent him to visit the northern wei capital pingcheng (平城, in modern datong, shanxi). the next reference to him was in 439, when the northern liang capital guzang (姑臧, in modern wuwei, gansu) was captured by northern wei forces, and juqu mujian was seized by emperor taiwu of northern wei, and northern wei forces attacked remaining cities held by juqu clan holdouts. juqu anzhou was the governor of ledu commandery (樂都, in modern haidong prefecture, qinghai) at this point, and he abandoned ledu and fled to tuyuhun. by winter 441, however, he had joined juqu wuhui at dunhuang, and juqu wuhui, who had recently lost jiuquan to northern wei, wanted to try to reestablish his rule in the western regions ("xiyu", modern xinjiang and former soviet central asia). he sent juqu anzhou to attack shanshan, but juqu anzhou could not capture it initially. in 442, however, juqu wuhui arrived to join him, and the king of shanshan, in fear, fled, and juqu wuhui took over shanshan. later that year, they would relocate to gaochang. in 444, juqu wuhui died, and juqu anzhou succeeded him.