Southern Liang (Sixteen Kingdoms)

Southern Liang (南涼) 西平 (397), 武威 (397–401), 河西 (401–402), 涼 (402–404; 408–414)
397–404, 408–414
Status	Vassal of Later Qin
Capital	Lianchuan (397–399) Ledu (399, 402–406, 410–414) Xiping (399–402) Guzang (406–410)
Government	Monarchy
Prince
• 397–399	Tufa Wugu
• 399–402	Tufa Lilugu
• 402–414	Tufa Nutan
Preceded by Succeeded by Later Liang (Sixteen Kingdoms) Western Qin Northern Liang
Today part of	China

The Southern Liang (Chinese: 南涼; pinyin: Nán Liáng; 397–404, 408–414) was a dynastic state of China listed as one of the Sixteen Kingdoms in Chinese historiography. Members of the ruling Tufa clan were of Xianbei ethnicity and distant relatives of the Tuoba imperial house of the Northern Wei dynasty. According to the Book of Jin, the surname of the ruling house was changed from Tuoba to Tufa because one of the Tufa ancestors was born on a blanket, and in the Xianbei language, "Tufa" meant "blanket."^[1]

All rulers of the Southern Liang proclaimed themselves wang (king). The state was briefly discontinued in 404 after Tufa Rutan surrendered to the Later Qin, but restored in 408. As the state grew in power, the Tufa rulers also elevated their peerages before claiming the title of King of Liang in 402. It was hence only known as "Liang" (涼) from 402 to 404 and 408 to 414. They are given the prefix of "Southern" in historiography as they were based south of the other Liang states in northeastern Qinghai, although after occupying central Gansu, they briefly shifted the capital to the major city of Guzang (姑臧, in modern Wuwei, Gansu).