The Xianbei were an ancient nomadic people in northern East Asia who developed a distinct cultural and political identity by the 1st century BC. They inhabited regions spanning parts of present-day northeastern China, Inner Mongolia, and the eastern Eurasian steppe. Several Xianbei groups formed ruling regimes, with early political center around present-day Datong in Shanxi. The Xianbei were likely not of a single ethnicity, but rather a multilingual, multi-ethnic confederation consisting of mainly Proto-Mongols, and, to a minor degree, Tungusic and Turkic peoples. They originated from the Donghu people who splintered into the Wuhuan and Xianbei when they were defeated by the Xiongnu at the end of the 3rd century BC. Following the split, the Xianbei people did not have direct contact with the Han dynasty, residing to the north of the Wuhuan. In the 1st century BC, the Xianbei began actively engaging in the struggle between the Han and Xiongnu, culminating in the Xianbei replacing the Xiongnu on the Mongolian Plateau.