The Western Xia (西夏 Xī Xià in Chinese), also known as the Tangut Empire, was an ancient empire in what is now western China.
The Western Xia existed as an empire from 1038 to 1227 in what is today north western China, in the provinces that are now Ningxia and Gansu.
Their empire was completely destroyed by the Mongol Empire, after infuriating Genghis Khan for not aiding his military campaign against the Khwarezmia in the Middle East. The destruction was violent and absolute, and was considered an early successful example of ethnocide. There were however Tangut communities around China recorded for many centuries afterwards. The Tangut culture was notable for its military and literary achievements, as well as its incredibly difficult writing script. Whilst looking superficially similar to traditional Chinese script it is in fact a completely different system and not mutually intelligible.
Traveling to see Tangut history is challenging, given that the Mongols were very successful in annihilating this empire and the remaining ruins and literature are few and far between. Their remaining descendants are unfortunately no longer identifiable as Tangut, having been dispersed widely and absorbed into other Chinese, Tibetan and perhaps even Indian ethnic groups.
The Tangut language is extinct, although it is most closely related today to the Northern Qiang language spoken by the Qiang people in Sichuan Province.