The Xiongnu rose to great power and became a tribal confederation during the third and second centuries B.C. Xiongnu rulers had consolidated power over much of the steppe and held control over the powerful Han Dynasty in China during the early second century B.C. The size of the empire significantly increased trade with the western world. It is to this period of Xiongnu power that historians traditionally date the beginnings of the Silk Road across Eurasia.
