State of Ba

巴國

?–316 BC

Capital

Yíchéng (夷城)
Píngdū (平都)
Zhǐ (枳)
Jīangzhōu (江州)
Diànjīang (垫江)
Langzhong

Government

Monarchy

History

•

Established

•

Disestablished

316 BC

Succeeded by

Qin (state)

Ba (Chinese: 巴; pinyin: Bā; literally: "a pictograph for 'snake', linguistically meaning "cling" and "handle"") was an ancient state in eastern Sichuan, China. Its original capital was Yicheng (Enshi City), Hubei. Ba was conquered by Qin in 316 BC. The modern minority Tujia people trace some of their origins back to the people of Ba.

Ba, often described as a loose confederation or a collection of chiefdoms, consisted of several loosely affiliated independent clans who recognised a king. The Ba clans were highly diverse, being composed of multiple ethnicities. Archaeological evidence shows that the Ba people relied primarily on fishing and hunting, with low levels of agriculture and no evidence of irrigation.

Ba originally included territory in the Han Valley and had its capital at Yicheng, Hubei; however the ascendance of Chu pushed Ba westwards and further into the Sichuan Basin. Chu expansion also forced Ba to move its capital several times. According to the 4th century CE Chronicles of Huayang by Chang Qu, capitals or administrative centers of Ba included Jiangzhou (Chongqing), Dianjiang (Hechuan District), and Pingdu (Fengdu), with its final capital at Langzhong. During the Warring States period, Qin, Chu and Shu, all more powerful states, shared a common border with Ba.

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Wikipedia