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Medieval Tibeto Burman ethnic group of Western Xia

The Tangut language, otherwise known as Fan, belongs to the Tibeto Burman branch of the Sino Tibetan language family. Like many other Sino Tibetan languages, it is a tonal language with predominantly mono syllabic roots, but it shares certain grammatical traits central to the Tibeto Burman branch. It used to be debated as to whether Tangut belonged to the Yi or Qiangic subdivision of Tibeto Burman. The Tanguts, called the Dangxiang in Chinese, are typically regarded by Chinese scholars to be synonymous with or at least related to the Qiang people. Historically, "Qiang" was a collective term for the multiple ethnic groups who lived on the western borderlands of China, including the modern Qiang people (Rma). The name Tangut first appears in the Orkhon inscriptions of 735. In their own Tangut language, the Tanguts called themselves Mi niah (Miñak). Until the 19th century, the term Minjak was still used to refer to the area inhabited by Qiang people in today's Ngawa Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture. Speakers of the Qiangic Muya language in western Kangding calls themselves Minyak. Geographic names such as Min river and Min county (Gansu) are pointed to this root.

According to William of Rubruck, who travelled to various parts of the Mongol Empire in the 13th century, the Tanguts were valiant and had big swarthy men among them, in contrast to the Uyghurs, who were "of medium size, like us".

The early Tanguts inhabited the steppes and mountains of southeast Qinghai and northwest Sichuan. Their home originally was in the highlands of western Sichuan. These regions correspond to the Amdo and Kham regions of the Tibetan plateau. At some point their leader Tuoba Chici, who was likely of mixed Xianbei and Qiang heritage, submitted to Tang China rule and was bestowed the title of Captain General of Western Rong and the surname "Li". In the early 8th century, increasing pressure from the Tibetan Empire had forced the Tanguts to migrate north from their homelands in northeastern Tibet to the eastern Ordos region. By the time of the An Lushan Rebellion (755–763), the Tanguts were the predominant local power in what is now eastern Gansu, Ningxia, and northern Shaanxi.

In 881 the Tanguts, who were subjects of Tang China, assisted Tang in suppressing the Huang Chao rebellion. As a reward the Tang central government granted the Tangut general Li Sigong the three prefectures of Xia (, Tangut: ), Sui (, Tangut: ), and Yin (, Tangut: ) as hereditary titles under the Dingnan Jiedushi. After the collapse of Tang China, multiple warlords started to form new states in the former territories of Tang China. The Tanguts expanded their realm southwest towards their old homelands. In 1002 they conquered Ling Prefecture and set up their first capital there under the name of Xiping. By 1036 they had annexed the Guiyi Circuit and the Ganzhou Uyghur Kingdom, even pushing into Tibetan territory and conquering Xining. The state of Western Xia was proclaimed in 1038. Being subjects of Tang China previously for two centuries, the Tangut people adopted many Han/Tang Chinese culture, but also maintained their own customs, as is proven by the vast amount of literature which survived the Tangut state itself. The Western Xia founder Li Deming's son, Li Yuanhao, enthroned as Emperor Jingzong, sought to differentiate the Tangut state from that of its rival Han led Song China and started to nurture a national Tangut identity by ordering the creation of an official Tangut script and by instituting laws that reinforced traditional Tangut customs. One of the laws he mandated called for citizens to wear traditional ethnic apparel and another required men to wear their hair short or shaved as opposed to the Chinese custom of wearing hair long and knotted. Abandoning the royal Chinese surnames of "Li", previously bestowed by the Tang dynasty Li royal family, and "Zhao", subsequently bestowed by the Song dynasty Zhao royal family, he adopted a Tangut surname , rendered in Chinese as "Weiming" He made Xingqing (, modern Yinchuan) his capital city. In the thirteenth century, Genghis Khan unified the northern grasslands of Mongolia and led his troops in six rounds of attacks against the Western Xia over a period of twenty two years (1205, 1207, 1209–10, 1211–13, 1214–19, 1225–27). During the last spate of the Mongol attacks, Genghis died in Western Xia territory. The official Mongol history attributes his death to illness, whereas legends claim that he died from a wound inflicted in these battles. In 1227, the capital of Western Xia was overrun by the Mongols, who devastated its buildings and written records: all was burnt to the ground except its monastery. The last emperor was killed and tens of thousands of civilians massacred. However, many Tangut families joined the Mongol Empire. Some of them led Mongol armies, e. g. Cha'an, into the conquest of China. After the Yuan dynasty (1271–1368) was established, the Tangut troops were incorporated into the Mongol army in their subsequent military conquests in central and southern China. The Tangut were considered Semu under the Yuan class system, thus separating them from the North Chinese. As late as the Ming dynasty (1368–1644), there was evidence of small Tangut communities in Anhui and Henan provinces. The people including members of the royal clan emigrated to western Sichuan, northern Tibet, even possibly northeast India, in some instances becoming local rulers. The Tangut people living in Central China preserved their language until at least the 16th century.

Tangut society was divided into two classes: the "Red Faced" and the "Black Headed". The Red Faced Tanguts were seen as commoners while the Black Headed Tanguts made up the elite priestly caste. Although Buddhism was extremely popular among the Tangut people, many Tangut herdsmen continued to practice a kind of shamanism known as Root West (Melie). The black caps worn by Root West shamans give the Black Headed caste its name. According to Tangut myth, the ancestor of the Black Headed Tanguts was a heavenly white crane, while the ancestor of the Red Faced Tanguts was a monkey. Tangut kings went by the title of Wuzu. According to sources in the Tangut language, the Tangut state known now as the Western Xia was named translated as "Great State of White and Lofty" (phôn¹ mbın² lhi̯ə tha²). Although the Chinese translation of this name was occasionally used in Tangut sources, the state was most commonly referred to as the "Great Xia" (大夏) in Chinese language sources of the Tangut or as the "Xia State" to the Song. In later historiography and in modern Chinese the Tangut state is referred to as the "Western Xia" (Xī Xià 西夏). The Mongols and other steppe tribes referred to the Tangut kingdom as "Qashi" or "Qashin", which was derived from the Middle Chinese name for Hexi, the region the Tanguts controlled .