Tufa Rutan

Who was Tufa Rutan?

Tufa Rutan, formally Prince Jing of Liang, was the last prince of the Xianbei state Southern Liang. As he was the son that his father, the Xianbei chief Tufa Sifujian, considered most talented, his older brothers, the founding prince Tufa Wugu and Tufa Lilugu both decided to pass the throne to a brother, intending that he receive the throne. However, Tufa Rutan, while obviously talented as a general, is viewed by historians as being overly aggressive in waging military campaigns, and he greatly drained the resources of the Southern Liang people while doing so. Southern Liang's strength particularly waned after a major 407 defeat at the hand of the Xia emperor Liu Bobo, and it drew attacks from its neighbors Northern Liang and Western Qin. Eventually, Tufa Rutan was forced to surrender to Western Qin in 414 after Western Qin captured his capital Ledu, and he was poisoned to death a year later.