game-animals. He had with him some who were not shooting at the things the whistling arrowhead(s) were shot at, and he beheaded them on the spot. That being done, Modu, with a whistling arrowhead, shot at one of his own good horses. At his left and his right, some did not dare to shoot at all. Modu straightaway beheaded them. [Next,] he waited, a while passed, and, again with a whistling arrowhead, he shot at his own beloved wife. At his left and his right, there were some who were quite afraid, and did not dare shoot, and he again beheaded them. A while passed, and Modu went out hunting. With a whistling arrowhead, he shot at one of the chanyu's good horses. At [his] left and right, all shot at it. Modu thereupon knew that his left and right could be used [for the task]. He went along, on a hunt of his father, the chanyu Touman, and shot at Touman with a whistling arrowhead. Those at his left and right, all following the whistling arrowhead, shot and killed Touman. They put to death both his stepmother and the younger brother and even some important retainers who did not obey and go along. Modu thereupon installed himself and became chanyu. Footnotes References Watson, Burton. (1993). Records of the Grand Historian by Sima Qian. Translated by Burton Watson. Revised Edition. Columbia University Press. . Beckwith, Christopher I. (2009): Empires of the Silk Road: A History of Central Eurasia from the Bronze Age to the Present. Princeton: Princeton University Press. . Yap, Joseph P. (2009). Wars With The Xiongnu, A Translation from Zizhi tongjian. AuthorHouse, Bloomington, Indiana, U.S.A. . Introduction and Chapter 2. Doerfer, Gerhard (1963-1975). Türkische und Mongolische Elemente im Neupersischen. 4 vols. Wiesbaden: Franz Steiner. OCLC accession number 01543707 on Worldcat.org, where no ISBN found. Ban Gu 班固. (89 AD). Han shu 漢書. Steingass, Francis Joseph. (1892; Fifth Impression, 1963; ...). A Comprehensive Persian-English Dictionary. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Limited. External links All Empires: The Xiongnu Empire Xiongnu Chanyus 3rd-century BC rulers in Asia Founding monarchs Leaders ousted by a coup de:Teoman