It was first established as Yanran at Shanyu Tai, southwest of present-day Urat Middle Banner, the northern slope of Lang Shan. This was later shifted to Hanhai a short period before it was changed to Anbei. The seat of governance remained there until the year 687.
In 646 the Tang dynasty conquered the Xueyantuo and on 9 January 647, thirteen Tiele and Uyghur tribes surrendered to the Tang. Tang Taizong organized them into six commanderies and seven tributary prefectures under the Jimi system. The six commanderies were Hanhai (翰海府), Jinwei (金微府), Yanran (燕然府), Youling (幽陵府), Guilin (龜林府), and Lushan (盧山府). The seven prefectures were Gaolan (皐蘭州), Gaoque (高闕州), Jilu (雞鹿州), Jitian (雞田州), Yuxi (榆溪州), Dailin (蹛林州), and Douyan (竇顏州). Collectively these were known as the "Cantian Khan Circuit." On 10 April the Yanran Protectorate was created at the foothills of the Shanyu Plateau, southwest of present-day Urad Middle Banner, and governorship of the 13 tribes was handed over to the protector general, Li Suli (李素立), who served from 647 to 649.
In 650, the Tang set up Wolf Mountain Prefecture where the Karluks lived under the jurisdiction of Hanhai.[1]
On 5 February 663 the Yanran Protectorate (on the northern bank of the Wujia River[2]) was renamed Hanhai Protectorate.[3]
In 663, the Yunzhong Protectorate was created from Hanhai. The Yunzhong Protectorate was renamed to Chanyu Protectorate in 664 and located northwest of Horinger and south of Hohhot.[4]
In August 669 the Hanhai Protectorate was renamed the Protectorate General to Pacify the North, otherwise known as the Anbei Duhufu.[5]
In 683, Ilterish Qaghan besieged the Chanyu Protectorate and killed the adjutant Zhang Xingshi.[7]
In 686, the status of the Chanyu Protectorate was downgraded to zhenshou shi (defense commissioner).[8][9]
In 687 the seat of Anbei was moved to the east of Tsetserleg, then Tongcheng southeast of Ejin Banner (one source gives this a date of 685), then Xi'an northwest of Minle and southeast of Zhangye.[5][10]
In 698 the seat was moved to the old town of Yunzhong to the northwest of Horinger.[5]
In 714 the Chanyu Protectorate was revived in Yunzhong while Anbei was re-located to the Middle Shouxiang city, near modern Baotou.[11]
In 749 the seat was moved to the military settlement of Hengsai, near modern-day Urad Middle Banner.[5]
Due to unfavorable farming conditions near the Hengsai settlement, Guo Ziyi resettled the army near modern Urad Front Banner in 755 and renamed it Da'an and then Tiande Army.[5]
Following the An Lushan Rebellion from 755-763, the Chanyu and Anbei protectorates lost any real authority and survived in name only. Due to the taboo of An Lushan's name, the Anbei Protectorate was renamed the Zhenbei Protectorate in 757, which meant "Protectorate General to Suppress the North."[5] In 758, it was relocated to Western Shouxiang city.[12] The Chanyu Protectorate came under control of the Zhenwu Jiedushi (758-764).[13]
In 840 a group of Uyghurs attacked the Tiande Army.[14]
In 843 the Chanyu Protectorate was renamed back to Anbei Protectorate.[8]
Andrade, Tonio (2016), The Gunpowder Age: China, Military Innovation, and the Rise of the West in World History, Princeton University Press, ISBN978-0-691-13597-7.
Asimov, M.S. (1998), History of civilizations of Central Asia Volume IV The age of achievement: A.D. 750 to the end of the fifteenth century Part One The historical, social and economic setting, UNESCO Publishing
Barfield, Thomas (1989), The Perilous Frontier: Nomadic Empires and China, Basil Blackwell
Beckwith, Christopher I (1987), The Tibetan Empire in Central Asia: A History of the Struggle for Great Power among Tibetans, Turks, Arabs, and Chinese during the Early Middle Ages, Princeton University Press
Bregel, Yuri (2003), An Historical Atlas of Central Asia, Brill
Drompp, Michael Robert (2005), Tang China And The Collapse Of The Uighur Empire: A Documentary History, Brill
Golden, Peter B. (1992), An Introduction to the History of the Turkic Peoples: Ethnogenesis and State-Formation in Medieval and Early Modern Eurasia and the Middle East, OTTO HARRASSOWITZ · WIESBADEN
Skaff, Jonathan Karam (2012), Sui-Tang China and Its Turko-Mongol Neighbors: Culture, Power, and Connections, 580-800 (Oxford Studies in Early Empires), Oxford University Press
Wang, Zhenping (2013), Tang China in Multi-Polar Asia: A History of Diplomacy and War, University of Hawaii Press
Wilkinson, Endymion (2015). Chinese History: A New Manual, 4th edition. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Asia Center distributed by Harvard University Press. ISBN9780674088467.
Xiong, Victor Cunrui (2000), Sui-Tang Chang'an: A Study in the Urban History of Late Medieval China (Michigan Monographs in Chinese Studies), U OF M CENTER FOR CHINESE STUDIES, ISBN0892641371
Xiong, Victor Cunrui (2008), Historical Dictionary of Medieval China, United States of America: Scarecrow Press, Inc., ISBN978-0810860537