Ba (state)

Ba (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 ethnic minority Tujia people trace some of their origins back to the Ba people.

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.