Táozhōu

Taozhou was a frontier center on the Tao River in southern Gansu, around present-day Lintan. Formerly held by the Gusiluo regime, it later passed to the Mongols.

In 1379 the Ming established Taozhou Guard and a tea-and-horse office, making the area a gateway to the Tibetan plateau. The Choni chief Xierdi submitted in 1404 and received a hereditary military title in 1418; his successor Wangxiu received the surname Yang at court in 1509. In 1748 the Qing replaced the guard with Taozhou Subprefecture.