During the
Warring States period, the area was absorbed into the
Qin dynasty under
Beidi Commandery. The area was first incorporated into the
Han dynasty in 191 BCE by
Emperor Hui. In 437 CE, under the
Northern Wei, the area was incorporated as . In 526 CE, Bogulu Town was renamed as Lingzhou. In 756 CE, during the
Tang dynasty,
Emperor Suzong fled to Lingzhou during the
Anshi Rebellion, where he ascended the throne with the aid of loyal bureaucrats and military supporters, only notifying his father
Xuanzong after the fact. Lingzhou became part of the
Western Xia in 1038. It was besieged by
Genghis Khan in November 1226. On May 20, 1996, Lingwu was upgraded from a
county to a
county-level city. On October 25, 2002, Lingwu was transferred from the
prefecture-level city of
Wuzhong to
Yinchuan. == Geography ==