The Bai enter in the history during the Tang dynasty, when together with the Yi established the Kingdom of Nanzhao whose first king Puluoge, was called King of Yunnan.

The Kingdom of Nanzhao was the most powerful political structure in the south of China from 8th to 10th century, who thanks to their game of alliances with the Chinese and the Tibetan, kept the domain of the south of China and the north of the neighboring countries. The Kingdom of Nanzhao became an important commercial centre, in the middle of the commercial routes that linked China with Burma; as well as a religious centre where the Buddhist art flourished.

Chinese historians consider that Nanzhao Kingdom was formed by an aristocratic ruling elite, mainly of Yi stratum, and a mass of people of Bai stock. During this time it is built the Cangshan channel that allowed the irrigation of thousands of hectares of earth. The agriculture prospered the arts and the culture flourished. The Kingdom of Nanzhao disintegrated after 250 years of existence. The inequalities inside their society lead to its extinction in the year 902.

After some years of disorder a new centre of power, the called Dali Kingdom, arose. The Dali Kingdom (937-1253) was the more powerful political entity in Yunnan till it was conquered by the Mongolian army of Kublai Khan.

There is also some national controversy about the ethnic composition of Dali Kingdom. While Chinese historians have no doubt that is a mainly Bai kingdom, Thailand historians suggest that the ancestors of the Dai were the ruler of this kingdom.

Anyway, the years that follow the Mongolian conquest of Yunnan, and the establishment of the Yuan dynasty, were lived as a peaceful dynastic change in Yunnan lands. Only after the Ming emperors consolidated their power in the Central Plains, they started the effective control of Yunnan. From then on Chinese and Bai cohabit peaceful in this region of Yunnan. Many of the Bai nobility kept their political power until the end of the Chinese dynasties. Dali was the main political, economical and trading center in Yunnan.

During the dynastic times have been some occasional uprisings. The most important of them was the Muslims lead Panthay Rebellion that in the 19th century created a country seeking recognition by the European powers.
After more than a decade of rule over Yunnan, the Panthay regimen was overturned in one of the bloodiest wars in the province. The bloodshed that followed the end of Panthay Rebellion left its marks well into the 20th century, when the Republican and Communist administration narrowed their control of Bai lands.

Nowadays more of the Bai, living as lowland farmers around Erhai Lake, have a quiet live working in their rice fields, only disturbed by the occasional arrival of a bus loaded with tourists.