161 BC deaths

ruler of Seleucid Empire from 164 to 161 BC

Laoshang (; r. 174–161 BCE), whose personal name was Jiyu (), was a chanyu of the Xiongnu Empire who succeeded his father Modu Chanyu in 174 BCE. Under his reign, the Xiongnu Empire continued to expand against the Yuezhi with the Xiongnu gaining control of the Hexi Corridor.

Ellalan (; ; 235–161 BCE), also referred to as Elara the Pious, and by the honorific epithet Manu Needhi Cholan, was a member of the Tamil Chola dynasty in Southern India, who upon capturing the throne became king of the Anuradhapura Kingdom, in present-day Sri Lanka, from 205 BCE to 161 BCE.

Syrian-Seleucid general mentioned in the book of Maccabees