This article is about the Khitan-ruled state. For the Turkic-ruled state, see Kara-Khanid Khanate.
Great Liao
大遼
1124–1218
1160
KHWARAZM SHAHS
CUMANS
KIMEK-KIPCHAKS
SELJUK EMPIRE
GHURIDS
KIEVAN RUS'
GHAZNAVID EMPIRE
WESTERN CHALUKYAS
PALA EMPIRE
KHAMAG MONGOL
WESTERN XIA
QARA KHITAI
QOCHO
Naimans
◁ ▷
Territory of the Qara Khitai ("Western Liao") and main neighbouring polities, circa 1160
Qara Khitai c. 1160
Status
Sinicized Khitan-ruled empire in Central Asia
Capital
Balasagun
Common languages
Khitan[1]
Middle Chinese (administrative)[2][3]
Persian[1]
Old Uyghur[1]
Religion
Buddhism[2]
Church of the East[2]
Demonym(s)
Kara Khitan
Government
Monarchy
Emperor
• 1124–1143
Emperor Dezong
• 1144–1150
Empress Gantian (regent)
• 1150–1164
Emperor Renzong
• 1164–1178
Empress Dowager Chengtian (regent)
• 1178–1211
Yelü Zhilugu
• 1211–1218
Kuchlug
Historical era
Middle Ages
• Yelü Dashi proclaims himself king
1124
• Fall of Liao dynasty
1125
• Yelü Dashi adopts the titles of Emperor and Gurkhan
1132
• Yelü Dashi captures Balasagun and establishes capital
1134
• Kuchlug usurps power
1211
• Kuchlug executed by Mongols
1218
• All former territories fully absorbed into Mongol Empire
1220
Area
1130 est.[4]
1,000,000 km2 (390,000 sq mi)
1210 est.[5]
1,500,000 km2 (580,000 sq mi)
Currency
cash coins
Preceded by
Succeeded by
Liao dynasty
Kara-Khanid Khanate
Qocho Kingdom
Sogdia
Seljuk Empire
Mongol Empire
Khwarazmian Empire
The Qara Khitai, or Kara Khitai (simplified Chinese: 哈剌契丹; traditional Chinese: 喀喇契丹; pinyin: Kālā Qìdān or Chinese: 黑契丹; pinyin: Hēi Qìdān; lit. 'Black Khitan'),[6] also known as the Western Liao (Chinese: 西遼; pinyin: Xī Liáo), officially the Great Liao (Chinese: 大遼; pinyin: Dà Liáo),[7][8] was a dynastic regime based in Central Asia ruled by the Yelü clan of the Khitan people.[9] Being a rump state of the Khitan-led Liao dynasty, Western Liao was culturally Sinicized to a large extent, especially among the elites consisting of Liao refugees.[9][10][11]
The dynasty was founded by Yelü Dashi (Emperor Dezong), who led the remnants of the Liao dynasty from Manchuria to Central Asia after fleeing from the Jurchen-led Jin dynasty conquest of northern China. The empire was usurped by the Naimans under Kuchlug in 1211; traditional Chinese, Persian, and Arab sources consider the usurpation to be the end of the dynasty,[12] even though the empire would not fall until the Mongol conquest in 1218. Some remnants of the Qara Khitai would form the Qutlugh-Khanid dynasty in southern Iran.
The territories of the Qara Khitai corresponded to parts of modern-day China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. The Anushtegin dynasty, the Karluks, Qocho kingdom, the Kankalis, and the Kara-Khanid Khanate were vassal states of the Qara Khitai at some point in history. Chinese and Muslim historiographical sources, such as the History of Liao, considered the Qara Khitai to be a legitimate Chinese dynasty.[13][14]
^ abcBiran 2005, p. 94.
^ abcGrousset 1991, p. 165.
^Pozzi, Janhunen & Weiers 2006, p. 114.
^Taagepera, Rein (September 1997). "Expansion and Contraction Patterns of Large Polities: Context for Russia". International Studies Quarterly. 41 (3): 497. doi:10.1111/0020-8833.00053. JSTOR 2600793.
^Turchin, Peter; Adams, Jonathan M.; Hall, Thomas D. (December 2006). "East-West Orientation of Historical Empires". Journal of World-Systems Research. 12 (2): 222. ISSN 1076-156X. Retrieved 16 September 2016.
^Lamb, Harold (1927). Genghis Khan: Emperor of All Men. International Collectors Library. p. 53.
^Morgan & Stewart 2017, p. 57.
^中国历史大辞典：辽夏金元史 (in Chinese (China)). 1986. p. 131.
^ abSicker, Martin (2000). The Islamic World in Ascendancy: From the Arab Conquests to the Siege of Vienna. Bloomsbury Academic. p. 57. ISBN 9780275968922.
^Grousset, René (1970). The Empire of the Steppes: A History of Central Asia. Rutgers University Press. p. 166. ISBN 9780813513041.
^Komaroff, Linda (2006). Beyond the Legacy of Genghis Khan. BRILL. p. 77. ISBN 9789047418573.
^Biran 2005, p. 2.
^Biran, Michal (30 June 2020). "The Qara Khitai" (PDF). Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Asian History. doi:10.1093/acrefore/9780190277727.013.59. ISBN 978-0-19-027772-7. The Qara Khitai or Western Liao 西遼 dynasty (1124–1218) is the only dynasty that did not rule any part of China proper but is still considered a Chinese dynasty by both Chinese and Muslim historiography.
^Biran 2005, p. 93, "Though firmly located in Central Asia, the Qara Khitai or Western Liao is considered by the Liao Shi to be a legitimate Chinese dynasty, whose basic annals follow that of the proper Liao".
The QaraKhitai, or Kara Khitai (simplified Chinese: 哈剌契丹; traditional Chinese: 喀喇契丹; pinyin: Kālā Qìdān or Chinese: 黑契丹; pinyin: Hēi Qìdān; lit. 'Black...
The Mongol Empire conquered the QaraKhitai (Western Liao Empire) in the year 1218 AD. Prior to the invasion, war with the Khwarazmian Empire and the...
Iran from 1077 to 1231; first as vassals of the Seljuk Empire and the QaraKhitai (Western Liao dynasty), and from circa 1190 as independent rulers up...
capital Zhongdu. His general Jebe annexed the Central Asian state of QaraKhitai in 1218. Genghis was provoked to invade the Khwarazmian Empire the following...
and Naimans (which involved forays into Cumania) and the conquest of QaraKhitai. These were followed by a major campaign against Khwarazm. Expansion...
Liao" or "QaraKhitai". Due to the dominance of the Khitans during the Liao dynasty in Northeast China and Mongolia and later the QaraKhitai in Central...
dynasty of China. QaraKhitai monarchs used the title of "Chinese emperor", and were also called the "Khan of Chīn". The QaraKhitai used the "image of...
Turkish rivals Khwarazmians aided by timely reinforcements from the QaraKhitais, which resulted in the Ghurid power ebbing out in most of the Khurasan...
approximate period of 1077 to 1231, first as vassals of the Seljuks and the QaraKhitai (Western Liao), and later as independent rulers, up until the Mongol...
defeat against the Khwrezmians aided by timely reinforcements from the QaraKhitais in the Battle of Andkhud in 1204. Muhammad was assassinated soon after...
in Central Asia. The campaign, which followed the annexation of the QaraKhitai Khanate, saw widespread devastation and atrocities. The invasion marked...
of Qatwan (Chinese: 卡特萬之戰) was fought in September 1141 between the QaraKhitai (Western Liao dynasty) and the Seljuk Empire and its vassal-state the...
and joined the empire. He then continued expansion via conquest of the QaraKhitai and of the Khwarazmian Empire. Large areas of Islamic Central Asia and...
the QaraKhitais. At last In 1210, the Sultan asked help from Kuchlug Khan, a prince of the Naimans and the leader of them, to defeat QaraKhitais. Kuchlug...
was fought between the Ghurid forces of Muhammad of Ghor against the QaraKhitai forces (as aid of Khwarazmian Empire) led by Tayangu of Taraz. The battle...
of Kirman the early 13th century after the conquest of the sinicised QaraKhitai (Western Liao dynasty) by the Mongol Empire. The dynasty founded by Buraq...
It was the official language of the Liao Empire (907–1125) and the QaraKhitai (1124–1218). Khitan appears to have been related to the Mongolic languages;...
many Khitans followed Yelü Dashi's group westward to establish the QaraKhitai or Western Liao dynasty, in Central Asia, which lasted nearly a century...
defeated by the QaraKhitai at the battle of Qatwan, and Anush Tigin's grandson Ala ad-Din Atsiz became a vassal to Yelü Dashi of the Qara Khitan. Sultan...
QaraKhitai, the Qipchaq of the northern steppes, and the Qarakhanids) for much of his reign. He initially maintained cordial relations with the Qara...
placed him on the throne. The elder son, Ala ad-Din Tekish, fled to the QaraKhitai and asked for them to enthrone him in place of his brother, promising...
pinyin: Ā hémǎ; before 1242 — 10 April 1282) was a Persian Muslim from the QaraKhitai (Western Liao dynasty) who served as finance minister of the Yuan dynasty...
Silverberg connects this account with historic events of 1141, when the QaraKhitai khanate under Yelü Dashi defeated the Seljuk Turks in the Battle of Qatwan...
Mongolia and China, roughly corresponding to the area once ruled by the QaraKhitai (Western Liao dynasty). Initially, the rulers of the Chagatai Khanate...
theory sees the name as a cognate with the Mongolian хар/khar and Turkic qarā for "black, swarthy". There have been various other Mongol and Turkic tribes...
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