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Qara Khitai

Qara Khitai
Western Liao
Kara Khitan (喀喇契丹)
大遼 (Great Liao)
Sinicized Khitan empire
in Central Asia
1124–1218
Qara Khitai in Asia, c. 1200.
Capital Balasagun
Languages
Religion
Government Monarchy
Khan
 •  1124–1143 Dezong (Yelü Dashi)
 •  1144–1150 Xiao Tabuyan (regent)
 •  1150–1164 Renzong (Yelü Yilie)
 •  1164–1178 Yelü Pusuwan (regent)
 •  1178–1211 Yelü Zhilugu
 •  1211–1218 Kuchlug
Historical era Middle Ages
 •  Fall of Liao dynasty 1125
 •  Established 1124
 •  Yelü captures Balasagun 1134
 •  Kuchlug usurps power 1211
 •  Kuchlug executed by Mongols 1218
 •  All former territories fully absorbed into Mongol Empire 1220
Area
 •  1210 est. 2,500,000 km² (965,255 sq mi)
Preceded by
Succeeded by
Song-Liao-Xixia-1111.png Liao dynasty
KaraKhanidAD1000.png Kara-Khanid Khanate
Mongol Empire
Today part of


The Qara Khitai (alternatively spelled Kara Khitai, Mongolian: Хар Хятан, 1124–1218), also known as the Kara Khitan Khanate or Western Liao (traditional Chinese: 西遼; simplified Chinese: 西辽; pinyin: Xī Liáo), officially the Great Liao (traditional Chinese: 大遼; simplified Chinese: 大辽; pinyin: Dà Liáo), was a sinicized Khitan empire in Central Asia. The dynasty was founded by Yelü Dashi, who led the remnants of the Liao dynasty to Central Asia after fleeing from the Jurchen conquest of their homeland in the north and northeast of modern-day China. The empire was usurped by the Naimans under Kuchlug in 1211; traditional Chinese, Persian, and Arab sources considered the usurpation to be the end of the Qara Khitai rule. The empire was later conquered by the Mongol Empire in 1218.

Kara Khitan (Hala Qidan) was the name used by the Khitans to refer to themselves. The phrase is often translated as the Black Khitans in Turkish, but its original meaning is unclear today. In Mongolian, "Kara-Khitan" is rendered "Хар Хятан" (Khar Kidan). Since no direct records from the empire survive today, the only surviving historical records about the empire come from outside sources. The empire took on trappings of a Chinese state, so Chinese historians generally refer to the empire as the Western Liao dynasty, emphasizing its continuation from the Liao dynasty in north and northeast China. Black Khitans (黑契丹) has also been seen used in Chinese (see illustration of "A Qara Khitan man with horse" below). The Jurchens referred to the empire as Dashi or Dashi Linya (after its founder), to reduce any claims the empire may have had to the old territories of the Liao Dynasty. Muslim historians initially referred to the state simply as Khitay or Khitai; they may have adopted this form of "Khitan" via the Uyghurs of Kocho in whose language the final -n or -ń became -y. Only after the Mongol conquest did the state begin to be referred to in the Muslim world as the Kara-Khitai or Qara-Khitai.


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Wikipedia

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