File:Western_Liao.png · Wikimedia Commons · See Wikimedia Commons
Qara Khitai
Sign in to saveAlso known as Kara Khitan Khanate, Western Liao, Great Liao
former country in Central Asia
Key facts
- Status
- Sinicized Khitan -ruled empire in Central Asia
- Capital
- Balasagun
- Common languages
- Khitan Middle Chinese Persian Old Uyghur
- Religion
- Buddhism Church of the East
- Demonym
- Kara Khitan
- Government
- Monarchy
- 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
- 1130 est
- 1,000,000 km (390,000 sq mi)
- 1210 est
- 1,500,000 km (580,000 sq mi)
- Currency
- cash coins
via Wikipedia infobox
Wikidata facts
- Religion
- Buddhism
- Continent
- Asia
- Capital
- Balasagun
- Image
- CEM-19-Asiae-nova-description-1610-Jodocus-Hondius-2538.jpg
Show 6 more facts
- topic's main category
- Category:Qara Khitai
- Commons category
- Kara-Khitan Khanate
- inception
- 1124-00-00
- dissolved, abolished or demolished date
- 1218-01-01
- replaces
- Liao dynasty
- replaced by
- Mongol Empire
Sources (2)
via Wikidata · CC0
~39 min read
Encyclopedic overview
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'), also known as the Western Liao (Chinese: 西遼; pinyin: Xī Liáo), officially the Great Liao (Chinese: 大遼; pinyin: Dà Liáo), was a dynastic regime based in Central Asia ruled by the Yelü clan of the Khitan people. 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.
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, 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.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Qara Khitai” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.