Yelü Dashi

Yelü Dashi was a Khitan prince and military leader who founded the Western Liao dynasty, known as the Qara Khitai, in Central Asia.

Liao dynasty: A Khitan-led dynasty that ruled parts of northern China and Mongolia from 907 to 1125. Yelü Dashi belonged to its ruling Yelü clan before its fall.
Qara Khitai: A Central Asian empire founded by Khitan migrants under Yelü Dashi, also called the Western Liao dynasty. It was the state Yelü Dashi established after moving west.
Sanjar: A Seljuk sultan who ruled much of Iran and Central Asia in the first half of the twelfth century. His defeat by Yelü Dashi at Qatwan marked a sharp reversal of Seljuk power.
Western Liao dynasty: The Chinese historical name for the Qara Khitai state founded by Yelü Dashi in Central Asia. Its institutions carried Liao political traditions into a new region.
Jin dynasty (1115–1234): A Jurchen-led dynasty that conquered the Liao dynasty and ruled northern China. Its conquest of the Liao drove Yelü Dashi westward.
Battle of Qatwan: A 1141 battle in which Qara Khitai forces defeated the Seljuk sultan Sanjar near Samarkand. The victory secured Yelü Dashi’s dominance across much of Central Asia.
Yelü Pusuwan: A Qara Khitai ruler who succeeded her brother Yelü Yilie in the late twelfth century. Her reign belongs to the dynasty Yelü Dashi founded.
Mongol Empire: A vast empire founded by Genghis Khan that conquered much of Eurasia in the thirteenth century. The Mongols absorbed the Qara Khitai realm after Yelü Dashi’s dynasty weakened.
Khitan people: A historical Mongolic people who founded the Liao dynasty and later the Qara Khitai state. Yelü Dashi’s Khitan identity shaped the dynasty he founded.
Kara-Khanid Khanate: A Turkic Muslim dynasty that ruled Transoxiana and parts of eastern Central Asia. Yelü Dashi’s campaigns brought Kara-Khanid rulers under Qara Khitai overlordship.

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