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84-674: As a people descended from the proto-Mongols through the Xianbei , Khitans spoke the now-extinct Khitan language , a Para-Mongolic language related to the Mongolic languages . The Khitan people founded and led the Liao dynasty (916–1125), which dominated a vast area of Siberia, Mongolia and Northern China . The Khitans of the Liao dynasty used two independent writing systems for their language: Khitan small script and Khitan large script . After

168-494: A Khitan nobleman died, burnt offerings were sacrificed at the full and new moons. The body was exposed for three years in the mountains, after which the bones would be cremated. The Khitan believed that the souls of the dead rested at a place called the Black Mountain, near Rehe Province . Khitan tents always faced east, and they revered the sun, but the moon did not have a large role in their religion. They also practiced

252-695: A brief period at the beginning of the 7th century, a new consolidation of the Göktürks, under the Western Göktürk ruler Tardu, again threatened China proper. In 601 Tardu's army besieged Chang'an (modern Xi'an), then the capital of the Sui dynasty. Tardu was turned back, however, and, upon his death two years later, the Göktürk state again fragmented. The Eastern Göktürk nonetheless continued their depredations, occasionally threatening Chang'an. From 629 to 648,

336-601: A dynastic name in the Chinese fashion; their rule was known as the Liao dynasty (916–1125). The period of the 11th and 12th centuries was one of consolidation , preceding the most momentous era in Mongol history, the era of Genghis Khan . During those centuries, the vast region of deserts, mountains, and grazing land was inhabited by people resembling each other in racial, cultural, and linguistic characteristics; ethnologically they were essentially Mongol . The similarities among

420-558: A form of divination where they went to war if the shoulder blade of a white sheep cracked while being heated ( scapulimancy ). Khitan women hunted, rode horses and practiced archery . They did not practice foot binding , which started becoming popular among the Han during the Song dynasty . The Khitan practiced polygamy and generally preferred marriage within the tribe, but it was not unknown for an Emperor to take wives from other groups, such as

504-664: A major strategic error, formed an ill-fated alliance with the Turkic leader Qapaghan Qaghan to punish the Khitan for raiding Hebei province . Khitan territory was much closer to northern China proper than Turkic lands, and the Turks used it to launch their own raids into Hebei. Like the Tuyuhun and Tangut , the Khitan remained an intermediate power along the borderlands through the 7th and 8th centuries. The Khitans rose to prominence in

588-623: A military invasion against the Later Jin in 944. In January 947, the Emperor of the Later Jin dynasty surrendered to the Khitans. The Khitan emperor left the conquered city of Kaifeng and unexpectedly died from an illness while travelling in May 947. Relations between Goryeo and the Khitans were hostile after the Khitans destroyed Balhae . Goryeo would not recognize the Liao dynasty and supported

672-590: A power vacuum that developed in the wake of the Kyrgyz takeover of the Uyghur Khaganate, and the collapse of the Tang dynasty. Abaoji , who had been successful in uniting the Khitan tribes, founded the Liao dynasty in 907. The Liao territory included modern day northern and northeastern China, Mongolia, and parts of Central Asia and Siberia. Although transition to an imperial social and political organization

756-449: A proficient understanding of them. Nomadic Khitans originally engaged in stockbreeding , fishing , and hunting . Looting Chinese villages and towns as well as neighboring tribes was also a helpful source of slaves , Chinese handicrafts, and food, especially in times of famine. Under the influence of China, and following the administrative need for a sedentary administration, the Khitans began to engage in farming, crop cultivation and

840-486: A proto-Mongolian origin. There are several other theories about the ethnolinguistic identity of the Xiongnu, such as Turkic, Yeniseian, Iranian, Uralic, multiethnic. There are many cultural similarities between the Xiongnu and Mongols such as yurt on cart , mounted use of the composite bow , board game , horn bow and long song . The Mongolian long song is believed to date back at least 2000 years. A mythical origin of

924-652: A recognized minority ethnic group in Northeast China, are the genetic descendants of Khitans. The historical European name for China, Cathay , originates from the word Khitan. There is no consensus on the etymology of the name of Khitan. There are basically three speculations. Feng Jiasheng argues that it comes from the Yuwen chieftains' names. Zhao Zhenji thinks that the term originated from Xianbei and means "a place where Xianbei had resided". Japanese scholar Otagi Matsuo believes that Khitan's original name

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1008-709: A reunited China proper under the Tang dynasty (618-907) destroyed the power of the Eastern Göktürk north of the Gobi; established suzerainty over the Khitans, a semi-nomadic proto-Mongol people who lived in areas that became the modern Chinese provinces of Heilongjiang and Jilin ; and formed an alliance with the Uyghurs , who inhabited the region between the Altai Mountains and Lake Balkash. Between 641 and 648,

1092-462: A sacrifice to the spirit of the animal they were hunting and wore a pelt from the same animal during the hunt. There were festivals to mark the catching of the first fish and wild goose, and annual sacrifices of animals to the sky, earth, ancestors, mountains, rivers, and others. Every male member of the Khitan would sacrifice a white horse, white sheep, and white goose during the Winter solstice . When

1176-890: A source of embarrassment for its rulers, who surreptitiously encouraged the Kirghiz and the Karluks to attack the Uyghurs, driving them south into the Tarim Basin. As a result of the Kirghiz action, the Uyghur empire collapsed in 846. Some of the Uyghurs emigrated to the Turpan Depression , where they established the Kingdom of Qocho that freely submitted to Genghis Khan several centuries later. Ironically, this weakening of

1260-635: Is etymologically uncertain: Peter Benjamin Golden (2003) proposes several Mongolic etymologies: ɣai "trouble, misfortune, misery", χai "interjection of grief", χai "to seek", χai "to hew", albeit none compelling. Pritsak proposes that the qu(o)mâġ-ġay comprised two Proto-Mongolic groups: the Qu(o)mâġ , whom he linked to the Kimek and the Qun/ Cumans (whose ethnonym possibly meant "yellow") and

1344-515: Is no evidence that guest prostitution of unmarried Jurchen girls to Khitan men was resented by the Jurchens. It was only when the Khitans forced aristocratic Jurchen families to give up their wives as guest prostitutes to Khitan messengers that the Jurchens became resentful. This suggests that in Jurchen upper classes, only a husband had the right to his married wife while among lower class Jurchens,

1428-702: Is not yet known whether they were proto-Mongols. The Xiongnu were a group of nomads who dominated the Asian steppe from the late 3rd century BC for more than 500 years. The Xiongnu invasions prompted the kingdoms of North China to begin erecting what later became the Great Wall . The identity of the ethnic core of Xiongnu has been a subject of varied hypotheses and some scholars, including A. Luvsandendev, Bernát Munkácsy , Henry Hoyle Howorth , Bolor Erike , Alexey Okladnikov , Peter Simon Pallas , Isaac Jacob Schmidt , Hyacinth and Byambyn Rinchen , insisted on

1512-535: The Korean Peninsula in the east, across the northern parts of China to present-day Kazakhstan and to the Pamir Mountains and Lake Balkash in the west. During most of recorded history, this has been an area of constant ferment from which emerged numerous migrations and invasions to the southeast (into China), to the southwest (into Transoxiana —modern Uzbekistan , Iran , and India ), and to

1596-595: The Qay proper. However, Golden thinks that qu(o)mâġ-ġay simply means "desert Qay" or "sand Qay", referring to their earlier habitat. As for the exonym Tatabï given to Kumo Xi by Göktürks , Yury Zuev (2002) compares Tatabï to Avestan tata apo and proposes an etymology from Iranic * tata-api "falling waters", after having noted that the name of a Xī-(奚)-associated tribe Bái-Xí 白霫 (< MC * bˠæk̚-ziɪp̚ ) literally meant "white downpour/torrent" in Chinese , and that

1680-638: The Song dynasty for the next 120 years. During the reign of the Emperor Daozong of Liao , corruption was a major problem and prompted dissatisfaction among many people, including the Jurchens. The Liao dynasty eventually fell to the Jin dynasty of the Jurchen in 1125, who defeated and absorbed the Khitans to their military benefit. The Khitans considered the Khamag Mongols as their last hope when

1764-810: The Upper Paleolithic . The people there went through the Bronze and Iron Ages , forming tribal alliances, peopling, and coming into conflict with early polities in the Central Plain . The proto-Mongols formed various tribal kingdoms who fought against one other for supremacy, such as the Rouran Khaganate (330–555) until it was defeated by the Göktürks , who founded the First Turkic Khaganate (552–744), which in turn

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1848-523: The West Eurasian paternal haplogroup J2 . All three specimens carried maternal haplogroups associated with Northeast Asia , including haplogroups A24 , D4 and haplogroup Y1 . During the Khitan and Mongol empires, a male bias for East-Asian related ancestry is observed in the eastern steppe region. Two studies found evidence of Khitan mtDNA ancestry in modern-day people of the Daur ethnicity. This

1932-491: The Xianbei , and some scholars believe they may have been a mixed group who also included former members of the Xiongnu tribal confederation. The Khitan shaved their heads, leaving hair on their temples which grew down to the chest, in a similar fashion to the related Kumo Xi , Shiwei , and Xianbei whom they are believed to be descended from. During their early history the Khitan were composed of eight tribes. Their territory

2016-537: The Xianbei state , the Rouran Khaganate , and the Liao dynasty . Jincheng (388-395) Xicheng (395-400) Dujianshan (409-410) Tanjiao (412) Fuhan (412-429) Dinglian (429-430) Nan'an (430-431) Kumo Xi The Kumo Xi ( traditional Chinese : 庫 莫 奚 ; simplified Chinese : 库 莫 奚 ; pinyin : Kùmò Xī ), also known as the Tatabi , were ancient steppe people located in current Northeast China from 207 CE to 907 CE. After

2100-576: The power games between the Turks and the Sui and Tang dynasties. It is estimated the Khitans had only around 43,000 soldiers – a fraction of the Turkic Khaganates. In 605, the Khitans raided the Sui dynasty, but the Emperor Yang of Sui was able to convince the Turks to send 20,000 horsemen to aid Sui against the Khitans. In 628, under the leadership of tribal chief Dahe Moui,

2184-590: The (now named) Xi had become subordinate to the Khitans. After the Khitans' Li-Sun Rebellion (696-697) and revolt of Ketuyu (730-734), the Xi regained their position of dominance. The Xi then entered a golden age, lasting from approximately 755 to 847. During this period the Xi were friendly with An Lushan , and supported An in his An Shi Rebellion (756-763), plundering Han territories frequently within this period. This aggressive policy seems to have consumed Xi forces, especially weakening their demographic vitality, allowing

2268-665: The 13th century, the Mongol invasions and conquests had a large impact on shifting ethnic identities in the region. Most people of the Eurasian Steppe did not retain their pre-Mongol identities after the conquests. The Khitans were scattered across Eurasia and assimilated into the Mongol Empire in the early 13th century. Fleeing from the Mongols , in 1216 the Khitans invaded Goryeo and won several battles, even reaching

2352-676: The 3rd century AD, suzerainty was limited primarily to the Gansu corridor. The Xianbei were able to make forays into a China beset with internal unrest and political disintegration. By 317 all of China north of the Yangtze River (Chang Jiang) had been overrun by nomadic peoples: the Xianbei from the north; some remnants of the Xiongnu from the northwest; and the Chiang people of Gansu and Tibet (present-day China's Xizang Autonomous Region) from

2436-564: The Altai Mountains, where many of the Türk were serfs working the iron mines. Thus, from the outset of their revolt, they had the advantage of controlling what had been one of the major bases of Rouran power. Between 546 and 553, the Göktürks overthrew the Rouran and established themselves as the most powerful force in North Asia and Inner Asia. This was the beginning of a pattern of conquest that

2520-513: The Donghu had split, along geographical lines in two: the proto-Mongolic Xianbei in the north and the Wuhuan in the south. After the Xiongnu were driven back into their homeland by the Chinese (48 AD), the Xianbei (in particular) began moving (from apparently the north or northwest) into the region vacated by the Xiongnu. By the 2nd century AD, the Xianbei had begun attacking Chinese farms south of

2604-511: The Great Wall, established an empire, which, although short-lived, gave rise to numerous tribal states along the Chinese frontier. Among these states was that of the Tuoba , a subgroup of the Xianbei, in modern China's Shanxi Province . The Wuhuan also were prominent in the 2nd century, but they disappeared thereafter; possibly they were absorbed in the Xianbei western expansion. The Xianbei and

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2688-682: The Han, Koreans , and Turkic tribes . A 2015 study postulated that Khitan males may have belonged to haplogroups C3c or N1 , based on the distribution of these haplogroups in modern-day Eastern and Central Asian populations. A 2020 study published in Cell analyzed the DNA of 3 Khitan burials from Bulgan Province , located in Northern Mongolia . The Khitan burials were found to be of predominantly Northeast Asian origin, with less than 10% West Eurasian ancestry. The two male specimens belonged to

2772-571: The Jurchen, ancestors of the Manchu, formed an alliance with the Song and reduced the Liao dynasty to vassal status in a seven-year war (1115–1122). The Jurchen leader proclaimed himself the founder of a new Chinese dynasty, the Jin dynasty . Scarcely pausing in their conquests, the Tungusic Jurchen subdued neighboring Goryeo (Korea) in 1226 and invaded the territory of their former allies,

2856-463: The Khitan language, known as the large script and the small script . These were functionally independent and appear to have been used simultaneously in the Liao dynasty. They were in use for some time after the fall of that dynasty. Examples of the scripts appeared most often on epitaphs and monuments , although other fragments sometimes surface. The Khitan scripts have not been fully deciphered and more research and discoveries will be necessary for

2940-575: The Khitan submitted to the Tang dynasty, as they had earlier submitted to the Eastern Turks. The Khagan of the Eastern Turks, Jiali Khan , offered to exchange the rebel Liang Shidu for the Khitans, but Emperor Taizong would not agree to the exchange. During the reign of Empress Wu , nearly one century later, the Second Turkic Khaganate raided along northern China's borderlands. The Tang Empress, in what scholars consider

3024-598: The Khitans supported Shi Jing Tang ' s rebellion against the Later Tang Emperor Li Cong Ke. Shi Jing Tang became emperor of the Later Jin dynasty and, in exchange for their support, the Khitans gained sixteen new prefectures . The Later Jin dynasty remained a vassal of the Khitans until the death of Shi Jing Tang in 942, but when the new emperor ascended, he indicated that he would not honor his predecessor's arrangement. The Khitans launched

3108-513: The Khitans was itself not a problem, since the practice of guest prostitution – giving female companions, food and shelter to guests – was common among Jurchens. Unmarried daughters of Jurchen families of lower and middle classes in Jurchen villages were provided to Khitan messengers for sex, as recorded by Hong Hao. Song envoys among the Jin were similarly entertained by singing girls in Guide, Henan. There

3192-564: The Kumo Xi and Khitans (descendants of the Xianbei) spoke the same language. The Book of Wei (Description of the Khitan, Vol. 100, 2223) records : 契丹國, 在庫莫奚東, 異種同類, 俱竄於松漠之間. 登國中, 國軍大破之, 遂逃迸, 與庫莫奚分背. The Khitan state was situated east of the Kumo Xi. They were different ethnic groups but belonged to the same ethnic stock, and fled to the region of Songmo together. During the period of Dengguo (386-395), they were severely defeated by

3276-437: The Liao dynasty was invaded by the Jin, Song dynasty and Western Xia Empires. To defend against the Jurchens and Khitans, a Long Wall was built by Goryeo in 1033–1034, along with many border forts. One of the causes of the Jurchen rebellion and the fall of the Liao was the custom of raping married Jurchen women by Khitan envoys, which caused resentment from the Jurchens. The custom of having sex with unmarried girls by

3360-456: The Mongols who, in 1139 and in 1147, warded them off . Some Shiwei tribes, though little is known, have been considered the ancestors of the Mongols according to ancient Chinese records . Term "Shiwei" was an umbrella term of the Mongolic and some Tungusic peoples in the 6th to 12th centuries. During the 5th century, they occupied the area east of the Greater Khingan Range, what is the Hulun Buir , Ergune , Nonni (Noon) , Middle Amur , and

3444-403: The Mongols, Göktürk, and Tatars who inhabited this region cause considerable ethnic and historical confusion. Generally, the Mongols and the closely related Tatars inhabited the northern and the eastern areas; the Göktürk (who already had begun to spread over western Asia and Eastern Europe ) were in the west and the southwest; the Tangut, who were more closely related to the Tibetans than were

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3528-399: The Oxus Valley. At the same time, their allies, the Uyghurs, conquered much of western and northern Mongolia until, by the middle of the 8th century, the Uyghur seminomadic empire extended from Lake Balkash to Lake Baykal. Despite these crippling losses, the Tang recovered and, with considerable Uyghur assistance, held their frontiers. Tang dependence upon their northern allies was apparently

3612-435: The Shanxi area, the Tuoba established control over the region as the Northern Wei Dynasty (AD 386–533). Northern Wei armies drove back the Rouran (referred to as Ruanruan or Juan-Juan by Chinese chroniclers), a newly arising nomadic Mongol people in the steppes north of the Altai Mountains , and reconstructed the Great Wall. During the 4th century also, the Huns left the steppes north of the Aral Sea to invade Europe . By

3696-435: The Shiwei and collected tribute. Other Shiwei may have stayed and become the Ewenkis. The Kitans conquered the Shiwei during the late 9th century. One Shiwei tribe, living near the Amur and Ergune rivers, was called the "Menggu" (Mongol) . A few scholars believe they, other Shiwei tribes, and many other peoples from the area moved west from the forest to the Mongolian proper steppe . The proto-Mongols founded many states such as

3780-433: The Song, to precipitate a series of wars with China that continued through the remainder of the century. Meanwhile, the defeated Liao ruler had fled with the small remnant of his army to the Tarim Basin, where he allied himself with the Uyghurs and established the Qara Khitai state (known also as the Western Liao dynasty, 1124–1234), which soon controlled both sides of the Pamir Mountains. The Jurchen turned their attention to

3864-403: The Tang conquered the Western Göktürk, reestablishing Chinese control over Xinjiang and exacting tribute from west of the Pamir Mountains. The Göktürk empire finally ended in 744. For half a century, the Tang retained control of Central Asia and modern-day Mongolia and parts of Inner Asia. Both sides of the Great Wall came under Tang rule. During this period, the Tang expanded Chinese control into

3948-444: The Tangut—who had taken advantage of the Tang decline—had formed a state, Western Xia (1038–1227), nominally under Song suzerainty. Xinjiang was dominated by the Uyghurs, who were loosely allied with the Song dynasty. The people of Mongolia at this time were predominantly spirit worshipers, with shamans providing spiritual and religious guidance to the people and tribal leaders. There had been infusion of Buddhism. A Tungusic people,

4032-478: The Uyghurs undoubtedly hastened the decline and fall of the Tang Dynasty over the next fifty years. Free of Uyghur restraint, the Para-Mongolic Khitan expanded in all directions in the latter half of the 9th century and the early years of the 10th century. By 925 the Khitan ruled eastern Mongolia, most of Manchuria, and the Sixteen Prefectures of northern China. By the middle of the 10th century, Khitan chieftains had declared themselves as Chinese emperors and chose

4116-427: The Wuhuan used mounted archers in warfare, and they had only temporary war leaders instead of hereditary chiefs. Agriculture, rather than full-scale nomadism, was the basis of their economy. In the 6th century, the Wuhuan were driven out of Inner Asia into the Russian steppe. Chinese control of parts of Inner Asia did not last beyond the opening years of the 2nd century AD, and, as the Eastern Han Dynasty ended early in

4200-399: The Wuwan Mountains. During the Han Dynasty, Cao Cao killed their leader Tadun . (The Xi) were the descendants. In 388 AD, the Kumo Xi and Khitans fought with the Xianbei-led Northern Wei dynasty . The conflict severely weakened the Kumo Xi while the Khitans were not as badly affected, resulting in their split into separate polities. By the early Tang dynasty (around the 7th century AD),

4284-415: The Xī (奚) and Xí (霫) occupied the same area, Zhongjing (中京). The Kumo Xi were descendants of the Wuhuan . The Book of the Later Han records that “the language and culture of the Xianbei are the same as the Wuhuan”. Along with the Xianbei, the Wuhuan formed part of the proto-Mongolic Donghu confederation in the 4th century BC. The Weishu (Description of the Khitan, Vol. 1000, 2221) records that

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4368-417: The Zeya Watersheds. They may have been divided into five to twenty tribes. They were said to be dressed in fish skins. They may have been nomadic, staying in the marshy lowlands in the winter and the mountains during the summer. The burial was by exposure in trees. Their language is described as being similar to Manchu-Tungusic languages and Khitan. The Türk dynasties (550-740) installed tuduns, or governors over

4452-457: The building of cities. Unlike the Chinese and Balhae farmers, who cultivated wheat and sorghum millet , the Khitan farmers cultivated panicled millet. The ruling class of the Liao dynasty still undertook hunting campaigns in late summer in the tradition of their ancestors. After the fall of the Liao dynasty, the Khitans returned to a more nomadic life. The Khitans practiced shamanism in which animals played an important role. Hunters offered

4536-419: The capital city Kaesong . A third and final invasion in 1018 was repelled by Goryeo's forces, bringing an end to 30 years of war between the rivals. The Liao dynasty proved to be a significant power north of the Chinese plain , continuously moving south and west, gaining control over former Chinese and Turk-Uyghur territories. In 1005 Chanyuan Treaty was signed, and peace remained between the Liao dynasty and

4620-415: The death of their ancestor Tadun in 207, they were no longer called Wuhuan but joined the Khitan Xianbei in submitting to the Yuwen Xianbei . Their history is widely linked to the more famous Khitan . During their history, the Kumo Xi engaged in conflict with numerous Chinese dynasties and with the Khitan tribes, eventually suffering a series of disastrous defeats to Chinese armies and coming under

4704-534: The domination of the Khitans. In 907, the Kumo Xi were completely assimilated into the Khitan-led Liao dynasty of China. Omeljan Pritsak reconstructs the ethnonym underlying Middle Chinese * kʰuo -mɑk̚-ɦei as qu(o)mâġ-ġay . The first element qu(o)mâġ is from * quo "yellowish" plus denominal suffix * -mAk , cognate with Mongolian qumaġ "fine sands" and with Turkic qumaq and qum . As for * ɦei , Christopher Atwood (2010) proposed that it reflects an i -suffixed form of OC 胡 *gâ > hú . Further, gâ

4788-427: The ethnonym derived from Khitay as applied to them by the Uyghurs to be pejorative and the Chinese government has tried to ban its use. According to the History of Liao compiled in the 14th century, a "sacred man" ( shen-ren ) on a white horse had eight sons with a "heavenly woman" ( tiannü ) who rode in a cart pulled by a grey ox. The man came from the Tu River (Lao Ha river in modern-day Jilin , Manchuria ) and

4872-464: The fall of the Liao dynasty in 1125 following the Jurchen invasion , many Khitans followed Yelü Dashi 's group westward to establish the Qara Khitai or Western Liao dynasty, in Central Asia , which lasted nearly a century before falling to the Mongol Empire in 1218. Other regimes founded by the Khitans included the Northern Liao , Eastern Liao and Later Liao in China, as well as the Qutlugh-Khanid dynasty in Persia. The modern-day Daur people ,

4956-413: The first millennium BC, bronze-working peoples lived on the Mongolia Plateau . With the appearance of iron weapons by the 3rd century BC, the inhabitants of Mongolia had begun to form clan alliances and lived a hunter and herder lifestyle. The origins of more modern inhabitants are found among the forest hunters and nomadic tribes of Inner Asia . They inhabited a great arc of land extending generally from

5040-415: The fledgling Song dynasty , which had formed south of the Khitans' territory. Though the Khitans would have preferred to attack China, they invaded Goryeo in 993. Khitan forces failed to advance beyond the Chongchon River and were persuaded to withdraw, though Khitan dissatisfaction with Goryeo's conquest of the Jurchen prompted a second invasion in 1010. This time the Khitans, led by their emperor, sacked

5124-410: The frontier commander of Lulong . The Xi were never able to recover from their defeat in 847. In the late ninth century AD the Khitans rose to eventually absorb the remnants of Xi people, and established the Liao dynasty in 907. It is believed that the Xiqin , a bowed, stringed instrument that is the ancestor of the Chinese Erhu , the Mongolian Khuuchir and Morin khuur , was derived from

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5208-482: The gates of the capital, but were defeated by Goryeo General Kim Chwi-ryeo who pushed them back north to Pyongan , where the remaining Khitans were finished off by Goryeo forces in 1219. The Khitan language is now extinct. Some scholars believe that Khitan is Proto-Mongolic , while others have suggested that it is a Para-Mongolic language. Khitan has loanwords borrowed from the Turkic Old Uyghur language and Koreanic languages . There were two writing systems for

5292-434: The imperial troops. Therefore, they (the Khitan) fled in disorder and split off from the Kumo Xi. The Book of Sui records: 奚本曰庫莫奚, 東部胡之種. The Xi were originally called the Kumo Xi. They were of Donghu origin. The New Book of Tang records: 奚亦東胡種, 為匈奴所破, 保烏丸山. 漢曹操斬其帥蹋頓蓋其後也. The Xi were also of Donghu (the eastern barbarians) origin. They were defeated by the Xiongnu (under Modu Chanyu ), and then sought refuge in

5376-421: The last Tang emperor and founded the Later Liang dynasty. The Shatuo Turks, who had been allied with the Khitans since 905, defeated the Later Liang and founded the Later Tang dynasty in 923, but by 926 the former allies had grown apart. In 934 Yelü Bei , Abaoji's son, wrote to his brother Emperor Taizong of Liao from the Later Tang court: " Li Cong Ke has slain his liege-lord , why not attack him?" In 936,

5460-489: The late 5th century, the Rouran established a powerful nomadic empire spreading generally farther north of Northern Wei. It was probably the Rouran who first used the title khan . Northern Wei was disintegrating rapidly because of revolts of semi-tribal Tuoba military forces that were opposed to being sinicized, when disaster struck the flourishing Rouran Khaganate . The Göktürks , known as Tujue to Chinese chroniclers, revolted against their Rouran rulers. The uprising began in

5544-491: The less aggressive Khitans to dominate them. Xi raids into Tang territory provoked successive heavy responses from the Tang court, resulting in battles in the 760s and in 795 that were disastrous for the Xi. After 795, the Xi became a tributary people to the Tang . The Uyghur Empire (744-840) collapsed in the 840's. When the Tang dynasty simultaneously displayed signs of division, the Xi rose in rebellion in 847, and were subsequently and disastrously defeated by Zhang Zhongwu ,

5628-417: The long song is mentioned in the Book of Wei , volume 113. The Donghu (or Tung Hu, the Eastern Hu), a proto-Mongol and/or Tungus group mentioned in Chinese histories as existing as early as the 4th century BC. The language of the Donghu, unlike that of the Xiongnu, is believed by modern scholars to be proto-Mongolic . The Donghu were among the first peoples conquered by the Xiongnu. By the 1st century AD,

5712-429: The middle of the 5th century, Northern Wei had penetrated into the Tarim Basin in Inner Asia, as had the Chinese in the 2nd century. As the empire grew, however, Tuoba tribal customs were supplanted by those of the Chinese, an evolution not accepted by all Tuoba. The Rouran, only temporarily repelled by Northern Wei, had driven the Xiongnu toward the Ural Mountains and the Caspian Sea and were making raids into China. In

5796-443: The mountains and the steppes, the attention of the Göktürks quickly was attracted by the wealth of China proper. At first these new raiders encountered little resistance, but toward the end of the 6th century, as China proper slowly began to recover from centuries of disunity, border defenses stiffened. The original Göktürk state split into eastern and western parts, with some of the Eastern Göktürk acknowledging Sui overlordship. For

5880-418: The next few hundred years, the Jurchens in China subtly encouraged warfare among the Mongols as a way of keeping them distracted from invading China proper . In the 12th century, Genghis Khan was able to unite or conquer the warring tribes, forging them into a unified fighting force that went on to create the largest contiguous empire in world history, the Mongol Empire , which was finally able to conquer

5964-528: The other nomads and who were not a Turkic people , were in eastern Xinjiang, Gansu, and western Inner Mongolia. The Liao state was homogeneous, and the Khitan had begun to lose their nomadic characteristics. The Khitan built cities and exerted dominion over their agricultural subjects as a means of consolidating their empire. To the west and the northwest of Liao were many other Mongol tribes, linked together in various tenuous alliances and groupings, but with little national cohesiveness. In Gansu and eastern Xinjiang,

6048-493: The short-lived Qara Khitai or Western Liao dynasty. After its fall, a small part under Buraq Hajib established a local dynasty in the southern Persian province of Kirman . These Khitans were absorbed by the local Turkic and Iranian populations, Islamized and left no influence behind them. As the Khitan language is still almost completely unintelligible, it is difficult to create a detailed history of their movements. During

6132-407: The virginity of unmarried girls and sex with Khitan men did not impede their ability to marry later. The Jurchens and their Manchu descendants had Khitan linguistic and grammatical elements in their personal names like suffixes. Many Khitan names had a "ju" suffix. Following the fall of the Liao dynasty, a number of the Khitan nobility escaped the area westwards towards Western Regions , establishing

6216-578: The west (across Scythia toward Europe ). By the eighth century BC, the inhabitants of western Mongolia evidently were nomadic Indo-European speakers, either Scythians or Yuezhi . In central and eastern parts of Mongolia were many other tribes, such as the Slab Grave culture and the Ordos culture . According to a number of sources, one of the ancestors of the Mongols were the Xiongnu , although it

6300-637: The west and the southwest. Chaos prevailed as these groups warred with each other and repulsed the vain efforts of the fragmented Chinese kingdoms south of the Yangtze River to reconquer the region. By the end of the 4th century, the region between the Yangtze and the Gobi , including much of modern Xinjiang, was dominated by the Tuoba. Emerging as the partially sinicized state of Dai between AD 338 and 376 in

6384-646: The whole of China proper—beginning with his invasion of the Khitan-led Western Liao dynasty and the Tangut -led Western Xia dynasty , and ending with his grandson Kublai Khan 's conquest of the Southern Song dynasty . Kublai then founded the Yuan dynasty of China in 1271. Archaeological evidence suggests that Upper Paleolithic hominins inhabited Mongolia as early as 45,000 years ago. By

6468-586: The woman from the Huang River (modern-day Xar Moron river in Inner Mongolia ). The pair met where the two rivers join, and the eight sons born of their union became eight tribes. The earliest written reference to the Khitan is from an official history of the Xianbei -led Northern Wei dynasty dating to the period of the Six Dynasties . Most scholars believe the Khitan tribe splintered from

6552-628: Was "Xidan", which means "the people who are similar to the Xi people " or "the people who inhabit among the Xi people". Due to the dominance of the Khitans during the Liao dynasty in Manchuria and Mongolia and later the Qara Khitai in Central Asia where they were seen as Chinese, the term "Khitai" came to mean "China" to people near them in Central Asia, Russia and northwestern China. The name

6636-554: Was a significant change for the Khitans, the Khitan language , origin myth, shamanic religion and nomadic lifestyle endured. China was in chaos after the fall of the Tang dynasty in 907. Known as the Wudai Shiguo period , Five Dynasties ruled northern China in rapid succession with only nominal support from the Ten Kingdoms of southern China. The Tang dynasty had been supported by Shatuo Turks until Zhu Wen murdered

6720-635: Was between the present-day Xar Moron River and Chaoyang, Liaoning . The Khitan's territory bordered Goguryeo , the Central Plains , and the lands of the Eastern Turks. Between the 6th and 9th centuries, they were successively dominated by the Eastern Turkic Khaganate , the Uyghur Khaganate , and the Tang dynasty . The Khitans were less politically united than the Turkic tribes, but often found themselves involved in

6804-597: Was one of the most significant findings of ethnic studies in China. Another group of 100,000 descendants are found in some Blang people and Yi people in Baoshan and Ruili in southwestern Yunnan province, near Myanmar. These people with surnames of A., Mang and Jiang claim to be descendants of Khitans rather than Blang people or Yi people. Proto-Mongols The proto-Mongols emerged from an area that had been inhabited by humans as far back as 45,000 years ago during

6888-650: Was subdued by the growing strength of the Tang dynasty . The destruction of the Uyghur Khaganate (744–848) by the Yenisei Kyrgyz resulted in the end of Turkic dominance on the Mongolian Plateau . The para-Mongol Khitan people founded also referred to by Chineses sources as Liao dynasty (916–1125) and ruled Mongolia and portions of the eastern coast of Siberia now known as the Russian Far East , northern Korea , and North China . Over

6972-509: Was then introduced to medieval Europe via Islamic and Russian sources, and became " Cathay ". In the modern era, words related to Khitay are still used as a name for China by Turkic peoples, such as the Uyghurs in China's Xinjiang region and the Kazakhs of Kazakhstan and areas adjoining it, and by some Slavic peoples, such as the Russians and Bulgarians . The Han Chinese consider

7056-647: Was to have a significant effect upon Eurasian history for more than 1,000 years. The Göktürks were the first people to use this later widespread name. They are also the earliest Inner Asian people whose language is known , because they left behind inscriptions in a runic-like Orkhon script , which was deciphered in 1896. It was not long before the tribes in the region north of the Gobi—the Eastern Göktürks—were following invasion routes into China proper used in previous centuries by Xiongnu, Xianbei, Tuoba, and Rouran. Like their predecessors who had inhabited

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