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The Khitan people, were a nomadic people from Northeast Asia who from the 4th century inhabited an area corresponding to parts of modern Mongolia, Northeast China and the Russian Far East. They spoke the Khitan language, which is related to the Mongolic languages. As the Liao dynasty, they dominated a vast area north of and including parts of China, but left few relics that have survived until today.

After the fall of the Liao dynasty in 1125 following the Jurchen invasion, many Khitans followed Yelu Dashi's group westward to establish the Qara Khitai or Western Liao dynasty in Central Asia, which lasted several decades before being consumed by the Mongol Empire in 1218.



Etmology
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 was "Xidan", which means "the people who are similar to the Xi people" or "the people who inhabit among the Xi people".

China
The term "Khitai" came to mean "China" in Turkic. It was introduced to medieval Europe by Islamic and Russian sources becoming "Cathay". In the modern era, the word is still used by the Uyghurs, who are from China's Xinjiang region. The Han Chinese consider its use to be pejorative and the Chinese government has tried to ban its use.

Origin myth
According to an official history compiled in the 14th century, a "sacred man" (shen-ren) on a white hourse had eight sons with a "heavenly woman" (t'ien-nu) who rode in a cart pulled by a grey ox. The man came from the T'u River (Lao Ha river in modern day Jilin, Manchuria) and the woman from the Huang River (modern day Shira Muren river in Manchuria). The pair met where the two rivers join, and the eight sons born of their union became the eight sub-tribes of the Khitan.

History
The earliest written reference to the Khitan is from an official history of the Xianbei Northern Wei Dynasty dating to the period the Six Dynasties. Most scholars believe the Khitan tribe splintered from the Xianbei, and some scholars believe they may have been a mixed group who also included former members of the Xiongnu tribal confederation.

During their early history the Khitan were composed of eight tribes. Their territory was located between the present day Xar Moron River and Chaoyang, Liaoning. The Khitan's territory bordered Koguryo, China 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 Chinese Tang dynasty. The Khitan were less politically united than the Turkic tribes, but often found themselves involved in the power games between the Turks and the Chinese dynasties of Sui and Tang. It is estimated the Khitan had only around 43,000 soldiers—a fraction of the Turkic Khaganates. In 605, the Khitan raided China, but Emperor Yangdi of the Sui Dynasty was able to convince the Turks to send 20,000 horsemen to aid China against the Khitan. In 628, under the leadership of tribal chief Dahe Moui, 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 Chinese rebel Liang Shi Du for the Khitan, 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 the Northern China's borderlands. The Tang Empress, in what scholars consider 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 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 a power vaccum that developed in the wake of the Kyrgyz takeover of the Uyghur Khaganate, and the collapse of the Tang Dynasty.

Liao dynasty
Abaoji, who had been successful in uniting the Khitan tribes, founded the Liao Dynasty in 907. The Liao territory included Manchuria, Mongolia and parts of China. Although transition to an imperial social and political organization was a significant change for the Khitan, 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 the last Tang emperor and founded the Later Liang dynasty. The Shatuo Turks, who had been allied with the Khitan 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, the Khitan 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 Khitan gained sixteen new prefectures. The Later Jin dynasty remained a vassal of the Khitan until the death of Shi Jing Tang in 942, but when the new emperor aceded, he indicated that he would not honor his predecessor's arrangement. The Khitan launched a military invasion against the Later Jin in 944. In January 947, the Emperor of the Later Jin dynasty surrended to the Khitan. The Khitan emperor left the conquered city of Kaifeng and unexpectedly died from an illness while travelling in May 947.

Relations between Koryo and the Khitan were hostile after the Khitan's destroyed Balhae. Koryo would not recognize the Liao dynasty and supported the fledging Song dynasty, which had formed south of the Khitan's territory. Though the Khitan would have preferred to attack China, they invaded Koryo in 993. Khitan forces failed to advance beyond the Chongchon River and were persuaded to withdraw, though Khitan disastisfaction with Koryo's conquest of the Jurchen prompted a second invasion in 1010. This time the Khitan, led by their Emperor, sacked the capital city Kaesong. A third and final invasion in 1018 was repelled by Koryo'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's territories. In 1005 Chanyuan Treaty was signed, and peace remained between the Liao dynasty and 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 of 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 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.

Following the fall of the Liao dynasty, a number of the Khitan nobility escaped the area westwards towards Western Regions, establishing the short-lived Qara Khitai or Western Liao dynasty, and 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 of themselves. As the Khitan language is still almost completely illegible, it is difficult to create a detailed history of their movements.

During 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 defeated the Goryeo armies multiple times, even reaching the gates of the capital and raiding deep into the south, but were defeated by Goryeo General Kim Chwi-ryeo who pushed them back north to Pyongan, where the remaining Khitans were finished off by allied Mongol-Goryeo forces in 1219.

Needs to be sourced
Enjoying the departure of Uyghur people for West, and the collapse of the Tang dynasty in the early 10th century, they established the Liao dynasty in 907. 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's territories. In 1005 Chanyuan Treaty was signed, and peace remained between the Liao dynasty and 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 of 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 the Liao dynasty was invaded by the Jin, Song dynasty and Western Xia Empires.

Language and writing systems
The Khitan language is a now-extinct language once spoken by the Khitan people. Some scholars believe that Khitan is Proto-Mongolic, while others have suggested that it is a Para-Mongolic language. Khitan has many words that are borrowed from the Turkic Uyghur language. Scholars have recently suggested that Beijing Mandarin may have its origins in the Khitan language of the Liao dynasty.

There were two writing systems for the Khitan language—the Khitan Greater Script and the Khitan Lesser Script. The Greater Script was logographic and heavily influenced by Han script. The Lesser script is largely phoenetic and remains mostly unreadable, with the exception of some Chinese proper nouns.

These functionally independent scripts appear to have been used simultaneously in the Liao dynasty, and remained 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.

Economy
As nomadic people, the Khitans originally engaged in stockbreeding, fishing, and hunting. Looting southern Chinese villages and towns, as well as neighbour tribes, was also a helpful source of slaves, Chinese handcraft, and food, especially in famine times. Under the influence of the neighbouring China, and following the administrative need for a sedentary administration, the Khitans began to engage in farming, crop cultivation and the building of cities. Different from the Chinese and Balhae farmers, who cultivated wheat and sorghum millet, the Khitan farmers especially 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.

Religion
The Khitans were shamans and animals played an important role in their religion. Hunters would offer 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 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 Jehol.

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 a form of divination where they went to war, if the shoulder blade of a white sheep cracked while being heated.

Women
One of the most significant difference between the Liao Dynasty founded by the Khitan and the imperial customs of the Han Chinese was the role of women in Khitan society. Khitan women hunted, rode horses and practiced archery. They did not practice foot binding, which started amongst 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 like the Han or Koreans.

Literature
Very few relics of Khitan poems and literature are preserved, and even fewer texts or fragments in the Khitan language. Because the Khitan language is not fully reconstructable, there are still many difficulties in understanding Khitan language documents.

Although Khitan scripts existed, the use of them was limited. Khitans, like ancient Vietnamese, Korean, and Japanese people, also adopted Chinese characters as their writing system. They wrote a large part of their literature in Chinese, especially political documents. The Chinese official history book for the Liao dynasty, Liao Shi, compiled in the Yuan dynasty, is based upon some earlier "veritable records" (shilu 實錄) compiled during the Liao period.

Genetic studies
Recent genetic studies and family genealogy researches have substantiated the hypothesis that the Daur ethnic group of Inner Mongolia are possible descendants of the ancient Khitans.