History of the Khitans

Lore & Background

The Khitans first appear in Chinese sources in the 4th century. After their regime was conquered by the Murong clan, remnants scattered in modern-day Inner Mongolia and mixed with the original Mongolic population. In 388, the Kumo Xi and Khitans were defeated together by the Northern Wei dynasty, allowing the Khitans to reorganize and consolidate their own tribal identity, marking the beginning of Khitan written history.

From the 5th to the 8th centuries, the Khitans were primarily under the influence of the Turks, Uyghurs, and Sui/Tang dynasties, not Goguryeo. Despite this, they grew in power, though their rise was slow due to frequent crushing by neighboring powers. Following the collapse of the Tang dynasty in the early 10th century, they founded the Liao dynasty in 916, which became a significant power north of the Central Plain and expanded to occupy territories including the Sixteen Prefectures. The Liao fell to the Jin dynasty in 1125, after which many Khitans migrated westward and established the Western Liao dynasty.

Reader's Guide

The Khitans are significant as a steppe people who successfully founded a major dynasty—the Liao—that controlled northern China, Manchuria, and the Mongolian Plateau for over two centuries. Their history illustrates the cyclical pattern of nomadic consolidation and subordination to larger empires, such as the Turks, Uyghurs, and Tang dynasty. The Li-Sun rebellion (696–697) against Tang rule demonstrated their military capability, though it was ultimately crushed with Turkish assistance. After the Liao's fall, the Western Liao dynasty extended Khitan influence westward. Although the Khitans no longer survive as a distinct ethnic group, their legacy endures linguistically: the Russian word for China (Kitay) and the archaic English term Cathay derive from their name, reflecting their historical prominence in Eurasian trade and geopolitics.

Did You Know?

• The Khitan name is preserved in the Russian word for China (Китай, Kitay) and the archaic English term Cathay.
• The Khitans were closely related to the Kumo Xi tribe but were not part of them.
• The Li-Sun rebellion (696–697) saw Khitan forces defeat multiple Tang armies before being crushed by a combined Tang-Turkish campaign.
• After the Liao dynasty fell in 1125, many Khitans migrated westward and established the Western Liao dynasty.

Tribal Roots and the Forging of Identity

The Khitan people trace their ethnic lineage to the Xianbei, and for centuries they existed as a component of the broader Kumo Xi tribal grouping. Chinese records first mention them in the fourth century, but their story as a distinct political entity truly begins in 388. That year, the Kumo Xi–Khitan alliance was shattered by the freshly established Northern Wei dynasty. Rather than dissolving, this military catastrophe became a catalyst: the Khitans seized the moment to reorganize their internal structures and consolidate a separate tribal identity. This consolidation marks the opening of what can be called Khitan written history. Yet their early independence was short-lived. After their regime was ultimately conquered by the Murong clan, surviving Khitan groups scattered across what is now Inner Mongolia, where they gradually intermingled with the indigenous Mongolic population. This pattern of dispersal and reabsorption would echo through later centuries, shaping both the fragility and the resilience of Khitan political life.

Centuries Under Foreign Yokes

From the fifth through the eighth centuries, the Khitans found themselves squeezed between multiple dominant powers. To the west, the Turks and later the Uyghurs held steppe supremacy; to the south, successive Central Plain dynasties asserted control; and to the east, Goguryeo pressed against their territories. Despite this constant external pressure, the Khitans steadily grew in strength, though their ascent was far slower than that of their neighbours. The reason was structural: surrounding powers routinely recruited Khitan warriors for their own campaigns yet moved swiftly to crush any Khitan faction that appeared to be consolidating independent power. The defeat of 553 by the Northern Qi exemplifies this dynamic—many Khitans were enslaved and a vast portion of their herds was seized, plunging the tribe into hardship. At that stage, Khitan society was still described as a loose, almost anarchic confederation of isolated bands, each tending its own flocks and hunting on private ground, with only temporary federal leaders elected during wartime. Even after the Sui dynasty's founding in 581, internal Khitan fighting persisted, and by 605 a large southward raid into Sui territory was repelled by a Sui general commanding twenty thousand Turkish cavalry.

The Li-Sun Uprising of 696

By the late seventh century the Khitans had been Tang vassals since Emperor Taizong's reign. That arrangement collapsed in the 690s under Empress Wu. Governor-general Zhao Wenhui, who administered the Khitan region through local chieftains Li Jinzhong and Sun Wanrong, treated the Khitan leaders as servants and refused the famine relief his policy required. In the fifth month of 696, Li and Sun rose in open rebellion. Li proclaimed himself Wushang Kehan, "paramount khaghan," and after capturing Yingzhou executed Zhao. Sun then led tens of thousands southward, seizing several Tang towns. The first Chinese relief army, commanded by twenty-eight generals, was defeated at the Battle of Xiashi Gorge in the eighth month of 696. Stunned, Empress Wu ordered a new campaign. The Khitans kept winning until Li Jinzhong died of disease. The growing Khitan threat alarmed the Second Turkic Khaganate; its khagan Qapaghan Qaghan, who had backed the uprising, switched to the Chinese side after receiving promises of an imperial marriage for his daughter, adoption by Empress Wu, and restoration of Turkish overlordship over the Khitans. A second coordinated assault in October 696, striking from both south and north, inflicted heavy losses, though Sun Wanrong held his ground and rallied his forces.

Dynastic Ambition and an Enduring Name

The collapse of the Tang dynasty in the early tenth century created the opening the Khitans had long been denied. In 916 they founded the Liao dynasty, which quickly became a formidable power north of the Central Plain. The Liao steadily expanded its territory, eventually absorbing the Sixteen Prefectures into its domain. The dynasty dominated much of northern China, Manchuria, and the Mongolian Plateau before falling to the Jin dynasty in 1125. The Jin subordinated the Khitans, absorbing their military capabilities for their own benefit. Yet the Khitan political story did not end there. After the Liao's fall, many Khitans migrated westward and established the Western Liao dynasty, extending their dynastic legacy far beyond their original homeland. Although the Khitans no longer survive as a distinct ethnic group in the modern era, their name has left an indelible linguistic mark. The Russian word for China, Kitay (Китай), the archaic English Cathay, the Portuguese Catai, the Hungarian Kína, and the Spanish Catay all preserve the Khitan name as the very label for the civilization to the south.

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