Yelü Dashi

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Emperor Dezong of Western Liao
西遼德宗
Emperor of the Western Liao dynasty
Reign1124–1143
PredecessorDynasty established
(Emperor Tianzuo as the last Emperor of the Liao dynasty)
SuccessorXiao Tabuyan (as regent)
Born1087 or 1094
Shangjing, Liao dynasty
Died1143 (aged 48–49)
Balasagun, Western Liao dynasty
ConsortXiao Tabuyan
Names
Yelü Dashi (耶律大石 or 耶律達實)
Era dates
  • Yanqing (延慶): 1132–1133
  • Kangguo (康國): 1134–1143
Regnal name
Emperor Tianyou (天祐皇帝)
Posthumous name
Emperor Tianyou Wulie (天祐武烈皇帝)
Temple name
Dezong (德宗)
HouseYelü
DynastyWestern Liao
ReligionBuddhism

Yelü Dashi (Chinese: 耶律大石; pinyin: Yēlǜ Dàshí; Wade–Giles: Yeh-Lü Ta-Shih; alternatively Chinese: 耶律達實; pinyin: Yēlǜ Dáshí), courtesy name Zhongde (重德), also known by his temple name as the Emperor Dezong of Western Liao (西遼德宗), was the founder of the Western Liao dynasty (Qara Khitai).[1] He initially ruled as king from 1124 to 1132, then as emperor and gurkhan from 1132 to 1143. He was also known in Muslim sources as Nūshī Taifū, Qushqin Taifū or Qushqīn, son of Baighū.[2] A member of the imperial Yelü clan, he fled the Liao dynasty in northern China as it was on the verge of destruction by the Jurchen-led Jin dynasty and moved westward into Central Asia where he established a new empire.

Name

There are various theories regarding his name. According to Sugiyama Masaaki, Dashi (大石) might be a borrowing from Chinese title taishi (太師).[3] Qidan Guo Zhi suggests was just a nickname.[4]

Early life

Yelü Dashi was a minor member of the Liao dynasty's imperial

Tianqing era" (1115 AD).[5]

In the twilight of the dynasty he held increasingly important administrative and military posts.[6] He held posts of governorship of Taizhou (泰州, in modern Tailai County, Heilongjiang) and Xiangzhou (祥州, in modern Wanjinta Township, Nong'an County).[5]

Jin invasion and end of the Liao dynasty

The

Liao Nanjing (now Beijing). The Song forces under the command of Tong Guan attacked Northern Liao from the south, but under the command of Dashi and Xiao Gan, the Liao army was able to repel the Song attacks. However, the Jin dynasty continued to advance from the north, and eventually captured the southern capital in 1123. Just before the Jin takeover, Dashi slipped away with 7000 of his troops to join the Emperor Tianzuo.[7]

Dashi was later captured by the Jin dynasty, but escaped five months later to rejoin the emperor. However, the emperor signalled his intention to attack the Jin. Dashi thought this was folly, as the Jin was in a strong position. Unable to convince the emperor, in 1124 Dashi led a band of Liao officials northwest to the Liao garrison town of Kedun. Emperor Tianzuo was captured by the Jin dynasty in 1125 and the Liao dynasty ended.

Move to the west

He started out with 10,000 horses, a small force assuming at least 2 horses for every man.

Kingdom of Qocho (about 500 km southeast of Emil near Turfan) who became his ally or vassal. In the summer of 1131 he attacked Kashgar (over 1000 km east of Qocho
), was soundly defeated and withdrew to Qocho. The Jurchens sent an army after him, but this failed because of the distance.

Qara Khitai (Western Liao) established

Jetysu region: Balasaghun was west of Almaty. Emil was near the lower left corner of the inset. Almaliq was near Yining in the upper Ili valley

In 1132, he was proclaimed

Ferghana valley and Tashkent
, thereby expanding his empire to the west and south.

Battle of Qatwan

Battle of Qatwan in 1141

The

Karakhanids became vassal states of his empire. Their empire controlled an area roughly equivalent to most of today's Xinjiang, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and southern Kazakhstan.[12]

Death

Yelü Dashi died two years after Qatwan in 1143 as the master of much of Central Asia. At time of his death, the

Uyghuria. His empress Xiao Tabuyan
succeeded him as regent of the dynasty.

Legacy

The dynasty Yelü established would last until its usurpation by Kuchlug followed by conquest of its domain by Genghis Khan in 1218.

His victory over the Seljuks and his amicable relations with

Nestorian Christianity, which flourished under the Qara Khitai, led to his association with the legend of Prester John, a Christian king in the east who was "destined" to vanquish Islam.[13][14][15] Bishop Otto of Freising first chronicled the story in 1145.[16]

Family

References

Citations

  1. ^ Bretschneider, E., Mediaeval Researches from Eastern Asiatic sources, Vol. 1, (Routledge, 2002), p. 224.
  2. ^ Biran 2005, p. 19–20.
  3. OCLC 792927318
    .
  4. ^ Qidan Guo Zhi, vol. 19
  5. ^
    Liao Shi
    , volume 30, biography of Yelü Dashi. Original text: 通遼、漢字，善騎射，登天慶五年進士第
  6. ^ Biran 2005, p. 19-20.
  7. ^ Biran 2005, p. 21–25.
  8. ISBN 92-3-103467-7
  9. ^ Ata-Malik Juvayni (1958). The History of The World Conqueror. Harvard University Press. When they reached the country of the Qirqiz they made attacks on the tribes in that area, who in turn harassed the Khitayans. From thence they journeyed on till they came to the Emil, where they built a town of which some traces still remain.
  10. ^ Biran 2005, p. 38.
  11. ^ Ata-Malik Juvayni (1958). The History of The World Conqueror. Harvard University Press. Hearing of the settlement of the gür-khan and his followers and their great numbers, he sent messengers to him to inform him of his own powerlessness and of the strength and wickedness of the Qanqli and Qarluq and to beg him to advance upon his capital so that he might place the whole of his kingdom under his control and so free him-self from the cares of this world. The gür-khan proceeded to Balasaqun and ascended a throne that had cost him nothing.
  12. ^ Biran, Michal (2001). ""Like a Might Wall:" The armies of the Qara Khitai" (PDF). Jerusalem Studies in Arabic and Islam: 44–91.
  13. ^ Asian and African Studies. Vydavatel̕stvo Slovenskej akadémie vied. 1992. p. 101.
  14. ISBN 978-0-8108-6602-7
    .
  15. ^ "Chinggis Khan World Conqueror" (PDF). p. 22.
  16. ISBN 978-0-521-32214-0
    .

Sources

Yelü Dashi
House of Yelü (1124–1143)
Born: 1094 Died: 1143
Regnal titles
Preceded by Emperor of the Liao Dynasty
1124–1143 		Succeeded byas Regent of Emperor of the Liao Dynasty
Gurkhan of Qara Khitai
1124–1143 		Succeeded by
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