Yelu Dashi

Yelü Dashi or Yelü Daschi or Yel-Lü-Tashih ( Chinese  耶律大石 , Pinyin Yēlǜ Dàshí ; also Romanized Yehlü Tashih and Yelü Daši ; temple name 德宗 , Dézōng ; * 1087 ; † 1143 in Central Asia ) was the founder and first Khan of Kara Kitai Khanates.

He was a member of the imperial family of the Liao Dynasty , which over the realm of Kitan born prevailed. As such, he received a (proto-) Mongolian as well as Chinese-influenced education and passed the highest examination of the official examinations. Eventually he became a commander in the Kitan army. He fought in the war of the Kitan against the Jurchen , which ended in 1125 with the fall of the Liao dynasty and the Kitan empire. Shortly before the final defeat, Yelü Dashi and his loyal troops moved west. On his way he took the title Gurkhan, which means universal Khan. After a station with the White Tatars, he was able to double his troop to 10,000 riders because of his speech to several Mongolian tribes. Some sources suggest that he originally wanted to gather strength to retake the Kitan Empire, but he gave up this intention.

When he reached the empire of the Eastern Qarakhanids , he took over their capital Balasagun , which he made the capital of the Kara Kitai Khanate. He demoted the previous ruler to his vassal and drove him to Kashgar in the Tarim Basin . He used his new material base to assemble troops and move west. First, the Gurkhan advanced into the Ferghana Valley and subjugated the Western Karakhanids there. From there he moved on to Transoxania , where he defeated the Seljuks in the battle of Qatwan in 1141 . Then he moved to Khoresmia . With the exception of the central area around his capital, Yelü Dashi was content with the supremacy of the subjugated empires, whose original rulers exercised direct rule as his vassals.

When he died in 1143, the Kara Kitai ruled large areas of Central Asia. First his wife Kant'ein took over the throne until Yelü Dashi's son Yelü Ilieh succeeded his father on the throne in 1151.

After his death, legends developed around him. The news that he defeated the Muslim Seljuk ruler as a non-Muslim is said to have reached the crusaders . There she would have promoted the creation of legends about the priest king John .

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Article Yelu-Dashi in Encyclopædia Britannica (English)
2. ↑ ^{a b} Ralph Kauz: The foundation of the Mongolian world empire - Central Asia . In: Angela Schottenhammer, Peter Feldbauer (ed.): Die Welt 1000–1250 . Mandelbaum Verlag, Vienna 2011, ISBN 978-3-85476-322-2 , p. 121-124 .
3. ↑ Article Qarā Ḵeṭāy in Encyclopædia Iranica (English)