Other lordship · The Qara Khitai: the gurkhan's own lands · as at first light, 1 January 1200

Qara Khitai at Emil

The Qara Khitai are not a power of Mongolia in 1200, but their reach touches this sheet's south-west corner: the Emil valley and the Tarbagatay north slopes round Tacheng and Emin, where Yelu Dashi built his first base (Yimil, Emil) about 1130 before going on to Balasagun.

The Persia map lists the Qarluq khans of Qayaliq and Almaliq and the Uyghur king of Qocho as vassals and keeps a resident commissioner (shaojian) only at Qocho; nothing found puts an officer at Emil. For the Naiman, Biran (as cited by Wikipedia) has them subject to the Qara Khitai until about 1175; the Kyrgyz were vassalised after 1134 on Grousset's view, which Wikipedia calls speculation. No tribute from the Naiman, the Kyrgyz or the Kimek is attested for the 1190s.

The Naiman prince Kuchlug will go to the gurkhan in 1208 and take his throne in 1211.

Who he is

Name
Yelu Zhilugu (Yelü Zhilugu), gurkhan of the Qara Khitai; no resident official is named for the Emil country
Title
The gurkhan Yelu Zhilugu (reigned 1178 to 1211), by a governor not named
Since
1178
Born
not known
Family
Khitan imperial house; written by the Persia map (Qara Khitai)
Confidence
low

Wikipedia on the Qara Khitai (Biran 2005); the finished Persia map record Qara Khitai. Emil as Yelu Dashi's first base is from Biran, not rechecked here.

Overlord

The gurkhan himself; capital Balasagun (Persia map).

What it holds

  • Overlordship, thin, over the Emil valley and the Tarbagatay north slope (Tacheng, Emin)
  • A claim to the Naiman, the Kyrgyz and the Kimek, not shown paid in 1200

How it was acquired

Conquest of the west by Yelu Dashi in 1130-1141 (Persia map).

Allies and rivals

Vassals: the Qarluq and Qocho; rivals: the Ghurids and Khwarazm (Persia map). The Naiman and Kangli are neighbours with no dated tribute.

How things stand that morning

Not at war on this sheet's ground; the gurkhan's attention is on the Oxus and Khwarazm. The Emil country is drawn as his on thin evidence.

Wealth

Caravan tolls on the road from the Tarim to the Irtysh (thin).

Military

A salaried standing army (Persia map); no garrison at Emil attested.

Threats

  • The Naiman, who will take the throne through Kuchlug

What the year holds

What happened next, if nothing in play changes it. Each event carries what it depends on and what would stop it.

  1. 1208 to 1211Kuchlug comes to the gurkhan, marries his daughter and seizes the throne in 1211.Depends on: The Naiman fall in 1204. Stopped by: A Naiman victory.

Where the sources disagree

  • Wikipedia's Qara Khitai article says the Yenisei Kyrgyz bordered the empire north of Lake Balkhash until 1175 and then retreated south: this is not supported by the Kyrgyz articles and is not used.
  • The Tarim sheet (file tau.json) anchors Tacheng, Emin and Hoboksar to the Naiman. This record, following the Persia map and our assignment, draws Tacheng and Emin as a thin Qara Khitai claim (Yimil was Yelu Dashi's first base, 1130 to 1134) and anchors Hoboksar to the Naiman. The two sheets disagree on Tacheng and Emin and the evidence cannot settle it; the campaign should pick one.

Evidence: A claim and a general location; no dated 1190s evidence for Emil or tribute.

On the map: Thin; the Emil country may equally have been Naiman or Qarluq pasture.

Primary sources for Qara Khitai

Chronicles, registers, sagas and inscriptions written in or near 1200 that cover this entry. Each has its own page with editions, translations and where to read it.

Sources and studies

  1. Wikipedia, 'Qara Khitai' (citing Biran 2005)

Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.