Khitan refugee dynasty that built a multicultural Central Asian empire combining Chinese, nomadic, and Muslim traditions after fleeing Jurchen conquest.
Usurped in 1211–1213 CE when Naiman refugee Kuchlug seized the Khitan ruler Yelü Zhilugu, effectively ending Khitan rule; the Mongols under Jebe then conquered the former territories in 1216–1218 CE and killed Kuchlug in 1218, completing the dissolution.
The atlas holds 2 border frames for Qara Khitai — the shape you scrub through changes in 1124 · 1162.
The first English-language monograph dedicated to the Qara Khitai; Cambridge University Press (Cambridge Studies in Islamic Civilization), confirmed via Cambridge Core, Oxford Academic, and multiple journal reviews.