The Empire of the Qara Khitai in Eurasian History: Between China and the Islamic World

by Michal Biran

• ISBN13: 9780521842266
• ISBN10: 0521842263
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2005-12-05
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Summary

The empire of the Qara Khitai, which was one of the least known and most fascinating dynasties in the history of Central Asia, existed for nearly a century before it was conquered by the Mongols in 1218. Arriving in Central Asia from China, the Qara Khitai ruled over a mostly Muslim population. Their history affords a unique window onto the extensive cross-cultural contacts between China, Inner Asian nomads and the Muslim world in the period preceding the rise of Chinggis Khan. Using an extensive corpus of Muslim and Chinese sources, Michal Biran comprehensively examines the political, institutional and cultural histories of the Qara Khitai. Her book explores a range of topics including the organization of the army, the position of women, the image of China in Muslim Central Asia,the religions of the Qara Khitai and the legacy they left for the Mongols. Crucially she asks why they did not, unlike their predecessors and successors in Central Asia, embrace Islam. The book represents a groundbreaking contribution to the field of Eurasian history for students of the Islamic world, China and Central Asia.

Table of Contents

List of maps, tables and plates	ix
Acknowledgments	x
Note on dates and transliterations	xii
List of abbreviations	xiii
Introduction	1	(1)
Methodological problems, sources and previous scholarship	2	(11)
Historical background	13	(6)
Part I Political history
From Liao to Western Liao: Yelu Dashi and the establishment of the Qara Khitai empire	19	(29)
Yelu Dashi's early career	19	(7)
The Kedun period	26	(7)
Khitans in the west before the Qara Khitai	33	(2)
The journey to the west	35	(6)
The battle of Qatwan (Qatwan) and its aftermath	41	(7)
The quiet period -- the reign of Yelu Yilie and the empresses	48	(12)
The fall: between the Khwarazm Shah and the Mongols	60	(33)
Zhilugu's first years: the western front	60	(3)
The eastern front	63	(2)
The Ghurid affair: the battle of Andkhud	65	(5)
The Khwarazmian attack	70	(4)
Troubles in the east	74	(3)
The battle with Tayangu	77	(1)
Between Muhammad and Guchulug	78	(2)
The reign of Guchulug	80	(6)
Epilogue: what became of the Qara Khitai?	86	(7)
Part II Aspects of cultural and institutional history
China	93	(39)
Introduction	93	(1)
Why were Chinese features retained?	94	(8)
The administration as an example	102	(26)
Conclusion	128	(4)
Nomads	132	(39)
Introduction	132	(1)
Nomads, sedentaries and the state	132	(11)
Qara Khitai, Turks and Mongols	143	(3)
The army	146	(14)
The position of women	160	(8)
Hunting	168	(1)
Conclusion	169	(2)
Islam	171	(31)
Introduction	171	(1)
The religions of the Qara Khitai	172	(4)
The religious composition of the Qara Khitai empire	176	(4)
Qara Khitai policy: religious tolerance and its implications	180	(11)
The laxity of the jihad spirit: the political situation in the eastern Islamic world	191	(3)
Guchulug's policy: an undercurrent of religious tension?	194	(2)
The non-Islamization of the Qara Khitai	196	(6)
Conclusion	202	(37)
Appendices
The names: Qara Khitai and Western Liao	215	(3)
Maps	218	(4)
Tables	222	(9)
Glossary of Chinese characters	231	(8)
Bibliography	239	(31)
Index	270