Khitan people

The Khitan people (Chinese: 契丹; pinyin: Qìdān; Old Turkic: ;KITaYN), or Khitai, Kitan, or Kidan, were a nomadic people originally from Mongolia and Manchuria (or Northeast China) from the 4th century that spoke a language distantly related to the Mongolic languages. As the Liao dynasty, they dominated a vast area north of and including parts of China, but left few relics that have survived until today.

After the fall of the Liao dynasty in 1125 following the Jurchen invasion, many Khitans followed Yelu Dashi's group westward to establish the Qara Khitai or Western Liao dynasty in Central Asia, which lasted several decades before being consumed by the Mongol Empire in 1218.

Etymology

There is no consensus on the etymology of the name of Khitan. There are basically three speculations. Feng Jiasheng argues that it comes from the Yuwen chieftains' names. Zhao Zhenji thinks that the term originated from Xianbei and means "a place where Xianbei had resided". Japanese scholar Otagi Matsuo considers Khitan's original name is "Xidan", which means "the people who are similar to the Xi people" or "the people who inhabit among the Xi people".