Khitai

English

Etymology

Variant of earlier Kitai, influenced by Arabic sources and transcription.

Proper noun

Khitai

1. (historical ethnography) Synonym of Khitan, in its various senses.
   • c. 1913, The Encyclopaedia of Islam, Vol. IV, page 738:

     ḲARA KHITĀI (or ḲARĀ KHIṬĀI), the usual name since the vi^th (xii^th) century in Muḥammadan sources for the Kitai people, mentioned by the Chinese from the eighth century A. D. onwards, who were probably Tunguz (according to another view Mongol)... From the beginning of the tenth century the Kitai carried on a campaign of conquest, conquered the northern part of China and founded a dynasty which as a Chinese ruling house was called Liao (916).

   • 2005, Michal Biran, The Empire of the Qara Khitai in Eurasian History: Between China and the Islamic World, page 108:

     At the head of the Qara Khitai administration stood the Gürkhan, the Khan of Khans or universal Khan. The Gürkhan also bore the title of Chinese emperor (or empress) and maintained the Chinese custom of assigning reign titles (nian hao).

   • 2012, Timothy D. Baker Jr. & al. translating Xu Zhuoyun as China: A New Cultural History, page 269:

     When the Liao dynasty collapsed, a member of the royal house, Yelü Dashi (1087–1143), led a remnant force westward and established the Kara Khitai (Black Khitans), or Western Liao, dynasty (1132–1218, in modern Kazakhstan), whose chief opponents were the Seljuk Turks.

Related terms

• Kara Khitai, Qara Khitai, Karakitay

Anagrams

• Kaithi