The Liao Dynasty (T: 遼朝 S: 辽朝 pinyin: Liáo Cháo), 907-1125, sometimes also known as the Kingdom or Empire of the Khitan, was founded by the Yelü (耶律 Yēlǜ) family of the Khitan tribes in the final years of the Tang Dynasty, although Yelü Abaoji did not declare an era name until 916. Originally known as the Empire of the Khitan, Emperor Yelü Ruan officially adopted the name Great Liao or Liao Dynasty in 947.
The name of the empire was Khitan between 907 (at its founding) and 947 (938?), and again between 983 and 1066.
It was anniliated by the Jin Dynasty in 1125. However, remnants led by Yelü Dashi (耶律大石 pinyin: Yēlǜ Dàshí, Wade-Giles: Yeh-lü Ta-Shih) established Xi (Western) Liao Dynasty1125-1220, also known as Kara-Khitan Khanate, which survived until the arrival of Genghis Khan's Mongolian cavalry.
The Khitan, in Chinese Qidan (契丹 Pinyin: qi4 dan1) or Zhendan (震旦 zhen4 dan1), were an ethnic group who dominated much of Manchuria and classified in Chinese history as one of the Eastern Hu ethnic groups (東胡族 dong1 hu2 zu2).
Ancestors of Khitans was the Yuwen clan of the Xianbei.
The Khitan language is Altaic, however, and its agglutinizing nature is not particularly suited to purely monosyllabic logographs.
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