YEH-L TA-SHIH

born 1087, China died 1143, Central Asia Pinyin Yel Dashi, temple name (Wade-Giles romanization) (hsi-liao) Te-tsung founder of the Hsi (Western) Liao dynasty of Central Asia. Yeh-l was a member of the imperial family of the Liao dynasty (9071125), which had been established by the Khitan tribes and ruled much of Mongolia, Manchuria, and Northeast China. When the Liao dynasty was overthrown by the Juchen, who established the Chin dynasty, Yeh-l fled west to Turkestan, where he imposed his suzerainty over the Central Asian oases east and west of the Pamir mountains. His empire was finally conquered in 1211 by the Mongols, who called it the Karakitai, or Black Khitan, empire.