The Kara Khitai, also known as the Kara-Khitans, Great Liao, or Western Liao, was a Khitan empire which ruled over Central Asia from 1124 to 1218, with Balasagun (in present-day Kyrgyzstan) serving as the Kara Khitai's capital. The Kara Khitai were founded by Yelu Dashi, who led the Khitans westward following the fall of the Liao dynasty. They captured Balasagun from the Karakhanids in 1134 and conquered Transoxiana following the 1141 Battle of Qatwan. The Kara Khitai's attempts to conquer China failed, defying the Great Jin's supremacy and also fighting against the Khwarazmians. In 1211, the Naiman prince Kuchlug usurped the Kara Khitai throne, and the Mongol Empire captured and decapitated him in 1218 and fully conquered the lands of the Kara Khitai in 1220.
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