Twenty-Four Histories
In Chinese historiography, the Qara Khitai is most commonly called the "Western Liao" (西遼) and is considered to be a legitimate Chinese dynasty, as is the case for the Liao dynasty. The history of the Qara Khitai was included in the "History of Liao" (one of the "Twenty-Four Histories"), which was compiled officially during the Yuan dynasty by Toqto'a et al.