Khitan-Liao

## Background

The Khitan were a nomadic tribe who occupied parts of modern Mongolia, Northeast China and the Russian far east. They originated from the Xianbei. They separated from the Kumo Xi in around 388 CE, when the Kumo Xi-Khitan tribal grouping was defeated by the newly established Northern Wei. In 630 CE they submitted to emperor Taizong of the Tang. From the 5th to the 8th centuries, they were dominated by the Chinese to their south and the Turks and Uyghurs to the west. They slowly grew their power and independence. Khitan warriors were used by neighbouring powers but were prepared to attack them if they looked as if they would become a threat. In the 696 to 697 CE Li-Shun Rebellion the Khitan were encouraged by the Turks to revolt against the Tang. After successfully rebelling, the Turks attacked, to the advantage of the newly reborn second Turkic empire.

In 907 CE the Khitan leader Yelu Abaoji reorganised the Khitan into a more formal structure borrowing ideas from the Chinese state structure. This included making the army more professional and centralising the monarchy. However, at the time of his death in 926 CE only a small professional army had been created, the first Khitan Ordo which numbers 6000 cavalrymen; most of the army remained the tribal troops. Ordo troops were expanded greatly in subsequent reigns.

Following Abaoji's death in 926 CE the empire continued to expand and subsequent rulers, and some senior nobles, created additional ordos increasing the size of the regular army. By the time of the Liao/Sung wars it is estimated that the Liao could field 50 to 60 thousand ordo cavalry. In 936 CE the Khitan supported a Shatuo rebel in the formation of the Chinese Later Jin state and received as payment territory in China itself -  the so called Sixteen Prefectures - which included modern Beijing. The Song became obsessed with its recovery, however, they failed to retake it. In 957 CE a major Khitan invasion captured the Chinese capital at modern Kaifeng, somewhat to their own surprise. In the aftermath the Khitan ruler declared the Liao dynasty. They failed to hold the territory they had won and after pillaging Kaifeng retreated back north. Between 979 CE and 1005 CE the Liao fought incessantly against the Song who were trying to regain the Sixteen Prefectures. The peace treaty agreed in 1005 CE, the Shanyuan Treaty, proved to be one of the most successful peace treaties of all time although the Chinese view it as a national humiliation even today. The Liao also fought a number of wars against Korea, however, did not make any significant territorial gains. Between 1115 CE and 1125 CE the Liao faced a rebellion by their Jurchen subjects which overthrew the Liao. A remnant escaped to the west where they formed the Qara Khitan state which lasted until conquered by the Mongols.

The Khitan Liao list represent the period following Abaoji's death until the Jurchen overthrew their empire.

## Allies

The following allies are available to this list:

Northern Han allies - Five Dynasties China (from 951 to 979 CE)

Xi Xia allies (only from 1120 CE)

### Khitan Liao as allies

The Khitan Liao are available to the Five Dynasties China list.

## Troops and suitable miniatures

The following is a description of what the regular ordo cavalry were expected to be equipped with, although given the extensive equipment requirements it is not clear that all ordo cavalry would meet them.

Khitan regular cavalrymen of the ordo were required to be equipped with 3 horses, 1 forager, 1 orderly, 9 pieces of iron armour, saddle cloths, bridles, armour of leather and iron for the horses according to their strength, 4 bows, 400 arrows, a long and a short spear, a club (probably a mace), axe, halberd, small banner, hammer, awl, knife and flint, a bucket for the horse, a peck of dried food, a bag for the dried food, a grappling hook, a felt umbrella and 200 feet of rope for tying up the horses. Foragers were armoured and carried weapons.

Additionally a Song general described the Liao army as consisting of "armoured cavalry, partially armoured cavalry and unarmoured cavalry". Thus ArmHrs is not mandatory.

The bow was the primary weapon of the cavalry. Combat doctrine was to stand off, pour massed archery into the enemy, make probing charges with sub units then a decisive charge with the whole unit when the enemy wavered.

On occasion old and young civilians were driven in front of the army to absorb missile fire, a technique later used by the Mongols; in fact it appears likely that the Khitan and their successes inspired the Mongols in a number of ways.

At present there are no manufacturers that make suitable cavalry for the Khitans, although some have figures described as such in their ranges. I covered my personal quest for suitable figures in this blog post - https://gamer-at-the-end-of-time.blogspot.com/2021/04/the-quest-for-khitan-cavalry.html

Liao ArmyFigure Close UpFigure Close UpFigure Close UpFigure Close UpFigure Close Up

## References

Khitan CavalryKhitan Cavalry - detailKhitan Cavalry - detail
## Example Army Lists

10,000 point Maximus army created by Nik Gaukroger