Kuchlug

Kuchlug (also spelled Küchlüg, Küçlüg, Güčülüg, Quqluq) (Mongolian: Хүчлүг; Chinese: 屈出律; d. 1218) was a member of the Naiman tribe who became the last emperor of the Western Liao dynasty (Qara Khitai).

The Naimans were defeated by Genghis Khan and he fled westward to the Qara Khitai, where he became an advisor to his future father-in-law Yelü Zhilugu.

Reeling from a second defeat at the hands of the Mongols, Kuchlug turned to the Qara Khitai based in Balasagun for protection.

[1] Around that time, the Qara Khitai dynasty was dealing with rebellions in the east, as well as engaging in a struggle against Muhammad II of the Khwarazmian Empire in the west.

In 1210, while Yelü Zhilugu was dealing with a revolt by the Karakhanids at Samarkand, Kuchlug took the chance to rebel against his father-in-law, seizing the empire's treasury at Uzgen.

[1] Yelü Zhilugu pulled back to his capital at Balasagun and defeated Kuchlug who retreated eastward to his Naiman realm.

[2] Many historians consider Kuchlug's usurpation of the throne in 1211 to be the end of the Qara Khitai, although the realm (which retained the official name of "Great Liao") would not fall until 1218.

[3] Once Kuchlug had established himself as ruler, Muhammad demanded the Qara Khitai Gur-khan to be handed over and a princess as a reward for his previous support.

However, when Kuchlug threatened to resolve the rivalry by direct combat, Muhammad chose to evacuate the region of upper Jaxartes (Syr-Darya), demolished the settlements there in an attempt to form a buffer zone between his empire and Kuchlug's,[4] and the Syr-Darya eventually came to be the de facto border between the two rulers.

The Mongol first went to Almaliq, then proceeded on to the capital city of Balasaghun near which they defeated a Qara Khitai force of 30,000 men.