Home Region:  Mongolia (Central and Northern Eurasia)

Khitan I

907 CE 1125 CE
EQ 2020  mn_khitan_1 / MnKhitn
Preceding Entity: Add one more here.
745 CE 840 CE Uigur Khaganate (mn_uygur_khaganate)    [absorption]

Succeeding Entity:
No Polity found. Add one here.

Displayed: 911 CE

2
911935959982100610301054107711011125


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  General Description   "The Khitan first appear in documentary sources in the 4th century as a people of the south-central portion of northeast China, from a region of mountains and open grasslands. Under the leadership of Abaoji, the Khitan rapidly adopted a centralized royal form of organization, with clear similarities to Chinese traditions but also incorporating some of the familiar steppe pastoralist strategies (Wittfogel and Feng 1949, pp. 59-65). Although Buddhism was a central feature of the polity, as the empire expanded into Central Asia the majority of the population was actually Muslim (Biran 2006, p. 66; Dunnell 1996, p. 4)." [1]
"Liao occupation of the Central Plains, 947" [2]
"The Liao emperor did not conquer and govern the Central Plains directly. ... by dint of military success, he had become the legitimate emperor of the Central Plains. Familiar with T’ang protocols, and advised by formally educated ministers from both Liao and the Later Chin, Te-kuang observed such practices as declaring a new dynasty, wearing Chinese dress, and reemploying former officials. ... He appointed new governors, demoted K’ai-feng from its capital status, and established Chen-chou as a capital instead. But Te-kuang did not intend to stay. ... he treaded the conquest as a very large raid, in which public relations were irrelevant and only loot mattered. Perhaps most damaging to Te-kuang’s image was the policy of "smashing the pasture and grain" (ta ts’ao-yu) ... The Liao armies devestated the region around the capital, foraging to supply themselves and practicing the all-too-common cruelties of soldiers in wartime. To reward his troops, claimed to number three hundred thousand, Te-kuang demanded from an already overtaxed population cash and cloth to be stockpiled for transport north. Most ambitious of all was Te-kuang’s attempt to take north every material element of the Later Chin imperial institution, including palace women and eunuchs, the complete contents of the imperial storehouses, and every last bureaucrat. ... Te-kuang ... apparently wrote his younger brother listing his own three faults in this venture: demanding cash from the people. ordering indiscriminate foraging and plundering, and failing to return the governors to their provinces in good time. The letter, preserved in the Liao shih (Official history of the Liao), describes the "foreignness" of the Khitan: they are raiders (rather than tax collectors) and pastoralists (rather than farmers), and they keep their governors at court(rather than giving them active responsibility in their provinces)." [3]
Revolts against Liao: "Te-kuang, preoccupied with removing himself and his plunder north to the Liao homeland, was largely unresponsive to these events, although he did make an example of Hsiang-chou2, slaughting some hundred thousand men and children, and taking away the women." [4]
"The Liao, for their part,did not vigorously defend the territory they had conquered. On the few occasions when they did fight, they did not try very hard." [4]
"The one region the Liao seemed concerned to hold was the key strategic city of Chen-chou, which controlled the main access between the Central Plains and the Liao homeland." [5]
Standen, N. "The Five Dynasties." in Twitchett, D and Smith, P J ed. 2009. The Cambridge History of China Volume 5: The Sung Dynasty and its Precursors, 907-1279, Part 1. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge.
"The comitatus of the early Khitan, a Mongolic people, is known from the ac- counts of An Lu-shan’s Rebellion. For a detailed treatment of the later Liao Dynasty of the Khitan, including discussion of its imperial guard corps, see the outstanding early study by Wittfogel and Fêng (1949). “Each [Khitan Liao] emperor had a separate ordo, or camp, with a ‘heart and belly guard’ of 10,000 to 20,000 households. . . . The members of this guard, particularly the non-Khitans, were the emperor’s private slaves, but their proximity to him gave them high status. After the emperor’s death they guarded his mausoleum while his suc- cessor recruited a new ordo and guard” (Atwood 2004: 297). The Liao state, with its five capitals (ordo), seems to have been organized, theoretically, around the ideal of the “khan and four-bey” system. The khan of the Kereit, who were rivals of Temüjin during his rise to power, “had crack forces of ba’aturs, ‘heroes’, and a 1,000-man day guard, institutions Chinggis Khan would later imitate” (Atwood 2004: 296), along with the golden tent (ordo) connected to them." [6]

[1]: (Rogers 2012, 227)

[2]: (Standen 2009, 102)

[3]: (Standen 2009, 102-103)

[4]: (Standen 2009, 105)

[5]: (Standen 2009, 106)

[6]: (Beckwith 2009, 391-392)

General Variables
Social Complexity Variables
Social Scale
Hierarchical Complexity
Professions
Bureaucracy Characteristics
Law
Specialized Buildings: polity owned
Transport Infrastructure
Special-purpose Sites
Information / Writing System
Information / Kinds of Written Documents
Information / Money
Information / Postal System
Information / Measurement System
Warfare Variables (Military Technologies)
Economy Variables (Luxury Goods) Coding in Progress.
Religion Variables Coding in Progress.
Crisis Consequences Coding in Progress.
Power Transitions Coding in Progress.

NGA Settlements:

Year Range Khitan I (mn_khitan_1) was in:
 (960 CE 1125 CE)   Orkhon Valley
Home NGA: Orkhon Valley
General Variables
Identity and Location Khitan I (mn_khitan_1)
Variable Coded Value Tags Year(s) See More
Original Name Khitan Empire Confident 907 CE  1125 CE
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Capital Central Capital Confident 907 CE  1125 CE
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Capital Beijing Confident 907 CE  1125 CE
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Capital Boro Khoton Confident 907 CE  1125 CE
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Capital Liao-yang Confident 907 CE  1125 CE
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Capital Ta-T'ung Confident 907 CE  1125 CE
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Alternative Name Liao Dynasty Confident 907 CE  1125 CE
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Temporal Bounds Khitan I (mn_khitan_1)
Variable Coded Value Tags Year(s) See More
Duration [907 CE ➜ 1125 CE] Confident
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Political and Cultural Relations Khitan I (mn_khitan_1)
Variable Coded Value Tags Year(s) See More
Succeeding Entity Early Mongols Confident 907 CE  1125 CE
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Relationship to Preceding Entity cultural assimilation Confident 907 CE  1125 CE
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Preceding Entity
745 CE 840 CE
Uigur Khaganate (mn_uygur_khaganate)   [absorption]  Confident
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Degree of Centralization confederated state Confident 907 CE  1125 CE
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Language Khitan I (mn_khitan_1)
Variable Coded Value Tags Year(s) See More
Linguistic Family Mongolic Confident 907 CE  1125 CE
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Language Khitan Confident 907 CE  1125 CE
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Religion Khitan I (mn_khitan_1)
Variable Coded Value Tags Year(s) See More
Religion Genus Buddhism Confident 907 CE  1125 CE
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Alternate Religion Genus Islam Confident 907 CE  1125 CE
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Alternate Religion Uncoded Undecided 907 CE  1125 CE
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Social Complexity Variables
Social Scale Khitan I (mn_khitan_1)
Variable Coded Value Tags Year(s) See More
Polity Territory [1,500,000 to 2,000,000] km2 Confident 908 CE
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Polity Territory [2,000,000 to 2,500,000] km2 Confident 1000 CE 1100 CE
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Polity Population 3,800,000 people Confident 907 CE  1125 CE
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Hierarchical Complexity Khitan I (mn_khitan_1)
Variable Coded Value Tags Year(s) See More
Settlement Hierarchy 4 Confident 907 CE  1125 CE
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Religious Level [2 to 3] Confident 907 CE  1125 CE
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Military Level 6 Confident 907 CE  1125 CE
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Administrative Level [4 to 5] Confident 907 CE  1125 CE
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Professions Khitan I (mn_khitan_1)
Variable Coded Value Tags Year(s) See More
Professional Soldier Present Confident 907 CE  1125 CE
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Professional Priesthood Present Confident 907 CE  1125 CE
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Professional Military Officer Present Confident 907 CE  1125 CE
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Bureaucracy Characteristics Khitan I (mn_khitan_1)
Variable Coded Value Tags Year(s) See More
Specialized Government Building Present Confident 907 CE  1125 CE
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Merit Promotion Present Inferred 907 CE  1125 CE
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Full Time Bureaucrat Present Confident 907 CE  1125 CE
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Examination System Present Confident 907 CE  1125 CE
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Law Khitan I (mn_khitan_1)
Variable Coded Value Tags Year(s) See More
Professional Lawyer Unknown Suspected 907 CE  1125 CE
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Judge Unknown Suspected 907 CE  1125 CE
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Absent Inferred 907 CE  1125 CE
Court Unknown Suspected 907 CE  1125 CE
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Specialized Buildings: polity owned Khitan I (mn_khitan_1)
Variable Coded Value Tags Year(s) See More
Market Present Confident 907 CE  1125 CE
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Irrigation System Unknown Suspected 907 CE  1125 CE
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Food Storage Site Unknown Suspected 907 CE  1125 CE
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Drinking Water Supply System Unknown Suspected 907 CE  1125 CE
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Transport Infrastructure Khitan I (mn_khitan_1)
Variable Coded Value Tags Year(s) See More
Road Present Confident 907 CE  1125 CE
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Port Absent Confident 907 CE  1125 CE
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Canal Unknown Suspected 907 CE  1125 CE
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Bridge Present Confident 907 CE  1125 CE
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Special-purpose Sites Khitan I (mn_khitan_1)
Variable Coded Value Tags Year(s) See More
Mines or Quarry Present Inferred 907 CE  1125 CE
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Information / Writing System Khitan I (mn_khitan_1)
Variable Coded Value Tags Year(s) See More
Written Record Present Confident 907 CE  1125 CE
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Script Present Confident 907 CE  1125 CE
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Phonetic Alphabetic Writing Present Confident 907 CE  1125 CE
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Nonwritten Record Unknown Suspected 907 CE  1125 CE
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Non Phonetic Writing Present Inferred 907 CE  1125 CE
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Mnemonic Device Unknown Suspected 907 CE  1125 CE
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Information / Kinds of Written Documents Khitan I (mn_khitan_1)
Variable Coded Value Tags Year(s) See More
Scientific Literature Present Confident 907 CE  1125 CE
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Sacred Text Present Confident 907 CE  1125 CE
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Religious Literature Present Confident 907 CE  1125 CE
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Practical Literature Present Inferred 907 CE  1125 CE
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Philosophy Present Inferred 907 CE  1125 CE
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Lists Tables and Classification Present Inferred 907 CE  1125 CE
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History Present Confident 907 CE  1125 CE
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Fiction Present Inferred 907 CE  1125 CE
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Calendar Present Confident 907 CE  1125 CE
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Information / Money Khitan I (mn_khitan_1)
Variable Coded Value Tags Year(s) See More
Token Present Confident 907 CE  1125 CE
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Precious Metal Uncoded Undecided 907 CE  1125 CE
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Paper Currency Uncoded Undecided 907 CE  1125 CE
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Indigenous Coin Present Confident 907 CE  1125 CE
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Foreign Coin Present Confident 907 CE  1125 CE
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Article Present Confident 907 CE  1125 CE
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Debt And Credit Structure Uncoded Undecided 907 CE  1125 CE
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Information / Postal System Khitan I (mn_khitan_1)
Variable Coded Value Tags Year(s) See More
Postal Station Present Confident 907 CE  1125 CE
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General Postal Service Unknown Suspected 907 CE  1125 CE
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Courier Present Confident 907 CE  1125 CE
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Information / Measurement System Khitan I (mn_khitan_1)
Variable Coded Value Tags Year(s) See More
Geometrical Measurement System Uncoded Undecided 907 CE  1125 CE
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Warfare Variables (Military Technologies)
Fortifications Khitan I (mn_khitan_1)
Variable Coded Value Tags Year(s) See More
Wooden Palisade Present Confident 907 CE  1125 CE
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Stone Walls Non Mortared Present Inferred 907 CE  1125 CE
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Stone Walls Mortared Unknown Suspected 907 CE  1125 CE
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Settlements in a Defensive Position Present Confident 907 CE  1125 CE
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Modern Fortification Absent Confident 907 CE  1125 CE
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Moat Present Confident 907 CE  1125 CE
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Fortified Camp Present Confident 907 CE  1125 CE
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Earth Rampart Unknown Suspected 907 CE  1125 CE
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Ditch Present Inferred 907 CE  1125 CE
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Complex Fortification Present Inferred 907 CE  1125 CE
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Long Wall unknown Suspected 907 CE  1125 CE
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Military use of Metals Khitan I (mn_khitan_1)
Variable Coded Value Tags Year(s) See More
Steel Unknown Suspected 907 CE  1125 CE
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Iron Present Confident 907 CE  1125 CE
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Copper Present Inferred 907 CE  1125 CE
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Bronze Present Inferred 907 CE  1125 CE
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Projectiles Khitan I (mn_khitan_1)
Variable Coded Value Tags Year(s) See More
Tension Siege Engine Present Confident 907 CE  1125 CE
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Sling Siege Engine Absent Inferred 907 CE  1125 CE
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Sling Unknown Suspected 907 CE  1125 CE
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Self Bow Unknown Suspected 907 CE  1125 CE
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Javelin Unknown Suspected 907 CE  1125 CE
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Handheld Firearm Absent Confident 907 CE  1125 CE
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Gunpowder Siege Artillery Absent Confident 907 CE  1125 CE
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Crossbow Present Confident 907 CE  1125 CE
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Composite Bow Present Confident 907 CE  1125 CE
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Atlatl Absent Confident 907 CE  1125 CE
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Handheld weapons Khitan I (mn_khitan_1)
Variable Coded Value Tags Year(s) See More
War Club Present Confident 907 CE  1125 CE
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Sword Present Confident 907 CE  1125 CE
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Spear Present Confident 907 CE  1125 CE
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Polearm Unknown Suspected 907 CE  1125 CE
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Dagger Present Confident 907 CE  1125 CE
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Battle Axe Present Confident 907 CE  1125 CE
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Animals used in warfare Khitan I (mn_khitan_1)
Variable Coded Value Tags Year(s) See More
Horse Present Confident 907 CE  1125 CE
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Elephant Unknown Suspected 907 CE  1125 CE
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Donkey Unknown Suspected 907 CE  1125 CE
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Dog Unknown Suspected 907 CE  1125 CE
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Camel Unknown Suspected 907 CE  1125 CE
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Armor Khitan I (mn_khitan_1)
Variable Coded Value Tags Year(s) See More
Wood Bark Etc Unknown Suspected 907 CE  1125 CE
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Shield Present Inferred 907 CE  1125 CE
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Scaled Armor Unknown Suspected 907 CE  1125 CE
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Plate Armor Unknown Suspected 907 CE  1125 CE
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Limb Protection Unknown Suspected 907 CE  1125 CE
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Leather Cloth Present Inferred 907 CE  1125 CE
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Laminar Armor Present Confident 907 CE  1125 CE
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Helmet Unknown Suspected 907 CE  1125 CE
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Chainmail Unknown Suspected 907 CE  1125 CE
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Breastplate Unknown Suspected 907 CE  1125 CE
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Naval technology Khitan I (mn_khitan_1)
Variable Coded Value Tags Year(s) See More
Specialized Military Vessel Absent Confident 907 CE  1125 CE
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Small Vessels Canoes Etc Unknown Suspected 907 CE  1125 CE
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Merchant Ships Pressed Into Service Absent Confident 907 CE  1125 CE
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Economy Variables (Luxury Goods)
Religion Variables
Moralizing Supernatural Punishment and Reward Khitan I (mn_khitan_1)
Variable Coded Value Tags Year(s) See More
Human Sacrifice Khitan I (mn_khitan_1)
Variable Coded Value Tags Year(s) See More
Instability Data
Power Transitions