Yelü Dashi
| Emperor Dezong of Western Liao 西遼德宗 | |||||||||||||||||||||
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| Emperor of the Western Liao dynasty | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Reign | 1124–1143 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Predecessor | Dynasty established (Emperor Tianzuo as the last Emperor of the Liao dynasty) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Successor | Xiao Tabuyan (as regent) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | 1087 or 1094 Shangjing, Liao dynasty | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Died | 1143 (aged 48–49) Balasagun, Western Liao dynasty | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Consort | Xiao Tabuyan | ||||||||||||||||||||
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| House | Yelü | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Dynasty | Western Liao | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Religion | Buddhism | ||||||||||||||||||||
Yelü Dashi (Chinese: 耶律大石; pinyin: Yēlǜ Dàshí; Wade–Giles: Yeh-Lü Ta-Shih; alternatively Chinese: 耶律達實; pinyin: Yēlǜ Dáshí), courtesy name Zhongde (重德), also known by his temple name as the Emperor Dezong of Western Liao (西遼德宗), was the founder of the Western Liao dynasty (Qara Khitai). He initially ruled as king from 1124 to 1132, then as emperor and gurkhan from 1132 to 1143. He was also known in Muslim sources as Nūshī Taifū, Qushqin Taifū or Qushqīn, son of Baighū. A member of the imperial Yelü clan, he fled the Liao dynasty in northern China as it was on the verge of destruction by the Jurchen-led Jin dynasty and moved westward into Central Asia where he established a new empire.