Dali Kingdom

Great Li
Dablit Guaif 大理國
937–1095 1096–1253
Location of Dali (purple) in 1142
Capital		Dali
Religion		Buddhism
Government		Monarchy
Emperor
•	937–944	Duan Siping
•	1081–1094	Duan Zhengming
•	1096–1108	Duan Zhengchun
•	1172–1200	Duan Zhixing
•	1251–1254	Duan Xingzhi
History
•	Established	937 937
•	Coup d'etat by Gao Shengtai	1095
•	Reestablished	1096
•	Ended by the Mongol Empire	1253 1253
Preceded by Succeeded by Kingdom of Nanzhao Mongol Empire

The Dali (Great Li) Kingdom or Dali State (Bai language: Dablit Guaif; simplified Chinese: 大理国; traditional Chinese: 大理國; pinyin: Dàlǐ Guó) was a kingdom centred in what is now Yunnan Province of China. Established by Duan Siping in 937, it was ruled by a succession of 22 kings until the year 1253, when it was conquered by an invasion of the Mongol Empire. The capital city was at Dali.

History

The Dali Kingdom was preceded by the Nanzhao dynasty, which was overthrown in 902. Three dynasties followed in quick succession, until Duan Siping seized power in 937 and established Dali. Gao Shengtai forced the puppet king Duan Zhengming to abdicate and become a monk in 1095, and renamed the state Dazhong. He returned the power to the Duan family upon his death. Duan Zhengchun renamed the state Hou Li (literately "Later Li") in the next year.

The Duan family claimed descent from a Han Chinese family originating from Wuwei in Gansu province.

The 11th king of Nanzhao established Buddhism as the state religion. Ten of the 22 kings of Dali gave up the throne and became monks.

It is claimed that despite their military prowess and superior numbers, the Mongols could not breach the defenses of the Erhai valley, which was so suited to defense that even just a few defenders could hold out for years. It is said that the Mongols found a traitor who led them over the Cangshan mountains along a secret path, and only in this way were they able to penetrate and overrun the Bai defenders. Thus ended three centuries of independence. In 1274 the Province of Yunnan was created by the Mongol Empire at the beginning of the Yuan dynasty.

Historians, however, relate that the "traitor" was the last king of Dali himself, who first fought and then surrendered to the forces of Kublai Khan, to be spared and later appointed by Möngke Khan (also known as Mengu) as the region's first Native Chieftain.

The Dali King Duan Xingzhi himself defected to the Mongols, and helped them conquer the rest of Yunnan with his troops.

King Duan Xingzhi of Dali was then enfeoffed as Maharaja (摩诃罗嵯) by the Yuan Emperor Kublai Khan, and the Dali Kingdom Duan royal family continued to hold the title of Maharaja in Yunnan as vassals to the Mongols under the supervision of Mongolian imperial princes and Muslim governors (Sayyid Ajjal Shams al-Din Omar). After the Ming dynasty conquered Yunnan from the Yuan, the Duan royals were shipped off to the Ming capital of Nanjing by the Hongwu Emperor.

Dali kings family tree

Dali kings family tree

External links

• Media related to at Wikimedia Commons