The name Cathay comes from the word "Khitay," which refers to a semi-nomadic Turkic tribe from Central Asia. Though the Khitay appear in records from around 386 AD, they later came to rule the great steppes---or vast grasslands---of northern China for more than 200 years in the 10th to 12th centuries. The area is now known as Inner Mongolia, and was centered near modern Kyrgyzstan. Few Khitay artifacts survive today. The Khitay had their own culture and language.
The Khitay founded the Liao Dynasty in 916. They were skilled warriors with an armored cavalry. After defeating the Song Dynasty of southern China and establishing a treaty, the Liao received tribute to keep peace between their countries. Eventually, the Liao acclimated and assimilated into the southern Chinese way of life and became less warlike. They were open to other ethnicities and created a multi-ethnic culture that included Persians, Han Chinese, Egyptians, Syrians and Europeans. The Liao Dynasty fell to the Jin Dynasty of the Jurchen people in 1125.
The name Cathay was carried by traders to Russia by the 13th century, and today the Russian word for China is "Kitay."
At its zenith, the Liao Empire stretched from the Gobi into modern Russia on the north, to the Gulf of Bohai and the Yellow sea on the east, and to just north of the Yangtzee River to the south. There were five capitals: Shangjing ("Supreme Capital"), Zhongjing ("Central Capital"), Dongjing ("Eastern Capital"), Xijing ("Western Capital") and Nanjing ("Southern Capital"). Each city was an administrative seat that governed its provinces.
The Polos were a trading family and were some of the first Europeans to travel to the East. Marco Polo traveled with his family to China in 1271. Marco later famously wrote of his journey on the Silk Road---the trade route between Europe and Asia---in his book "Travels in the Land of Kubilai Khan," which includes a story called "The Road to Cathay." Polo traveled Asia for 24 years, becoming a favorite of Kublai Khan, the great leader of the Yuan Dynasty. Once considered highly fictionalized, Polo's writing is now of great value to modern scholars because it provides an unprecedented glimpse into the history, geography, culture and lifestyle of Cathay and its people.
Today, references to Cathay are largely poetic and recall a bygone era. The term was replaced by "China" in the 1800s.
