East Asia · Fragmentation, Song and the conquest dynasties
Kingdom of Dali
937–1253
The Kingdom of Dali (937–1253) was founded in Yunnan by Duan Siping (893–944), a Bai noble, capital at Yangjumie (modern Dali) by Erhai Lake. It succeeded Nanzhao and its three short-lived successor states (Dachanghe, Datianxing, Dayining), Duan Siping defeating Yang Ganzhen of Dayining in 937.
- Existed
- 937–1253
- Shown on the map
- AD 947–1259
- Peak area
- 362k km²
- Region
- East Asia
Overview
The Kingdom of Dali (937–1253) was founded in Yunnan by Duan Siping (893–944), a Bai noble, capital at Yangjumie (modern Dali) by Erhai Lake. It succeeded Nanzhao and its three short-lived successor states (Dachanghe, Datianxing, Dayining), Duan Siping defeating Yang Ganzhen of Dayining in 937. Ruled by the Duan clan (22 monarchs), it was strongly Buddhist—several kings abdicated to become monks. It divided into "Former Dali" (937–1094) and "Later Dali" (1096–1253), with an interlude when chief minister Gao Shengtai briefly usurped as the Dazhong state (1094–1096) before restoring the Duan. A Song tributary (from 982) and key node on the Tea-Horse Road, it was conquered in 1253 by the Mongols under Kublai Khan; the last king Duan Xingzhi resisted from Shanchan until c. 1254–1255, after which the Duan served as tusi under the Yuan.
Common questions
- What was the Kingdom of Dali?
- The Kingdom of Dali (937–1253) was founded in Yunnan by Duan Siping (893–944), a Bai noble, capital at Yangjumie (modern Dali) by Erhai Lake. It succeeded Nanzhao and its three short-lived successor states (Dachanghe, Datianxing, Dayining), Duan Siping defeating Yang Ganzhen of Dayining in 937.
- When did the Kingdom of Dali exist?
- The Kingdom of Dali existed 937–1253. On this map it is drawn AD 947–1259.
- How large was the Kingdom of Dali?
- At its greatest extent drawn on this map, the Kingdom of Dali covered about 362,000 km². That is the largest area the border data gives it across the years it is drawn, not necessarily its greatest extent in history.
Sources
This compendium cites its sources once for the whole document rather than per territory. Its bibliography names the English Wikipedia article for each polity as the basis of these profiles, supplemented by Encyclopaedia Britannica, chinaknowledge.de, the World History Encyclopedia, museum and university sources, and the academic works it lists. The article this entry is anchored on:
- Wikipedia — Dali Kingdom en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dali_Kingdom
This entry was last updated .
This entry was researched and drafted with AI from the sources above, and has not been reviewed by a historian. How entries are made
Text available under CC BY-SA 4.0: reuse it with a credit to The World Through Time and a link to this page. Passages drawing on the Wikipedia articles listed above are also licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 by their contributors.
Border geometry for the map itself comes from Cliopatria v0.12 (Seshat Global History Databank, CC-BY-4.0).
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