The Khitan people (Khitan small script: ; ) were a historical para-Mongolic nomadic people from Northeast Asia who, from the 4th century, inhabited an area corresponding to parts of modern Mongolia, Northeast China and the Russian Far East. As a people they descended from the proto-Mongols through the Xianbei.
Khitans tribes who did not belong to the Dahe confederation but living at the same period
There were nine emperors of the Liao dynasty, which at its height ruled over an area composing modern day Mongolia and northern China for over two hundred years. The emperors of the Liao dynasty were Khitans from Yelü clan.
The family name Li is a "rewarded" name being similar to the Emperor's name Li of the Tang dynasty.