The Shatuo Turkic Dynasties of China (923-979)

The Shatuo were a Turkic tribe descended from the Chuyue of the Western Turks. In the 9th century they entered Tang service, and their commander Li Keyong became one of the most powerful men in northern China by putting down rebellions.

After the Tang fell, China entered the era of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms. Li Keyong's son Li Cunxu founded the Later Tang in 923. Shatuo generals went on to found two more dynasties, Shi Jingtang's Later Jin (936-947) and Liu Zhiyuan's Later Han (947-951), so three of the five dynasties were Shatuo.

When the Later Han fell, its kinsmen founded the Northern Han and held out against the Song until 979. A note on origin: the Shatuo quickly took on Chinese ways and had disappeared as a separate people before the 12th century.