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The Kumo Xi (Xu Elina-Qian, p.296b), also known as the Tatabi, were ancient steppe people located in modern Northeast China from 207 to 907 AD. After the death of their ancestor Tadun in 207, they were no longer called Wuhuan but joined the Khitan people in submitting to the Yuwen Xianbei. Their history is closely linked to the more famous Khitan people.Xu Elina-Qian, pp.268-271
The Kumo Xi engaged in conflicts with numerous Chinese dynasties and with the Khitan tribes, eventually suffering a series of disastrous defeats to Chinese armies and coming under the domination of the Khitans. In 907, the Kumo Xi were completely assimilated into the Khitan-led Liao dynasty of China.
Peter Benjamin Golden (2003 & 2006) proposes for Qay several Mongolic etymologies: ɣai "trouble, misfortune, misery", χai "interjection of grief", χai "to seek", χai "to hew", albeit none compelling.Golden, Peter B. (2006). "Cumanica V: The Basmils and Qipčaqs" in Archivum Eurasiae Medii Aevi 15: notes 24–25. p. 17 of 13-42Golden, P.B. (2003) "Cumanica II: The Ölberli (Ölperli): The Fortunes and Misfortunes of an Inner Asian Nomadic Clan" in Nomads and their neighbours in the Russian Steppe note. 49 p. 17 of 5-29
Pritsak proposes that the qu(o)mâġ-ġay comprised two Proto-Mongols groups: the Qu(o)mâġ, whom he linked to the Kimek tribe and the Qun/Cumans (whose ethnonym possibly meant "yellow") and the Qay proper. However, Golden thinks that qu(o)mâġ-ġay simply means "desert Qay" or "sand Qay", referring to their earlier habitat.
As for the exonym Tatabï given to Kumo Xi by Göktürks, Yury Zuev (2002) compares Tatabï to Avestan tata apo and proposes an etymology from Iranic * tata-api "falling waters", after having noted that the name of a Xī-(奚)-associated tribe Bái-Xí 白霫 (< MC * bˠæk̚-ziɪp̚) literally meant "white downpour/torrent" in Chinese language, and that the Xī (奚) and Xí (霫) occupied the same area, Zhongjing (中京).Toqto'a et al. Liaoshi, Vol. 116 "奚、霫 ... 國名。中京地也。" Tr. " Xī, Xí ... the name of a state in Zhongjing area."Zuev, Early Türks: Sketches of history and ideology, Almaty, Daik-Press, 2002, p. 66. (In Russian). Original text: " бай-си 'белый ливень' или просто си 'ливень/поток'"
The Book of Wei (Description of the Khitan, Vol. 100, 2223) records:
The Book of Sui records:
The New Book of Tang records:
By the early Tang dynasty (around the 7th century AD), the Kumo Xi now called the, Xi had become subordinate to the Khitans. After the Khitans' Li-Sun Rebellion (696–697) and revolt of Ketuyu (730–734), the Xi regained their position of dominance. The Xi then entered a golden age, lasting from approximately 755 to 847. During this period the Xi were friendly with An Lushan, and supported An in his rebellion (756–763), frequently plundering Han territories in this period. This aggressive policy seems to have consumed Xi forces, especially weakening their demographic vitality, allowing the less aggressive Khitans to dominate them. Xi raids into Tang territory provoked successive heavy responses from the Tang court, resulting in battles in the 760s and in 795 that were disastrous for the Xi. After 795, the Xi became a tributary people to the Tang.Xu Elina-Qian p.269: defeated by Liu Ji in 795, and Li Zaiyi in 830. p.270: defeated by Zhang Zhongwu in 847
The Uyghur Khaganate (744–840) collapsed in the 840's. When the Tang dynasty simultaneously displayed signs of division, the Xi rose in rebellion in 847, and were subsequently and disastrously defeated by Zhang Zhongwu, the frontier commander of Lulong County. The Xi were never able to recover from this defeat. In the late ninth century the Khitans rose to eventually absorb the remnants of Xi people, and established the Liao dynasty in 907.
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