Who was the Khitan advisor who served Genghis Khan?

The Khitan advisor who served Genghis Khan was Yelü Chucai. He was a highly educated statesman whose administrative knowledge helped the Mongols govern conquered territories.

Yelü Chucai was born in 1190 into the Yelü clan, the former ruling family of the Khitan Liao dynasty. Although the Liao had fallen generations earlier, his family continued serving under the Jin dynasty in northern China. He was trained in Confucian scholarship, government administration, writing, and astronomy.

The Mongols summoned him to their court around 1218. Genghis Khan valued his ability to understand settled societies and use their institutions. Yelü Chucai served as a scribe, advisor, and court astrologer-astronomer. He argued that conquered populations should be taxed and administered rather than indiscriminately destroyed, famously expressing the principle that an empire could be conquered on horseback but not governed from horseback.

His influence grew further under Ögedei Khan, Genghis Khan’s successor. Jebe and Subutai were Mongol generals, while Tata-tonga was a different official associated with Uyghur writing and administration.