Liao control of the steppe Silk Road

Timeline

1. c. 907–930South bank of the Huang River · Inner MongoliaAfter Yelu Abaoji founded the state, he integrated the Khitan with the Shiwei, Mohe and other tribes, controlling east-west steppe corridors in Northeast Asia and linking the Central Plains Five Dynasties regimes with the northern nomadic world through war booty and tribute trade.
2. c. 940–970Around Shangjing Linhuang Prefecture · Inner MongoliaThe Liao court set up market towns at Shangjing and elsewhere, trading silk and porcelain for horses, furs and livestock products, and governed submitted tribes through loosely controlled prefectures and counties, bringing steppe Silk Road trade into state finance and diplomacy under a 'north-south administration' framework of pastoral and trade parallel rule.
3. c. 980–1000Western section of the steppe Silk Road · MongoliaThe Liao maintained contact with remnant Uyghur groups, the Ganzhou Uyghur and envoys from the Western Regions; the western section of the steppe Silk Road became a transitional zone linking Northeast Asia and Central Asia, with Khitan-Central Plains goods relayed through the steppe into broader Eurasian trade networks.