Steppe Turkic Politics in the Onon River Basin

Timeline

1. 1121–1125Eastern Mongolian Plateau · Mongolian SteppeAfter the fall of the Liao dynasty and the northward expansion of Jin power, the steppe tribes formerly under Liao loose suzerainty lost their overlord's protection, each expanding its pasturelands and competing for trade routes and tributary interests.
2. 1123–1128Upper Onon River · Onon River BasinUnder To'oril (predecessor of Wang Khan), the Kerait gradually became a strong eastern power, while the Naiman held the western plateau; with the Merkit, Jalair, and others they fought and allied in turn, giving steppe politics a multipolar competitive character.
3. 1125–1130Orkhon River · Orkhon River ValleyThe Orkhon–Onon region was still regarded as the symbolic center of steppe politics; the tribes maintained contacts through marriages, alliances, and envoys to Western Liao and the Jin, continuing the nomadic political tradition since the Turkic–Uyghur era.