Key Facts
- Duration
- 937–1253 AD
- Ruling ethnicity
- Bai people
- Location
- Modern Yunnan Province, China
- Conquered by
- Mongol forces, 1253
- Post-conquest status
- Tusi chieftainship under Yuan dynasty until 1382
Imperial Zenith Metrics
Historical Trajectory
Phase I: Rise
The Dali Kingdom was founded in 937 by Duan Siping, a Bai nobleman, following the collapse of the earlier Nanzhao polity in Yunnan. Duan unified the region's fragmented successor states and established a dynastic order centered on the city of Dali. The kingdom consolidated control over the Yunnan plateau, maintaining relative independence from the Song dynasty to its northeast while governing a multi-ethnic population.
Phase II: Zenith
At its height, the Dali Kingdom governed much of present-day Yunnan, parts of modern Guizhou, and areas extending into mainland Southeast Asia. The kingdom fostered Buddhist culture, with the ruling Duan family and local elites sponsoring temple construction and religious scholarship. Trade routes connecting China with Southeast Asia and Tibet passed through Dali, making it a significant regional commercial and cultural hub.
Phase III: Decline
In 1253, Mongol forces under Kublai Khan invaded and swiftly conquered the Dali Kingdom, ending its independence. Rather than abolishing the ruling house entirely, the Yuan dynasty permitted Duan family descendants to serve as tusi, or native chieftains, administering Yunnan under Mongol overlordship. This arrangement persisted until the Ming dynasty's conquest of Yunnan in 1382 finally ended Duan family authority.
Notable Imperial Reigns
Selected rulers mapping the empire’s trajectory