Qutlugh-Khanids in the context of Öljaitü

The Qara Khitai, or Kara Khitai (simplified Chinese: 哈剌契丹; traditional Chinese: 喀喇契丹; pinyin: Kālā Qìdān or Chinese: 黑契丹; pinyin: Hēi Qìdān; lit. 'Black Khitan'), also known as the Western Liao (Chinese: 西遼; pinyin: Xī Liáo), officially the Great Liao (Chinese: 大遼; pinyin: Dà Liáo), was a dynastic regime based in Central Asia ruled by the Yelü clan of the Khitan people. Being a rump state of the Khitan-led Liao dynasty, Western Liao was culturally Sinicized to a large extent, especially among the elites consisting of Liao refugees.

The dynasty was founded by Yelü Dashi (Emperor Dezong), who led the remnants of the Liao dynasty from Manchuria to Central Asia after fleeing from the Jurchen-led Jin dynasty conquest of northern China. The empire was usurped by the Naimans under Kuchlug in 1211; traditional Chinese, Persian, and Arab sources consider the usurpation to be the end of the dynasty, even though the empire would not fall until the Mongol conquest in 1218. Some remnants of the Qara Khitai would form the Qutlugh-Khanid dynasty in southern Iran.

The various states and civilizations in Iran (Persia) have had numerous capital cities and royal centers throughout history.

• Ahar; Pishkinid dynasty
• Anshan; pre-Achaemenid era
• Ardabil; early Safavid era, Sajid
• Asaak; Parthian era royal center
• Astara; Ispahbads of Gilan
• Alamut Castle; Nizari Ismaili state
• Amol; Ziyarid, Alavid, Marashis, Dabuyid, Bavandid, Chalavi, (Parthian Empire climate capital)
• Babylon; Achaemenid era
• Baghdad; caliphates, Jalayerid, Buyid
• Balkh; in legend, the governmental center of the Kayanian dynasty
• Bardsir; Banu Ilyas
• Basra; Jalayerid
• Bukhara; Samanid era
• Ctesiphon; Parthian, Sasanian era
• Damavand; Masmughans of Damavand
• Dinavar; Hasanwayhids
• Diyarbakır; Aq Qoyunlu
• Fuman; Dabuyid
• Farim (Perim); Bavandid
• Firozkoh; Ghurid
• Firuzkuh; Chalavi
• Shahr-e Qumis (Hecatompylos); Parthian era
• Ghazna; Ghurid, Khwarazmid, Ghaznavid
• Gor (Firuzabad); Sasanian era
• Gorgan (Astarabad); Ziyarid, Alavids
• Herat; Ghurid, Kartids, Timurid Empire
• Hulwan; Annazids
• Ij (Ig); Shabankara
• Isfahan; Ziyarid dynasty, Kakuyid Emirate, Injuid dynasty, Seljuk era, Safavid era
• Istakhr; Sasanian era
• Izeh (Idaj); Hazaraspids
• Ecbatana (later Hamadan); Median Empire, Achaemenid era, Eldiguzids, Seljuks (Greater and Iraq Seljuks)
• Kerman; Muzaffarid, Qutlugh-Khanids
• Khorramabad; Khorshidi dynasty
• Kunya Urgench; early Khwarezmid era
• Lafur; Qarinvand dynasty
• Lankaran; Talysh Khanate
• Lahijan; Karkiya dynasty
• Maragheh; Ilkhanid, Ahmadilis, Sajid
• Mashhad; Afsharid
• Merv; capital during al-Mamun's caliphate, and Taherid era, Seljuk Empire
• Mosul; winter capital during Qara Qoyunlu
• Nakhchivan; Eldiguzids
• Nishapur; Ilkhanid, Seljuq, Taherid eras
• Nisa, Turkmenistan; periodical capital of the Parthian era
• Pasargadae; Achaemenid
• Persepolis; Achaemenid ceremonial capital
• Rey (Rhagae); Median, Ziyarid, Buyid, Seljuk Empire
• Rudbar; Justanids
• Qazvin; early Safavid era
• Sabzevar; Sarbadars
• Samarkand; Samanid, Khwarazmid, Timurid era
• Shiraz; Buyid dynasty, Injuid dynasty, Muzaffarid dynasty, Salghurid dynasty, Zand dynasty
• Soltaniyeh; Ilkhanid
• Susa; Achaemenid, Parthian era
• Tabriz; Ilkhanid, Khwarezmid, Rawadid, Chupanid, Jalayerid, Eldiguzids, Kara Koyunlu, Aq Qoyunlu, early Safavid era
• Tarom; Sallarid
• Sari; Qajar, Dabuyid, Alavid, Bavandid, Marashis
• Yazd; Kakuyid, Atabegs of Yazd
• Zaranj; Saffarid Empire, Mihrabanid, Nasrid
• Tehran; Qajar era, Pahlavi era, Islamic Republic of Iran 1796–present

Buraq Hajib, also spelt Baraq Hajib (died 1234), was a Khitan who founded the Qutlugh-Khanid dynasty in the southern Persian province of Kirman the early 13th century after the conquest of the sinicised Qara Khitai (Western Liao dynasty) by the Mongol Empire. The dynasty founded by Buraq Hajib ended in the 14th century.