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SHA-T’O TURKISH 808 AD - 951 AD
The Sha-t’o or “sand-dune dwellers” were a small Turkish group of three tribes who settled in the Ordos on the Chinese border in 808 and supported the T’ang Chinese against rebels from time to time. After the defeat of Huang Ch’ao’s rebellion in 883, their leader became governor of Ping-chou in Shansi province. In 923, after their leader had been adopted into the T’ang imperial family, they overthrew Liang, the first of the Five Dynasties and founded the “Later T’ang”. They never had quite enough horses to mount all their tribesmen; and after 880 relied heavily on Chinese troops. Their final dynasty fell in 951 when the Chinese commander of its central field army rebelled. Reference: Soldiers of the Dragon C. Peers.