Kipchaks

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Map of the Cuman-Kipchak state in 1200-1241

The Kipchaks or Qipchaks, also known as Kipchak Turks or Polovtsians, were Turkic nomads and then a confederation that existed in the Middle Ages inhabiting parts of the Eurasian Steppe.

First mentioned in the eighth century as part of the Second Turkic Khaganate, they most likely inhabited the Altai region from where they expanded over the following centuries, first as part of the Kimek–Kipchak confederation and later as part of a confederation with the Cumans. There were groups of Kipchaks in the Pontic–Caspian steppe, China, Syr Darya and Siberia. Cumania was conquered by the Mongol Empire in the early 13th century.

Terminology

The Kipchaks interpreted their name as meaning "hollow tree" (cf.

Middle Turkic: kuv ağaç);[1] according to them, inside a hollow tree, their original human ancestress gave birth to her son.[2] Németh points to the Siberian qıpčaq "angry, quick-tempered" attested only in the Siberian Sağay dialect (a dialect of Khakas language).[3] Klyashtorny links Kipchak to qovı, qovuq "unfortunate, unlucky"; yet Golden sees a better match in qıv "good fortune" and adjectival suffix -čāq. Regardless, Golden notes that the ethnonym's original form and etymology "remain a matter of contention and speculation".[4]

History

See also: Sir-Kıvchak and Xueyantuo
Kipchak portrait in a 12th-century balbal in Luhansk.

On the

Khitans, such as the collapse of the Liao dynasty and formation of the Qara Khitai, and attached themselves to the eastern Kipchak confederation where they eventually came to form a part of the ruling strata and elite. Golden identifies the Ölberli with the Qay whom are recorded as the Xi in Chinese sources and Tatabı in Turkic inscriptions, and were of Mongolic or para-Mongolic background - likely stemming from the Xianbei.[6][7]

Chinese histories only mentioned the Kipchaks a few times: for example, Yuan general Tutuha's origin from Kipchak tribe Ölberli,[8] or some information about the Kipchaks' homeland, horses, and the Kipchaks' physiognomy and psychology.[9][10][11]

Kipchak-style helmet, 13th century

The Kipchaks were first unambiguously mentioned in Persian geographer

Lev Gumilyov[20]) attempted to connect the Kipchaks to the Qūshé ~ Qūshí (屈射), a people once conquered by the Xiongnu; however, Golden deems this connection unlikely, considering 屈射's Old Chinese pronunciation *khut m-lak and Eastern Han Chinese *kʰut źa ~ kʰut jak/jɑk (as reconstructed by Schuessler, 2009:314,70).[a][22][23] The relationship between the Kipchaks and Cumans is unclear.[13]

While part of the Turkic Khaganate, they most likely inhabited the

Kimek confederation, with which they expanded to the Irtysh, Ishim and Tobol rivers.[13] They then appeared in Islamic sources.[13] In the 9th century Ibn Khordadbeh indicated that they held autonomy within the Kimek confederation.[13] They entered the Kimek in the 8th- or beginning of 9th century, and were one of seven original tribes.[24] In the 10th-century Hudud al-'Alam it is said that the Kimek appointed the Kipchak king.[13] The Kimek confederation, probably spearheaded by the Kipchaks, moved into Oghuz lands, and Sighnaq in Syr Darya became the Kipchak urban centre.[13] Kipchak remnants remained in Siberia, while others pushed westwards in the Qun migration.[13] As a result, three Kipchak groups emerged:[25]

The early 11th century saw a massive Turkic nomadic migration towards the Islamic world.[26] The first waves were recorded in the Kara-Khanid Khanate in 1017–18.[26] It is unknown whether the Cumans conquered the Kipchaks or were simply the leaders of the confederacy of the Kipchak–Turkic tribes.[26] What is certain is that the two peoples gradually mingled politically and that, from the second half of the 12th century onwards, the names Cumans and Kipchaks became interchangeable to refer to the whole confederacy.[27]

Cumania in c. 1200.

The Mongols defeated the

horse archers like the Mongols, served as the vanguard and scouts.[28] The Mongols, who appeared to retreat, tricked the Ruthenian–Kipchak force into a trap after suddenly emerging behind the hills and surrounding them.[28] The fleeing Kipchaks were closely pursued, and the Ruthenian camp was massacred.[28]

The nomadic Kipchaks were the main targets of the Mongols when they crossed the Volga in 1236.

Bela IV granted them refuge in return for their Christianization.[29] The refugee Kipchaks fled Hungary after Köten was murdered.[29]

After their fall, Kipchaks and Cumans were known to have become mercenaries in Europe and taken as slave warriors. In

Mamluks were in part drawn from Kipchaks and Cumans.[30]

In 1239-1240, a large group of Kipchaks fleeing from the

Manav living in Northwest Anatolia today.[38][39][40][41][42][43]

Another Kipchak migration in Anatolia dates back to the period of the

Isfendiyarids Beylik.[35]

Language

The Kipchak–Cuman confederation spoke a

Mamluks
also stimulated the compilation of Kipchak/Cuman-Arabic dictionaries and grammars that are important in the study of several old Turkic languages.

When members of the

Armeno-Kipchak. They were settled in the Lviv and Kamianets-Podilskyi areas of what is now Ukraine.[45]

The literary form of the Cuman language became extinct in the 18th century in the region of Cumania in Hungary. Cuman in Crimea, however, became the ancestor of the central dialect of Crimean Tatar.[46]

Mongolian linguistic elements in the Kipchak–Kimek confederation remain "unproven";[26] though that confederation's constituent Tatar tribe possibly had been Mongolic speakers who later underwent Turkification.[47]

Religion

The Kipchaks practiced Tengrism.[48] Muslim conversion occurred near Islamic centres.[48] Some Kipchaks and Cumans were known to have converted to Christianity around the 11th century, at the suggestion of the Georgians, as they allied in their conflicts against the Muslims. A great number were baptized at the request of Georgian King David IV, who also married a daughter of Kipchak Khan Otrok. From 1120, there was a Kipchak national Christian church and an important clergy.[49] Following the Mongol conquest, Islam rose in popularity among the Kipchaks of the Golden Horde.[50]

Culture

Kurgan stelae

Main article: Kurgan stelae

Confederations

Kimek

Main article:
Kimek confederation

The confederation or tribal union which Kipchaks entered in the 8th- or beginning of 9th century as one of seven original tribes is known in historiography as that of the Kimek (or Kimäk).[24] Turkic inscriptions do not mention the state with that name.[51] 10th-century Hudud al-'Alam mentions the "country of Kīmāk", ruled by a khagan (king) who has eleven lieutenants that hold hereditary fiefs.[52] Furthermore, Andar Az Khifchāq is mentioned as a country (nāḥiyat) of the Kīmāk, 'of which inhabitants resemble the Ghūz in some customs'.[52]

In the 9th century Ibn Khordadbeh indicated that they held autonomy within the Kimek confederation.[13] They entered the Kimek in the 8th- or beginning of 9th century, and were one of the seven original tribes.[24] In the 10th-century's Hudud al-'Alam it is said that the Kimek appointed the Kipchak king.[13]

Physical appearance

The looks of a typical Kipchak are a matter of debate. This is because in spite of their Eastern origins, several sources point at them being white, blue-eyed, and blond. It is important to elaborate, however, that the full range of available data sketches a more complex picture. While the written sources often emphasize a fair complexion the craniometric and genetic data, as well as some historical descriptions, support the image of a people highly heterogenous in appearance. Skulls with East Asian features are often found in burials associated with the Kipchaks in Central Asia and Europe.[53]

An early description of the physical appearance of Kipchaks comes from the Great Ming Code (大明律) Article 122,

Yenisei Kirghiz, while the Tiele (to whom the Qun belonged) were not described as foreign looking, i.e. they were likely East Asian in appearance.[57] It is noted that "Chinese histories also depict the Turkic-speaking peoples as typically possessing East/Inner Asian physiognomy, as well as occasionally having West Eurasian physiognomy." Lee and Kuang believe it is likely "early and medieval Turkic peoples themselves did not form a homogeneous entity and that some of them, non-Turkic by origin, had become Turkicised at some point in history."[58] The Yenisei Kirghiz are among those suggested to be of turkicised or part non-Turkic origin. According to Lee & Kuang, who cite Chinese historical descriptions as well as genetic data, the turcophone "Qirghiz" may have been of non-Turkic origin, and were later Turkified through inter-tribal marriage.[58] Gardizi believed the red hair and white skin of the Kipchaks was explained by mixing with the "Saqlabs" (Slavs), while Lee & Kuang note the non-Turkic components to be better explained by historical Iranian-speaking nomads.[58]

Genetics

Lee and Kuang suggest that the high frequency (63.9%) of the Y-DNA haplogroup R-M73 among Karakypshaks (a tribe within the Kipchaks) allows inference about the genetics of Karakypshaks' medieval ancestors, thus explaining why some medieval Kipchaks were described as possessing "blue [or green] eyes and red hair.[58]

A genetic study published in Nature in May 2018 examined the remains of two Kipchak males buried between c. 1000 AD and 1200 AD.[59] One male was found to be a carrier of the paternal haplogroup C[60] and the maternal haplogroup F1b1b,[61] and displayed "increased East Asian ancestry".[62] The other male was found to be a carrier of the maternal haplogroup D4[63] and displayed "pronounced European ancestry".[62]

Legacy

Kipchak peoples and languages

See also: Kipchak languages

The modern Northwestern branch of the

Middle Horde confederation of the Kazakh people. The name Kipchak also occurs as a surname in Kazakhstan. Some of the descendants of the Kipchaks are the Bashkirian clan Qipsaq.[64]

Notable people

Kipchak confederations

  • Ayyub Khan (fl. 1117), Kipchak leader
  • Bačman (fl. 1229–1236), Kipchak leader in the Lower Volga
  • Qačir-üküle (fl. 1236), Kipchak leader in the Lower Volga
  • Köten (fl. 1223–1239), Kipchak leader

Kipchak ancestry

  • Al-Mansur Qalawun
    , Mamluk sultan of Egypt (r. 1279–1290)
  • Baibars
    , Mamluk sultan of Egypt (r. 1260–1277)
  • El Temür, chancellor of the Chinese-Mongolian Yuan dynasty
  • Faris ad-Din Aktai
    , Mamluk emir
  • Nasir ad-Din Qabacha, Mamluk Sultan of Multan

See also

History of the Turkic peoples pre–14th century
Court of Seljuk ruler Tughril III, circa 1200 CE.
Court of Seljuk ruler Tughril III, circa 1200 CE.
Turkic peoples
Oghuz Turks
Karluks
Kipchaks
Onogurs
Kumyks
Yakuts
Dolgans
Krymchaks
Sabir people
Crimean Karaites
Turkic Languages
Turkish
Azerbaijani
Uzbek
Kazakh
Uyghur
Turkmen
Tatar
Kyrgyz
Bashkir
Chuvash
Qasgqai
Karakalpak
Sakha
Kumyk
Karachay-Balkar
Tuvan
Gagauz
Karaim
Krymchak
Turkic Mythology
Belief system: Tengrism and Shamanism
Chief gods and goddesses: Kayra and Ülgen
Epics and heroes: Ergenekon and Asena
Major concepts: Sheka and Grey wolf
Pre-14th century
Yenisei Kyrgyz People 202 BCE–13th CE
  • Yenisei Kyrgyz Khaganate
Dingling 71 BC–?? AD
Göktürks

(Tokhara Yabghus, Turk Shahis)

Sabiri People
Khazar Khaganate 618–1048
Xueyantuo 628–646
Kangar union 659–750
Turk Shahi
 665-850
Türgesh Khaganate 699–766
Kimek confederation
 743–1035
Uyghur Khaganate 744–840
Oghuz Yabgu State 750–1055
Karluk Yabgu State
 756–940
Kara-Khanid Khanate 840–1212
Ganzhou Uyghur Kingdom 848–1036
Qocho 856–1335
Pecheneg Khanates 860–1091
Ghaznavid Empire 963–1186
Seljuk Empire 1037–1194
Cuman–Kipchak confederation
 1067–1239
Khwarazmian Empire 1077–1231
Kerait Khanate 11th century–13th century
Atabegs of Azerbaijan 1136–1225
Delhi Sultanate 1206–1526
Qarlughid Kingdom 1224–1266
Golden Horde 1242–1502
Mamluk Sultanate (Cairo)
 1250–1517
  • Bahri dynasty
Ottoman State
 1299–1922

Notes

  1. ^ Schuessler (2014) reconstructs 屈射's 200 BCE Old Chinese pronunciation as k(ʰ)ut-źak[21]

References

  1. ^ Clauson, Gerard (1972). An Etymological Dictionary of Pre-13th Century Turkish. Oxford University Press. p. 581.
  2. ^ Julian Baldick, Animal and Shaman: Ancient Religions of Central Asia, p.55.
  3. ^ Golden, Peter B. (1992). An Introduction to the History of the Turkic People. Wiesbaden: Otto Harrassowitz. p. 271
  4. ^ Golden, Peter B. The Turkic world of Mahmud al-Kashgari. p. 522
  5. ^ a b Agajanov 1992, p. 74.
  6. ^ Golden, Peter (1987). "Cumanica II: The Ölberli (Ölperli): The Fortunes and Misfortunes of an Inner Asian Nomadic Clan". Archivum Eurasiae Medii Aevi. VI: 16–22. Retrieved 2 May 2022.
  7. ^ Golden, Peter (2006). "Cumanica V: The Basmils and Qipchaqs". Archivum Eurasiae Medii Aevi. 15: 16–17.
  8. Toqto'a et al. Yuanshi, vol. 128 Tutuha
  9. Liji "Zhong Yong"
    quote: "衽金革，死而不厭，北方之強也，而強者居之。", tr.: "To sleep armed and armored, to die undismayed; those are strengths in the north, the forceful dwell there."
  10. ^ Lee & Kuang 2017, pp. 213, 217–218, 225–226: "Concerning the physiognomy of the Qipchaq tribe, the Zizhi tongjian houbian [Later compilation to the comprehensive mirror to aid in government], a seventeenth-century continuation of Sima Guang’s Zizhi tongjian by Xu Qianxue, states that they had 'blue eyes and red hair (青目赤髪)'."
  11. ISBN 978-1-4381-2918-1
    .
  12. ^ Golden 2014, p. 186.
  13. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Golden 1990, p. 278.
  14. ^ Moyun Chur inscriptions "Note 207" at Türik Bitig
  15. ^ Golden 1990, p. 271.
  16. ^ Klyashtorny 2005, p. 243.
  17. ^ Ergin 1980, p. 33, 52.
  18. ^ Du You, Tongdian, vol. 199 ""自厥越失、拔悉彌、駮馬、結骨、火燖、觸木昆諸國皆臣之" tr. "Many states such as Jueyueshi, Basmyls, Boma, Kirghizes, Khwarazmians, and Chumukun, etc. all submitted themselves (to Duolu Qaghan)."
  19. ^ Zuev 2002, p. 236.
  20. ^ Gumilev, L. N. (2006). "İklim Değişiklikleri ve Göçebe Göçleri". (A. Batur, trans.), Avrasyadan Makaleler I, (pp. 131-151). İstanbul: Selenge Yayınları. p. 140 of pp. 131–151
  21. ^ Schuessler, Axel (2014). "Phonological Notes on Hàn Period Transcriptions of Foreign Names and Words" (PDF). Studies in Chinese and Sino-Tibetan Linguistics: Dialect, Phonology, Transcription and Text. Language and Linguistics Monograph Series. Taipei, Taiwan: Institute of Linguistics, Academia Sinica (53). p. 273
  22. ^ Golden 1992, p. 270.
  23. ^ Golden 2014, p. 185.
  24. ^ a b c Agajanov 1992, p. 69.
  25. ^ Golden 1990, pp. 278–279.
  26. ^ a b c d e Golden 1990, p. 279.
  27. ^ Vásáry 2005, p. 6.
  28. ^ a b c d e f g h May 2016, p. 96.
  29. ^ a b c d May 2016, p. 103.
  30. ^ Vásáry 2005, p. 39.
  31. ^ GOLUBOVSKİY, P.V., Peçenegi, Torki i Polovtsı Rus i Step Do Naşestviya Tatar, Veçe, Moskva, 2011.
  32. ^ ÖZTÜRK, Meriç T., The Provıncıal Arıstocracy In Byzantine Asia Minor (1081-1261), Boğaziçi Üniversitesi, Yayınlanmamış Yüksek Lisans Tezi, İstanbul, 2013.
  33. ^ WOLF, Robert Lee, “The Latın Empire Of Constantinople 1204-1261”, A History Of The Crusaders, Volume II Later Crusades (1189-1311), General ed. Kenneth M. Setton, ed. By. Robert Lee Wolf and Harry W. Hazard, The Unıversıty Of Wısconsın Press, Madıson, Milwaukee and London, 1969, s. 187-233.
  34. S2CID 245309166. Retrieved October 12, 2022. DOI: English version
  35. ^ a b Dimitri Korobeinikov (2015). "The Cumans in Paphlagonia". Karadeniz İncelemeleri Dergisi (18): 29–44.
  36. ^ Caroline Gurevich (May 2017). The Image of the Cumans in Medieval Chronicles: Old Russian and Georgian Sources in the Twelfth and Thirteenth Centuries (PDF) (MA thesis). Budapest: Central European University. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2020-08-23.
  37. ^ Rustam M. Shukurov. "Latent Turkification of Byzantium (ca. 1071–1461)". Dumbarton Oaks.
  38. ^ "Anadolu'ya yerleştirilen Kumanlar (Manavlar)".
  39. ^ Yilmaz, Adil (2018). "Bızans'in Anadolu'ya Yerleştırdığı Son Türkler" [The Last Turks Settled in Anatolia by Byzantium]. Eski̇çağ Araştirmalari Dergi̇si̇ [Journal of Ancient Researches] (in Turkish) (3): 29–32.
  40. ^ "YALAKOVA'DAN YALOVA'YA Prof. Dr. Halil İnalcık Anısına Yalova Tarihi Araştırmaları" (PDF).
  41. ^ "Acar, Kenan (2010). Kuzeybatı Anadolu Manav Türkmen Ağızları Üzerine Birkaç Not" (PDF).
  42. ^ "Muharrem ÖÇALAN SAKARYA- İZMİT YÖRESİ YERLEŞİK TÜRKMENLERİ MANAV AĞIZLARINDA ÖTÜMSÜZ PATLAYICI ÜNSÜZ DEĞİŞMELERİ" (PDF).
  43. ^ Yalvar, Cihan (19 February 2021). "CİHAN YALVAR, ANADOLU'DA SON TÜRK İSKÂNI: İZNİK İMPARATORLUĞU'NDA KUMAN-KIPÇAKLAR VE YALOVA KAZIMİYE (YORTAN) İLE ELMALIK (SARUHANLI) KÖYLERİNDEKİ VARLIKLARI". Türk Dünyası Araştırmaları. 127 (250): 11–36.
  44. ^ An Armeno-Kipchak Chronicle on the Polish-Turkish Wars in 1620-1621, Robert Dankoff, p. 388
  45. ^ Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland, p. 85, Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland.[full citation needed]
  46. ^ "Crimean Tatar proper, called the 'central dialect', belonged to the West Kipchak subbranch as a descendant of Kuman." (Lars Johanson, Turkic, Cambridge University Press, 2021, pg. 62)
  47. ^ Peter B. Golden (1992). An Introduction to the History of the Turkic People. O. Harrassowitz. pp. 184–185.
  48. ^ a b May 2016, p. 221.
  49. ^ Roux 1997, p. 242.
  50. ^ Islamic Civilization Archived 2008-05-12 at the Wayback Machine
  51. ^ Central Asiatic Journal. O. Harrassowitz. 1998.
  52. ^ a b Hudud al-'Alam, ch. 18
  53. ^ Oshanin, L.V. 1964. Anthropological Composition of the Population of Central Asia, and the Ethnogenesis of its Peoples (trans. V.M. Maurin, ed. H. Field). Cambridge (MA): Peabody Museum of Archaeology.
  54. ISBN 978-0-295-80166-7
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  55. ISBN 978-1-000-13466-7
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  56. ^ Lee 2017, p. 207
  57. ^ Lee, J. Y., & Kuang, S. (2017). A comparative analysis of Chinese historical sources and Y-DNA studies with regard to the early and medieval turkic peoples. Inner Asia, 19(2), 197-239.
  58. ^
    S2CID 165623743
    .
  59. ^ Damgaard et al. 2018, Supplementary Table 2, Rows 20, 105.
  60. ^ Damgaard et al. 2018, Supplementary Table 9, Row 14.
  61. ^ Damgaard et al. 2018, Supplementary Table 8, Row 75.
  62. ^ a b Damgaard et al. 2018, p. 4.
  63. ^ Damgaard et al. 2018, Supplementary Table 8, Row 44.
  64. ^ Муратов Б.А., Суюнов Р.Р. ДНК-генеалогия башкирских родов из сако-динлинской подветви R1a+Z2123//Суюнов Р.Р. Гены наших предков (2-е издание). Том 3, серия «Этногеномика и ДНК-генеалогия», ЭИ Проект «Суюн». Vila do Conde, Lidergraf, 2014, — 250 c., илл., Португалия (Portugal), С.15-77

Sources

Further reading

External links

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