_of_Dast-i_Qipchaq%22._Tabriz_or_Qavin,_circa_1550._British_Museum,_1948-10-9-056.jpg){kind=link}
The Kipchaks, also spelled Qipchaqs, known as Polovtsians (Polovtsy) in Russian annals,<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> 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.
TerminologyEdit
The Kipchaks interpreted their name as meaning "hollow tree" (cf. Middle Turkic: kuv ağaç);<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> according to them, inside a hollow tree, their original human ancestress gave birth to her son.<ref>Julian Baldick, Animal and Shaman: Ancient Religions of Central Asia, p.55.</ref> Németh points to the Siberian qıpčaq "angry, quick-tempered" attested only in the Siberian Sağay dialect (a dialect of Khakas language).<ref>Golden, Peter B. (1992). An Introduction to the History of the Turkic People. Wiesbaden: Otto Harrassowitz. p. 271</ref> 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".<ref>Golden, Peter B. The Turkic world of Mahmud al-Kashgari. p. 522</ref>
HistoryEdit
On the Kipchak steppe, a complex ethnic assimilation and consolidation process took place between the 11th and 13th centuries.Template:Sfn The western Kipchak tribes absorbed people of Oghuz, Pecheneg, ancient Bashkir, Bulgar and other origin; the eastern Kipchak merged with the Kimek, Karluk, Kara-Khitai and others. They were all identified by the ethnonym Kipchak.Template:Sfn Groups and tribes of possible Mongolic or para-Mongolic extraction were also incorporated into the eastern Kipchak conglomerate. Peter Golden argues that the Ölberli were pushed westwards due to socio-political changes among the para-Mongolic 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.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>
Chinese histories only mentioned the Kipchaks a few times: for example, Yuan general Tutuha's origin from Kipchak tribe Ölberli,<ref>Toqto'a et al. Yuanshi, vol. 128 Tutuha</ref> or some information about the Kipchaks' homeland, horses, and the Kipchaks' physiognomy and psychology.<ref name = "ZZTJHB">Xu Qianxue, Zizhi Tongjian Houbian (17th century) Vol. 141–142. Zhejiang University Copy p. 42 of 124 "欽察部去中國三萬餘裏夏夜極短日蹔沒輙出土産良馬富者以萬計俗祍金革勇猛剛烈青目赤髪" en. "The Kipchak tribe is situated at a distance of over 30,000 li from China. In summer, the evening is extremely short; the sun temporarily sets then immediately rises. Their soil produces good horses, that the rich people count by ten thousands. They customarily sleep armed and armored; they are courageous, fierce, firm, and vehement; [they are] blue/green-eyed and red-haired". Note: the expression "祍金革" lit. "to lie/to sleep with metal and leather > to sleep armed and armored" is not to be taken literally; it is a Chinese literary trope about the northerners' supposedly rugged and hardy nature; e.g. 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."</ref>Template:Sfn<ref>Template:Cite encyclopedia</ref>
The Kipchaks were first unambiguously mentioned in Persian geographer ibn Khordadbeh's Book of Roads and Kingdoms as a northernly Turkic tribe, after Toquz Oghuz, Karluks, Kimeks, Oghuz, J.f.r (either corrupted from Jikil or representing Majfar for Majğar), Pechenegs, Türgesh, Aðkiš, and before Yenisei Kirghiz.Template:Sfn Kipchaks possibly appeared in the 8th-century Moyun Chur inscription as Türk-Qïbchaq, mentioned as having been part of the Turkic Khaganate for fifty years;Template:Sfn even so, this attestation is uncertain as damages on the inscription leave only -čq (𐰲𐰴) (*-čaq or čiq) readable.<ref>Moyun Chur inscriptions "Note 207" at Türik Bitig</ref> It is unclear if the Kipchaks could be identified with, according to Klyashtorny, the [Al]tï Sir in the Orkhon inscriptions (薛延陀; pinyin: Xuè-Yántuó),Template:SfnTemplate:SfnTemplate:Sfn or with the Juéyuèshī (厥越失) in Chinese sources;Template:Sfn<ref>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)."</ref> however, Zuev (2002) identified 厥越失 Juéyuèshī (< MC *kiwat-jiwat-siet) with toponym Kürüshi in the Ezhim river valley (Ch. Ayan < MCh. 阿豔 *a-iam < OTrk. Ayam) in Tuva Depression.Template:Sfn Linguist Bernard Karlgren and some Soviet scholars (e.g. Lev Gumilyov<ref>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</ref>) 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).Template:EfnTemplate:SfnTemplate:Sfn The relationship between the Kipchaks and Cumans is unclear.Template:Sfn
While part of the Turkic Khaganate, they most likely inhabited the Altai region.Template:Sfn When the Khaganate collapsed, they became part of the Kimek confederation, with which they expanded to the Irtysh, Ishim and Tobol rivers.Template:Sfn They then appeared in Islamic sources.Template:Sfn In the 9th century Ibn Khordadbeh indicated that they held autonomy within the Kimek confederation.Template:Sfn They entered the Kimek in the 8th- or beginning of 9th century, and were one of seven original tribes.Template:Sfn In the 10th-century Hudud al-'Alam it is said that the Kimek appointed the Kipchak king.Template:Sfn The Kimek confederation, probably spearheaded by the Kipchaks, moved into Oghuz lands, and Sighnaq in Syr Darya became the Kipchak urban centre.Template:Sfn Kipchak remnants remained in Siberia, while others pushed westwards in the Qun migration.Template:Sfn As a result, three Kipchak groups emerged:Template:Sfn
- Kipchaks of the Pontic–Caspian steppe.
- Kipchaks of the Syr Darya, associated with the Khwarazmian dynasty.
- Kipchaks of Siberia, later composing the Siberian Tatars.
The early 11th century saw a massive Turkic nomadic migration towards the Islamic world.Template:Sfn The first waves were recorded in the Kara-Khanid Khanate in 1017–18.Template:Sfn It is unknown whether the Cumans conquered the Kipchaks or were simply the leaders of the confederacy of the Kipchak–Turkic tribes.Template:Sfn 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.Template:Sfn
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The Mongols defeated the Alans after convincing the Kipchaks to desert them through pointing at their likeness in language and culture.Template:Sfn Nonetheless, the Kipchaks were defeated next.Template:Sfn Under khan Köten, Kipchaks fled to the Principality of Kiev (the Ruthenians), where the Kipchaks had several marriage relations, one of which was Köten's son-in-law Mstislav Mstislavich of Galicia.Template:Sfn The Ruthenians and Kipchaks forged an alliance against the Mongols, and met at the Dnieper to locate them.Template:Sfn After an eight-day pursuit, they met at the Kalka River (1223).Template:Sfn The Kipchaks, who were horse archers like the Mongols, served as the vanguard and scouts.Template:Sfn The Mongols, who appeared to retreat, tricked the Ruthenian–Kipchak force into a trap after suddenly emerging behind the hills and surrounding them.Template:Sfn The fleeing Kipchaks were closely pursued, and the Ruthenian camp was massacred.Template:Sfn
The nomadic Kipchaks were the main targets of the Mongols when they crossed the Volga in 1236.Template:Sfn The defeated Kipchaks mainly entered the Mongol ranks, while others fled westward.Template:Sfn Köten led 40,000 families into Hungary, where King Bela IV granted them refuge in return for their Christianization.Template:Sfn The refugee Kipchaks fled Hungary after Köten was murdered.Template:Sfn
After their fall, Kipchaks and Cumans were known to have become mercenaries in Europe and taken as slave warriors. In Egypt, the Mamluks were in part drawn from Kipchaks and Cumans.Template:Sfn
In 1239–1240, a large group of Kipchaks fleeing from the Mongols crossed the Danube. This group, which has an estimated population of over 10 thousand, wandered for a long time to find a suitable place to settle in Thrace. In order to prevent the Kipchaks from plundering and to prevent the Seljuks, Mongols and Latin Empire from occupying the lands of the Empire of Nicaea and to benefit from their military capabilities, Emperor John III Doukas Vatatzes invited the Kipchaks from the Balkans to the service of the Empire of Nicaea. He settled some of them in Anatolia (what is now Turkey), to protect the Empire of Nicaea from foreign invasions.<ref>GOLUBOVSKİY, P.V., Peçenegi, Torki i Polovtsı Rus i Step Do Naşestviya Tatar, Veçe, Moskva, 2011.</ref><ref>ÖZTÜRK, Meriç T., The Provıncıal Arıstocracy In Byzantine Asia Minor (1081–1261), Boğaziçi Üniversitesi, Yayınlanmamış Yüksek Lisans Tezi, İstanbul, 2013.</ref><ref name=":1">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.</ref> When the Ottomans conquered the lands they lived in, these Kipchaks intermixed with the Turkmen and were assimilated among Turks.<ref name="Ayönü">Template:Cite journal DOI: English version</ref><ref name=":0">Template:Cite journal</ref><ref>Template:Cite thesis</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The Kipchaks who settled in Western Anatolia during the reign of Nicea Emperor John III Doukas Vatatzes are the ancestors of a community called Manav living in Northwest Anatolia today.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Another Kipchak migration in Anatolia dates back to the period of the Chobanids Beylik, which ruled around Kastamonu (a city in Anatolia). Hüsameddin Emir Çoban, one of the Seljuk emirs, crossed the Black Sea and made an expedition to the Kipchak steppes and returned with countless booty and slaves. As a result of the expedition, a few Kipchak families in Crimea were brought to Sinop by sea via Sudak and settled in the Western Black Sea region. In addition, maritime trade intensified with the Crimea and Kipchak regions in the Isfendiyarids Beylik.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>
LanguageEdit
The Kipchak–Cuman confederation spoke a Turkic language (Kipchak languages, Cuman language)Template:Sfn whose most important surviving record is the Codex Cumanicus, a late 13th-century dictionary of words in Kipchak, Cuman, and Latin. The presence in Egypt of Turkic-speaking 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 Armenian diaspora moved from the Crimean peninsula to the Polish-Ukrainian borderland, at the end of the 13th century, they brought Kipchak, their adopted Turkic language, with them.<ref>An Armeno-Kipchak Chronicle on the Polish-Turkish Wars in 1620–1621, Robert Dankoff, p. 388</ref> During the 16th and the 17th centuries, the Turkic language among the Armenian communities of the Kipchak people was Armeno-Kipchak. They were settled in the Lviv and Kamianets-Podilskyi areas of what is now Ukraine.<ref>Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland, p. 85, Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland.Template:Full citation needed</ref>
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.<ref>"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)</ref>
Mongolian linguistic elements in the Kipchak–Kimek confederation remain "unproven";Template:Sfn though that confederation's constituent Tatar tribe possibly had been Mongolic speakers who later underwent Turkification.<ref>Peter B. Golden (1992). An Introduction to the History of the Turkic People. O. Harrassowitz. pp. 184–185.</ref>
ReligionEdit
The Kipchaks practiced Tengrism.Template:Sfn Muslim conversion occurred near Islamic centres.Template:Sfn 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.Template:Sfn Following the Mongol conquest, Islam rose in popularity among the Kipchaks of the Golden Horde.<ref>Islamic Civilization Template:Webarchive</ref>
CultureEdit
Kurgan stelaeEdit
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ConfederationsEdit
KimekEdit
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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).Template:Sfn Turkic inscriptions do not mention the state with that name.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> 10th-century Hudud al-'Alam mentions the "country of Kīmāk", ruled by a khagan (king) who has eleven lieutenants that hold hereditary fiefs.<ref name=HAA-18>Hudud al-'Alam, ch. 18</ref> Furthermore, Andar Az Khifchāq is mentioned as a country (nāḥiyat) of the Kīmāk, 'of which inhabitants resemble the Ghūz in some customs'.<ref name=HAA-18/>
In the 9th century Ibn Khordadbeh indicated that they held autonomy within the Kimek confederation.Template:Sfn They entered the Kimek in the 8th- or beginning of 9th century, and were one of the seven original tribes.Template:Sfn In the 10th-century's Hudud al-'Alam it is said that the Kimek appointed the Kipchak king.Template:Sfn
Physical appearanceEdit
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.<ref>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.</ref>
An early description of the physical appearance of Kipchaks comes from the Great Ming Code (大明律) Article 122,<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> in which they were described as overall 'vile' and having blonde/red hair and blue/green eyes. Han Chinese were not required to marry with Kipchaks.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Harvnb</ref> Fair complexion, e.g. red hair and blue or green eyes, were already noted by the Chinese for some other ancient Turkic tribes, such as the 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.<ref>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.</ref> 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."<ref name=":2" /> 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.<ref name=":2" /> 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.<ref name=":2" />
GeneticsEdit
Russian anthropologist Oshanin (1964: 24, 32) notes that the 'Mongoloid' phenotype, characteristic of modern Kipchak-speaking Kazakhs and Qirghiz, prevails among the skulls of the historical Qipchaq and Pecheneg nomads found across Central Asia and Ukraine; Lee & Kuang (2017) propose that Oshanin's discovery is explainable by assuming that the historical Kipchaks' modern descendants are Kazakhs, whose men possess a high frequency of haplogroup C2's subclade C2b1b1 (59.7 to 78%). Lee and Kuang also suggest that the high frequency (63.9%) of the Y-DNA haplogroup R-M73 among Karakypshaks (a tribe within the Kipchaks) allows inferrence about the genetics of Karakypshaks' medieval ancestors, thus explaining why some medieval Kipchaks were described as possessing "blue [or green] eyes and red hair.<ref name=":2">Template:Cite journal</ref>
A genetic study published in Nature in May 2018 examined the remains of two Kipchak males buried between c. 1000 AD and 1200 AD.Template:Sfn One male was found to be a carrier of the paternal haplogroup C2Template:Sfn and the maternal haplogroup F1b1b,Template:Sfn and displayed "increased East Asian ancestry".Template:Sfn The other male was found to be a carrier of the maternal haplogroup D4Template:Sfn and displayed "pronounced European ancestry".Template:Sfn
LegacyEdit
Kipchak peoples and languagesEdit
The modern Northwestern branch of the Turkic languages is often referred to as the Kipchak branch. The languages in this branch are mostly considered to be descendants of the Kipchak language, and the people who speak them may likewise be referred to as Kipchak peoples. Some of the groups traditionally included are the Manavs, Karachays, Balkars, Siberian Tatars, Nogays, Bashkirs, Kazakhs, Kyrgyz, Volga Tatars, and Crimean Tatars. There is also a village named Kipchak in Crimea. Qypshaq, which is a development of "Kipchak" in the Kazakh language, is one of the constituent tribes 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.<ref>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</ref>
Radlov believed that among the current languages Cuman is closest to the Mishar dialect of the Tatar language.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Especially the regional Mishar dialects of Sergachsky district have been named as "faithfully close to original Kipchak".<ref>Leitzinger, Antero: Mishäärit – Suomen vanha islamilainen yhteisö. Helsinki: Kirja-Leitzinger, 1996. Template:ISBN. (p. 41)</ref>
Notable peopleEdit
Kipchak confederations
- Ayyub Khan (Template:Floruit 1117), Kipchak leader
- Bačman (Template:Floruit 1229–1236), Kipchak leader in the Lower Volga
- Qačir-üküle (Template:Floruit 1236), Kipchak leader in the Lower Volga
- Köten (Template:Floruit 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 alsoEdit
Template:History of the Turks pre-14th century
- Koshchei, character in Russian folklore
- Manav People
- Kipchaks in Georgia
- Afghan Kypchaks
- Nağaybäk
- History of the central steppe
NotesEdit
ReferencesEdit
SourcesEdit
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External linksEdit
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