Золотоордынское обозрение (Jul 2016)
The Term of the “Tatar-Mongols/Mongol-Tatars”: The Ethnic or Political Concept? An Experience of the Source Study and Conceptual Analysis »
Abstract
In recent years, researchers have begun to pay greater attention to the ethnic aspects of the Great Mongolian State’s formation at the turn of the 12th–13th centuries. However, a key problem of this period still remains controversial. This problem is related to the definition of ethnicity of the Tatar and other kindred clans. This article analyzes the problem in order to achieve a clear understanding of the ethnic situation in Central Asia during the formation of Eke Mongol Ulus. As a result of consideration of historiographical approaches to ethnic nomenclature, which the Mongolian and Chinese sources used with respect to the Turkic and Mongolian groups that settled in this area, the author is inclined to the view of Turkish ethnicity of the Tatars and some other (Naimans, Merkits) clans known by source, whom Chinggis Khan faced in the process of formation of the “people of the Mongols”. At the same time, the author establishes a historical connection between the pre-Mongol Tartars and Kimak and Uyghur khaganates. In particular, he reveals their affiliation to the elite, “royal” layers of these Turkic states. In turn, this allows us to reveal the presence of a Tatar component among the eastern Kipchak-Kimaks (Yemeks) with close ties with the last dynasty of Khwarezm shahs. On the basis of a detailed and comprehensive review of material, the author points to the need for a new understanding of the term “Mongol-Tatars”. This term was not imposed by the Chinese officials, but it was a meaningful politonym marking a two-part (Turkic (Tatar) – Mongol) nature of the “people” who established the Great Mongol Empire. The author informs in his article about his plans to consider in detail this issue in relation to the ulus of Jochi.
