Category: Asian History

H. B. Paksoy

[First published in Central Asian SurveyVol. 11, No. 3. 1992]

[Reprinted in H. B. Paksoy, Ed. CENTRAL ASIA READER: The Rediscovery of History (New York/London: M. E. Sharpe, 1994) 201 Pp. + Index. ISBN 1-56324-201-X (Hardcover); ISBN 1-56324- 202-8 (pbk.) LC CIP DK857.C45 1993 958-dc20]

Editor’s Introduction

A professor of history for over half a century, Zeki Velidi Togan (1890-1970), a Bashkurt Turk, studied and taught in institutions of higher learning on three continents, including the United States.1 His first book, TÅrk ve Tatar Tarihi (Turk and Tatar History), was published in Kazan in 1911. The renowned scholars N. Ashmarin and N. Katanov (1862-1922),2 both of Kazan University, and V.V. Bartold (1869-1930) of St. Petersburg University, invited Togan to study with them.

In 1913, Togan was asked by the Archeology and Ethnography Society of Kazan University to undertake a research trip to Turkistan. After successful completion of that endeavor, the Imperial Russian Academy of Sciences,3 jointly with International Central Asia Research Society, sponsored Togan for a more extensive expedition. Portions of Togan’s findings began to be published in scholarly journals prior to the First World War. His lifetime output approaches four hundred individual items in at least five languages. He also had facility in several others. Like the Ukrainian scholar Mikhail Hrushevsky (1866-1934) and the Czech Thomas Masaryk (1850-1937), Togan was not only a scholar devoted to writing about the history of his nation, but also worked to secure its intellectual, cultural, civil, and political independence. He became a leader of the Turkistan National Liberation Movement in Central Asia (1916-1930s), called the Basmachi Movement by the Russians. A revealing anecdote is offered by A. Inan, a close colleague of Togan both as a historian and as a leading member of the Turkistan National Liberation movement. The event takes place in June 1922 in the vicinity of Samarkand:

 When a Bolshevik military unit, detailed to liquidate us, opened fire, we took refuge in a nearby cemetery. As we began defending ourselves, I noticed that Togan had taken out his ever-present notebook and was busily scribbling. The circumstances were so critical that some of those among our ranks even thought that he was hurriedly recording his last will and testament. He kept writing, seemingly oblivious to the flying bullets aimed at him, and the accompanying sounds of war. I shouted at him from behind the tombstone that was protecting me, and asked why he was not fighting. Without looking up, continuing to write, he shouted back: You continue firing. The inscriptions on these headstones are very interesting.4

Togan’s investigation of the origin of the Kazaks and the ôzbeks is adapted from his TÅrkili TÅrkistan, a project he worked on during the 1920s, a period when he was establishing extensive contacts with the Central Asian population from Ferghana to the shores of the Caspian on behalf of the Turkistan national liberation movement. After he left Central Asia, and earned his doctorate in Europe, he continued his research using published sources. Though completed in 1928, the work was not published until 1947, in Istanbul.

Togan’s analysis and documentation in the excerpt printed here may contribute to the clarification of the issues involved in efforts to rediscover the ethnogenesis of the Uzbeks, Kazakhs,5 and other Central Asians. It should be recalled that these designations are primarily geographical, tribal, or confederation names, not ethnonyms. Often they were taken from geographic reference points by travelers and then were mistakenly or deliberately turned into ethnic or political classifications. Early in the eighth century, Central Asians themselves provided an account of their identity, history, and political order.6 Later efforts to identify and disseminate information concerning the genealogy of Central Asians can be traced to a wave of native Central Asian leadership that was suppressed in the Stalinist liquidations. Examples from the period survive in abundance, in Central Asian dialects, published in three alphabets in various Central Asian cities.

Notes

• 1. In addition to Togan’s Hatiralar (Memoirs) (Istanbul, 1969), this account makes use of bibliographic material appearing in Fen-Edebiyat FakÅltesi Arastirma Dergisi, AtatÅrk öniversitesi, Erzurum (Sayi 13, 1985) and information provided by Togan’s colleagues, students, and family friends.
• 2. Despite their names, neither was Russian, but both had been baptized. Togan calls Katanov a Sagay-Turk from the Altai region, and Ashmarin a Chuvash-Turk.
• 3. For a description of the formation of the Academy, see R.N. Frye, “Oriental Studies in Russia,” in Russia and Asia: Essays on the Influence of Russia on the Asian Peoples, ed. Wayne Vucinich (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1972).
• 4. Over the years I have been told of this incident independently by several students and friends of both Inan and Togan. Later in life it seems to have occasioned numerous droll exchanges between Inan and Togan; every time Inan mentioned the incident, Togan relished recounting the story of Inan’s having been “wounded” in the same battle. The two men endured arduous times together, both in Asia and Europe, and later in their careers became colleagues at Istanbul University, where, reportedly, each sent his students to the seminars of the other. On one occasion toward the end of their lives, when Inan became seriously ill, Togan asked his doctoral students to visit Inan at the hospital and read him passages from Togan’s Hatiralar (which was still in manuscript), especially the portion about “Inan’s wounding.” Indeed, Togan records the fighting in his memoirs, including Inan’s “wounding,” but not his own “note-taking.” He simply states that he “read the headstones written in the Kufi script” (Hatiralar, p. 414). Togan identifies the location of the cemetery as Qala-i Ziyaeddin.
• 5. Note that Togan and other historians spell these words ôzbek and Kazak, respectively. “ôzbek” is the only form encountered in the material published in Tashkent during the 1928-39 period, when a subset of the Latin alphabet was used. The term “Cossack” (Russian: Kazak), incidentally, is a corruption of “Kazak” (Russian: Kazakh), though there is little, if any, ethnic relation between them. Similarly, the term “Tatar,” as found in the KÅltigin (of the Orkhon group) stelea of the eighth century A.D., is a correct rendition. During the Mongol irruption of the thirteenth century, Western authors inaccurately used “Tartarus” (which actually refers to “the infernal regions of Roman and Greek mythology,” hence, hell), yielding the form “Tartar.” By that time “Tartarus” had already been assimilated into Christian theology in Europe. Possibly St. Louis of France was the first, in 1270, to apply this unrelated term and spelling to the Chinggisid troops of Jochi.
• 6. These were recorded on scores of stelea, written in their unique alphabet and language, and erected in the region of Orkhon-Yenisey. See Talat Tekin, A Grammar of Orkhon Turkic. Indiana University Uralic and Altaic Series, vol. 69 (Bloomington/The Hague: Mouton, 1968) (contents dating from the eighth century).

THE ORIGINS OF THE KAZAKS AND THE ôZBEKS

The Concepts of Tatar, Kipchak, Togmak, and ôzbek Tatar, Kipchak, Togmak, and ôzbeks:

The nomadic populace of the entire Desht-i Kipchak [Kipchak steppe], from the Tarbagatay mountains to the Syr Darya River, and from Khorezm to the Idil [Volga] basin and Crimea, were termed “Togmak” during the era of the Mongols, prior to the spread of Islam. Among the Khiva ôzbeks, the term (in EbÅlgazi)a known as “Togma”; Baskurts “Tuvma;” Nogay (according to the Cevdet Pasha history),b “Tokma” designated individuals without a known lineage, or fugitives to be sold as slaves, being offenders of the law. The negative connotation ascribed to this term, generally referencing the Kipchaks and Altin Orda (Golden Horde) Tatars, must have occurred after the spread of Islam. It is not known that the Jochi Ulus utilized that appellation. It appears that this tribe, known as “Togmak,” had been designated as “ôzbek” after “ôzbek Khan” (1312-1340). According to Bartold, the terms “ôzbek” and “ôzbek Ulus” have been utilized in Central Asia to distinguish this tribe and its entire military population from the “Chaghatay”; until the dissolution of the Altin Orda during the fifteenth century, and the dissemination of its uruk as ôzbek, Kazak, and Nogay Ulus. Their identifying battle cry was the word alach.

It is necessary to define some of the ethnic terms in use in the Jochi Ulus: The ôzbeks of today, living in Transoxiana and Khorezm, comprise the dominant group known under the general rubric “tatar” in the Jochi Ulus. However, it is possible that the term “tatar” was used in a wider context, applying not only to the dominant group but perhaps also to the dominated. The term Kipchak also has dual connotations, applying narrowly and specifically to the Kipchak lineage as well as generally and broadly to the entire populace of the Kipchak steppe, including the ôzbeks. According to our findings, the term “tatar” earlier applied within the Jochi Ulus only to the Turk and Mongol elements issuing from the east, to the dominant component, and “kipchak” to the subject nomadic tribes of the steppe. The term “Togmak” became the general term of reference to all. After the ôzbek Khan, the word “ôzbek” applied to all “Tatar” and “Kipchak” in their totality, replacing “Togmak.” However, the Kipchak and the “Tatar,” arriving from the east during the age of the Mongols, mixed with the elements of the older civilization of the land, as opposed to the nomadic tribes, and started forming, let us say, the “Yataq Tatar” or “Yataq Kipchak.”* Then, “Tatar” began to assume a wider meaning than “ôzbek,” and the term “ôzbek” became the appellation of the nomadic aristocraciese of the ôzbek, Nogay, Kazak, and Baskurt [confederations] that separated from the Tatar and the Kipchak societies. Nevertheless, although the word “Tatar” had lost its previous meaning, in the vernacular of the people it continued to be utilized as “Elin Tatari,” meaning the “Aristocracy of the Land.” Moreover, since the trade was in the hands of the Tatar “Ortaq”f firms during the Mongol period (especially Mongol and Uyghur), “Tatar” also meant “merchant.” During the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, when the dominant military-nomadic Tatar and Kipchak amalgamation of the Jochi Ulus emerged as the ôzbeks, those not belonging to the ruling tribes formed other strata as follows:

• 1. “As,” of the old civilization of the Kipchak steppe, in the vicinity of Astrakhan and Saray; “Bulgar-Kazan” Turks of the Middle Idil; Burtas and Mokshi (in Islamic and Mongolian sources, “Mîks”); in the Crimea region, “Tat” and the remnants of the old Khazars; Istek and Ibir-Sibir tribes in western Siberia;
• 2. Kipchak and Bashkurt, who were settled. Those among them in the region of the Urals are also known as “Tepter” (defter), having been so recorded in registers;
• 3. Some portions of today’s Kazak and Baskurt, who stayed away from political life, living from earlier times as neighbors of the Siberian tribes of “Istek.” Even today, it is possible to distinguish the dominant and subject Turks within the Jochi Ulus: the dominant uruks remember the dastans of historical personages and the traditions of the steppe aristocracy, while the subject uruks remember only the dastans of the shamanistic mythology and traditions of “charva” and are unaware of the political and historical dastans.

The Language, Customs and Traditions of the Old Kipchak-ôzbek

The fourteenth- and fifteenth-century Arab authors (Ibn Battuta, Ibn Fadl allah al-Umari, and Ibn Arabshah) have described well the life, mores, and character of the ôzbeks and the Kipchaks of the Kipchak steppe. According to Ibn Arabshah, the ôzbek Turks of the Kipchak steppe are regarded as possessing the most lucid language, their men and women are the most handsome, generally displaying aristocratic bearing, not deigning to trickery or lies, being the gentlefolk of all the Turks.h The language of these ôzbeks, living from Yedisu to Crimea, can be observed in the poetry fragments and other monuments coming down to us, is generally the same; and its Kipchak characteristics have been partially preserved in the speech of today’s ôzbek, Kazak, and Mangit-Nogay. Their way of life and customs, parallel to “TÅrk-chigil” and “TÅrkmen-Oguz” group,i is the same. Their written histories, folk literature, and especially heroic epics of the Kipchak steppe such as Chinggis, Jochi and his Sons, Edige, Toktamis, Nureddin, chora Batir,j and Koblandi, their verse stories, Cirenche chechen recitations, and others, are the same everywhere. The melodies of the Baskurt and nomadic ôzbeks are today recited among the Crimean and Constanza Nogays. The Nogay dastans are recited word for word among the Karakalpak and the Kazak of Khorezm. The old and the new Kipchak Turks did not engage in “black service” occupations and considered themselves as the master; they have not made the transition to farming except under extreme necessity, regarding it an occupation contrary to the spirit of the steppe aristocracy; and even under severe economic crisis they did not allow their daughters to marry sedentary grooms. In this regard, the Nogays had shown the greatest exaggeration, and were cut down in their tens of thousands and even hundreds of thousands during the Kalmak [Mongol] and Russian occupations. Among them, the historical personae and epic heroes such as Chinggis, Toktamis, Edige, Er Tagin, Urak Mamay, and Adil Sultan personify the spirit and the ideals of the steppe aristocracy. In the collective and unified dastan literature of the ôzbek of the old Jochi Ulus, comprising the current ôzbek, Kazak, Mangit-Nogay, and Baskurt, the following elements of ethics, moral qualities, and characteristics are discernible: exaltation of endeavor; readiness to die in defense of honor; the principle of espousing society and state above all; enduring difficulties with ease; belief that efforts expended in overcoming obstacles facilitate progress; willingness to undertake long and arduous journeys; women’s desire only for men in possession of these qualities; and the elevated position of noble women and mothers in the society. These are all proclaimed in the literature of the old Tatar and Kipchak aristocratic strata, meaning ôzbek literature.

Generally, the good and the bad customs and habits of the old Turks are evident even more overtly among the ôzbek-Kipchak: imperturbability (levelheadedness); dislike of confusion; moderation; courage; an affinity for being in charge; harshness in battle but extreme calmness in peace; not killing but selling of prisoners; purity of heart and honesty; their extreme sincerity taken advantage of by the enemy; amplifying small conflicts between individuals and uruks, causing them to drag out over years and even generations; becoming materialistic under severe economic conditions, which culminates in the selling of family members or stealing and selling of others. All these are the attributes of the ôzbek and the Kipchak, recorded by the Arab travelers beginning with Ibn Battuta, since the time of the ôzbek Han.

Division of the “ôzbek” Society into ôzbek, Kazak, and Mangit-Nogay

The division of the ôzbeks into “ôzbek,” “Kazak,” and “Mangit-Nogay” took place not in the Idil basin but while they were living in the Syr Darya basin. Sons of Jochi “Batu” and “Berke” Han had influence over the chagatay Ulus; most of Transoxiana was subject to the Altin Orda. Khorezm and the lower Syr Darya, beginning from the Otrar region, belonged to the Jochi Ulus according to the division of the Mongols. In the military organization of the Jochi Ulus, this area constituted the “Sol Kol” tribes; in the administrative division, it formed the “Gîk Orda.” During 1358-61, when the affairs of the Altin Orda (also known as Ak Orda) became muddled, the “Kiyat” beys, commanding all the troops of the “Sag Kol” [Right Flank] tribes, brought them to Crimea, and the “Sol Kol” [Left Flank] tribes to Syr Darya. At the time, since the lineage of Batu had come to an end, according to the yasa [Mongol customary law]k and the law of inheritance, the ultimate rule was passed on to the descendants of Shiban Han,* Jochi’s fifth son. Many ôzbek uruks in today’s Turgay province, in the vicinity of “Ak Gîl” [White Lake], raised to the throne as Han Hizir, who was a descendant of the Shiban. Nayman, Karluk, Uyghur, Kongrat, and Bîyrek uruks were in favor. However, the rule of this descendant of Shiban was confined to a portion of the “Sol Kol” confederations and the “Tura” stronghold of the Tobol basin in western Siberia. The uruks of the Syr Darya of the Sol Kol raised “Kara Nogay Han,” a son of SÅ Bas, descendant of “Tokay TemÅr,” who had not until that day been involved in the affairs of government. It appears that the “Sol” uruks of this region comprised Shirin, Barin Kipchak, Argun, Alchin, Katay, Mangit, and KÅrlevÅt, collectively known as “Yedi San.”l The bases of these Sol Han were in the cities of Yenikend, Cend, Barchinlig Kent, Sabran, Otrar, and the core, Siginak. Evidently, some of those uruks were even then involved in the affairs of the Transoxiana. Among the soldiery of TemÅr,m the Kipchak and the Nayman played important roles. During the era of TemÅr’s sons, ôzbeks became rather powerful (1427), under the leadership of “Barak Han,” a descendant of Tokay TemÅr. When Barak was killed in 1429, descendants of Shiban Han occupied Syr Darya basin. Accordingly, the real center of the Jochi Ulus (Ak Orda) moved next to Transoxiana. At the same time, Mangit, who were backing the descendants of Tokay TemÅr, acquired great influence under the rule of “Edige Beg,” which means “TemÅr Bek of the Altin Orda.” Other uruk joined them, and all together became known as “Mangit,” because of the appellation of the dominant uruk, and on the other hand as “Nogay” (probably because they raised Kara Nogay Han). Hence I have used the appellation Mangit-Nogay throughout this work. At the beginning of the sixteenth century, “Shiban-ôzbek” Han and the uruks subject to them arrive and settle in Transoxiana and Khorezm. At that time, the western regions of today’s Kazakistan, as well as Baskurt and Tura lands, became subjected to Mangit- Nogay in their entirety. In this manner, a strong Mangit-Nogay society is constituted as opposed to the ôzbeks. The aforementioned rulers, Kirey and Canibek, sons of Barak Han, were subject to the famous Ebulkhayir of Shiban descent. In 1466 they left this Han and became “kazak,” sought asylum from the descendants of chagatay to their east (the Hans ruling in the environs of Kashgar and Yedisu), acquired the obedience of some uruks to themselves, and with that aid once again obtained the allegiance of uruks that owed fealty to them but were living in the domains of the descendants of Shiban. Accordingly, next to the “Shiban ôzbek,” a “Kazak ôzbek” society was established.

Thus, the ôzbek society comprised three powerful groups during the second half of the fifteenth century. What earlier belonged to the Gîk Orda Han and the descendants of Tokay TemÅr became the domains of Shiban Han. The possessions of the Shiban are taken over by the Nogay princes. Kazaks, on the other hand, demanded shares in both as well as in the chagatay domains. During the mid-sixteenth century, the “Mangit-Nogay” princes were situated in “Arka” and “Ulu Tav,” which constitutes the center of today’s Kazakistan; began meddling in the affairs of lands west of Idil, even the shores of Azak; and slowly shifted westward. The lands in contention, the lower Syr Darya basin and Arka regions, became depopulated. As a result, these regions came under the rule of Kazak Hans, who previouly had lived in Talas and chu. During the second half of the seventeenth century, first the “Nogay” and later, during the first half of the eighteenth century, “Kalmak” matters became upset, and Kazak Hans became the sole ruler of all steppes east of the Yayik [Ural] river. Nogay withdrew toward Crimea and the northern Caucasus. Kazak Hans, after separation from the Shiban ôzbeks, began referring to their neighboring Kazaks as “Kazak ôzbekleri.” In Haydar Mirza Douglat’s history, they are also so termed.n Kazaklar

The Word “Kazak” and the Concept of Being a “Kazak”

The name “Kazak” was at first reserved for the rulers; later, it also applied to tribes owing fealty to them and to the states they wished to establish. Prior to that time the name “Kazak” did not even apply to a tribal confederation, let alone to the state. Generally, the term “Kazak” was employed to designate those who were left without a family (boydak) due to a rebellion of political nature; sometimes those who withdrew from society, to the mountains and wildernesses, to await more favorable times before taking over governmental matters, without the benefit and protection of the tribe; to adolescent boys who had been separated to help them become accustomed to life; and to those who left their lands to become ordinary brigands. Under the influence of the Turk, the tradition of sending the sons out with a weapon also became accepted among the Russians and recorded in Islamic sources, and is referenced as “Kazak” in Turkish even today as well as in the past. A political person becoming Kazak leaves that designation after settling down in a land following conquest, or joining another political personage to legitimize himself. He remembers his “Kazak” past as days of his youth when he learned to endeavor and endure difficulties (like TemÅr, and among his sons Ebu Sait Mirza, HÅseyin Baykara, BabÅr Mirza, and, from among the ôzbeks, Shiban Han and his followers). Of course, a man can be a Kazak only for a few years in his lifetime. In that context, the concept of “Kazak” is in opposition to statehood. Kasim Han and his son Hak Nazar, descendants of Canibek and Giray, who had become kazak toward the end of the fifteenth century, tended to view their own states in that way, as temporary.

At the end of the sixteenth century (1599), the Kazak rulers left the “chu” region under pressure from the northeastern Kalmaks, and took refuge in the strongholds of Tashkent and environs. Until 1723 and another Kalmak rout, they settled in those regions and attempted to have the steppe tribes convert to sedentary agriculture. In pursuit of that policy, “Tug Baglayip,” which means announcing the official flag of the state, established some sort of administrative apparatus and attempted to establish a state “devlet tÅzÅmek” by grouping the troops into “YÅz” [hundred] and “Bin” [thousand]. The Orda (headquarters) of the Han was divided into three, namely “UluyÅz,” “OrtayÅz,” and “KichiyÅz.” Among the ôzbek, the terms “Han” and “Kalgay” were used to designate the ruler, the first heir, and the second heir; among the Nogay, “Bek,” “Nuradin,” “Keykubad” signified the same ranks. It is though that the act of dividing the Han Orda into three (names alternately used were “Ulugorda,” “Ortaorda,” and “Kichikorda”) was inherited from a time when an experiment in pursuit of establishing a governmental structure was conducted.

However, the pressure of the Kalmaks, and later, the Russians (from Siberia), did not allow them to establish a permanent government and live under that structure, encompassing the elements of all the tribes. The tribes living in the territories northeast of the steppes, having termed themselves “Kazak,” adopted the ôzbek and Nogay aristocracy’s equivalent of an “animal husbandry, tent-dwelling” way of life. The weakness of the Kazak statehood was of course affected by that.

The Growth of Kazaks

The portion of the steppe inhabited by the ôzbeks became the domains of the Nogay, who became subject to the Kazak Hans. During the sixteenth century (at the time of the Saydak and Yusuf Mirza), the Mangit-Nogay on the eastern side of the Idil alone numbered about two million. The formation of the TemÅr state in the east and conquest of Istanbul and the annexation of Crimea in the west forced the tribes of the Idil to choose between “Bukhara” (Transoxiana) and “Rum” [Asia Minor]; I shall return to [this matter] in the history section below. This did not allow the retention of the tribes in the lower Idil and Yayik in order to structure a powerful state. When in 1558 the Russians intruded into these domains, depriving the tribes of their herds and forcing them to live under individuals such as Alchi Ismail, who worked with the Russians, the tribes were dispersed.

Continued attacks of the Kalmak, and finally their settling between Idil and Yayik during 1643, forced an important portion of the Nogay, with the political and aristocratic strata at their head, to move to Crimea, and from there to the Caucasus and further west. But the overwhelming majority of the two million Nogay living to the east of Idil remained there. A portion of them migrated to Khorezm and the Syr Darya basin. In that regard, new tribes arrived in Transoxiana from the Kipchak Steppe at the time of the AbdÅlaziz (1645-1680) and SÅphan Kulu (1680-1702), the descendants of Astrakhan Hans now ruling in Bukhara, strengthening the Kazak Hans. Likewise, the “Kazak” tribes living in Turgay and Ural consist of those tribes earlier included under Nogay. During the second half of the sixteenth and the seventeenth century the evacuation by the Turk tribes of the Idil basin was so serious, especially after the Kalmak migrations to the west of Idil and to Jungaria, that the Idil-Yayik region was virtually empty until the nineteenth century. The “Kazak” tribes arriving here in 1801 under the rule of BÅkey Han of the KichiyÅz consisted entirely of “Nogay” tribes who had lived there earlier.

During the third quarter of the eighteenth century, the Kazak Hans were in control of the region from “Idil” and “Yayik” to Jungaria, receiving patents from the Russian (St. Petersburg) and Chinese (Beijing) governments, regarding the patents as those governments’ special praises of the Kazak Hans. The tribes, living over such a wide territory and apart from each other on the steppes, did not distance themselves from each other in language and customs. On the contrary, they have preserved the unity of their dialect, customs, and traditions, despite their illiteracy, because of their intermixing at the time of the Kalmaks, and later during the competition of the Hans, migrating from one region to the next, from east to west, and then again from west to east. The emergence of their common heroic personae- -through their struggles with the Kalmak on the steppes, through large gatherings (for example, the wedding celebrations of the Hans and the Beys, and “as” feasts, or “Yog” ceremonies), through the participation of representatives of all “Kazak” tribes in the poetic contests held at such occasions, and through the recited poems which propagated the styles and common traits throughout the tribes–preserved the traditions and customs. Today, from Jungaria to the Idil basin, the dialect of the Kazaks is altogether the same. However, their long life away from the influence of a central Han; their nonparticipation in large political events, resulting in isolation from international political life; and their preoccupation with tribal politics in addition to living with the spirit of “Kazaklik,” have not failed to influence these Turks. Generally, in political and intellectual life the old “Kazaklik” is still regarded as a virtue. They are also wary of other, neighboring Turks. This, of course, is the negative aspect of Kazaklik. On the other hand, since the Kazaks are not under the strong influence of an old culture, they are better and speedily able to grasp the contemporary scientific methods and ideas faster than the neighboring cultivated Turk tribes. Kazak tribes and their divisions: “UluyÅz” included eleven uruks: Duvlat (its oymak are: Buptay, Cimir, Siyqim, Canis), Adban, Suvan, chaprasti, Esti, Ochakti, Sari Uysun, Calayir, Qangli, Chanchkili, and Sirgeli. According to old reckoning, “UluyÅz” population totals 460,000. They live in the Yedisu and Syr Darya provinces.

“OrtayÅz” has five uruks: Girey, Nayman, Argin, Qipchaq, and Qongrat. Girey has two oymaks: “Uvak Girey” (aris: Cantiqay, Cadik, chiruchi, Iteli, Qaraqas, MÅlgÅ, chobar-Aygir, Merket, It-Imgen, Cas-Taban, Sarbas, chi-Moyun) and “Qara-Girey” (aris: Morun [soy Bayis Morun, Siban, Qurdcay, Tuma and Baysiyiq Semiz Nayman, Bulatchi, Toqpaq] and Bay-Ciket [soy Cumuq and Tugas]). Girey live in the Kara Irtis, Irtis, Obagan, Kisma Isim, and Oy river basins. “Nayman” tribe has twelve oymaks: Aqbora, Bulatchi, Ters Tamgali, Tîrtovul, Kîkcarli, Ergenekti, Semiz Baganali, Sadir, Matay, Sari Cumart, Qazay, Baltali. Nayman were living in the direction of Ulutav, Balkas, and Tarbagatay. According to old reckoning, they number 500,000. Of their lineage, Baganali has three aris: Toqbulat (soy Ciriq, Ibiske, Qizil Taz, Qara Bala, Sari Sargaldaq); Sustan (soy: Boydali, Bes Bala); Aq Taz (soy Teney, Baliqchi, Qarmaqchi, Seyid [tire: Bay Emet, churtay ara Ataliq, Mamay, Babas, Bulatchi Nayman, Cumuq, Calman, Badana]). “Argin” tribe is divided into three large oymak: Mumin (aris: Bigendik, chigendik [soy: Atigay, Bagis, Qancagali, Tobuqti, Qaravul, Sari, chaqchaq Tuman, Amancul, KÅchey, Baqay, CÅzey, Aq Nazar, Tenet, Qarabas, Qalqaman, Bay Emet, Qochkar, Cetim], Madyar, Tîlek); Quvandiq (aris: Altay, Qarpiq, Temes, Agis, Qalqaman, Aydabul); SîyÅndÅk (aris: Qurucas, Quzgan, Qusqal, Tîki); in addition, there is an independent “Qara Qisek” aris (containing the soy Tîrtovul, Taraqti).

According to old reckoning, Argin number 89,000. They are living in the Irtish, Isim, Tobol basin. “Qongrat” tribe is subdivided into two large oymak: Kîktin Ogli and KÅtenci (aris: Cemtimler, Mangitay, Qara Kîse, Quyusqansiz, Teney, Toqbulat, Baylar-Cancar, Busman). Qongrats are living in the Syr Darya basin. “Qipchaq” has four large oymak: Kîk MÅrÅn, KÅldenen, Buchay, Qara Baliq.

Qipchaq possess numerous aris, soy, and tire. They principally live in the “Oy,” “Tobol,” and “Turgay” basins. “Kichi YÅz” is composed of three tribes: Alimoglu (in the Kazak pronunciation, “Elimolu”), Bayoglu (Kazak pronunciation, “Bayoli”), Yedi Urug (Kazak pronunciation “Ceti-ru”). The aris of “Alimoglu” are Qarasaqal (soy: chunqara [tire: Qangildi, KÅtkÅlech, Sekerbay, Batan, Car Boldi], Saribas [tire: Baqti-Berdi, Bavbek, Nazim], Busurman [tire: Nogay, GasikÅr, Cekey], Tîrtqara [tire: Turum ara: chavdar, Aviqman, Qachan, Toguz Seksen, Toqman ara: Saqal, Can-Keldi, Sekerbay, KÅtkÅlech, Khan Geldi, Qasim ara: Ayit, Seksek, Madi, Baqcan, Appaq ara: Qara-Kese, Ak-Bes, Batan]), Qara-Kisek, Kite, Tîrt-Qara, chÅmekey, chekli, Qara-Kisek, Qazan-Taban, Istek, Bayis, Esen Geldi, Cakev. Aris of “Bayoglu” are Aday (soy: Baliqchi, Aqman, TÅbÅs [tire: Zarubay, chunqay, Bavbek, Tabunay, chikem, Bebkey], Mugal [tire: chavlay, chekÅy], chibeney [tire: Cumart, chelim], Qonaq [tire: Urus, Toq-Sara], Qosay, TÅkÅchey); Cappas (soy: Kineki, Kirman, Sumruq, Andarchay, Qoldiqay, Qara-Kîz, Qalqaman), Alacha, Baybaqti (soy: Qanq [tire: KÅli Sunduq, Bavbek, Aliz], El-Teke, Bataq (tire: chabachi, Qolchiq, Sagay, Cavgati, Tuqabay, Buganay, Kîchmen, Itemke), Masqar (soy: Qutluch-Atam, Babanazar, Masaq), Beris, (soy: Sibaq, Nogay, Qayli-Qach, Can-Mirza [tire: Toqman, Bes-Qasqay] Isiq), Tazlar, Isen-Temir, chirkes (soy: KÅsÅn [tire: Samay, Umurzaq, ötegen, Ulcabay], Cavqachiq, Qis-Kistek, KÅyÅs, Ilmen), Tana, Qizil-Kurt (soy: El-chula, Subi), Seyikhlar, Altun, (soy: Calabaq, Aydurgay, Sagay). The aris of “Yedi Uruk” are: Tabin, Tama, Kirderi (soy: Yabagu), Cagalbayli, Kireyit, Tilev, Ramazan.

Of these tribes, “Elimolu” is living in the Ural province, along the lower reaches of the Syr Darya, southeast of Aral Lake, on the eastern side of Khorezm and in eastern Bukhara; “Bayolu” tribe is in Bîkey Orda, in Ural province, Mangislak, and all of öst Yurt. “Yedi Uruklar,” on the other hand, are living in Ural and Turgay provinces. According to old reckoning, the population of “Kichi YÅz” is shown to be 800,000.

ôzbekler

The ôzbek Tribes Arriving in Transoxiana

The ôzbek of the present day arrived with all the organizations and institutions existing among the Shiban ôzbeks and Transoxiana and Khorezm Jochi Ulus. In fact, the hierarchy (“orun”) occupied in government by the tribes was the same. ôzbeks, while succeeding the descendants of the TemÅr, replaced the existing establishments with their own.

Also arriving were the elements close to the palace circles of the “Ich Eli” of the Altin Orda, meaning quite civilized components. Moreover, according to the terminology of chronicler ôtemis Haci,* the descendants of Shiban arriving in Transoxiana comprised the ruling elements of the old “ôzbek Eli” (meaning Golden Horde), “famed Tura named Mangit Villages,” meaning western Siberian “Tura” province where the settled Mangit ulus lived.p Turgay Province, with its center in today’s “Ak-Gîl,” “chalkar-Gîl,” belonged to the descendants of Shiban. Previously, Abulhayir Han, who took away the “Tura and Baskurt” regions from the other branch of the Shiban descendants from west Siberian Han Mahmudek, was governing these territories. Abulhayir later obtained the lower reaches of Syr Darya and, in 1431, Khorezm. Abulhayir pursued the policy of basing the governance of the state upon the southern and northern agricultural and settled regions of the Jochi Ulus. HÅseyin Khorezmi, the great scholar of the time, wrote a Turkish poem praising this ruler, entitled “Kaside-i Burde,” appended to one of his works. Another scholar, named Mesut Kohistani, wrote a Persian language history book depicting the life of this ruler. During the sixteenth century a large portion of the ôzbeks made the transition to village and agricultural life in the Zarafshan basin and in Khorezm. They perhaps belong to the elements arriving from the Syr Darya and “Tura” regions where they were already making the transformation. Shiban Han was a ruler accustomed to traversing the area between Syr Darya and Astrakhan. Shibanli Mehdi and Hamza Sultan, who had arrived in Transoxiana before Shiban, were the sons of Bahtiyar Sultan, the ruler of the settled regions, strongholds, and castles of the “Tura” province. It is thought that the ôzbek arriving with them did so at the time of later TemÅrids.

Turning to the tribal organization: “ôzbek” are referred to everywhere as “doksan iki boy ôzbek” [Ninety-two Tribe ôzbek]. Here “boy” means tribe. For the Baskurt, the term “Twelve Tribe Baskurt” is used. Among the ôzbek, there is a “genealogy” naming their ninety two-tribes.

There are slight discrepancies between the new and the sixteenth-seventeenth-century manuscript copies of the genealogy (for example, the Akhund Kurbanali, Khanikov, and Sheykh SÅleyman published versions). Undoubtedly, this genealogy lists those tribes at the time of the Altin Orda, meaning prior to the separation of the Mangit-Nogay and the Kazak. They are as follows: Min, YÅz, Qirq, öngechit, Calayir, Saray, On, Qonrat, Alchin, Nayman, Argin, Qipchaq, chichak, Qalmaq, Uyrat, Qarliq, Turgavut, Burlas, Buslaq, chemerchin, Qatagan, Kilechi, Kineges, Bîyrek, Qiyat, Bozay, Qatay (Khitay), Qanli, ôzce Buluci (?), Topchi (?), Upulachi, Culun, Cit, Cuyut, Salcavut, Bayavut, Otarchi, Arlat, Kireyit, Unqut, Mangit, Qangit, Oymavut, Qachat, Merkit, Borqut, Quralas, Qarlap, Ilaci, GÅlegen (?), Qisliq, Oglan, KÅdey, TÅrkmen, DÅrmen, Tabin, Tama, Mechet, Kirderi, Ramadan, Mumun, Aday, Tuqsaba, Qirgiz, Uyruci, Coyrat, Bozaci, Oysun, Corga, Batas, Qoysun, Suldiz, Tumay, Tatar, Tilev, Qayan, Sirin, KÅrlevÅt, chilkes, Uygur, Yabu(=Yabaqu), Agir(Agiran), Buzan, Buzaq, MÅyten, Macar, Qocaliq, choran, chÅrchÅt, Barin(=Behrin), Mogul, NîkÅs [Nukus].

Thirty-three of these tribal names belong to the Mongol, others to the renowned TÅrk tribes of the Jochi Ulus, the remainder to those unknown to us today. The tribes such as Barlas and Kavchin, who were living in Transoxiana prior to the arrival of the ôzbeks, but joined them, are not named here. Of the stated ninety-two tribes, approximately forty-five are part of the ôzbek today. The aforementioned Mongol tribes are of course those constituting the Mongol units sent to the Jochi Ulus. The majority of those tribes carrying Mongolian names are now found in the Transoxiana and Khorezm. It appears that the genealogy, which has been handed down traditionally, indicates the belief of its owners, the ôzbeks of Transoxiana and Khorezm, that they are descendants of these tribes, and therefore represent the entire forces constituting the foundations of the Altin Orda, and its transmission of the related organization to Transoxiana. Today, the subdivison of the tribes are as follows:

• (1) Qongrat tribe: They have five oymak.
  • The first is Qancagali, consisting of following aris: Orus, Qara-Qursak, chîlik, Quyan, Quldavli, Miltek, KÅr-Tugi, Gele, Top-Qara, Qara-Boz, Nogay, Bilgelik, Dîstelik.
  • The second oymak, of nine aris: Aq-Tana, Qara, churan, TÅrkmen, Qavuk, Bes-Bala, Qarakalpaq, Qacay, Khoca- Bece.
  • Third oymak, Qostamgali, again nine aris: KÅl-Abi, Barmaq, KÅce-Khur, Kîl-chuburgan, Qarakalpaq, Qostamgali, Seferbiz, Dilberi, Cachaqli.
  • Fourth, Qostamgali oymak, seven aris: Tartugli, Agamayli, Isigali, Qazancili, öyÅkli, BÅkechli, Qaygali.
  • Fifth, Qir oymak, five aris: GÅzili, KÅsevli, Ters, Baliqli, Quba. All of these branches of the Kongrat uruk are found in the Amu Derya delta, in the provinces of Khuzar (Ghuzar) of Bukhara, Sirabad, Qurgan-Tepe. They have, to a large extent, retained the nomadic ways in Bukhara. Those in Khorezm are settled;
• (2) Nayman tribe. Three oymak: Qostamgali, Uvaqtamgali, Sadir. They live in Khorezm and Samarkand;
• (3) Kineges, made up of five oymak: Qayrasali, Taraqli, Achamayli, chikhut, Abaqli. They live in Shehrisebz and Khiva;
• (4) Mangit, made up of three oymak: Toq-Mangit, Aq-Mangit, Qara- Mangit. They live in Khiva and Qarsi;
• (5) Tuyaqli, living in Samarkand and Kette-Qurgan;
• (6) MÅyten, living in Samarkand and Kette-Qurgan;
• (7) Saray, living on the borders of Shehrisebz-Yekke-Bag;
• (8) Barin, living in Ferghana province and Kette-Kurgan tÅmen;
• (9) Khitay and (10) Qipchak: They constitute the most important segments of Samarkand and Kette-Kurgan. They are very numerous in Khiva and Ferghana;
• (11) Min, living in Samarkand, Penchkent, Jiakh, and in Ferghana;
• (12) öch Uruk: Misit, Tama, Yabu. They live in the vicinity of Ziyaeddin of Bukhara;
• (13) Burqut, living along the borders of chilek and Kermine;
• (14) Arlat, living in Qara-Kîl;
• (15) Qangli, living at the border of Jiakh tÅmen;
• (16) Qirk, YÅz, Min: living in Jiakh tÅmen;
• (17) Batas, living in the vicinity of Qarsi, Ghuzar;
• (18) Qaraqalpak, made up of five oymak: Qara-Qoylu, Qara-Singir, Oymavut, Istek, Achamayli, and living in the Amu Darya delta and north of Samarkand, at “Ak-Tepe.”

Those ôzbek who have best preserved the old dialects and traditions are especially those living in the “Jiakh” tÅmen (Qirq, Qangli, Saliq, TÅrk, TÅrkmen, Nayman, Mangit, Qitay-YÅz, Solaqli, Tuyaqli, Alacha, Burqut, Sirkeli, Baymaqli, Calayir, Qirgiz, YÅz, Quyan-Tuyaqli, Parcha-YÅz, Qarapcha, Quschi, Oraqli, Toqcari, Qostamgali, Saray, Qancagali). However, these tribes are numerically small. In eastern Bukhara, those tribes maintaining nomadic life, in the vicinity of Dushanbe, are “Laqay,” “Marqa Kichi YÅz,” and, around Feyzabad, “Qarliq.”

Concerning the ôzbek tribes in Afghanistan Turkistan, we are only in possession of a table prepared by the Indian Mir Ietullah at the beginning of the nineteenth century.* Accordingly, the ôzbek tribes there are as follows: At “SerpÅl” near “Sibirgan,” “Achamayli” oymak of the “Min” tribe; next to them, at “Sayyad,” “Achamayli” and “Qazayagi” of the “Min”; at Sencayrek, the “Qipchak” uruk; at Kunduz, all “Qatagan”; in the vicinity of “Balkh,” “Saray” and “Mîyten” uruks. At “Eskemis” of Badakshan, “BÅrge” and “Timis” oymak of Qatagan. In “Narin,” chagatay” uruk. Mir Izetullah also provides information on the oymak of Mîyten and Qatagan uruk: Mîyten is made up of seven oymak: Tilikhane, Germsili, Qazayaqli, chagar, Sum, Aqsayiq, chÅchen. Qatagan uruk has three oymak: Bes-Qaban, Salcavut, Tîrt-Ata. “Bes-Qaban” has five aris: Laqqa (=Laqay), Yangi-Qatagan, Kesmever, Qayan, Manas. Kesmever has four tire: Aq-Taglik, Endicani, Qalasi, Bomin. “Manas” has three tire: Temis, Sar-Bagis, BÅrge. “Tîrt-Ata” has four aris: Sariq-Qatagan, churaq, Bassiz, Mardad. “churaq” has two tire: Qiz Atizi, Sîlen. Mardad has three tire: öchata, Bozan, Cutuduq.

Among the ôzbek tribes, there are those adopting the nickname of “Bekzad.” In the past, those had played an active role in the governance of the land and the army, and performed the enthroning ceremony of the hans. Among them, in Khiva especially Qiyat-Qongrat, Uygur-Nayman, Qangli-Qipchak, NÅkÅs- Mangit tribes; in Bukhara, at the time of descendants of Shiban, “Quschu,” “Nayman,” “Qarluq,” and “Bîyrek” tribes; at the time of the Mangit (according to Radloff) Min, Arlat, Barin, Batas uruks were well known. The “Qatagan” are also regarded “Bekzad.” Among the uruks: Tuyaqli, Mîyten, Khitay (Qatay), Mangit; and the majority of Qongrats in Bukhara are among the last arriving from Desht-i Kipchak. These were earlier members of the “Mangit-Nogay” confederation, as well as the “Kazak,” arriving later in Transoxiana.

Editor’s Notes

• a. Abulghazi Bahadir Khan (1603-1663), Secere-i Terakime (The Lineage of the Turks), completed in 1659. The French translation by Desmaisons is no longer satisfactory, for it lacks critical apparatus; an English translation is long overdue.
• b. Cevdet Pasha (1822-1895) was an Ottoman historian, administrator, and educational and judicial reformer. See Stanford J. and E.K. Shaw, History of the Ottoman Empire and Modern Turkey (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1977), vol. II.
• c. In a footnote, below, Togan provides the nomenclature applied to subdivisions from the tribal confederation down to the smallest unit. An uruk is comprised of oymaks, which are made up of aris, a composition of soy.
• d. Uran: the word shouted in the heat of the battle, to allow combatants to identify and gauge the whereabouts of their fellows without taking their eyes off the common adversary. It is an integral part of identity in Central Asia, forming a triad, along with tamga and dastan. The term tamga, originally referring to the “seal” of a given group, was later borrowed by Russians to designate customs levies (Russian: tamozhnia). The tamga was embroidered on tents, incorporated into rugs, filigreed into jewelry, and used as a cattle brand. A list of early tamgas is found in Kashgarli Mahmut’s Diwan Lugat at TÅrk (twelfth century; hereafter DLT). A dastan is an “oral history” of the origins, customs, practices, and exploits of ancestors. See the discussion of the Dede Korkut dastan in this collection.
• e. According to a popular etymology of the designation ôzbek, it is derived from “ôzÅm Bek,” meaning “My Essence is Princely.”
• f. Ortaq: “partner.” Among the Mongols, the khan provided capital to his “partners” so that they could take caravans from one end of the Mongol domains to other, to trade with neighbors. Elizabeth Endicott-West and Thomas Allsen have been jointly exploring this topic.
• g. On the Bulgar Turks see O. Pritsak, “Kultur und Sprache der Hunnen,” Festschrift fÅr Dmytro Cyzev’ky (Berlin, 19540; and R.N. Frye, “City Chronicles of Central Asia: Kitab-e Mullazade,” Avicenna Commemoration Volume (Calcutta, 1956).
• h. Here Togan provides the Arabic quotation in a footnote.
• i. The lineages, inter alia, of the chigil and the Oguz Turks are outlined in DLT.
• j. See H.B. Paksoy, “Chora Batir: A Tatar Admonition to Future Generations,” Studies in Comparative Communism, vol. 19, nos. 3 & 4 (Autumn/Winter 1986). k. The original compilation of Mongol customary law was designated Altan Tobchi. See The Secret History of the Mongols, translated, inter alia, by F. Cleaves. For a later survival of the yasa, see V.A. Riasanovsky, Customary Law of the Nomadic Tribes of Siberia. Indiana University Uralic Altaic Series, vol. 48 (Bloomington, 1965).
• l. Yedi San: Seven Reputations. The term “san” may also signify surname, or even the manner with which those tribes may have presented themselves in a gathering or in battle.
• m. Togan uses this spelling. The name of TemÅr (Timor) (d. 1405) was corrupted in Western languages as Tamerlane, Tamburlane, and so forth.
• n. See N. Elias and E. Denison Ross, eds., The Tarikh-i Rashidi of Mirza Muhammad Haidar Dughlat (London 1898), pp. 119, 122, 272-74.
• o. For the significance of the “as” and “Yog” ceremonies, see A.T. Hatto, The Memorial Feast for Kîkîtîy Han (Oxford, 1977).
• p. Another relevant history on the region, compiled from several manuscript sources and edited by Y. Bregel, was published as Firdaws al-ikbal: History of Khorezm (Leiden, 1988).