The Kipchaks, also spelled Qipchaqs, known as Polovtsians (Polovtsy) in Russian sources, 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 and integrated into the Golden Horde, which also went on to become known as Kipchak Khanate and the start of a massive Mongolisation of culture, in which the Kipchak identity was codified permanently when they started to blur the line of Mongols and Turks to become the modern formation of Turco-Mongol identity.
Terminology The Kipchaks interpreted their name as meaning "hollow tree" (cf. Middle Turkic: kuv ağaç); according to them, inside a hollow tree, their original human ancestress gave birth to her son.Julian Baldick, Animal and Shaman: Ancient Religions of Central Asia, p.55. Németh points to the Siberian qıpčaq "angry, quick-tempered" attested only in the Siberian Sağay dialect (a dialect of Khakas language).Golden, Peter B. (1992). An Introduction to the History of the Turkic People. Wiesbaden: Otto Harrassowitz. p. 271 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".Golden, Peter B. The Turkic world of Mahmud al-Kashgari . p. 522
History
Origins
On the Kipchak steppe, a complex ethnic assimilation and consolidation process took place between the 11th and 13th centuries. 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. 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.
Chinese histories only mentioned the Kipchaks a few times: for example, during Yuan dynasty Mongolian general Tutuha's origin from Kipchak tribe Ölberli,Toqto'a et al. Yuanshi, vol. 128 Tutuha or some information about the Kipchaks' homeland, horses, and the Kipchaks' physiognomy and psychology.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."
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. 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; even so, this attestation is uncertain as damages on the inscription leave only -čq (𐰲𐰴) (*-čaq or čiq) readable.Moyun Chur inscriptions "Note 207" at Türik Bitig 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), or with the Juéyuèshī (厥越失) in Chinese sources;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)." 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. Linguist Bernard Karlgren and some Soviet scholars (e.g. Lev GumilyovGumilev, 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) 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). The relationship between the Kipchaks and Cumans is unclear.
Early Kipchaks While part of the Turkic Khaganate, they most likely inhabited the Altai region. When the Khaganate collapsed, they became part of the Kimek confederation, with which they expanded to the Irtysh, Ishim and Tobol rivers. They then appeared in Islamic sources. In the 9th century Ibn Khordadbeh indicated that they held autonomy within the Kimek confederation. They entered the Kimek in the 8th- or beginning of 9th century, and were one of seven original tribes. In the 10th-century Hudud al-'Alam it is said that the Kimek appointed the Kipchak king. The Kimek confederation, probably spearheaded by the Kipchaks, moved into Oghuz lands, and Sighnaq in Syr Darya became the Kipchak urban centre. Kipchak remnants remained in Siberia, while others pushed westwards in the Qun migration. As a result, three Kipchak groups emerged:
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. The first waves were recorded in the Kara-Khanid Khanate in 1017–18. It is unknown whether the Cumans conquered the Kipchaks or were simply the leaders of the confederacy of the Kipchak–Turkic tribes. 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.
Mongol conquest era
The Mongols defeated the Alans after convincing the Kipchaks to desert them through pointing at their likeness in language and culture. Nonetheless, the Kipchaks were defeated next. 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. The Ruthenians and Kipchaks forged an alliance against the Mongols, and met at the Dnieper to locate them. After an eight-day pursuit, they met at the Kalka River (1223). The Kipchaks, who were horse archers like the Mongols, served as the vanguard and scouts. The Mongols, who appeared to retreat, tricked the Ruthenian–Kipchak force into a trap after suddenly emerging behind the hills and surrounding them. The fleeing Kipchaks were closely pursued, and the Ruthenian camp was massacred.
The nomadic Kipchaks were the main targets of the Mongols when they crossed the Volga in 1236. The defeated Kipchaks mainly entered the Mongol ranks, while others fled westward. Köten led 40,000 families into Hungary, where King Bela IV granted them refuge in return for their Christianization. The refugee Kipchaks fled Hungary after Köten was murdered.
After their fall, Kipchaks and Cumans were known to have become mercenaries in Europe and were taken as slave warriors. In Egypt, the Mamluks were in part drawn from Kipchaks and Cumans.
In 1239–1240, large groups of Kipchaks fleeing from the Mongols crossed the Danube. These groups 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.GOLUBOVSKİY, P.V., Peçenegi, Torki i Polovtsı Rus i Step Do Naşestviya Tatar, Veçe, Moskva, 2011.ÖZTÜRK, Meriç T., The Provıncıal Arıstocracy In Byzantine Asia Minor (1081–1261), Boğaziçi Üniversitesi, Yayınlanmamış Yüksek Lisans Tezi, İstanbul, 2013.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. These Kipchaks preserved their identity after the Ottomans conquered the lands they lived in. DOI: English version The Kipchaks who settled in West Anatolia during the reign of Nicea Emperor John III Doukas Vatatzes are the ancestors of a community called Manavs living in Northwest Anatolia today.
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 West Black Sea region. In addition, maritime trade intensified with the Crimea and Kipchak regions in the Isfendiyarids Beylik.
Golden Horde, Mamluk Sultanate and Yuan dynasty
Although many Kipchaks fled to avoid Mongol persecution, many other Kipchaks also stayed behind and later integrated by the Mongol conquerors of Batu Khan to form the Jochid Ulus, named after Jochi. These Kipchaks that stayed behind under the Mongol rule would experience an interesting process of Mongolization that, while not dominating Kipchaks' Turkic linguistic and ancestral lineage, was fused heavily with the Mongolian Borjigin lineage of Genghis Khan. Since the Golden Horde was far away from any Chinese, Indian, or Persian/Arab Islamic centres, and far more concentrated in the Eurasian steppe, the Mongolisation of cultural practise became so deeply entrenched that, even after the Horde underwent Turkification later on, its Mongolian lineage became so intertwined to a point it forged very uniquely Turco-Mongol peoples that, while spoke various Kipchak Turkic languages, would also become entangled with the Chinggisid dynastic roots later on.
The Egyptian Sultan's secretary at the time, Ibn Fadlallah al-Umari, mentioned about it as,