The Tatar confederation (; ; (Mongol: Татар, ) was one of the five major tribal confederations (khanlig) in the Mongolian Plateau in the 12th century.
Name and origin
The name "Tatar" was possibly first transliterated in the Book of Song as 大檀 Dàtán (MC: *daH-dan) and 檀檀 Tántán (MC: *dan-dan)Golden, Peter B. "Some Notes on the Avars and Rouran", in The Steppe Lands and the World beyond Them. Ed. Curta, Maleon. Iași (2013). pp. 54–56. quotes: "Datan may refer to the Tatars." " Kljaštornyj (Kljaštornyj and Savinov, Stepnye imperii, p. 57) reconstructs Datan as rendering *dadar/*tatar, the people who, he concludes, assisted Datan in the 420s in his internal struggles and who later are noted as the Otuz Tatar (“Thirty Tatars”) who were among the mourners at the funeral of Bumın Qağan (see the inscriptions of Kül Tegin, E4 and Bilge Qağan, E5)." which the book's compilers stated to be other names of the Rourans;Songshu vol. 95 . "芮芮一號大檀，又號檀檀，亦匈奴別種。" tr. "Ruìruì, one appellation is Dàtán, also called Tántán; they were also a separate stock of the Xiōngnú." Book of Song and Book of Liang connected Rourans to the earlier XiongnuLiangshu vol. 54 . quote: "芮芮國，蓋匈奴別種。" translation: "The Ruìruì nation, possibly a separate stock of the Xiōngnú." while the Book of Wei traced the Rouran's origins back to the Donghu,Weishu vol. 103 "蠕蠕，東胡之苗裔也，姓郁久閭氏。" tr. "Rúrú, offsprings of Dōnghú, surnamed Yùjiŭlǘ"". This fascicle of the original Book of Wei was lost within centuries of its composition, and the current contents represent an abridgement of similar material interpolated from the History of the Northern Dynasties, compiled about a hundred years after the original Book of Wei strata. See Book of Wei, vol. 103, note 1. who were of Proto-Mongolic origin.
Xu proposed that "the main body of the Rouran were of Xiongnu origin" and Rourans' descendants, namely Da Shiwei (aka Tatars), contained Turkic-speaking Xiongnu elements to a great extent.Xu, Elina-Qian, Historical Development of the Pre-Dynastic Khitan , University of Helsinki, 2005. pp. 179–180 Even so, the language of the Xiongnu is still unknown, and Chinese historians routinely ascribed Xiongnu origins to various nomadic groups, yet such ascriptions do not necessarily indicate the subjects' exact origins: for examples, Xiongnu ancestry was ascribed to Turkic-speaking Göktürks and Tiele as well as Para-Mongolic-speaking Kumo Xi and Khitans.
The first precise transcription of the Tatar ethnonym was written in Turkic on the Orkhon inscriptions, specifically, the Kul Tigin (CE 732) and Bilge Khagan (CE 735) monuments as and referring to the Tatar confederation.
In historiography, the Proto-Mongolic Shiwei tribes are associated with the DadaZizhi Tongjian vol. 266, the fifth month of 907: "及阿保機為王, 尤雄勇, 五姓奚及七姓室韋, 韃靼咸役屬之" "Up to the time of Abaoji who was more valiant, all of the five tribes of the Xi, the seven tribes of the Shiwei and the Tartar were subdued ..." translated by Xu (2005:72); alternative translation: "When Abaoji became king, [he was] even more valiant; all the five Xi tribes and all the seven Shiwei[-associated] Dada tribes were subdued ..." or identified with specifically the Thirty Tatars.Xu (2005), pp. 181–182: "The Turkic Orkhon Inscription written in 732 declared the thirty clans of the Tartar, who were believed the other name of some Shiwei tribes, were enemies of them." As for the Nine Tatars, Ochir (2016) considers them to be Mongolic and proposes that this tribe apparently formed in Mongolia during the 6th–8th centuries, that their ethnogenesis involved Mongolic people as well as Mongolized Turks who had ruled them; later on, Nine Tatars participated in the ethno-cultural development of the Mongols. Rashid al-Din Hamadani named nine tribes: Tutukliud (Tutagud), Alchi, Kuyn, Birkuy, Terat, Tamashi, Niuchi, Buyragud, and Ayragud, living in the eastern steppe and the Khalkhyn Gol's basin during the second half of 12th century. Golden (1992) proposes that that Otuz "thirty" denoted thirty clans and Toquz "nine" possibly denoted nine tribes of the Tatar confederation.
Tatars were proposed to dwell in Northeastern Mongolia and around Lake Baikal, or between Manchuria and Lake Baikal.
Ethnic and linguistic affiliations
Toquz-Tatars and Otuz-Tatars from the Orkhon inscriptions are proposed to be Mongolic speakers (e.g. by sinologists Paul Pelliot,Крамаровский М. Г. (2001). Золото Чингисидов: культурное наследие Золотой Орды Санкт-Петербург: Славия. p. 11." and Ulrich Theobald, turkologist Peter Benjamin Golden,Golden, Peter B. (1992). An Introduction to the History of the Turkic peoples. Series: Turcologica, IX. Wiesbaden: Otto-Harrassowitz. Altaist Volker Rybatzki, etc.). On the other hand, they were proposed to be Turkic speakers (e.g. by Encyclopedia Britannica or Kyzlasov apud Sadur 2012). Additionally, Encyclopedia Britannica proposes that Tatars were possibly related to the Cumans and Kipchaks.
Ochir (2016) proposes that Mongolic and Mongolized Turkic peoples participated in the ethnogenesis of the Nine Tatars, whom Ochir considers to be Mongolic.
Soviet and Russian orientalist argues that the Toquz Tatars and Otuz Tatars were instead Turkic-speaking, as the Persian-authored 10th century geographical treatise Hudud al-Alam stated that Tatars were part of the Toghuzghuz, quote (p. 94): "The Tātār too are a race (jinsī) of the Toghuzghuz" whom Minorsky identified with the Qocho kingdom in eastern Tianshan, founded by Uyghur refugees following the collapse of the Uyghur Khaganate, whose founders belonged to the Toquz Oghuz confederation. At the same time, Kyzlasov is against the identification of the Tatars of the Orkhon inscriptions with Dada from Chinese sources. However, Ochir thinks that the Datan ~ Dadan ~ Dada in Chinese sources since the 9th century indeed denoted Tatars, whom the Gōktürks had mentioned on the Orkhon inscriptions as Otuz-Tatar and Toquz-Tatar and whom Chinese had called Rourans.
Writing in the 11th century, Kara-Khanid scholar Mahmud al-Kashgari included Tatars among the Turkic peoples. He located the Tatars west of the Kyrgyz.Maħmūd al-Kašğari. "Dīwān Luğāt al-Turk". Edited & translated by Robert Dankoff in collaboration with James Kelly. In Sources of Oriental Languages and Literature. Part I. (1982). pp. 82–83
When listing the 20 Turkic tribes, Kashgari also included non-Turks such as Kumo Xi, Khitans, Tanguts, and Chinese (the last one rendered as < Karakhanid *Tawğaç).Biran, Michal (2005), The Empire of the Qara Khitai in Eurasian History: Between China and the Islamic World, Cambridge University Press. p. 98 In the extant manuscript's text, the Tatars are located west of the Kyrgyz; however, the manuscript's world-map shows that the Tatars were located west of the Ili river and west of the Bashkirs, whom Kashagari already located west of Tatars. Claus Schönig attributed such contradictions to errors made when the text and the map were copied.Schönig, Klaus, "On some unclear, doubtful and contradictory passages in Maḥmūd al-Kāšγarī's "Dīwān Luγāt at-Turk" , Türk Dilteri Araştrımaları 14 (2004): pp. 38–42 of 35–56 Kashgari additionally noted that Tatars were bilingual, speaking Turkic alongside their own languages; the same for the Yabaqus, Basmïls, and Chömüls. Yet available evidence suggested that the Yabaqus, Basmïls, and Chömüls were all Turkic speakers; therefore, Mehmet Fuat Köprülü concludes that in the 11th century, the Yabaqus, Basmïls, Chömüls, Qays and Tatars – the last two of whom Köprülü considers to be Turkified Mongols – could speak Kashgari's Karakhanid dialect as well as their own Turkic dialects, yet those peoples' own dialects differed from Karakhanid so substantially that Kashgari considered them other languages.Köprülü, Mehmet Fuat (author), Leiser, Gary & Dankoff, Robert (translators), (2006), Early Mystic in Turkish Literature, p. 147-148
According to Klyashtorny, the name "Tatar" was the Turkic designation for Mongols. As Ushnitsky writes, the ethnonym "Tatar" was used by the Turks only to designate "strangers", that is, peoples who did not speak Turkic languages. The Turkic tribes living among their Mongol-speaking neighbors were also called "tat" or "tat-ar". According to Bartold, the peoples of Mongolian origin who spoke the Mongolian language had always called themselves Tatars. Subsequently, this word was completely supplanted by the word "Mongol".
History
The Rourans, Tatars' putative ancestors, roamed modern-day Mongolia in summer and crossed the Gobi Desert southwards in winter in search of pastures.Weishu vol. 103 "冬則徙度漠南，夏則還居漠北。"In winter [they] moved southwards across the desert; in summer [they] returned to dwell north of the desert." Rourans founded their Khaganate in the 5th century, around 402 CE. Among the Rourans' subjects were the Ashina tribe, who overthrew their Rouran overlords in 552 and annihilated the Rourans in 555.Kradin, N.N. "From Tribal Confederation to Empire: The Evolution of Rouran Society" in Acta Orientalia Academiae Scientiarum Hung. Volume 58 (2), (2005). pp. 149-151, 158, 160 of 149–169 One branch of the dispersed Rourans migrated to the Greater Khingan mountain range where they renamed themselves after Tantan, a historical Khagan, and gradually incorporated themselves into the Shiwei tribal complex and emerged as 大室韋 Da (Great) Shiwei.
The Otuken region, constantly mentioned in the Orkhon inscriptions as the place of residence of the Turks, according to Mahmud Kashgar, was once in the country of the Tatars. According to Vasily Bartold, this message suggests that the Mongols already then reached the west to the area where their neighbors from different sides were Turkic tribes.
Persian historian Gardizi listed Tatars as one of seven founding tribes of the Turkic Kimek confederation.Martinez A.P. 1982 "Gardīzī’s two chapters on the Turks". Archivum Eurasiae Medii Aevi, vol. II: 120-121 cited in Tishin V.V. (2018). "Kimäk and Chù-mù-kūn (处木昆): Notes on an Identification" pp. 107-108 The Shine Usu inscription mentioned that the Toquz Tatars, in alliance with the Sekiz-Oghuz, unsuccessfully revolted against Uyghur Khagan Bayanchur, who was consolidating power between 744 and 750 CE."Moghon Shine Usu Inscription" text at Türik BitigKamalov, A. (2003) "The Moghon Shine Usu Insription as the Earliest Uighur Historical Annals", Central Asiatic Journal. 47 (1). pp. 77-90 After being defeated three times, half of the Oghuz-Tatar rebels rejoined the Uyghurs, while the other half fled to an unknown people, who were identified as KhitansRamstedt, G.I. (1913) "Zwei Uighurischen Runeinschriften", p. 52. cited in Kamalov (2003), p. 86 or Karluks.Czegledy, K. (1973) "Gardizi on the History of Central Asia", p. 265. cited in Kamalov (2003), p. 86 According to Senga and Klyashtorny, part of the Toquz-Tatar rebels fled westwards from the Uyghurs to the Irtysh river basin, where they later organized the Kipchaks and other tribal groupings (either already there or also newly arrived) into the Kimek tribal union.Senga cited in Golden (2002) “Notes on the Qïpchaq Tribes: Kimeks and Yemeks”, in The Turks, I, p. 662Klyashtorny, S.G. (1997) "The Oguzs of the Central Asia and The Guzs of the Aral Region" in International Journal of Eurasian Studies 2 According to the Russian orientalist Vasily Ushnitsky, reports of medieval Muslim sources about the Tatar origin of the Kimak dynastic clan are the argument of the supporters of the Mongolian origin of the Kimaks and Kipchaks. The news about the Tatars, from whom the Kimaks separated, according to Josef Markwart, confirms the fact of the movement to the west of the Turkified Mongolian elements.