Kurultai

Akurultai(/kʊrʊlˈtaɪ/,lit. 'gathering'),also called aqurultai,was a political and military council of ancientMongolandTurkicchiefs andkhans.

Timur's great 'kurultai', from a 16th century copy ofSharaf al-Din Ali Yazdi'sZafarnama

Etymology

The root of the term is from the hypotheticalProto-Mongolicverb *kura-,*kurija-'to collect, to gather'whencekhural'meeting, assembly' inMongolic languages.From this same root arises theMongolianwordхуримkhurim'feast', which originally referred to large festive gatherings on the steppe, but it is now used mainly in the sense of 'wedding'. However, according to theOld Turkic–Russian dictionary,the oldest recorded pre-Ghengizid mention of the root word "Qur" is found inDīwān Lughāt al-Turk,where it was used as a verb meaning 'to assemble, to assemble into a formation, to build'.

Mongol Empire

Enthronement of a Mongol khan, 14th century

All Great Khans of theMongol Empire,for exampleGenghis KhanandÖgedei Khan,were formally elected in aKurultai;khans of subordinate Mongol states, such as theGolden Horde,were elected by a similar regional Kurultai.

During the Kurultai, Mongol Chiefs would convene to choose the next Great Khan. The Kurultai was often, but not always, held in the capital of the Mongolian empire. They were also a time to assign all critical positions of leadership, as well as an opportunity to decide the militaristic direction to be implemented under the new Khan and aforementioned new leadership.

After the new khan has been elected, an elaborate enthronement procedure followed.Johann Schiltberger,a 15th-century German traveler, described the installation of a new Golden Horde khan as follows (quoted in):

When they choose a king, they take him and seat him on whitefelt,and raise him in it three times. Then they lift him up and carry him round the tent, and seat him on a throne, and put a golden sword in his hand. Then he must be sworn as is the custom.

Kurultai were imperial and tribal assemblies convened to determine, strategize and analyze military campaigns and assign individuals to leadership positions and titles.Genghis Khanwas declaredKhanin the Kurultai of 1206 CE. Most of the major military campaigns were first planned out at assemblies such as this and there were minor and less significant Kurultai under the Mongol Empire under political subordinate leaders and generals.

The Kurultai, however, required the presence of the senior members of the tribes participating, who were also military leaders. Thus, the deaths ofÖgedeiandMöngkein 1241 CE and 1259 CE, respectively, necessitated the withdrawal of Mongol leaders (and troops) from the outskirts ofViennaandVenice(in 1241) and fromSyria(in 1259), hamstringing military operations against the Austrians andMamluksthat might otherwise have continued.

Although the Kurultai was a serious political event in the Mongol world, it was also a festival of sorts including great feasting and various traditional games. Many of these traditions have been carried on in the modern-day Mongolian eventNaadam,which includesMongolian wrestling,horse racing and archery competitions.

Modern usage

Politics

Kurultai in Hungary

Various modernMongolandTurkic peoplesuse it in the political or administrative sense, as a synonym forparliament,congress,conference,council,assembly,convention,gathering. Examples are:Kese Qoroltay(lit. 'Lesser Kurultai'), theWorld Qoroltai of the Bashkirs,Qurultay of the Crimean Tatar People,theNational Kurultai of Kazakhstan,thePeople's Kurultai of Kyrgyzstan,theState Great Khural of Mongolia,theState Assembly — Kurultai of Bashkortostan,thePeople's Khural of Buryatia,El Kurultai of Altai RepublicandKurultájheld today in Hungary.

Language

In Mongolian, the following forms of the word are still in use today:khuraldai,khuraldaanandkhural.Ulsin Deed Shuukhiin Khuraldaanmeans "session of theNational Supreme Court".

Other spellings include:kurultay,qurultay,qurıltai,qorıltay,andqoroltay.

The word has several modern usages in the modernTurkish languageas well, e.g.Yükseköğretim Kurulu"Higher Education Council",genel kurul toplantısı"general board meeting".Kurultayis also a commonly-used word in modern Turkish meaning "general assembly", such as for organisations, committees etc.Kurmakis also a verb in Turkish meaning "to set up, assemble, put together". It is also used for "extraordinary conventions" (Turkish:Olağanüstü Kurultay) of political parties.

See also

• Great Kurultáj
• Legislature
• Loya Jirga
• Naadam
• State Great Khural
• Thing (assembly)
• Veche
• Witenagemot
• World Nomad Games
• World Turks Qurultai

External links

• Qurultay of the Crimean Tatar people
• A video (in the Bashkir language) about the Second World Qoroltay of the Bashkirs