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Keraites

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Keraites
Хэрэйд(Khereid)
11th century–13th century
of Keraites
Coat of arms
StatusSubjects to:
Liao dynasty,
Qara Khitai(Western Liao),
Genghisids
Religion
Church of the East
GovernmentKhanate
Khan
• 11th century
Markus Buyruk Khan
• 12th century
Saryk Khan
• 12th century
Kurchakus Buyruk Khan
• –1203
Toghrul Khan(last)
Historical eraMiddle Ages
• Established
11th century
• absorbed into theMongol Empire.
13th century
Preceded by		 Succeeded by
Zubu
Kara-Khanid Khanate
Mongol Empire
Today part ofKhalkha Mongols,[1][2]Buryats,[3][4]Kalmyks[5]and some otherMongolandTurkic peoples

TheKeraites(alsoKerait, Kereit, Khereid;Mongolian:Хэрэйд;Chinese:Khắc liệt) were one of the five dominantMongolorTurkictribal confederations (khanates) in theAltai-Sayan regionduring the 12th century. They had converted to theChurch of the East(Nestorianism) in the early 11th century and are one of the possible sources of the EuropeanPrester Johnlegend.

Their original territory was expansive, corresponding to much of what is nowMongolia.Vasily Bartold(1913) located them along the upperOnonandKherlenrivers and along theTuul river.[6]They were defeated byGenghis Khanin 1203 and became influential in the rise of theMongol Empire,and were gradually absorbed into the succeeding Turco-Mongol khanates during the 13th century.

Name

In modernMongolian,the confederation is spelledХэрэйд,(Khereid). In English, the name is primarily adopted asKeraites,alternativelyKerait,orKereyit,in some earlier texts also as Karait or Karaites.[7][8]

One common theory sees the name as a cognate with the Mongolianхар/kharand Turkicqarāfor "black, swarthy". There have been various other Mongol and Turkic tribes with names involving the term, which are often conflated.[9] According to the early 14th-century workJami' al-tawarikhbyRashid-al-Din Hamadani,Mongol legend traced the clan back to eight brothers with unusually dark faces and the confederation they founded.Keraitwas the name of the leading brother's clan, while the clans of his brothers are recorded asJirkin, Konkant, Sakait, Tumaut, Albat.[10]

Other researchers also suggested that the Mongolian nameKhereidmay be an ancienttotemname derived from the root Kheree (хэрээ) for "raven".[11]

History

Origins

The Keraites first entered history as the ruling faction of theZubu,a large confederacy of tribes that dominatedMongoliaduring the 11th and 12th centuries and often fought with theLiao dynastyofnorth China,which controlled much of Mongolia at the time.

It is unclear whether the Keraites should be classified asTurkic orMongolin origin. The names and titles of early Keraite leaders suggest that they were speakers ofTurkic languages,but coalitions and incorporation of sub-clans may have led toTurco-Mongolamalgamation from an early time.[12][13]All Khereid tribal names have meanings in theMongolian languageand end with either theMongolicplural suffix "d" (t; ud, uud, üd, üüd) and singular suffix "n" common amongmedievalandmodern clans.[14]

The Keraites consisted of eight Mongolic tribes, including the Khereid, Jirkhin, Khonkhoid, Sukhait, Albat, Tumaut, Dunghaid, and the Khirkh.

Rashid al-Din Hamadani(1247–1318) says in theJami' al-tawarikh(Section Three, Khereid Tribe):

At that time they had more power and strength than other tribes. The call of Jesus - peace be upon him - reached them and they entered his faith. They belong to the Mongol ethnicity. They reside along theOnonandKerulenrivers, the land of the Mongols. That land is close to the country of theKhitai.[15]

They are first noted in Syriac Church records which mention them being absorbed into theChurch of the Eastaround 1000 by Metropolitan Abdisho of theMerv ecclesiastical province.

Khanate

After the Zubu broke up, the Keraites retained their dominance on the steppe until they were absorbed into theMongol Empire.At the height of its power, the Keraite Khanate was organized along the same lines as the Naimans and other powerful steppe tribes of the day. A section is dedicated to the Keraites by Rashid al-Din Hamadani (1247–1318), the official historian of theIlkhanate,in hisJami' al-tawarikh.

The people were divided into a "central" faction and an "outer" faction. The central faction served as the khan's army and was composed of warriors from many different tribes with no loyalties to anyone but the Khan. This made the central faction more of a quasi-feudal state than a genuine tribe. The "outer" faction was composed of tribes that pledged obedience to the khan, but lived on their own tribal pastures and functioned semi-autonomously. The "capital" of the Keraite khanate was a place called Orta Balagasun, which was probably located in an oldUyghurorKhitanfortress.[citation needed]

Markus Buyruk Khan was a Keraite leader who also led the Zubu confederacy. In 1100, he was killed by the Liao. Kurchakus Buyruk Khan was a son and successor of Bayruk Markus, among whose wives was Toreqaimish Khatun, daughter of Korchi Buiruk Khan of theNaimans.Kurchakus' younger brother was Gur Khan. Kurchakus Buyruk Khan had many sons. Notable sons includedToghrul,Yula-Mangus, Tai-Timur, Bukha-Timur.[citation needed]In union with theKhitan,they became vassals of theKara-Khitaistate.[citation needed]

Depiction of Wang Khan as "Prester John"inLe Livre des Merveilles,15th century.

After Kurchakus Buyruk Khan died, Ilma's Tatar servant Eljidai became the de facto regent. This upsetToghrulwho had his younger brothers killed and then claimed the throne as Toghrul khan (Mongolian:Тоорил хан/Tooril khan) who was the son of Kurchakus by Ilma Khatun, reigned from the 1160s to 1203.[citation needed]His palace was located at present-day Ulan Bator and he becameblood-brother(anda) to Yesugei. Genghis Khan called himkhan etseg('khan father'). Yesugei, having disposed of all Tughrul's sons, was now the only one in line to inherit the title khan.

The Tatars rebelled against theJin dynastyin 1195. The Jin commander sent an emissary to Timujin. A fight with the Tatars broke out and the Mongol alliance defeated them. In 1196, the Jin Dynasty awarded Toghrul the title of "Wang" (king). After this, Toghrul was recorded under the title "Wang Khan" (Chinese:Vương hãn;pinyin:Wáng Hàn). When Temüjin, laterGenghis Khan,attackedJamukhafor the title ofKhan,Toghrul, fearing Temüjin's growing power, plotted with Jamukha to have him assassinated.

In 1203, Temüjin defeated the Keraites, who were distracted by the collapse of their coalition. Toghrul was killed by Naiman soldiers who failed to recognize him.

Mongol Empire and dispersal

Genghis Khan married the oldest niece of Toghrul,Ibaqa,and then two years later divorced her and had her remarried to the general Jürchedei. Genghis Khan' sonToluimarried another niece,Sorghaghtani Bekhi,and his sonJochimarried a third niece,Begtütmish.Tolui and Sorghaghtani Bekhi became the parents ofMöngke KhanandKublai Khan.[16]The remaining Keraites submitted to Timujin's rule, but out of distrust, Timujin dispersed them among the other Mongol tribes.[citation needed]

Rinchin protected Christians whenGhazanbegan to persecute them but he was executed byAbu Sa'id Bahadur Khanwhen fighting against his custodian,Chupanof theTaichiudin 1319.

Keraites arrived in Europe with theMongol invasionled byBatu KhanandMongke Khan.Kaidu's troops in the 1270s were likely mostly composed of Keraites and Naimans.[17]

From the 1380s onward, Nestorian Christianity in Mongolia declined and vanished, on the one hand due to theIslamizationunderTimurand on the other due to theMingconquest of Karakorum. The remnants of the Keraits by late 14th century lived along theKara Irtysh.[18]These remnants were finally dispersed in the 1420s in the Mongol-Oirat wars fought byUwais Khan.[19]

Nestorian Christianity

Main article:Christianity among the Mongols
TheIlkhanaterulerHulagu Khanwith his Keraite Christian wifeDoquz Khatun.

The Keraites were converted to theChurch of the East,a sect ofChristianity,early in the 11th century.[16][20][21] Other tribes evangelized entirely or to a great extent during the 10th and 11th centuries were theNaimanand theOngud.

Hamadani stated that the Keraites were Christians.William of Rubruck,who encountered many Nestorians during his stay atMongke Khan's court and atKarakorumin 1254–1255, notes that Nestorianism in Mongolia was tainted byshamanismandManicheismand very confused in terms of liturgy, not following the usual norms of Christian churches elsewhere in the world. He attributes this to the lack of teachers of the faith, power struggles among the clergy and a willingness to make doctrinal concessions to win the favour of the Khans. Contact with theCatholic Churchwas lost after theIslamizationunderTimur(reigned 1370–1405), who effectively destroyed the Church of the East. The Church inKarakorumwas destroyed by the invading Ming dynasty army in 1380.

The legend ofPrester John,otherwise set in India or Ethiopia, was also brought in connection with the Eastern Christian rulers of the Keraites. In some versions of the legend, Prester John was explicitly identified with Toghril,[16]but Mongolian sources say nothing about his religion.[22]

Conversion account

An account of the conversion of this people is given in the 12th-century Book of the Tower(Kitab al-Majdal) byMari ibn Suleiman,and also by 13th-centurySyriac OrthodoxhistorianBar Hebraeuswhere he names them with the Syriac wordܟܹܪܝܼܬ"Keraith" ).[23][24]

According to these accounts, shortly before 1007, the Keraite Khan lost his way during a snowstorm while hunting in the high mountains of his land. When he had abandoned all hope, a saint,Sergius of Samarkand,appeared in a vision and said, "If you will believe in Christ, I will lead you lest you perish." The king promised to become Christian, and the saint told him to close his eyes and he found himself back home (Bar Hebraeus' version says the saint led him to the open valley where his home was). When he met Christian merchants, he remembered the vision and asked them about the Christian religion, prayer and the book of canon laws. They taught him theLord's Prayer,Te Deum,and theTrisagionin Syriac. At their suggestion, he sent a message to Abdisho, the Metropolitan ofMerv,for priests and deacons to baptize him and his tribe. Abdisho sent a letter toYohannan V,Patriarch of the Church of the Eastin Baghdad. Abdisho informed Yohannan V that the Khan asked him about fasting and whether they could be exempted from the usual Christian way of fasting since their diet was mainly meat and milk.

Abdisho also related that the Khan had already "set up a pavilion to take the place of an altar, in which was a cross and a Gospel, and named it after Mar Sergius, and he tethered a mare there and he takes her milk and lays it on the Gospel and the cross, and recites over it the prayers which he has learned, and makes the sign of the cross over it, and he and his people after him take a draft from it." Yohannan replied to Abdisho telling him one priest and one deacon was to be sent with altar paraments to baptize the king and his people. Yohannan also approved the exemption of the Keraites from strict church law, stating that while they had to abstain from meat during the annualLenten fastlike other Christians, they could still drink milk during that period, although they should switch from "sour milk" (fermented mare's milk) to "sweet milk" (normal milk) to remember the suffering of Christ during the Lenten fast. Yohannan also told Abdisho to endeavor to find wheat and wine for them, so they can celebrate thePaschal Eucharist.As a result of the mission that followed, the king and 200,000 of his people were baptized (both Bar Hebraeus and Mari ibn Suleiman give the same number).[12][25]

Legacy

After the final dispersal of the remaining Keraites settling along theIrtysh Riverby theOiratsin the early 15th century, they disappear as an identifiable group. There are various hypotheses as to which groups may partially have been derived from them during the 16th or 17th century. According to Tynyshbaev (1925), their further fate was closely linked to that of the Argyn.[26]

The name of theQarai Turksmay be derived from the Keraites, but it may also be connected to the names of various other Central Asian groups involvingqara"black".[27]Kipchakgroups such as theArgynKazakhsand theKyrgyzKireishave been proposed as possibly in part derived from the remnants of the Keraites who sought refuge in Eastern Europe in the early 15th century.[28]

See also

References

Citations

  1. ^Үндэсний Статистикийн Хороо. Хэрээд.
  2. ^Үндэсний Статистикийн Хороо. Хэрэйд.
  3. ^Нанзатов Б. З. Кударинские буряты в XIX веке: этнический состав и расселение // Вестник БНЦ СО РАН. — 2016. — № 4 (24). — С. 126—134.
  4. ^Нанзатов Б. З., Содномпилова М. М. Селенгинские буряты в XIX в.: этнический состав и расселение (юго-западный ареал) // Вестник БНЦ СО РАН. — 2019. — № 1 (33). — С. 126—134.
  5. ^Бембеев В. Ойраты. Ойрат-калмыки. Калмыки: история, культура, расселение, общественный строй до образования Калмыцкого ханства в Поволжье и Предкавказье. — Джангар, 2004. — С. 87. — 495 с.
  6. ^V.V. Bartold in the article on Genghis Khan in the 1st edition of theEncyclopedia of Islam(1913); see Dunlop (1944:277)
  7. ^"History of the voyages and discoveries made in the north translated from the German ofJohann Reinhold Forsterand elucidated by several new and original maps "p.141-142
  8. ^"A General History And Collection of Voyages And Travels, Arranged In Systematic Order: Forming A Complete History of The Origin And Progress of Navigation, Discovery, And Commerce By Sea And Land, From The Earliest ages to the present time."Robert Kerr (writer),section VIII.2.
  9. ^"EAS 107, Владимирцов 324, ОСНЯ 1, 338, АПиПЯЯ 54-55, 73, 103-104, 274. Despite TMN 3, 427, Щербак 1997, 134."Tower of Babel Mongolian etymology database.
  10. ^Rashid-al-Din Hamadani,Jami' al-tawarikhcited after(in Russian)translationby L.A. Khetagurov (1952)[clarification needed] "It is said that in ancient times was the king; He had seven [eight] sons, all of them [were] swarthy. For this reason they were called Kerait. After a time, each of the branches, and the progeny of those sons got a special name and nickname. Until very recently, in Kerait was the name of one [tribal] branch, [i.e.] the sovereign one; the other sons became the servants of his brother, who was their sovereign, while they did not have sovereignty."
  11. ^Хойт С.К. Кереиты в этногенезе народов Евразии: историография проблемы. Элиста, 2008. 82 с.
  12. ^ab R. Grousset,The Empire of the Steppes,New Brunswick, New Jersey, Rutgers University Press, 1970, p191.
  13. ^Unesco (1992).History of Civilizations of Central Asia, Volym 4.UNESCO. p. 74.ISBN9789231036545.
  14. ^History of Mongolia (2003) Volume II
  15. ^Compendium,Paris, 1866, p.362
  16. ^abcLi, Tang (2006). "Sorkaktani Beki: A prominent Nestorian woman at the Mongol Court". In Malek, Roman; Hofrichter, Peter (eds.).Jingjiao: the Church of the East in China and Central Asia.Steyler Verlagsbuchhandlung GmbH.ISBN978-3-8050-0534-0.{{cite book}}:|work=ignored (help)
  17. ^Tynyshbaev (1925)
  18. ^Tynyshbaev (1925)
  19. ^Tynyshbaev (1925)
  20. ^Hunter (1991).[page needed] Silverberg, Robert(1972).The Realm of Prester John.Doubleday. p.12.
  21. ^Kingsley Bolton; Christopher Hutton (2000).Triad Societies: Western Accounts of the History, Sociology and Linguistics of Chinese Secret Societies.Taylor & Francis. pp. xlix–.ISBN978-0-415-24397-1.
  22. ^Atwood, Christopher P. (2004).Encyclopedia of Mongolia and the Mongol Empire.Facts On File.ISBN0816046719.
  23. ^Bar Hebraeus, Chronicon ecclesiasticum (ed. and tr. J.B. Abbeloos and T.J. Lamy, vol. 3, coll. 279-81).
    See Hunter (1991).[page needed]
  24. ^Bar Hebraeus Chron. Syr. (1286) 204/184
  25. ^Moffett,A History of Christianity in Asiapp. 400-401.
  26. ^ "The further fate of our Kerei is closely linked with the fate of Argyn, although they did not play such a large role as the Argyn. The Kerei [or at least the Achamail subgroup] participated in the campaign of Barak (1420) in Tashkent and Khujand.In 1723the Kerei (as well as the Argyns) suffered relatively less than other peoples. In the wars ofMuhammad Shaybani,there is mention of a tribe calledSakhiot,obviously the Kerei who had remained among the Uzbeks of Ferghana, Samarkand, Bukhara and Khiva. "Tynyshbaev (1925)
  27. ^G. Németh, A Hongfoglaló Magyarság Kialakulása, Budapest, 1930, 264-68, cited after P. Oberling,"Karāʾi",Encyclopedia Iranica,vol. XV, Fasc. 5 (2002), pp. 536–537.
  28. ^Dunlop (1944:289), following Howorth,Unknown Mongolia(1913).

Sources

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