Jewish
Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...
polity of uncertain location and origin during the early 13th century.
History
Giovanni da Pian del Carpine
Giovanni da Pian del Carpine (or Carpini; anglicised as ''John of Plano Carpini''; – 1 August 1252) was a medieval Italian diplomat, Catholic archbishop, explorer and one of the first Europeans to enter the court of the Great Khan of t ...
, a 13th-century
papal legate
300px, A woodcut showing Henry II of England greeting the Pope's legate.
A papal legate or apostolic legate (from the ancient Roman title '' legatus'') is a personal representative of the Pope to foreign nations, to some other part of the Catho ...
to the court of the
Mongol
Mongols are an East Asian ethnic group native to Mongolia, China (Inner Mongolia and other 11 autonomous territories), as well as the republics of Buryatia and Kalmykia in Russia. The Mongols are the principal member of the large family of M ...
Khan Guyuk, gave a list of the nations the Mongols had conquered in his account. One of them, listed among tribes of the Caucasus, Pontic steppe and the Caspian region, was the "Brutakhi, who are
Jews
Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...
."
Nikolay Karamzin
Nikolay Mikhailovich Karamzin () was a Russian historian, writer, poet and critic. He is best remembered for his fundamental ''History of the Russian State'', a 12-volume national history.
Early life
Karamzin was born in the small village of ...
pointed to the fact that Carpine meant
Burtas
Burtas (, ''Burtasy''; , ''Părtassem''; , ''lar'', ) were a tribe of uncertain ethnolinguistic affiliation inhabiting the steppe region north of the Caspian Sea in medieval times (modern Penza Oblast, Ulyanovsk Oblast and Saratov Oblast of the R ...
by ''Brutaches''.
Some translations read "Comani Brutakhi", (''Comani Brutachi, qui sunt Iudii'') which seems to indicate an alignment with the
Cumans
The Cumans or Kumans were a Turkic people, Turkic nomadic people from Central Asia comprising the western branch of the Cumania, Cuman–Kipchak confederation who spoke the Cuman language. They are referred to as Polovtsians (''Polovtsy'') in Ru ...
-
Kipchaks
The Kipchaks, also spelled Qipchaqs, known as Polovtsians (''Polovtsy'') in Russian annals, were Turkic nomads and then a confederation that existed in the Middle Ages inhabiting parts of the Eurasian Steppe.
First mentioned in the eighth cent ...
; however, this reading has been challenged by many historians who have asserted that there should be a comma between the Comani and Brutakhi. However, earlier in the same list Giovanni refers to " Comania", leading some to regard the postulated comma as redundant and therefore highly suspect.
Unclear Identity
The identity of the Brutakhi is unclear. Giovanni later relates that the Brutakhi shave their heads, a common Turkic custom. Some historians have theorized that the Brutakhi may have been a remnant of the
Khazar
The Khazars ; 突厥可薩 ''Tūjué Kěsà'', () were a nomadic Turkic people who, in the late 6th century CE, established a major commercial empire covering the southeastern section of modern European Russia, southern Ukraine, Crimea, an ...
people, or a result of some sort of
missionary
A missionary is a member of a Religious denomination, religious group who is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Thoma ...
efforts. Alternatively, they may have been Cuman-Kipchak converts to Judaism (possibly connected to the
Krymchaks
Krymchaks ( Krymchak: , , , ) are Jewish ethno-religious communities of Crimea derived from Turkic-speaking adherents of Rabbinic Judaism.Karaims). Another possibility is that the Brutakhi are connected to the
Mountain Jews
Mountain Jews are the Mizrahi Jews, Mizrahi Jewish subgroup of the eastern and northern Caucasus, mainly Azerbaijan, and various republics in the Russian Federation: Chechnya, Ingushetia, Dagestan, Karachay-Cherkessia, and Kabardino-Balkaria. M ...
of Daghestan, who are believed to have ruled independent states at points in their history. Some scholars have speculated that "Brutakhi" may be a corruption of "Brutas" or "
Burtas
Burtas (, ''Burtasy''; , ''Părtassem''; , ''lar'', ) were a tribe of uncertain ethnolinguistic affiliation inhabiting the steppe region north of the Caspian Sea in medieval times (modern Penza Oblast, Ulyanovsk Oblast and Saratov Oblast of the R ...
", a steppe tribe of uncertain ethnic affiliation mentioned by other medieval sources.{{Cite book, url=https://books.google.com/books?id=10c7AQAAIAAJ&q=%22%D0%91%D1%80%D1%83%D1%82%D0%B0%D1%85%D0%B8%22, title=Дзвін: часопис Спілки письменників України, date=1997, publisher=Каменяр, language=uk
References
Further reading
* Fra Giovanni Di Plano Carpini. ''The Story of the Mongols Whom we Call the Tartars''. Trans. Erik Hildinger. Boston: Branden Publishing, 1996.