Kypchak

The Kipchaks or Qipchaks, also known as Kipchak Turks or Polovtsians, were a Turkic nomadic people and confederation that existed in the Middle Ages, inhabiting parts of the Eurasian Steppe. First mentioned in the 8th 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 Khanate 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. The Cuman–Kipchak confederation was conquered by the Mongols in the early 13th century.

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. Németh points to the Siberian ''qıpčaq'' "angry, quick-tempered" attested only in the Siberian Sağay dialect (a dialect of Khakas language). 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".

History

In 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, Yuan general Tutuha's origin from Kipchak tribe Ölberli, 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 Cop
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; hey areblue/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. 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; 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 Gumilyov) 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.

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 Kipchak–Turkic tribes. By the 12th century, the two separate confederations of Cumans and Kipchaks merged.

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 taken as slave warriors. In Egypt, the Mamluks were in part drawn from Kipchaks and Cumans.

Language

The Kipchak–Cuman confederation spoke a Turkic language. Mongolian linguistic elements in the Kipchak–Kimek confederation remain "unproven", though that confederation's constituent Tatar

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