Kumandins
Encyclopedia
The Kumandins are an autonomous people of southern Siberia. They reside mainly in the Altai Republic
. Their language is related to the Turkic Uigur language of the Karluk
branch.
According to the 1926 census in the territory of Russia
lived 6,335 Kumandy. In the 2002 census, the number was only 3,114, but possibly the number of the 1926 census also included some related peoples. A part of Kumandy living on the banks of river Biya
from river Kuu
(Swan, Russ. "Lebed") downstream, almost to the city of Biysk
, and also along the lower course of the river Katun
by the present time (1969) conflated with the local Russian population..
. In the 17th century, before migrating to Altai, Kumandy lived along the river Charysh, near its confluence with the river Ob
. Their relocation was driven by their unwillingness to pay yasak
tribute to the Russian sovereign. N.Aristov
linked Kumandy and their clan Chelkandy
with the descendants of the ancient Türks (Modern Chinese Pinyin Tujue 突 厥 ), "who in the 6th-8th cc. CE created in the Central Asia
a powerful nomadic state, which received in history a name Türkic Kaganate
". The ancient Türkic legend recorded in the Chinese Zhoushu annals (周書, 636 AD)
tells about the origin of the ancestors of the ancient Türks from a state or possession So, located north of the Huns
. N.Aristov asserted: "Possession So, laying in the north from the Hun country, i.e. from the present Mongolia
, should be on the northern side of Altai mountains, for its southern slopes were part of the Hun lands... From that, with sufficient reliability can be concluded that the legendary forefather of the Türks descended from the tribe So that lived in the northern Altai, and that the clan So is a small remainder of that, probably not too small tribe during the prehistoric times". The people of the seok Soky (So, Sola) that amalgamated with Kumandy and Kachins had common historically well-known ancestors called Kumans (Kuban); O.Pritsak stipulated that the term "Kuman" in the Kumandy name is identical to the (Russian) name Polovets and Kypchak O.Pritsak also identified the Soo with the Saha, a self-name of Yakuts, and with the ethnonym Sagai, Sakai
The "Kumans (Kuban) belonged to the Kuman-Kipchak confederation(Polevetses of the Rus annals or Comans of the Byzantian sources, Folban of the German annals) during the period from the end of the 800's to 1230's CE spread their political influence in the broad steppes from Altai to Crimea
and Danube
. Irtysh
with its adjoining steppes (at least below the lake Zaisan) was in the sphere of that confederation. Members of the confederation undoubtedly also were the ancestors of the present Kumandy and Teleuts, which is evidenced by their language that like the language of the Tobol and Barabinsk
Tatars belongs to the Kypchak group."
The name of the seok Ton is explained as an ethnonym that reflects their economic specialization, as a word meaning "deer" and "reindeer breeder". The remote ancestors of this Kumandy seok Ton were reindeer breeders, reflected in Kumandy hunting legends and fairy tales, for example about milking deers (which is attributed to the Kumandy's mountain spirits). The memory about breeding and milking reindeer belongs to some remote historical ancestors of a part of Kumandy, they can be explained by participation in the Kumandy ethnogenesis of the southern Nenets tribes, who cultivated riding deers, typically used not only for transport, but also for food and dress.
The Northern Altaians
, especially Kumandy and Shors
, display a commonality of anthropological type by their metric and descriptive attributes not with the Southern Altaians, but with the Ob Ugrians
: Khanty
and Mansi. The Mongoloid admixture in their Caucasoid phenotype
is much less pronounced than of the Southern Altaians
. The Northern Altaians anthropologically belong, together with a number of Ugrian and Nenets
nations, to the Uralic type. Ethnologically, the Kumandy seoks have their own origination myths, from which L.Potapov concluded that they are an amalgamation of people with different backgrounds: pastoral steppe nomads (Kumans), taiga foor hunters (Chabash/Chabat), deer pastoralists (Nenetses), and a fishing tribe (Tastars).
Kumandy consisted of six seoks , which L.Potapov identified ethnically:
Altai Republic
Altai Republic is a federal subject of Russia . Its capital is the town of Gorno-Altaysk. The area of the republic is . Population: -Geography:...
. Their language is related to the Turkic Uigur language of the Karluk
Uyghur Turkic
The Uyghur Turkic or Southeastern Common Turkic languages, also referred to as the Uyguric languages, are one six major branches of the Turkic language family. It also has the oldest written records in any Turkic language. The following table is based upon the classification scheme presented by...
branch.
According to the 1926 census in the territory of Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
lived 6,335 Kumandy. In the 2002 census, the number was only 3,114, but possibly the number of the 1926 census also included some related peoples. A part of Kumandy living on the banks of river Biya
Biya River
The Biya River is a river in the Altai Republic and Altai Krai in Russia. It forms the Ob River as it joins the Katun River. The Biya River is 301 km long; the area of its drainage basin is 37,000 km². It flows out of the Teletskoye Lake. The river freezes up in the mid-November to early December...
from river Kuu
Kuu
Kuu was a moon goddess in Finnish mythology. According to the Kalevala, the daughter of the air Ilmatar allowed a teal to lay its egg on her knee as she floated in the abyss...
(Swan, Russ. "Lebed") downstream, almost to the city of Biysk
Biysk
Biysk is a city in Altai Krai, Russia. It is the second largest city of the krai . Population: -Geography:Biysk is situated in southwestern Siberia, on the Biya River . The city is called "the gates to the Altai Mountains", because of its position comparatively not far from this range...
, and also along the lower course of the river Katun
Katun
The Katun River is a river in the Altai Republic and the Altai Krai of Russia. It forms the Ob River as it joins the Biya River some 19 km southwest of Biysk. The Katun River is 688 km long, the area of its drainage basin is 60,900 km². It originates in the Katun glaciers on the...
by the present time (1969) conflated with the local Russian population..
Ethnic background
Kumandy is a branch of the historical Kumans that fled to the Altai mountains, and found shelter by joining with the local people as a separate seokSeok
Seok is an international term for a clan used in Eurasia from the Middle Asia to the Far East. Seok is usually a distinct member of the community, the name implies that its size is smaller than that of a distinct tribe.-Korean:...
. In the 17th century, before migrating to Altai, Kumandy lived along the river Charysh, near its confluence with the river Ob
Ob River
The Ob River , also Obi, is a major river in western Siberia, Russia and is the world's seventh longest river. It is the westernmost of the three great Siberian rivers that flow into the Arctic Ocean .The Gulf of Ob is the world's longest estuary.-Names:The Ob is known to the Khanty people as the...
. Their relocation was driven by their unwillingness to pay yasak
Yasak
Yasak or yasaq, sometimes iasak, is a Turkic word for "tribute" that was used in Imperial Russia to designate fur tribute exacted from the indigenous peoples of Siberia.- Origin :...
tribute to the Russian sovereign. N.Aristov
Nikolai Aristov
Nikolai Aleksandrovich Aristov was a Türkologist by calling, who utilized his experience, education, and access to official information he had as a fairly high-level official in the Turkestan czarist administration, to accumulate and analyze the ethnographic and ethnic history of the Central...
linked Kumandy and their clan Chelkandy
Chelkans
The Chlenkans are a small Turkic people living in southern Siberia. Those residing in Altai Republic are sometimes grouped together with the Altay ethnic group and those in Kemerovo Oblast are grouped with the Shors; however, they are recognized as a separate ethnic group by ethnographers...
with the descendants of the ancient Türks (Modern Chinese Pinyin Tujue 突 厥 ), "who in the 6th-8th cc. CE created in the Central Asia
Central Asia
Central Asia is a core region of the Asian continent from the Caspian Sea in the west, China in the east, Afghanistan in the south, and Russia in the north...
a powerful nomadic state, which received in history a name Türkic Kaganate
Göktürks
The Göktürks or Kök Türks, were a nomadic confederation of peoples in medieval Inner Asia. Known in Chinese sources as 突厥 , the Göktürks under the leadership of Bumin Qaghan The Göktürks or Kök Türks, (Old Turkic: Türük or Kök Türük or Türük; Celestial Turks) were a nomadic confederation of...
". The ancient Türkic legend recorded in the Chinese Zhoushu annals (周書, 636 AD)
tells about the origin of the ancestors of the ancient Türks from a state or possession So, located north of the Huns
Huns
The Huns were a group of nomadic people who, appearing from east of the Volga River, migrated into Europe c. AD 370 and established the vast Hunnic Empire there. Since de Guignes linked them with the Xiongnu, who had been northern neighbours of China 300 years prior to the emergence of the Huns,...
. N.Aristov asserted: "Possession So, laying in the north from the Hun country, i.e. from the present Mongolia
Mongolia
Mongolia is a landlocked country in East and Central Asia. It is bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south, east and west. Although Mongolia does not share a border with Kazakhstan, its western-most point is only from Kazakhstan's eastern tip. Ulan Bator, the capital and largest...
, should be on the northern side of Altai mountains, for its southern slopes were part of the Hun lands... From that, with sufficient reliability can be concluded that the legendary forefather of the Türks descended from the tribe So that lived in the northern Altai, and that the clan So is a small remainder of that, probably not too small tribe during the prehistoric times". The people of the seok Soky (So, Sola) that amalgamated with Kumandy and Kachins had common historically well-known ancestors called Kumans (Kuban); O.Pritsak stipulated that the term "Kuman" in the Kumandy name is identical to the (Russian) name Polovets and Kypchak O.Pritsak also identified the Soo with the Saha, a self-name of Yakuts, and with the ethnonym Sagai, Sakai
The "Kumans (Kuban) belonged to the Kuman-Kipchak confederation(Polevetses of the Rus annals or Comans of the Byzantian sources, Folban of the German annals) during the period from the end of the 800's to 1230's CE spread their political influence in the broad steppes from Altai to Crimea
Crimea
Crimea , or the Autonomous Republic of Crimea , is a sub-national unit, an autonomous republic, of Ukraine. It is located on the northern coast of the Black Sea, occupying a peninsula of the same name...
and Danube
Danube
The Danube is a river in the Central Europe and the Europe's second longest river after the Volga. It is classified as an international waterway....
. Irtysh
Irtysh
The Irtysh River is a river in Siberia and is the chief tributary of the Ob River. Its name means White River. Irtysh's main affluent is the Tobol River...
with its adjoining steppes (at least below the lake Zaisan) was in the sphere of that confederation. Members of the confederation undoubtedly also were the ancestors of the present Kumandy and Teleuts, which is evidenced by their language that like the language of the Tobol and Barabinsk
Barabinsk
Barabinsk is a town in Novosibirsk Oblast, Russia, located on the Trans-Siberian Railway between Omsk and Novosibirsk. Population: Barabinsk is located in a steppe area, the Baraba steppe, which has an area of and stretches between the Irtysh and the Ob Rivers.The most important economic sectors...
Tatars belongs to the Kypchak group."
The name of the seok Ton is explained as an ethnonym that reflects their economic specialization, as a word meaning "deer" and "reindeer breeder". The remote ancestors of this Kumandy seok Ton were reindeer breeders, reflected in Kumandy hunting legends and fairy tales, for example about milking deers (which is attributed to the Kumandy's mountain spirits). The memory about breeding and milking reindeer belongs to some remote historical ancestors of a part of Kumandy, they can be explained by participation in the Kumandy ethnogenesis of the southern Nenets tribes, who cultivated riding deers, typically used not only for transport, but also for food and dress.
The Northern Altaians
Altay people
The Altay or Altai are an ethnic group of Turkic people living in the Siberian Altai Republic and Altai Krai and surrounding areas of Tuva and Mongolia. For alternative ethnonyms see also Teleut, Tele, Telengit, Mountain Kalmuck, White Kalmuck, Black Tatar, Oirat/Oirot.The Uriankhai people were...
, especially Kumandy and Shors
Shors
Shors or Shorians are a Turkic people in the Kemerovo Oblast in Russia. Their self designation is Шор, or Shor. They were also called Kuznetskie Tatars , Kondoma Tatars , Mras-Su Tatars in some of the documents of the 17th-18th centuries.Most of Shors live in the Tom basin along the Kondoma and...
, display a commonality of anthropological type by their metric and descriptive attributes not with the Southern Altaians, but with the Ob Ugrians
Ugrians
The Ugrians were the ancestors of the present Hungarians of Hungary, the country being then known as Etelköz or Atelkuzu. In the 9th century, they moved into the Bessarabia region....
: Khanty
Khanty people
Khanty / Hanti are an indigenous people calling themselves Khanti, Khande, Kantek , living in Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug, a region historically known as "Yugra" in Russia, together with the Mansi. In the autonomous okrug, the Khanty and Mansi languages are given co-official status with Russian...
and Mansi. The Mongoloid admixture in their Caucasoid phenotype
Phenotype
A phenotype is an organism's observable characteristics or traits: such as its morphology, development, biochemical or physiological properties, behavior, and products of behavior...
is much less pronounced than of the Southern Altaians
Altay people
The Altay or Altai are an ethnic group of Turkic people living in the Siberian Altai Republic and Altai Krai and surrounding areas of Tuva and Mongolia. For alternative ethnonyms see also Teleut, Tele, Telengit, Mountain Kalmuck, White Kalmuck, Black Tatar, Oirat/Oirot.The Uriankhai people were...
. The Northern Altaians anthropologically belong, together with a number of Ugrian and Nenets
Nenets
Nenets may refer to:*Nenets Autonomous Okrug, a federal subject of Russia*Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug, a federal subject of Russia*Nenets people, a Samoyedic people...
nations, to the Uralic type. Ethnologically, the Kumandy seoks have their own origination myths, from which L.Potapov concluded that they are an amalgamation of people with different backgrounds: pastoral steppe nomads (Kumans), taiga foor hunters (Chabash/Chabat), deer pastoralists (Nenetses), and a fishing tribe (Tastars).
Kumandy consisted of six seoks , which L.Potapov identified ethnically:
| No | Kumandy Seok Name | Annalistic Name | Ethnic and linguistic affiliation | Period | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | So | So/Se/Sek/Saka | Parental tribe of the Ancient Türks | prior to 4th c. CE | |
| 2 | Kubandy | Kuman Kuman Kuman may refer to:*Kuman, Albania, a municipality in the Fier District, Fier County, southwestern Albania*Küman, a municipality in Azerbaijan*Cumans, an ancient people*Cuman language, their language*Kuman language in Papua New Guinea... /Cuman/Kuban/Kun (Hung.) |
Appear after disintegration of the Kangar state | 7th c. CE | |
| 3 | Tastar | Kuman Kuman Kuman may refer to:*Kuman, Albania, a municipality in the Fier District, Fier County, southwestern Albania*Küman, a municipality in Azerbaijan*Cumans, an ancient people*Cuman language, their language*Kuman language in Papua New Guinea... /Cuman/Kuban/Kun (Hung.); Ases |
Appear after disintegration of Kangar state | 7th c. CE | |
| 4 | Diuty (Chooty) | Tele Tiele Tiele may refer to:*Tiele people, an ancient people of Central Asia*Tiele, Mali, commune and town*Cornelis Petrus Tiele... /Teleuts Teleuts Teleuts are a Turkic people people living in Kemerovo Oblast, Russia. According to the 2002 census, there were 2650 Teleuts in Russia. Their language is classified as a southern dialect within the group of dialects which is called Altay language.... |
Tele Tiele Tiele may refer to:*Tiele people, an ancient people of Central Asia*Tiele, Mali, commune and town*Cornelis Petrus Tiele... /Teleuts Teleuts Teleuts are a Turkic people people living in Kemerovo Oblast, Russia. According to the 2002 census, there were 2650 Teleuts in Russia. Their language is classified as a southern dialect within the group of dialects which is called Altay language.... were members of the Türkic Kaganate Göktürks The Göktürks or Kök Türks, were a nomadic confederation of peoples in medieval Inner Asia. Known in Chinese sources as 突厥 , the Göktürks under the leadership of Bumin Qaghan The Göktürks or Kök Türks, (Old Turkic: Türük or Kök Türük or Türük; Celestial Turks) were a nomadic confederation of... |
6th-8th c. CE | |
| 5 | Chabash (Chabat) | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | |
| 6 | Ton (Ton-Kubandy) | Nenets Nenets Nenets may refer to:*Nenets Autonomous Okrug, a federal subject of Russia*Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug, a federal subject of Russia*Nenets people, a Samoyedic people... tribe |
Altai-kiji Altay people The Altay or Altai are an ethnic group of Turkic people living in the Siberian Altai Republic and Altai Krai and surrounding areas of Tuva and Mongolia. For alternative ethnonyms see also Teleut, Tele, Telengit, Mountain Kalmuck, White Kalmuck, Black Tatar, Oirat/Oirot.The Uriankhai people were... seok Tongjoan, Tuvinian group Tongak of unknown extraction |
12th c. CE in "Secret history of Mongols The Secret History of the Mongols The Secret History of the Mongols is the oldest surviving Mongolian-language literary work... " |
|
See also
- Cuman people
- Cuman languageCuman languageCuman was a Kipchak Turkic language spoken by the Cumans and Kipchaks; the language was similar to the today's Crimean Tatar language...
- CumaniaCumaniaCumania is a name formerly used to designate several distinct lands in Eastern Europe inhabited by and under the military dominance of the Cumans, a nomadic tribe who, with the Kipchaks, created a confederation. The Cumans were also known as the Polovtsians, or Folban...
- Kipchak languagesKypchak languagesThe Kypchak languages , are a major branch of the Turkic language family spoken by more than 12 million people in an area spanning from Lithuania to China....
- KipchaksKipchaksKipchaks were a Turkic tribal confederation...
- Kipchaks in GeorgiaKipchaks in GeorgiaKipchaks are an ancient nomadic, Turkic people who occupied large territories from Central Asia to Eastern Europe. They, together with the Cumans played an important role in the history of many nations in the region, Georgia among them...