"Uriankhai" also known as Urianhai or Uryangkhai, is a term applied to several neighboring ethnic groups. The name is mentioned several times in the Secret History of the Mongols.

In the 13th century Rashid-al-Din Hamadani described the Forest Uriyangkhai as extremely isolated Siberian forest people living in birchbark tents and hunting with ski

Ski

A ski is a long, flat device worn on the foot, usually attached through a boot, designed to help the wearer slide smoothly over snow. Originally intended as an aid to travel in snowy regions, they are now mainly used for recreational and sporting purposes...

s. Despite the similarity in name to the famous Uriyankhan clan of the Mongols

Mongols

Mongols ) are a Central-East Asian ethnic group that lives mainly in the countries of Mongolia, China, and Russia. In China, ethnic Mongols can be found mainly in the central north region of China such as Inner Mongolia...

, Rashid states that they had no connection.

By the early 17th century the term Uriankhai was a general Mongolian term for all the dispersed bands to the north-west, whether Samoyed

Samoyed

Samoyed may refer to:* the Samoyedic peoples in Siberia who speak the Samoyedic languages: the Enets, the Nenets, the Nganasans, and the Selkups* the Samoyedic languages they speak* Samoyed , a dog breed...

, Turkic

Turkic peoples

The Turkic peoples are peoples residing in northern, central and western Asia, southern Siberia and northwestern China and parts of eastern Europe. They speak languages belonging to the Turkic language family. They share, to varying degrees, certain cultural traits and historical backgrounds...

, or Mongolian

Mongols

Mongols ) are a Central-East Asian ethnic group that lives mainly in the countries of Mongolia, China, and Russia. In China, ethnic Mongols can be found mainly in the central north region of China such as Inner Mongolia...

 in origin. In 1757 the Qing Dynasty

Qing Dynasty

The Qing Dynasty was the last dynasty of China, ruling from 1644 to 1912 with a brief, abortive restoration in 1917. It was preceded by the Ming Dynasty and followed by the Republic of China....

 organized its far northern frontier into a series of Uriankhai banners: the Khovsgol Nuur Uriyangkhai, Tagnu Uriankhai, Kemchik, Salchak, and Tozhu (all Tuvans

Tuvans

Tuvans or Tuvinians are Turkic peoples living in southern Siberia. They are historically known as one of the Uriankhai, from the Mongolian designation...

) and Altan-nuur Uriyangkhai

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...

. Tuvans in Mongolia are called Monchoogo Uriankhai (cf. Tuvan Monchak < Kazakh

Kazakhs

The Kazakhs are a Turkic people of the northern parts of Central Asia ....

 monshak "necklace") by Mongolians. Another group of Uriankhai in Mongolia (in Bayan-Ölgii and Khovd aimags

Aimags of Mongolia

Mongolia is divided into 21 aimags . Each aimag is subdivided into several sums. The name aimag is derived from the Mongolian and Turkic languages word for "tribe". The modern aimags were established since 1921...

) are called Altai Uriankhai

Altai Uriankhai

The Altai Uriankhai refer to a Mongolian tribe around the Altai Mountains that were organized by the Qing Dynasty. They now form a subgroup in western Mongolia and eastern Xinjiang....

. These were apparently attached to the Oirats

Oirats

Oirats are the westernmost group of the Mongols who unified several tribes origin whose ancestral home is in the Altai region of western Mongolia. Although the Oirats originated in the eastern parts of Central Asia, the most prominent group today is located in the Republic of Kalmykia, a federal...

. A third group of Mongolian Uriankhai were one of the 6 tumen

Tumen

Tumen or Tümen was a part of the decimal system used by Turkic and Mongol peoples to organize their armies. Tumen is an army unit of 10,000 soldiers...

s of Dayan Khan

Dayan Khan

Dayan Khan , was a Mongol khan who reunited the Mongols under Chinggisid supremacy in the Northern Yuan Dynasty in Mongolia...

 in Eastern Mongolia. These last two Uriankhai groups are said to be descendants of the Uriankhan tribe from which came Jelme

Jelme

Jelme was a general of Genghis Khan. He was the older brother of Subutai and was given to Temujin to be his slave....

 and his more famous cousin Subutai

Subutai

Subutai was the primary military strategist and general of Genghis Khan and Ögedei Khan...

.

A variation of the name, Uraŋxai, was an old name for the Sakha

Yakuts

Yakuts , are a Turkic people associated with the Sakha Republic.The Yakut or Sakha language belongs to the Northern branch of the Turkic family of languages....

. Russian Pavel Nebolsin documented the Urankhu clan of Volga Kalmyks in the 1850s. Another variant of the name, Orangkae (오랑캐), was traditionally used by the Koreans to refer indiscriminately to "barbarian

Barbarian

Barbarian and savage are terms used to refer to a person who is perceived to be uncivilized. The word is often used either in a general reference to a member of a nation or ethnos, typically a tribal society as seen by an urban civilization either viewed as inferior, or admired as a noble savage...

s" who inhabited the lands to their north.