Naimans
Encyclopedia
Mongolian language
The Mongolian language is the official language of Mongolia and the best-known member of the Mongolic language family. The number of speakers across all its dialects may be 5.2 million, including the vast majority of the residents of Mongolia and many of the Mongolian residents of the Inner...
: Найман ханлиг, Naiman hanlig, plurally "eights" (naim), ) was a Mongolian name given to a group of people dwelling on the steppe of 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...
, having diplomatic relations with the Kara-Khitan, and subservient to them until 1177. The Naimans are most often classified as a Turkic people from Sekiz Oghuz (means 'Eight Oghuz' in Turkic
Turkic languages
The Turkic languages constitute a language family of at least thirty five languages, spoken by Turkic peoples across a vast area from Eastern Europe and the Mediterranean to Siberia and Western China, and are considered to be part of the proposed Altaic language family.Turkic languages are spoken...
),
Like the Khitans
Khitan people
thumb|250px|Khitans [[Eagle hunting|using eagles to hunt]], painted during the Chinese [[Song Dynasty]].The Khitan people , or Khitai, Kitan, or Kidan, were a nomadic Mongolic people, originally located at Mongolia and Manchuria from the 4th century...
and the Uyghurs, many of them were Nestorian Christians or Buddhists. When last Tayan Khan was killed after a battle with Genghis Khan in 1203, his son Kuchlug
Kuchlug
Kuchlug was a member of the Naiman tribe of western Mongolia. He was defeated by Genghis Khan and fled westward to the Kara-Khitan Khanate, where he became an advisor. In 1210, he took control of the khanate...
with his remaining Naiman troops fled to the Kara-Khitan. Kuchlug was well received there and the Khitan Khan gave him his daughter in marriage. Kuchlug soon began plotting against his new father-in-law, and after executing him and taking his place, he began to persecute Muslims in the Hami Oases. But his action was opposed by local people and he was later defeated by the Mongols under Jebe
Jebe
Chepe Noyan was one of the prominent Noyans of Genghis Khan. His clan was Besud, which belonged to the Taichud tribe, which was at the time of Genghis Khan under Targudai Khiriltug's leadership....
.
Although, the Naiman Khanlig was crushed by the Mongols, they were seen in every parts of Mongol "Empire." Ogedei's great khatun Töregene
Töregene Khatun
Töregene Khatun was the Great Khatun and regent of the Mongol Empire from the death of her husband Ögedei Khan in 1241 until the election of her eldest son Güyük Khan in 1246.-Background:...
might be from this tribe. Hulegu had a Naiman general, Ketbuqa, who died in the battle of Ain Jalut
Battle of Ain Jalut
The Battle of Ain Jalut took place on 3 September 1260 between Mamluks and the Mongols in eastern Galilee, in the Jezreel Valley, not far from Ein Harod....
in 1260.
More than 400,000 of the Kazakh
Kazakhs
The Kazakhs are a Turkic people of the northern parts of Central Asia ....
population are Naimans (see Modern Kazakh tribes
Jüz
A jüz is one of the three main territorial divisions in the Kypchak Plain area that covers much of the contemporary Kazakhstan. Variably, a jüz is believed to be a confederation or alliance of Kazakh nomads...
or Middle Juz
Middle Juz
Middle jüz is one of three main traditional divisions of the Kazakh nation. The other two are Great jüz and Little jüz.Middle jüz consists of six tribes. The tribes, in turn, are subdivided into clans, creating a hierarchical pyramid of affiliations. Some historians claim that Middle Juz have...
). They originate from eastern Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan , officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country in Central Asia and Eastern Europe. Ranked as the ninth largest country in the world, it is also the world's largest landlocked country; its territory of is greater than Western Europe...
. Some Naimans dissimilated with the Kyrgyz and Uzbek
Uzbeks
The Uzbeks are a Turkic ethnic group in Central Asia. They comprise the majority population of Uzbekistan, and large populations can also be found in Afghanistan, Tajikstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Russia, Pakistan, Mongolia and the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of China...
ethnicities and are still found among them. There is a small population of Naimans in Afghanistan
Afghanistan
Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...
. They belong to the Hazara tribe and reside in Shaikh Ali valley. They are Sunni Muslims
Sunni Islam
Sunni Islam is the largest branch of Islam. Sunni Muslims are referred to in Arabic as ʾAhl ūs-Sunnah wa āl-Ǧamāʿah or ʾAhl ūs-Sunnah for short; in English, they are known as Sunni Muslims, Sunnis or Sunnites....
and Shiite Muslims. The clan Naiman is rarely found in Northern 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...
.
Religion
By the time they were conquered by Genghis KhanGenghis Khan
Genghis Khan , born Temujin and occasionally known by his temple name Taizu , was the founder and Great Khan of the Mongol Empire, which became the largest contiguous empire in history after his death....
most of the Naimans were Christians. They remained so after the Mongol conquest and were among the second wave of Christians to enter China with Kublai Khan
Kublai Khan
Kublai Khan , born Kublai and also known by the temple name Shizu , was the fifth Great Khan of the Mongol Empire from 1260 to 1294 and the founder of the Yuan Dynasty in China...
. Meanwhile, the Naimans who settled in Western Khanates of Mongol "Empire" all eventually converted to Islam. There was a tradition that the Naimans and their Christian Kerait relatives were descended from the Biblical Magi
Biblical Magi
The Magi Greek: μάγοι, magoi), also referred to as the Wise Men, Kings, Astrologers, or Kings from the East, were a group of distinguished foreigners who were said to have visited Jesus after his birth, bearing gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh...
. The commander of the Mongol army that invaded Syria in 1259, Kitbuqa
Kitbuqa
Kitbuqa Noyan was a Nestorian Christian and a member of the Naiman Turks, a group that was subservient to the Mongol Empire. He was a lieutenant and confidant of the Mongol Ilkhan Hulagu, assisting him in his conquests in the Middle East...
, was a Naiman: he is recorded to have "loved and honoured the Christians, because he was of the lineage of the Three Kings of Orient who came to Bethlehem to adore the nativity of Our Lord".
See also
Other pre-Genghis Mongolian tribes include- KeraitKeraitThe Kereit tribe was one of the five major tribal confederations in Mongolian plateau in the 12th century, and dominant in the area and, as allies of Genghis Khan, influential in the rise of the Mongol Empire...
- MerkitMerkitThe Mergid was one of the five major tribal confederations in Mongolian plateau in the 12th century.The Mergids inhabited in basins of the Selenge River and lower Orkhon River...
- JadranJadranJadran means "The Adriatic" in South Slavic languages and may refer to:*Jadran , a Montenegrin Navy training ship built in 1931*MV Jadran, a ferry built in 2010 operated by Jadrolinija*Jadran Film, a Croatian film production company...
- Jalair
- OnggiratOnggiratThe Hongirat , also known as Qongirat is a Central Asian tribe, one of the major divisions of the Mongols. Variations on the name include Onggirat, Wangjila , Yongjilie , and Guangjila in Chinese sources and Ongrat or Kungrat in Turkish.The original pastures of the Hongirats were in eastern...
- TayichiudTayichiudThe Tayichiud were one of the three core tribe Khamag Mongol confederation in Mongolia in 12th century. Though Khiyad Borjigids and Tayichiuds were closely related and shared a common ancestry Bodonchar, at times they were arch rivals for the rule of Khamag Mongol...
- Tatar