The Keraites (also Kerait, Kereit, Khereid, Kazakh: керейт; Kyrgyz: керей; Mongolian: , Хэрэйд; Nogai: Кереит; Uzbek: Kerait; Chinese: 克烈, Persian: کرایت) were one of the five dominant Turco-Mongol tribal confederations (khanates) in the Altai-Sayan region during the 12th century. They had converted to the Church of the East in the early 11th century and are one of the possible sources of the European Prester John legend.
Their original territory was expansive, corresponding to much of what is now Mongolia. Vasily Bartold (1913) located them along the upper Onon and Kherlen rivers and along the Tuul river.V.V. Bartold in the article on Genghis Khan in the 1st edition of the Encyclopedia of Islam (1913); see Dunlop (1944:277) They were defeated by Genghis Khan in 1203 and became influential in the rise of the Mongol Empire, and were gradually absorbed into the succeeding Mongol khanates during the 13th century.
Name In English, the name is primarily adopted as Keraites, alternatively Kerait, or Kereyit, in some earlier texts also as Karait or Karaites."History of the voyages and discoveries made in the north translated from the German of Johann Reinhold Forster and elucidated by several new and original maps" p.141-142"A General History And Collection of Voyages And Travels, Arranged In Systematic Order: Forming A Complete History of The Origin And Progress of Navigation, Discovery, And Commerce By Sea And Land, From The Earliest ages to the present time." Robert Kerr (writer), section VIII.2.
One common theory sees the name as a cognate with the Mongolian (khar) and Turkic qarā for "black, swarthy". There have been various other Mongol and Turkic tribes with names involving the term, which are often conflated."EAS 107, Владимирцов 324, ОСНЯ 1, 338, АПиПЯЯ 54–55, 73, 103–104, 274. Despite TMN 3, 427, Щербак 1997, 134." Tower of Babel Mongolian etymology database. According to the early 14th-century work Jami' al-tawarikh by Rashid-al-Din Hamadani,:
Other researchers also suggested that the Mongolian name Khereid may be an ancient totem name derived from the root Kheree (хэрээ) for "raven".Хойт С.К. Кереиты в этногенезе народов Евразии: историография проблемы. Элиста, 2008. 82 с.
History
Origins
The Keraites first entered history as the ruling faction of the Zubu, a large confederacy of tribes that dominated Mongolia during the 11th and 12th centuries and often fought with the Liao dynasty of north China, which controlled much of Mongolia at the time.
The names and titles of early Keraite leaders suggest that they were speakers of Turkic languages, and Togrul is a Turkic rather than a Mongol name. Toghrul's father and grandfather bore the Turkic title buiruk ('commander'); the title of the Keraite princess, Dokuz-khatun, is Turkic, as is the title 'Yellow Khan' under which one Keraite leader is known.R. Grousset, The Empire of the Steppes, New Brunswick, New Jersey, Rutgers University Press, 1970, p191.Ratchnevsky, Paul (1975). Genghis Khan: His Life and Legacy. "Tu Ji's arguments may be open to refutation, but he is probably Correct in attributing a Turkic origin to the Keraits. The names and titles of the Kerait rulers are Turkic. To'oril is the Mongolized form of the Turkic Toghrul. Toghrul's father and grandfather bore the Turkic title buiruk ('commander'); the title of the Kerait princess, Dokuz-khatun, is Turkic, as is the title 'Yellow Khan' under which one Kerait leader is known" Building on this discussion of names and titles, Russian researcher Zolkhoev noted that Mongols not infrequently bore names of Turkic origin, but he stressed that such linguistic evidence alone is insufficient to establish a Turkic origin for the Keraites.Zolkhoev 2014. In contrast Amanzholov wrote names of the Mongols before the 13th century were not Turkic.Amanzholov 1959.
Zolkhoev claims the majority of scholars and researchers classify the Keraites as a Turkic people. A number of European and Asian scholars classified them as a Turkic people. Scholars like Erica C. D. Hunter,Hunter, E.C.D. (1989–91). The Conversion of the Kerait to Christianity in a.d. 1007.Vol.22. ZAS. Paul Ratchnevsky, Christoph Baumer,Baumer, Christoph (2016). "The History of Central Asia. The Keraite elite were of Turkic origin, but by the twelfth century they were bilingual or spoke mostly Mongolian. Zhou Qingshu,Zhou, Qingshu (1979). The Ethnic Origin of the Önggüd. Hohhot: China Association of Mongolian History René Grousset,Grousset, René (1939). The Empire of the Steppes: A History of Central Asia Ian Gilman, Yekemingghadai Irinchin,Irinchin, Yekemingghadai (1979). On the Origins of the Ethnic Groups of Northern China and the Mongols. Journal of Inner Mongolian University. Hans-Joachim Klimkeit, John Man,Man, John (2004). Genghis Khan: Life, Death, and Resurrection.Man, John (2014). The Mongol Empire: Genghis Khan, His Heirs and the Founding of Modern China. John Saunders,Saunders, John Joseph (1971). The History of the Mongol Conquests. Tu Ji,Tu, Ji (1934). Mengwu'er shiji. Maria Czaplicka,Czaplicka, Maria (1918). The Turks of Central Asia in History and at the Present Day: An Ethnological Inquiry Into the Pan-Turanian Problem, and Bibliographical Material Relating to the Early Turks and the Present Turks of Central Asia. Klaus Schwarz,Schwarz, Klaus (2000). Philologiae Et Historiae Turcicae Fundamenta: T. primus. History of the Turkic peoples in the pre-islamic period. The non-muslim Turks under mongol dominion in the period from 1200 to the 1350 are the fallowing : the Uighur, Keraite, Naiman, Öngüt, Qirqiz, ... Steven Runciman, Tjalling Halbertsma, Manfred Taube,Taube, Manfred (1989). Geheime Geschichte der Mongolen. Munich Paul Pelliot, Wilhelm Baum,Baum, Winkler, Wilhelm, Dietmar W (2003). The Church of the East: A Concise History. Routledge. Two hundred thousand Turkish Keraits were baptized, and the bishop requested that the catholicos send priests and deacons Svat Soucek, Pavel Poucha, Marie Favereau, Yevgeny Kychanov,Kychanov, Yevgeny. Кочевые государства от гуннов до маньчжуров. — М.: Изд. фирма «Восточная литература» РАН, 1997. — З20 с. Alexander Kadyrbaev,Kadyrbaev. Тюрки и иранцы в Китае и Центральной Азии XIII—XIV вв. — Алма-Ата: Гылым, 1990 Marat Mukanov,Mukanov. Этнический состав и расселение казахов Среднего Жуза. — Алма-Ата: Наука, 1974. — 200 с. Mukhamedzhan Tynyshpaev,Tynyshpaev М. Материалы к истории киргиз-казахского народа. — Ташкент, 1925. — С. 12—14 Lidija Viktorova, Jean-Paul Roux, Nikolai Serdobov, Nikolai Aristov, Muratkhan Kani, Rudolf Kaschewsky, Türükoğlu, Gabzhalilov, Talas Omarbekov, Sarsen Amanzholov Alkey MargulanMargulan 1961. classified them as Turkic people.
Rashid al-Din Hamadani write in his Jami' al-tawarikh:
The Kerait are mentioned under the chapter title "The Turkic tribes that have also had separate monarchs and leaders but do not have a close relationship to the tribes mentioned in the previous division or to the mongols yet are close to them in physiognomy and language". Irinchin who favored Turkic origin for Keraite note, Rashid ad-Din in his classification distinguishes them from the Mongol-speaking tribes, grouping them together with tribes of predominantly Turkic origin, with the exception of only the Tanguts.Rashid al-Din Hamadani grouping Keraites together with: Bekrin, Karluks, Kipchaks, Kyrgyz, Uyghur, Naiman, Öngüt, Tangut Amanzholov and Mukanov wrote Rashid ad-Din classifies the Keraits among the Turks, and in his classification distinguishes them from the Mongols and listed them Next to the Turkic tribes. In contrast Semenov and Petrushevsky note, Rashid al-Din uses the term “Turks” broadly for the nomadic tribes of Central Asia of very diverse origins, including peoples speaking not only Turkic but also Mongolic, Tangut, and Tungusic languages. Thus, for him “Turks” is not an ethno-linguistic label so much as a socio-cultural one – “nomads.”Рашид-ад-дин. Сборник летописей. Т.I, кн.1. М., Л., 1952 Moscow. p. 29, 92–93. In Russian: "Тюрками Рашид-ад-дин называет кочевые племена Центральной Азии самого различного происхождения, говорившие не только на тюркских языках, но и на языках монгольском, тангутском и тунгусо-манчжурских. Таким образом, «тюрки» у нашего историка – не этнический и лингвистический, а социально-бытовой термин: «кочевники»." Petrushevsky further argues that it can be stated with a high degree of probability that a number of polities – Tatars, Kerait, Naiman, Jalayir, Suldus, Barlas, Merkit, and Oirat – were Mongolic-speaking rather than Turkic-speaking in the 13th century.Рашид-ад-дин. Сборник летописей. Т.I, кн.1. М., Л., 1952 Moscow. p. 29, 92–93. In Russian: "Можно утверждать, с большой долей вероятности, относительно ряда племен – татар, кераитов, найманов, джалаиров, сулдузов, барласов, меркитов, ойратов, – что в XIII в. они были монголоязычны, а не тюркоязычны." In contrast Nikolai Aristov wrote from the fall of the Uyghur Khaganate to the time of Genghis Khan, Mongolia, with the exception of its extreme northeastern part, where the Mongols appeared, continued to be occupied by the Turks, he further classified the Keraite, Naiman and Öngüt as Turkic Tribes.Aristov 1896.
In the "Yuan chao mi shi" there is an indication of their kinship with the Mongols.Ushnitsky 2011. But this kinship in "Yuan chao mi shi" is not between Keraites and Mongols as peoples, It only talks about relationships between Keraite ruler Wang khan and Mongol ruler Yesugei.After eliminating his brothers, Wang khan was overthrown by his own uncle and Yesügei helped him to defeat his uncle. They were blood brothers.
Amanzholov and Mukanov wrote Abul-Ghazi classified the Keraites as Turkic people and distinguishes them from the Mongols.