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The Keraites (also Kerait, Kereit, Khereid, Kazakh language: керейт; Kyrgyz language: керей; Mongolian Script: , Хэрэйд; Nogai language: Кереит; Uzbek language: Kerait; Chinese: 克烈, Persian language: کرایت) were one of the five dominant Turco-Mongol tribal confederations () in the Altai-Sayan region during the 12th century. They had converted to the Church of the East (Nestorianism) 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 River and Kherlen River 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.
One common theory sees the name as a cognate with the Mongolian хар ( 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.
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 know.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 peoples.Ratchnevsky 1975. Baumer 2016.Grousset 1939.Man 2004.Man 2014.Saunders 1971.Czaplicka 1918.Schwarz 2000.Runciman 1987.Halbertsma 2008.Gilman, Klimkeit 2013.HUNTER 1989.Taube 1989.Pelliot 1931.Irinchin 1979.Zhou 1979.Baum 2003.Soucek 2000.Poucha 1956.Favereau 2021.Kychanov 1997.Kadyrbaev 1990.Mukanov 1974.Tynyshpaev 1925.Viktorova 1960.Roux 1984.Serdobov 1971. Scholars like Erica C. D. HunterHunter, E.C.D. (1989–91). The Conversion of the Kerait to Christianity in a.d. 1007.Vol.22. ZAS., Paul RatchnevskyRatchnevsky, 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", Christoph BaumerBaumer, 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 QingshuZhou, Qingshu (1979). The Ethnic Origin of the Önggüd. Hohhot: China Association of Mongolian History, René GroussetGrousset, René (1939). The Empire of the Steppes: A History of Central Asia, Ian Gilman, Yekemingghadai IrinchinIrinchin, Yekemingghadai (1979). On the Origins of the Ethnic Groups of Northern China and the Mongols. Journal of Inner Mongolian University., Hans-Joachim Klimkeit, John ManMan, 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 SaundersSaunders, John Joseph (1971). The History of the Mongol Conquests., Tu JiTu, Ji (1934). Mengwu'er shiji., Maria CzaplickaCzaplicka, 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 SchwarzSchwarz, 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 TaubeTaube, Manfred (1989). Geheime Geschichte der Mongolen. Munich, Paul Pelliot, Wilhelm BaumBaum, 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 KychanovKychanov, Yevgeny. Кочевые государства от гуннов до маньчжуров. — М.: Изд. фирма «Восточная литература» РАН, 1997. — З20 с., Alexander KadyrbaevKadyrbaev. Тюрки и иранцы в Китае и Центральной Азии XIII—XIV вв. — Алма-Ата: Гылым, 1990, Marat MukanovMukanov. Этнический состав и расселение казахов Среднего Жуза. — Алма-Ата: Наука, 1974. — 200 с., Mukhamedzhan TynyshpaevTynyshpaev 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 peoples.
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 people, Uyghurs, Naimans, Ongud, 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.Amanzholov 1959.Mukanov 1974. 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 Москва. 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 Москва. 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 Toghrul 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 1959.
Amanzholov and Mukanov wrote Abul-Ghazi classified the Keraites as Turkic people and distinguishes them from the Mongols.Amanzholov 1959.Mukanov 1974.
Ushnitsky claims that most researchers, consider the Keraites to be of Mongolic origin. Mongolian origin is supported by Vasily Bartold,Bartold .Vasily Сочинения. Т. II, часть 1. Общие работы по истории Средней Азии. Работы по истории Кавказа и Восточной Европы. М., 1963 p. 505. Lev Gumilev, Ilya Pavlovich Petrushevsky,Рашид-ад-дин. Сборник летописей. Т.I, кн.1. М., Л., 1952 Москва. 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." Gennady Avlyaev, Boris Zolkhoev,Zolkhoev 2014. Vadim Trepavlov, Shoqan Walikhanov,Shoqan Walikhanov. Избранные произведения. М.: Наука, 1987. p. 252. In Russian: "... найманы, джалаиры и кереиты были народы монгольские, по свидетельству восточных историков, и имели еще до Чингиса своих ханов." Sergei Klyashtorny, Tursun Sultanov,Кляшторный С. Г., Султанов Т. И. Государства и народы Евразийских степей. СПб.: Петербургское Востоковедение. 2009. p. 211. In Russian: "Более того, татары, основной йурт которых в ХII в. находился около оз. Буир-Нур в Восточной Монголии, считались врагами собственно монгольских племен (меркиты, кереиты, кияты и т. д.)." Tao Zongyi, Aleksei Rakushin,Rakushin, Aleksei Монголы на Волге (обретение новой родины: от завоевания к ассимиляции. Саратов. 2016. / отв. ред. Л. Ф. Недашковский p. 21. In Russian: "Окончательное покорение Темучином этого племени, видимо, произошло только в 1205 г., после того как он разбил последнюю крупную коалицию враждебных монгольских племен, состоявшую из найманов, меркитов, кереитов, ойратов, дорбенов, татар, катаканов, салджиутов, и был «возведен на императорский престол и наречен Чингизхан»." Urgunge Onon, Urgunge Onon. The Secret History of the Mongols. The Life and Times of Chinggis Khan. London and New York. 2001. p. 10. "The people of the felt walled tents were the Tatars, the Onggirads, the Kereyids, the Naimans, the Tayichi’uds, and the Merkids. All these groups spoke a language akin to that of the Mongols, but they were only included in the category of Mongols after they had been conquered by, or pledged alliance to, the Mongol tribe." Boris VladimirtsovBoris Vladimirtsov (1989). 9785020166158, Nauka, Main Editorial Office of Oriental Literature. ISBN 9785020166158 and others. Vladimirtsov suggested that the Mongolian script first arose among the Kerait and Naimans tribes before the era of Genghis Khan.Boris Vladimirtsov (1989). 9785020166158, Nauka, Main Editorial Office of Oriental Literature. ISBN 9785020166158 Russian researcher Avlyaev believes that the Kerait tribal confederation included, in addition to the Mongolic component represented by the Keraits themselves, Turkic-Uyghur and Samoyedic elements. In the work of Tao Zongyi, a historian of the late Yuan and early Ming dynasties, the Keraites are listed among the '72 Mongol peoples.' According to Zolkhoev, this clear designation as a subgroup of the Mongols in the Yuan period, consistent with Rashid al-Din’s "Compendium of Chronicles" where they are described as a 'clan of the Mongols,' strongly suggests that the Kerait tribe belonged to the Mongolic-speaking substratum.Zolkhoev 2014.
At the same time, Ushnitsky himself described the Keraites as a mysterious tribe whose ethnic affiliation is unclear and is unlikely ever to be definitively established. According to him, most likely, they consisted of groups of different origin, united by the adoption of Nestorian Christianity as a state religion.Ushnitsky 2011. There are also such hypotheses regarding the Keraites: Yevgeny Kychanov considered them to be part of the Yenisei KyrgyzUshnitsky 2011., while Saishiyal believed that they had a origin.Saishiyal. Сказание о Чингисхане / пер. со старомонгольского Норпола Очиров. — Улан-Удэ: ОАО «Республиканская типография», 2006. p. 90.Ushnitsky 2011.
They are first noted in Syriac Church records which mention them being absorbed into the Church of the East around 1000 by Metropolitan Abdisho of the Merv ecclesiastical province.
The people were divided into a "central" faction and an "outer" faction. The central faction served as the khan's army and was composed of warriors from many different tribes with no loyalties to anyone but the Khan. This made the central faction more of a quasi-feudal state than a genuine tribe. The "outer" faction was composed of tribes that pledged obedience to the khan, but lived on their own tribal pastures and functioned semi-autonomously. The "capital" of the Keraite khanate was a place called Orta Balagasun, which was probably located in an old Uyghurs or Khitan people fortress.
Markus Buyruk Khan was a Keraite leader who also led the Zubu confederacy. In 1100, he was killed by the Liao. Kurchakus Buyruk Khan was a son and successor of Bayruk Markus, among whose wives was Toreqaimish Khatun, daughter of Korchi Buiruk Khan of the Naimans. Kurchakus' younger brother was Gur Khan. Kurchakus Buyruk Khan had many sons. Notable sons included Toghrul, Yula-Mangus, Tai-Timur, and Bukha-Timur. In union with the Khitan people, they became vassals of the Kara-Khitai state.
After Kurchakus Buyruk Khan died, Ilma's Tatar servant Eljidai became the de facto regent. This upset Toghrul who had his younger brothers killed and then claimed the throne as Toghrul khan () who was the son of Kurchakus by Ilma Khatun, reigned from the 1160s to 1203. His palace was located at present-day Ulan Bator and he became Adelphopoiesis (anda) to Yesugei. Genghis Khan called him khan etseg ('khan father'). Yesugei, having disposed of all Tughrul's sons, was now the only one in line to inherit the title khan.
The Tatars rebelled against the Jin dynasty in 1195. The Jin commander sent an emissary to Timujin. A fight with the Tatars broke out and the Mongol alliance defeated them. In 1196, the Jin Dynasty awarded Toghrul the title of "Wang" (king). After this, Toghrul was recorded under the title "Wang Khan" (). When Temüjin, later Genghis Khan, attacked Jamukha for the title of Khan, Toghrul, fearing Temüjin's growing power, plotted with Jamukha to have him assassinated.
In 1203, Temüjin defeated the Keraites, who were distracted by the collapse of their coalition. Toghrul was killed by Naiman soldiers who failed to recognize him.
Rinchin protected Christians when Ghazan began to persecute them but he was executed by Abu Sa'id Bahadur Khan when fighting against his custodian, Chupan of the Taichiud in 1319.
Keraites arrived in Europe with the Mongol invasion led by Batu Khan and Mongke Khan. Kaidu's troops in the 1270s were likely mostly composed of Keraites and Naimans.Tynyshbaev (1925)
From the 1380s onward, Nestorian Christianity in Mongolia declined and vanished, on the one hand due to the Islamization under Timur and on the other due to the Ming dynasty conquest of Karakorum. The remnants of the Keraits by late 14th century lived along the Irtysh River.Tynyshbaev (1925) These remnants were finally dispersed in the 1420s in the Mongol-Oirat wars fought by Uwais Khan.Tynyshbaev (1925)
Hamadani stated that the Keraites were Christians. William of Rubruck, who encountered many Nestorians during his stay at Mongke Khan's court and at Karakorum in 1254–1255, notes that Nestorianism in Mongolia was tainted by shamanism and Manicheism and very confused in terms of liturgy, not following the usual norms of Christian churches elsewhere in the world. He attributes this to the lack of teachers of the faith, power struggles among the clergy and a willingness to make doctrinal concessions to win the favour of the Khans. Contact with the Catholic Church was lost after the Islamization under Timur (), who effectively destroyed the Church of the East. The Church in Karakorum was destroyed by the invading Ming dynasty army in 1380.
The legend of Prester John, otherwise set in India or Ethiopia, was also brought in connection with the Eastern Christian rulers of the Keraites. In some versions of the legend, Prester John was explicitly identified with Toghril, but Mongolian sources say nothing about his religion.
According to these accounts, shortly before 1007, the Keraite Khan lost his way during a snowstorm while hunting in the high mountains of his land. When he had abandoned all hope, a saint, Sergius of Samarkand, appeared in a vision and said, "If you will believe in Christ, I will lead you lest you perish." The king promised to become Christian, and the saint told him to close his eyes and he found himself back home (Bar Hebraeus' version says the saint led him to the open valley where his home was). When he met Christian merchants, he remembered the vision and asked them about the Christian religion, prayer and the book of canon laws. They taught him the Lord's Prayer, Te Deum, and the Trisagion in Syriac. At their suggestion, he sent a message to Abdisho, the Metropolitan of Merv, for priests and deacons to baptize him and his tribe. Abdisho sent a letter to Yohannan V, Patriarch of the Church of the East in Baghdad. Abdisho informed Yohannan V that the Khan asked him about fasting and whether they could be exempted from the usual Christian way of fasting since their diet was mainly meat and milk.
Abdisho also related that the Khan had already "set up a pavilion to take the place of an altar, in which was a cross and a Gospel, and named it after Mar Sergius, and he tethered a mare there and he takes her milk and lays it on the Gospel and the cross, and recites over it the prayers which he has learned, and makes the sign of the cross over it, and he and his people after him take a draft from it." Yohannan replied to Abdisho telling him one priest and one deacon was to be sent with altar paraments to baptize the king and his people. Yohannan also approved the exemption of the Keraites from strict church law, stating that while they had to abstain from meat during the annual Lent like other Christians, they could still drink milk during that period, although they should switch from "sour milk" (kumiss) to "sweet milk" (normal milk) to remember the suffering of Christ during the Lenten fast. Yohannan also told Abdisho to endeavor to find wheat and wine for them, so they can celebrate the Eucharist. As a result of the mission that followed, the king and 200,000 of his people were baptized (both Bar Hebraeus and Mari ibn Suleiman give the same number).Moffett, A History of Christianity in Asia pp. 400-401.
Conversion account
An account of the conversion of this people is given in the 12th-century
Book of the Tower ( Kitab al-Majdal) by Mari ibn Suleiman, and also by 13th-century Syriac Orthodox historian Bar Hebraeus where he names them with the Syriac word ܟܹܪܝܼܬ "Keraith"). Bar Hebraeus, Chronicon ecclesiasticum (ed. and tr. J.B. Abbeloos and T.J. Lamy, vol. 3, coll. 279-81).
See Hunter (1991).Bar Hebraeus Chron. Syr. (1286) 204/184
Legacy
After the final dispersal of the remaining Keraites settling along the Irtysh River by the Four Oirat in the early 15th century, they disappear as an identifiable group. There are various hypotheses as to which groups may partially have been derived from them during the 16th or 17th century.
According to Tynyshbaev (1925), their further fate was closely linked to that of the
Argyn.
"The further fate of our Kerei is closely linked with the fate of Argyn, although they did not play such a large role as the Argyn. The Kerei or participated in the campaign of Barak (1420) in Tashkent and Khujand. In 1723 the Kerei (as well as the Argyns) suffered relatively less than other peoples. In the wars of Muhammad Shaybani, there is mention of a tribe called Sakhiot, obviously the Kerei who had remained among the Uzbeks of Ferghana, Samarkand, Bukhara and Khiva." Tynyshbaev (1925)
See also
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