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The Khanty (), also known in older literature as Ostyaks (), are a Ugric Indigenous people, living in Khanty–Mansi Autonomous Okrug, a region historically known as "Yugra" in Russia, together with the Mansi people. In the autonomous okrug, the Khanty language and are given co-official status with Russian language. In the 2021 Census, 31,467 persons identified themselves as Khanty. Of those, 30,242 were resident in Tyumen Oblast, of whom 19,568 were living in Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug and 9,985—in Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug. 495 were residents of neighbouring Tomsk Oblast, and 109 lived in Sverdlovsk Oblast.
Khanty probably appear in Russian records under the name Yugra (ca. 11th century), when they had contact with Novgorodian hunters and merchants. The name of Yugra derives from Komi-Zyrian word jögra ('Khanty'). The older Russian name Ostyak is from Khanty as-kho 'person from the Ob ( as) River,' with - yak after other ethnic terms like Permyak.M. Vasmer, Etimologicheskii slovar russkogo yazyka, Vol. III (Moscow, 1971), p. 167.
Some Khanty princedoms were partially included in the Siberia Khanate from the 1440s–1570s.
In the 11th century, Yugra was actually a term for numerous tribes, each having its own centre and its own chief. Every tribe had two exogamy phratry, termed mon't and por, and all members were considered to be blood relatives. This structure was later replaced with , where each clan leader ( knyazets) negotiated with the Russian realm. They also participated in Russian campaigns, and received the right to collect yasaq (tribute) from two Khanty volosts (districts) respectively. When this structure was no longer needed, Russia deprived them of their privileges.
After the Russian conquest of Siberia, Russians attempted to Christianize the Khanty. Russian missionaries and officials instructed that idols be destroyed, mass baptisms be performed, and harsh punishment for those that disobeyed the church. Russian officials also took Khanty children as hostages and converted them to Christianity. Conversions were generally superficial in nature and motivated by economic incentives. As a consequence, the Khanty continued to incorporate native practices and beliefs into their spirituality.
During the USSR period the Khanty were one of the few indigenous minorities of Siberia to be granted an autonomy in the form of an okrug (autonomous district). The establishment of autonomy has played a considerable role in consolidation of the ethnos (the Western Khants called their eastern neighbours Kantõk the). However, in the 1930s concerted efforts were made by the Soviet state to collectivise them. The initial stages of this meant the execution of tribal chiefs, who were labelled "", followed by the execution of . The abduction by the state of the children who were sent to Russian-speaking boarding schools provoked a national revolt in 1933 called the Kazym rebellion.
After the end of the Joseph Stalin period this process was relaxed and efforts were intensified in the 1980s and 1990s to protect their common territory from industrial expansion of various ministries and agencies. The autonomy has also played a major role in preserving the traditional culture and language.
During the winter, the Khanty lived in stationary huts made out of dirt and branches at permanent villages. During the spring, the Khanty moved towards hunting and fishing grounds, where they constructed temporary rectangular-shaped shelters out of birch-bark and poles.
Weapons utilized by the Khanty were advanced for the period and included longbows, arrows, spears, and the use of iron helmets and chain mail.
The Khanty's written literature had its beginnings in the first half of the 20th century. The first notable Khanty writer was , best known for his novel Sorneng tow.
The Khanty language and people are studied through .
The most common mtDNA haplogroup among the Khantys is Haplogroup U (28.3 %). 16.5 percent of Khanty women belong to its subgroup U4, 5.7 percent to subgroup U7, 5.4 percent to subgroup U5, and the subclades U2 and U1 are found with frequencies of less than one percent. Other maternal haplogroups include H (17.3 %), J (13.1 %), D (11.6 %) and C (10.4 %).
An estimated 61 percent of the Khanty's autosomal DNA is Nganasan people-like Siberian and the rest is West Eurasian.
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