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The Tuvans (from Russian language тувинцы tuvincy) or Tyvans (from Tuvan language тывалар tyvalar) are a Turkic peoples ethnic group indigenous to Siberia that live in Tuva, Mongolia, and China. They speak the Tuvan language, a Siberian Turkic language. In Mongolia, they are regarded as one of the Uriankhai peoples."Uriyangqad, which is the plural form of Uriyangqan, itself originally a plural of Uriyangqai."
Which quotes from Henry Serruy's "The Mongols in China during the Hung-wu Period", Melanges chinois et bouddhiques, vol 11. pp. 282–283, Brussels 1959. In China, they are considered Mongols, even though Tuvans are Turkic, not Mongolic.Mongush, M. V. "Tuvans of Mongolia and China." International Journal of Central Asian Studies, 1 (1996), 225–243. Talat Tekin, ed. Seoul: Inst. of Asian Culture & Development.
Tuvans have historically been livestock-herding nomads, tending to herds of goats, sheep, Bactrian camel, Reindeer herding, cattle, and yaks for the past thousands of years. (This is, in fact, evident in the Tuvan folk song "Tooruktug Dolgai Tangdym".) They have traditionally lived in covered by felt or chums, layered with birch bark or hide that they relocate seasonally as they move to newer pastures. Traditionally, the Tuvans were divided into nine regions called khoshuun, namely the Tozhu Tuvans, Salchak, Oyunnar, Khemchik, Khaasuut, Shalyk, Nibazy, Daavan and Choodu, and Beezi. The first four were ruled by Uriankhai Mongol princes, while the rest were administered by Borjigin Mongol princes.The Uralic and Altaic Series By Denis Sinor, John R. Krueger, Jüri Kurman, Larry Moses, Robert Arthur Rupen, Vasilij Vasilevič Radlov, Kaare Grłnbech, George Kurman, Joshua A. Fishman, Stephen A. Halkovic, Robert W. Olson, V Diószegi, American Council of Learned Societies, Melvin J. Luthy, Luc Kwanten, Karl Nickul, A. A. Popov, Susan Hesse, Routledge, 1996.
The Xiongnu ruled over the area of Tuva prior to 200 AD. At this time, a people known to the Chinese as Dingling 丁零 inhabited the region. Chinese chroniclers further associated the Dingling with the Tiele, one of whose tribes was named Dubo (都波) and was located in the eastern Sayans.Xin Tangshu vol. 217a "回紇，其先匈奴也，俗多乘高輪車，元魏時亦號高車部，或曰敕勒，訛為鐵勒。" tr: "Uyghur Khaganate, their predecessors were the Xiongnu. Because, customarily, they rode high-wheeled carts. In Northern Wei time, they were also called Gaoju (i.e. High-Cart) tribe. Or called Chile, or mistakenly as Tiele."Weishu Vol 103 Gaoche "高車，蓋古赤狄之餘種也，... 諸夏以為高車丁零。" tr. "Gaoche, probably the remnant stock of the ancient Red Di. ... The various Xia (i.e. Chinese) considered them Gaoche Dingling (i.e. High-Cart Dingling)"Suishu vol. 84 TieleBeishi Vol. 99Cheng, Fanyi. "The Research on the Identification between the Tiele (鐵勒) and the Oğuric tribes" in Archivum Eurasiae Medii Aevi ed. Th. T. Allsen, P. B. Golden, R. K. Kovalev, A. P. Martinez. 19 (2012). Harrassowitz Verlag, Wiesbaden. p. 87 The word tuwa also occurs three times in the Inscription of Hüis Tolgoi. While it is not clear what it means, Dieter Maue suggested that it could be related to the tribal name "Dubo". This name is recognized as being associated with the Tuvan people and is the earliest written record of them. The Xianbei 鮮卑 (descendants of the Donghu 東胡, once conquered by the Xiongnu) attacked and defeated the Xiongnu and they, in turn, were defeated by the Rouran 柔然. From around the end of the 6th century, the Göktürks held dominion over Tuvans ( Doubo 都播), who constituted one of the three Wooden-Horse Turkic tribes,Xin Tangshu vol. 217b txt: "木馬突厥三部落，曰 都播、彌列、哥餓支，" tr. "The three Wooden Horse Tujue tribes, called Dou-bo, Mi-lie, and Ge-e-zhi" up until the 8th century when the Uyghurs took over.
Tuvans were subjects of the Uyghur Khanate during the 8th and 9th centuries. The Uyghurs established several fortifications within Tuva as a means of subduing the population. There are plans being discussed to restore the remains of one of these fortresses, Por-Bazhyn in lake Tere-Khol in the southeast of the country. The memory of Uyghur occupation could still be seen up until the end of the 19th century due to the application of the name Ondar Uyghur for the Ondar Tuvans living near the Khemchik river in the southwest.
which cites from Uyghur dominance was broken by the Yenisei Kirghiz in 840 AD, who came from the upper reaches of the Yenisei.
In 1207, the Oirats prince Quduqa-Beki led Mongols detachments under Jochi to a tributary of the Kaa-Khem river. They encountered the Tuvan Keshdims, Baits, and Teleks. This was the beginning of Mongol suzerainty over the Tuvans. After the collapse of the Naimans, Tuvans moved to modern Mongolia and some Naimans moved to modern Kazakhstan territory.
Tuvans came to be ruled for most of the 17th century by Khalka Mongol leader Sholoi Ubashi Altan-Khan. It was at this time in 1615 that the first Russians, Vasily Tyumenets and Ivan Petrov, visited Tuva as emissaries to the Altan-Khan.
which cites from an English translation of Большая Советская Энциклопедия (The Great Soviet Encyclopedia), vol. 43, (1956), by William H. Dougherty. Russian documents from this time record information about different groups that contributed to the composition of modern Tuvans. Tyumenets and Petrov describe the Maads, who became Russian subjects in 1609, living in the Bii-Khem basin, 14 days' ride from Tomsk. The Maads travelled to the area of the Khemchik and Ulug-Khem next to the lands of the Altan-Khan near the lake Uvs Nuur. The ambassadors also described the Sayan raising reindeer with the Tochi (Todzhi) from the Sayan Mountains to the Altai Mountains mountain ranges. The descendants of the Ak-Sayan and Kara-Sayan live mostly around Tere-Khol rayon.
The Altan-Khan's control over the area lessened over time due to constant warring between the Oirat and the Khalka of Jasaghtu Khan aimag. The Tuvans then became part of the Dzungars Empire ruled by the Oirats. The Dzungars ruled over all of the Sayano-Altay Plateau until 1755. It was during this time of Dzungarian rule that many tribes and clans broke up, moved around, and intermingled. Groups of Altayan Telengits settled in western Tuva on the Khemchik and Barlyk rivers and in the region of Bai-Taiga. Some Todzhans, Sayans, and Myangad ended up in the Altay. The Siberians (Xianbei) established Manchu-Qing Dynasty migrated other Tuvans north across the Sayan range and they became known as Khakas people (Dag-Kakpyn, Sug-Kakpyn, Ak-Chystar, Kara-Chystar). The languages of the Beltirs and Tuvans still contain common words not found in the language of the other Khakas (Kachins or Sagays).
which cites from Other Russian documents mention Yeniseian Kyrgyz (Saryglar and Kyrgyz), Orchaks (Oorzhaks) and Kuchugets (Kuzhugets) moving into Tuva from the north.
Genetic research revealed that Tuvans are most closely related to other Turkic peoples, specifically the Altaians and the Khakas. It was found that Tuvans display differences to Mongolic peoples and are closer related to Siberian Turkic groups. Tuvans seem to be the direct descendants of the Indigenous Southern Siberian peoples.
According to Ilya Zakharov of Moscow's Vavilov Institute of General Genetics, genetic evidence suggests that the Tuvan people are among the close genetic relatives to the indigenous peoples of the Americas in Eurasia.
In the context of the Russian invasion of Ukraine since 2022, the Tuvans have been reported as one of Russia's ethnic minority groups suffering from a disproportionally large casualty rate among Russian forces.
A people similar by language to Tuvans live in Okinsky District of Buryatia (autonym: Soyots (сойоты), sometimes referred to as Oka Tuvans).
A documentary called Genghis Blues was made in 1999 about an American blues/jazz musician, Paul Pena, who taught himself overtone singing and traveled to Tuva to compete in a throat-singing competition. This is where he also met the famous Khoomeizhi Kongar-ol Ondar one of the masters of Khoomei.
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