I .
L
LD. 1199
MANUAL ON THE
TURANIANS
AND
PAN-TURANIANISM
Compiled by the Geographical Section of the Naval Intelligence
Division, Naval Staff, Admiralty
LONDON:
PUBLISHED BY HIS MAJESTY'S STATIONERY OFFICE.
,To be purchased through any Bookseller or directly from
H.M. STATIONERY OFFICE at the following addresses :
Imperial House, Kingsway, London, W.C. 2, and
28 Abingdon Street, London, S.W. 1 ;
37 Peter Street, Manchester ;
1 St. Andrew's Crescent, Cardiff ;
23 Forth Street, Edinburgh ;
or from E. PONSONBY, Ltd., 116 Grafton Street, Dublin.
Price 7s, 6d. net
Printed under the authority of
His Majesty's Stationery Office
By Frederick Hall at the University Press, Oxford.
j]sn
1: - /
NOTE
The present Manual has been written with a view
to supplying the information which is essential to a
thorough understanding of the character and aims of
^ Pan-Turanianism '.
The work is divided into six chapters. The first,
after stating the source and meaning of the term
' Turanian % furnishes a general survey of the Turanian
race, setting forth its origin, migrations, present dis-
tribution, numbers, characteristics, language, religion,
and civilization.
The following chapters describe the five main branches
of the Turanian people together with the subdivisions
of each branch. Each chapter begins with a general
characterization of the branch with which it deals.
Then comes a detailed account of the tribes forming
divisions of the main branch. Each is uniformly de-
scribed with regard to its habitat, name, number, mode
of life, characteristics, language, literature, religion, and
history. This arrangement is intended to facilitate the
comparison of the numerous tribes described in the
Manual. Each section of a chapter concludes with a
bibliographical note, while the many numbered notes
493784
6 NOTE
relating to points of detail are relegated to the end of
the chapter itself. The subject-matter is as a rule
presented in such a way as to leave the reader to draw
his own conclusions. But sometimes, when occasion
offers, as in the comparison of the Turks and Hungarians
(pp. 77-8), observations bearing on Pan-Turanianism are
made. Otherwise some general conclusions that may
be drawn from the data supplied in this volume are
reserved for the end of the last chapter. The accom-
panying map presents the area occupied by Turanian
populations in five colours corresponding to the five
main branches, while the subdivisions are indicated by
coloured names only and without boundaries^ which in
all cases are somewhat indefinite. The ethnographical,
in contrast with the political, frontiers are only approxi-
mate as indicated by the edges of the five colours. Thus
within the confines of the yellow Mongolian area in the
south-west some Tibetan, and in the extreme east some
Chinese, elements are scattered.
CONTENTS
Note
Chapter I. Introduction ....
t/ ' Turania ' and ' Turanian ' : meaning and history of the
terms ......
'^ Origin of the term ' Turanian '
General distribution of the Turanians
Their common characteristics .
Turanian linguistic unity
Five main branches of the Turanian family
The successive migrations of the Turanians
Total Turanian population
Physical characteristics of the Turanians .
Original religion of the Turanians .
Turanian civilization ....
Notes
Chapter II. The Finno-Ugrian Division .
Finno-Ugrian characteristics and civilization
History of the Finno-Ugrians
A. The Finns
i. Western or Baltic Finns
a. The Karelians .
b. Other Western Finns
1. Vepsas .
2. Votes .
3. Esthonians .
4. Livonians
c. The Lapps
ii. Eastern Finns
a. Permyaks
h, Zirians
c. Votyaks .
d. The Volga group
1. Mordvins
2. Cheremisses .
3. Chuvash es .
PAGE
5
11
1^
14
14
15
15
16
16
17
17
18
20
21
24
25
26
28
30
34
37
37
37
37
38
39
43
44
45
46
47
4S
49
50
CONTENTS
B
The Ugrians .
a. Ugrian Ostyak^
h. Voguls
c. Hungarians or Magyars
a. Hungarians and Turks
Notes . . . .
Chapter III. The Samoyed Division .
a. Yuraks .....
h. Tavghis
c. Ostyak Samoyed s
d. Sub-tribes of the Southern Samoyed s
1. Soyotes or Soyones
2. Karagasses .
8. Motars
4. Kamassins . . .
5. Koibals ....
6. Beltirs .....
Notes
Chapter IV. The Tunqus Division
A. The northern or Siberian group and its tribes
B. The southern or Manchurian group
Notes .....
Chapter V. The Mongol Division
Its three branches .
i. Eastern Mongols
ii. Buryats
iii. Kalmuks
Notes
j Chapter VI. The Turkish Division
Turks and Mongols .
Total number of Turks
Meaning of the name ' Turk ' .
The Turkish language and writing
Ethnic affinities and types
Turkish religion
Turkish character and civilization
Migrations of the Turks .
CONTENTS
9
PAGE
History of the Turks .128
Five main groups of Tui4cs
131
i. Siberian Turks
. 132
«, The Eastern branch : Yakuts .
132
h. The Central or Altaian branch .
. 135
Its tribes : .....
. 141
1. Altaians .....
. 141
2. Black Forest Tatars
. 144
3. Kumandins .....
. 145
4. Lebed Tatars . . . ,
. 145
5. Shors .
146
6. Teleuts
. 146
7. Sagais
. 147
8. Kachins
147
9.- Kyzyls ......
. 1^
10. Tatars of the Chulim . .
148
c. The Western branch
. 148
Its tribes : .....
148
1. Baraba Tatars ....
148
2. Tara Tatars
148
3. Tobol Tatars ....
149
4. Tyumen Tatars ....
149
ii. Central Asian Turks .
149
a. The Eastern branch (Chinese Turkestan)
149
a. Taranchis
159
h. The Western branch ....
160
1. Kazak-Kirghiz . . . "
161
2. Kara-Kirghiz ....
168
3. Kara-Kalpaks ...
170
4. Turkmens . . . .
171
5. Sarts
174
6. Kipchaks . . . . .
175
7. Kuramas ......
176
8. Uzbegs . . . . . ...
176
iii. Volga Turks
181
1. Kazan Turks.
181
2. Bashkirs .....
185
3. Astrakhan Turks and Kundurs
189
4. Chuvashes ......
191
5. Meshchers ......
193
6, Tepters
• .
193
10 CONTENTS
PAGE
iv. Black Sea Turks 194
a. Nogaians . . . * . , . . . 194
h. Caucasian Turks . . . . . . .197
1. Kumuks .197
2. Karachais . . . . . . . .199
Total number of Caucasian Turks .... 200
c. Crimean Turks ....... 201
V. Western Turks 204
a. Persian or Iranian Turks . . . . . . 204
h. Ottoman or Osmanli Turks ..... 212
Conclusions . . . . . . . . . 222
Notes .......... 223
Appendix A. — A German's Two Years' Journey . . . 229
„ B. — The Disturbances in Semirechie and Confisca-
tion of Land in Turkestan .... 229
Index 236
Map of Eurasia showing the distribution of Turanian Peoples .
CHAPTEK I
^ ^ INTRODUCTION
DufeiNG the last few years there has taken place in Turkey
the awakening of a national consciousness aiming at the
purification of the Turkish language by the expulsion of all
foreign elements, and the establishment of a civilization based
entirely on old Turkish traditions. With this is combined
a Pan-Turanian, that is to say, a Pan-Turkish movement, the
goal of which is a powerful and independent union of all the
Turks in the world, embracing a population of 5 0,000,000. ^
This movement involves a policy of Irredentism, which
aspires not only to stimulate by moral and intellectual propa-
ganda the feeling of racial community among kindred peoples,
but under favourable circumstances to free their kinsmen
politically irom their Russian, British, Persian, and Afghan
rulers. Turkish writers have begun to speak of their ' ideal
fatherland, their Turania, the cradle of their nation and home
of their race '. The poet Ziya Gok Alp, called by a country-
man * the great apostle of Turanianism ', celebrates Attila,
Jenghiz, and Oghuz Khan as heroic figures that stand for the
proud fame of his race, and describes the fiatherland of the
Turks not as Turkey or Turkestan, but as ' the broad eternal
land of Turania '. While the primary object of the National
Pan-Turanian ideal is the inclusion and union of all branches
of the race within the Turkish Empire, it is an important
secondary aim to give independence to all the followers of
Mohammed, the united Turks being then the centre of gravity
of the world of Islam. In view of this new situation it is
of importance to examine the geographical, historical, ethno-
logical, religious, and social facts bearing on the populations
that may 'be affected by Pan-Turanian aspirations. It will
then be easier to estimate the likelihood of these aspirations,
if unchecked, being realized. Such is the purpose of the
following pages.
';l\l,'':\': ■'[..': /'''. -,/ INTRODUCTION
Turania
The term ' Turanian ', as designating a group of languages
and the peoples speaking those languages, is derived from the
Persian Tflrdn, which is used by the Persian poet Firdusi in
his 8hahnar)ie or ' Book of Kings ' (composed about a. d. 1000)
as the name of the country beyond (i.e. north and east of) the
Oxus (now Amu Darya) as opposed to Iran or Persia. Though
the name Turdn is found neither in the inscriptions of
Darius I (521-435 B.C.) nor in Greek writers, it is of great
antiquity. For its earliest form Tu7*a (with the adjective
tuirya^ ' Turanian 'Y is not only repeatedly found in the ancient
sacred book of the Zoroastrians, the Avesta^ but also occurs in
an Avestan hymn (gdtha) which was undoubtedly composed
by Zoroaster himself and in which the Turanian Fryana and
his descendants are commemorated as faithful followers of the
prophet.^ The name Tura also appears in the Avesta when it
sets forth its primitive ethnographic division of the inhabi-
tants of the earth, which is based solely on acquaintance with
the immediate neighbours of ancient Iran. Just as in the Old
Testament Noah has three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japhet,
ancestors of the three races of the earth, so Thraetaona, the
successor of Yima (the Avestan Noah) has three sons, Airya,
Sairima, and Tura, between whom the earth is apportioned,
Airya* receiving Iran,^ the centre, Sairima the West, and Tura
the East.^' The Aryans must have been in occupation of the
Iranian plateau by 900 B.C., for we know that the Assyrian
King Shalmaneser II came into conflict with one of the
Iranian tribes, the Modes, in 836 b. c.
The evidence of the Avesta shows that by . the time of
Zoroaster"^ the Iranians formed a settled people who practised
agriculture, and among whom (as among the cognate Indo-
Aryans) the cow, on which their industry chiefly depended,
had acquired a peculiar sanctity. It is also clear from the
Avesta that hostilities prevailed between the Iranians and the
predatory nomad Turanians, who moreover differed from the
former in religion. In these conflicts the Turanians were
sometimes victorious.^ Attempts were also made to prosely-
tize the Turanians, for the Avesta states that at least one
Turanian tribe was converted to Zoroastrianism,^ and it
THE TERM / TURANIAN-^ A :..::' '.: :t^"^{ i A
observes that there was hope even for the Turanian enemies-#)t'
the Zoroastrian faith.^^
From a selection of Zoroastrian texts compiled about a.d. 900,^^
it appears that boundary disputes must have prevailed between
the two hostile peoples, as we read there : ^^ ' For Iran . . . and
for the sake of the pacification of a dispute which had arisen,
Auharmazd (Ormuz, Ahura Mazda) produced a great Ox, by
whom the boundary' of Iran next to Turan was intimated by
pawing with his hoofs.'
In his Shahname Firdusi (c. a. d. 1000) still divides the
world into three parts : one comprises the country of Roum^^
and the west, the second Turkestan^* and China, and the third
the country of the heroes of Iran.^^ The boundary between Iran
and Turan he defines thus : ' The whole part of the earth which
is comprised between the Jihoun and the frontier of Roum,
and which extends from there in a continuous line to China
and Khotan, became with its cultivated and waste districts the
empire of the people of Turan; the dominion of ZaP^ was to ^
end at the boundary where commenced the custom of tents,^"^
and which the Turks,^'^ on their part, were not to cross ; it was
thus that the thrones and crowns were divided.' ^^ Firdusi also
preserves in a modified form the Avestan story of the division
of the earth and the hostility between Iranians and Turanians.
Here it is Firedhun ( = Thraetaona) who apportions the earth
among his three sons, Eraj, Tur, and Salem. The murder of
Eraj by Tur leads to a blood feud between Iran and Tiiran.^^
The poet also relates that Zoroaster at the outset of his mis-
sionary career, when he failed to win converts in Iran, won
over parts of Turan to his new religion ;2^ but that later
a religious war with the Turks in Turan broke out as a result
of a strenuous crusading policy.^^ Cyrus the Great, the
founder of the Persian Empire (who reigned from 558 to 5.28
B.C.), was, according to Grreek sources, killed in battle against
the Turanians in the north-east of the Empire ; according to
Herodotus (i. 204) he fell fighting against the Massagetae,^-
who dwelt beyond the Oxus in what is now Bokhara, a part
of ancient Turan. From the above evidence, derived from
Persian sources, we may gather that by the ancient Turan,
or Turania, was meant that central Asian territory which
extends from the north of Persia and Afghanistan to the Aral
Sea, and eastward to the borders of Chinese Turkestan, its
:H^'l '-.'- '; ; . i . INTEODUCTION
modern geographical equivalent being thus approximately
represented by Eussian Turkestan.^^
Origin of the term ' Turanian '
In the second half of the nineteenth century the term
'Turanian' came into use as a loose designation of all or nearly
all languages of Asiatic origin that are. neither Aryan nor
Semitic. It appears to have been introduced in this sense by
Bunsen,^* who speaks of' all the languages of Asia and Europe
which are neither Semitic nor Arian ' ; adding, ' I ventured
in 1847 to write all these under the name Turanian '.^^ Farrar
more vaguely speaks of ' various sporadic families which some
would call Turanian '.^^ Whitney protests against ' the old
" Turanian " aggregation, which has for a generation been
a stumbling-block in the way of science '. The term is still
vaguely applied to a primary linguistic family of the eastern
hemisphere which is more usually called 'Altaic'-*^ or 'Ural-
Altaic '.^^ The word has also been used in a racial sense with
similar indefiniteness, as will appear from the following ex-
amples. Richardson in his Persian Dictionary/ (1771) treats
'Turanians' as synonymous with 'Tartars'. Hulme^^ (1861)
defines the area of the ' Turanians ' as Mongolia and Manchuria.
Max Muller in 1861 writes :^^ 'The name Turanian is used in
opposition to Aryan and is applied to the nomadic races of
Asia as opposed to the agricultural Arj^an races.' Finally, it
is to be inferred that Sir James Frazer^^ (1913) employs the.
name as equivalent to ' Ural-Altaic ' when he says : ' The
Magyars belong to the great Turanian family of mankind.'
Gejieral distrilmtion of the Turanians
Now of the various divisions of the ethnic family, which we
here propose to call Turanian in the definite sense of Ural-
Altaic,^^ a part of only one, the Turks, occupies the ancient
Turan, and there is evidence to show that the cradle of the
family is to be sought elsewhere.^^ At the present day we find
the Turanians occupying a broad belt of territory extending
across Asia from the Eastern Mediterranean to the Sea of
Japan, and reaching in the north the coast of the Arctic
Ocean. Two of their main divisions have in their migrations
overflowed into Europe ; one in the north as far westward as
GENERAL DISTRIBUTION OF THE TURANIANS 15
tke Baltic Sea and the Atlantic Ocean, and in the south as
far as Budapest; the other in the south-east has overrun
a considerable part of the Balkans.
Their Common Characteiisfics^
The Turanians have several common characteristics proving
that they constitute an ethnological unit. Firstly, they all
speak the same type of language as contrasted with their
neighbours, the Aryans and the Semites in the West and
South- West, and the Chinese in the East. Secondly, they
have a distinctive physical type, though this has, in some of
the subdivisions, been almost or altogether obliterated by
absorption in other racial types with which they have come in
contact or by which they have been surrounded. Thirdly,
their original religion was Shamanism, which still survives in
their northern and north-eastern branches and which has left
traces in the rest, though the latter have adopted the religions
of the superior civilizations influencing them : Buddhism in
Eastern Asia, Mohammedanism in Central and Western Asia,
Christianity in Europe. Fourthly, in their original home, the
steppes of Central Asia, they were nomads, a manner of life
imposed on them by the nature of the country which they
inhabited. This characteristic survives to a greater or lesser
extent in all the main divisions ; and even in those branches
which have adopted a settled life it is known to have existed
in former times and is still recognizable in certain traces which
it has left behind.
Turanian Linguistic Unity
As contrasted with the highly inflexional Indo-European
and Semitic linguistic families on the one hand, and the mono-
syllabic Chinese on the other, the Turanian languages are
typical examples of the agglutinative form of speech. Here
unchangeable roots ^* (never used alone) are combined with
suffixes, by means of what is called progressive vowel har-
mony, in such a way that the vowels of the endings are assimi-
lated to that of the root. Thus the infinitive element male,
which appears in Osmanli Turkish yaz-mak, ' to write ', becomes
7neJc in sev-mek ' to love '. Other features of Turanian speech
are that there are no prepositions, but only postpositions, and
that two consonants never begin or end a word. The close
16 INTRODUCTION
linguistic relationship of the Turanian peoples was first proved
by Castren^^ (l'813-53). the Finnish ethnologist and philolo-
gist. He drew the essential outlines of their kinship, though
research has not yet gone sufficiently into detail to settle
various minor questions of relationship.
Five Main BrayicJies
Castren set up five main branches of the Turanian family of
speech : the Finnic, the Samoyedic, the Tungusic, the Mon-
golic, and the Turkic. The results of recent research indicate
that these five branches form two main divisions. One of
them embraces the Finno-Ugrian and the Samoyedic, which
agree not only in having reached the highest development of
the agglutinative system,'^^ but in sharing a striking similarity
of vocabulary ; moreover, the names given to themselves by
these two groups are almost identical. The other division
embraces the Tunguses, the Mongols, and the Turks ; among
these the Turkic and Mongolic branches are more intimately
related. The affinity of these five branches, as descended from
a single parent speech, is similar to that of the eight main
branches^' of the Indo-European family, but is less intimate :"^
thus Lapp and Manchu are further apart than English and
Sanskrit.
Though it is well known that identity or kinship of language
is no proof of the ethnic identity or kinship of the people that
speak it,^^ there can be no doubt that the proto-Turanians,
as shown by the ph^^sical and other characteristics of their
present-day descendants, were a single race which in pre-
historic times dwelt around the Altai*" mountain range, which
is still exclusively inhabited by Turanian peoples, and which
can be shown to have been the original home of even the most
remote branches of the Turanian family.
The Successive Mlgratiotis of the Turanicms
The combined evidence of their language, of historical data,
and of their present habitat indicates that the Finnic branch
separated from the parent stock much earlier than any of the
others, migrating to the north and west in prehistoric times.
Again, the Tunguses must have completed their migration
eastward while the Turkic and Mongol tribes were still dwell-
ing side by side in the Altai steppes,
MIGEATIONS OF THE TURANIANS 17
The Mongolians, on the whole the most typical members of
the Turanian family, were the last to sever the common con-
nexion, spreading southwards and eastwards over a territory
contiguous with their old home on the Altai range.
With the exception of one Turkish tribe (the Osmanlis) and
one section of the Finnic branch (the Hungarians), the Tura-
nians have nowhere developed sufficient political aptitude to
establish independent states of any permanence ; and even in
the two exceptional cases of the Turkish Empire and the King-
dom of Hungary, comparative success has been due to so large
an infusion of European blood that the physical characteristics
of the Turanian race have been almost entirely obliterated in
the Osmanli Turks and the Hungarian people. Otherwise the
Turanians, distributed, though very sparsely, over a vast terri-
tory, are at the present day subject to foreign rule — the Samo-
yeds, Finns, Tunguses, and Turco-Tatars^^ in the Russian, and
the Mongols in the Chinese Republic.
Total Turanian Population
The aggregate number of Turanians, as far as can be esti-
mated from the most recent information,*^ is about 48,000,000,
of whom about four millions more live in Asia than in Europe.
According to the latest authority, the figures in round numbers
for Europe are: Magyars, 10,000,000; Finns and Samoyeds,
6,000,000; Turks, 6,000,000; total, 22,000,000. They form
very nearly 5^ per cent, of the population of the whole of
Europe, and nearly 8 per cent, of the inhabitants of European
Russia.*^ In Asia there are about 115,000 Finns, Samoyeds,
and Tunguses, all in Asiatic Russia ; about 6,000,000 Manchus,
Mongols, and Turks under Chinese rule ; 8,200,000 Turks
in Asiatic Russia;*'^ about 3,500,000 in Persia and Afghani-
stan; and about 8,000,000 Osmanli Turks'*^ in Asia Minor;
making a total of 26,000,000 in Asia.*^
Physical Characteristics of the Turanians
The normal Turanian is middle-sized and of muscular build.
He has a broad flat face, with small slanting eyes, high cheek-
bones, broad flat nose, thick lips, and low forehead. His com-
plexion is yellowish brown, his hair straight and jet black,
and his beard scanty. There has been a considerable inter-
mixture among the Turanians themselves, especially between
TURAKIANS B
18 INTRODUCTION
Samoyed, Finnish, and Turkish tribes ; also between Turkish
and Mongol tribes, in the formation of the hordes with which
various conquerors invaded the west. It was only on their
western confines that they mingled to any extent with alien
peoples, especially Slavs. Here many Finnish tribes have
been strongly influenced or have even been absorbed by the
surrounding Russian population ; some peoples have preserved
their language, though they have lost most of their physical
Turanian characteristics, as the Hungarians and the Osmanli
Turks ; while others have lost both their language and their
physical type, as the Volga Bulgars, whose name alone has
survived in the Bulgarians of to-day. Only those sections of
the Turanians that have come into close contact with the
Aryans of Europe have been able to rise from their primitive
civilization to a comparatively advanced state of culture, that
is, the Finns in the narrow sense, the Hungarians, and the
Osmanli Turks.
Original Religion of the Turanians
The primitive religion which was peculiar to the Turanians
generally goes b}^ the name of Shamanism, so called because
its distinctive feature is the agency of the Shaman,^"^ or wizard
priest, whose intervention is required to influence the super-
natural powers. It is a religion of witchcraft, in which it is
the function of the Shaman to master all that in nature is
hostile to man, to curb the elements, to conjure spirits, to pro-
duce health or disease, fortune or misfortune. The Shaman
thus represents a primitive combination of priest and physi-
cian. Though he operates mainly against demons, he also
believes in higher gods, on whom he calls by means of prayer
and sacrifices to assist him in attaining his ends. Ancestor
worship is, moreover, a characteristic feature of Shamanism.
Its adherents believe in the close connexion between men now
living and their long deceased forefathers. This belief resulted
not only in uninterrupted worship of ancestors, but in the
conviction, leading to hereditary Shamanism, that only he
who was able to be in continuous touch with his ancestors was
qualified to act as a Shaman. The drum is an important
instrument in the rites of the Shaman. It is by means of this
that he can summon spirits, through the power of his ances-
tors, and compel them to give active help. The methods of
ORIGINAL RELIGION OF THE TURANIANS 19
his religion are those of magic, and are mainly concerned with
counteracting the attacks of hostile lower spirits. It is owing
to this predominant aspect of his ritual, in which the
Shaman endeavours to establish good relations with the powers
of darkness, that the Russians regard the Shamanism of the
present day as a religion of the devil.*^
Among the Turkish peoples the Shaman is called Kam.
He directs prayers, thanksgivings, and the sacrifice, conjures
spirits, purifies the house from the souls of the dead, besides
being soothsayer, weather-prophet, and physician all in one.
He appears only when summoned by the master of the house
in cases of danger, illness, death, and cattle disease. He
begins with a short conjuration, in which he inquires of his
ancestors the cause of the infliction. On ascertaining the
cause, he communicates it and states what sacrifice is neces-
sary, to what god it is to be offered, and in what it is
to consist. There is evidence that even the ancient form of
Turanian religion was not concerned merely with witchcraft.
Thus, early Chinese and Christian writers state that the
contemporary Turks not only paid reverence to natural
phenomena, such as sun and moon, fire, air, earth, water, as
well as to the spirits of ancestors, but that they also worshipped
a deity whom they regarded as the creator of the world and to
whom they offered animal sacrifices. Mediaeval writers give
a similar account of the religion of the Mongols. So at the
present day the Tunguses worship a supreme being and various
natural phenomena, besides praying to images and fetishes.
In all the Asiatic branches of the Turanian family Shaman-
ism is still found. But it is only general among the Tunguses,
all the tribes of whom (except the Manchus) are devoted
Shamanists. Among the Mongols, the Buryats on Lake Baikal
are the only tribe in which Shamanism is still prevalent.
Among the Turks, Shamanism survives only in the tribes that
remained behind in the fertile valleys of the Altai range.
Here it is being encroached upon by Buddhism from the east
and by Christianity from the north and west. From the rest
of the Turkish peoples Shamanism has been extirpated by
Islam ; nevertheless there are clear traces of the old religion
among single tribes of Turkish nomads, such as the Kazak-
Kirghiz. That Shamanism was formerly the religion of all
Turkish peoples is clear from the prevalence among them of
b2
20 INTRODUCTION
the Turkish name Kam for Shaman ; and in the oldest
document of Turkish literature, the Uigur Kudatku Bilik
(a.d. 1070), the word Kam twice occurs in the sense of 'sooth-
sayer'. The Samoyeds are still largely Shamanists, their
religious beliefs being much the same as those of the Tunguses.
On the other hand, the Hungarians and Finns adopted
Christianity many centuries ago. But those Finnish peoples
that still retain some memory of their former paganism show
traces of beliefs like those of the rest of the Turanians.
Turanian Civilizatioti
When the Turanians first appeared on the stage of history
their civilizatioii was of a very primitive type, which they have
preserved on much the same level, with the few exceptions
caused by European contact, down to the present time. While
the Chinese, Egyptians, Babylonians, Assyrians, Indians,
Persians, Greeks, and Romans cultivated the earth and built
cities in remote antiquity, the Turanians were nomads, and
they have remained so to this day except where brought to
a standstill by the dam which the European nations opposed
to them in the west. Since the time of Zoroaster, when they
first became known, till now, they have retained unchanged
the patriarchal system of government without advancing to
any higher stage of political organization. Their nomad
habits facilitated the formation of those hordes which at
successive periods poured into and devastated eastern Europe.
Their unsettled habits have, since the adoption of Islam by the
Turkic branch, made them for centuries the main cause o±
unrest in the history of the world. The struggle between the
Aryan and the Turanian has thus been going on for nearly
3,000 years, from the age of Zoroaster down to the present day.
The chief reason of the persistence of the nomadic civiliza-
tion of the Turanians appears to be the fact that the cultivable
soil of the ancient world had already been taken possession of
by the Chinese, the Aryans, and the Semites, while the Proto-
Turanians were still occupying their original homes around
the Altai mountains. They were consequently compelled to
continue wandering in barren steppes to maintain themselves,
and the struggle for existence naturally brought them into
predatory conflict with the settled and more prosperous neigh-
bouring peoples. The immemorial nomad habit has in the
TURANIAN CIVILIZATION 21
course of thousands of years become so ingrained in their
nature that it appears to be the chief means by which they
preserve any sense of nationality, for they lack the unifying
bonds of political organization. Hence when they once, by
contact with a higher civilization, take to life in fixed abodes,
they rapidly lose their racial identity by absorption in the
population of their more cultured neighbours.
One of the consequences of their migratory life, as affecting
the Turanians themselves, is the perpetual feuds, chiefly
concerning boundaries, which have from time immemorial
prevailed among their tribes, and which have largely fostered
the fighting spirit among them. Another effect has been the
universal practice of exogamy in those Turanian tribes which
have adhered to the nomadic manner of life. For as marriage
between blood relations, as represented by the clan, are
avoided among them, brides are sought in other clans or tribes
of the same people, the members of which are no longer
regarded as akin.
After this general survey of the Turanians, we can proceed
to examine their main divisions and subdivisions in detail.
It would seem most suitable to treat the five branches in order
of geographical contiguity— Finno-Ugrians, Samoyeds, Tun-
guses, Mongols, and Turks — beginning with the Finns who
came into contact with European peoples in very early times,
and ending with the Turks, whose invasions of Europe during
the Middle Ages threatened to involve Western civilization in
destruction, whose conquest of the Balkans has for centuries
been a cause of war and political unrest, and whose present
ambitions may continue to be a source of danger to the peace
of the world in days to come.
NOTES
^ This figure exceeds the total of all the Turanians in the world, which is
about 48,000,000. The total number of the Turks is about 26,000,000. Cp.
pp. 17 and 116.
^ See Bartholomae, Altiranisches Wotierbuch, Strassburg, 1904 (column
656).
■• Mills, Sacred Books of the East, vo 1. xxxi, pp. 133 and 141 (Yasna, 46, 62).
^ That is, the ' Aryan '.
•' In the Avesta called Ainjana, ' the land of the Aryan ', of which Eran is
the Middle Persian, and Iran the modern Persian form.
22 INTRODUCTION
'• See Darmesteter, Translation of the Avesta, Sacred Books of the East,
vol. iv, p. lix.
■^ It is known that Darius I was an ardent Zoroastrian, and in an inscrip-
tion of the Assyrian king Sfirgon dated 714 B.C. occur Zoroastrian names in
a list of Median princes tributary to him. The prophet could therefore
hardly have flourished later than about 800 B.C.
« See Sacred Books, vol. xxiii, pp. 67, 71, 189, 280.
'■' See note 3. ^o Op. cit., vol. xxxi, p. 133.
" Translated in Sacred Books, vols, v, xxxvii, xlii.
12 Vol. xlvii, p. 135. 13 Tj^^^ js^ ^-^e Empire of Rome.
i'^ Here we see that Turkestan is equivalent to Turan.
^•' See Mohl, Shahnanie, i, p. 105.
1^ A mythical Iranian hero.
" This indicates that the Turanians were both nomads and Turks,
i« Mohl, op. cit., i, pp. 346, 377.
1^ Cp. Grmidriss der wanischen Philologie, vol. ii, p. 166.
^•^ Op. cit., pp. 166, 624. 21 Q^^ ^^Y., pp. 166, 625.
22 Op. cit., p. 421.
2^ In the Atlas of Asia accompanying Ritter's Erdkunde, sheet 5 of Part 3
(1852), this is entitled ' Turan or Turkistan '.
2^* Christianity, vi, 65 (1854).
2^ Similarly Farrar, Origin of Language, 199 (1860).
2'' Chapters on Language, 29.
2'^ This term was first introduced by the famous Finnish scholar Castren.
2** The usual term now used.
2^ Translation of Moquin-Tandon, Medical Zoology, p. 32.
^^ Science of Latiguage, i. 276. -'^ Golden Bough, I. iv. 179.
^2 This name has been given to the Turanian family because the Urals
have been, and still are, inhabited by various tribes of two of their main
divisions (the Finno-Ugrians and the Samoyeds), while the Altai range was,
and still is, the home of tribes belonging to two of the other three (Turks
and Mongols).
^3 The Altai mountains ; see pp. 16 and 23, note 40.
3* In contrast with the inflexional .languages, in which the root is so
intimately fused with suffix or ending that it often becomes quite unrecog-
nizable.
^'^ See his Ethnologische Vorlesungen ilher die altaischen Volker, translated
from the Swedish in 1857. Cp. also H. Winkler, Uralaltaische Volker, 1884,
i, p. 54.
3" Though they have not quite reached the stage of true inflexion.
^''' Indo-Aryan, Persian, Armenian, Slavonic, Greek, Latin, Germanic.
Keltic.
"^ This is due to the fact that the Turanian languages separated from the
parent stem at an early period of its growth, when the law of progressive
vowel harmony did not as yet exist, having been independently developed
in the different branches from the natural tendency to merge root and suffix
in one harmonic whole ; whereas the parent Indo-European speech had
already reached the stage of decay in its inflexional system, thus leaving less
latitude for linguistic divergence in the daughter languages.
NOTES 23
^^ Thus the negroes of the United States speak English only.
*^ The name Altai is derived from the Mongolian word alta in-nla, ' gold
mountain '.
*^ The name Tatar is loosely used to designate Turkic tribes. Occurring
frequently in Chinese histoiy, it was originally used to denote a part of the
Mongolian race; it was then transferred to various Turkish peoples; in
Russia it was applied to all the Turkish tribes settled in that country, and
still continues to be used there in that exclusive sense. With the French (to
whom the spelling ' Tartar ' is due), ' Tartare ' is a collective term for Turks,
Mongols, and Tunguses, the Finns also coming gradually to be included.
^"^ See Schafer, Karte der Lander tmd Volker Europas, Volkstum und Staaten-
hildung, 4th ed., Berlin, 1916. With these figures Scobel's data, in the two
volumes accompanying Andree's Atlas, 1909-10, practically agree.
*^ According to the two volumes accompanying the Atlas of Asiatic Russia,
published at Petrograd in 1914. These will always be quoted below as
Asiatic Russia.
'' Ibid. ; cp. p. 116.
*^ The total population of Turkey in Asia is given by Schafer (1916) as
19,710,000, which number includes Syrians, Arabs, Kurds, Circassians, Greeks,
Armenians, and others besides Turks, the respective numbers of whom cannot
be stated. Of this total a probable approximation to the number of the Turks
is 8,000,000 ; with the addition of 1,891,000 in Europe, the total number of
Osmanli Turks is under 10,000,000. Cp. p. 116.
^^ The totals for the whole Turanian population work out as follows:— .
Turks, 26,000,000 (p. 116) ; the remaining branches of the Turanians,
22,000,000 [Finns, 6,827,755; Ugrians, 10,075,591; Samoyeds, 22,000;
Tunguses, 75,000; Manchus, 1,000,000; Mongols, 4,042,101 (including 600,000
Hazaras in Afghanistan)]. Cp. chap, v, note 18 (p. 114).
^^ Derived from the Tungusian Shaman, which is probably the Sanskrit
^amana, Pali Samana, 'monk' or 'mendicant', a term introduced into
China by Indian missionaries, who carried Buddhism thither from North
India by way of Central Asia.
*^ On Shamanism, see especially Radloff, Aus Sihirien, vol. ii, pp. 1-67 ;
cp. also Castren's Vorlesungen ilher die Jinnische Mythologie (Schiefner's
German translation from the Swedish), Introduction, pp. 1 ft'., St. Petersburg,
1853.
CHAPTER II
THE FINNO-UGEIAN DIVISION
Habitat. This branch of the Turanian family consists of the
two principal groups of the Finns and the Ugrians, the former
being represented by the Finns proper, the latter mainly by
the Hungarians. The Finnish group inhabits partly the region
lying between the eastern Baltic, the Arctic Ocean, and the
White Sea, and partly the districts of eastern Russia situated
near the middle course of the Volga. The Ugrians, so called
from Ugra, the old name of the country on both sides of the
Ural mountains, where they all dwelt in former times and
where two branches of them still remain, but whence the
Hungarians long ago migrated till they finally settled in their
present country on the Middle Danube. The Finnish group
appear in the course of their migration to have reached their
present habitat by the first century of our era, while the
Hungarians took possession of the territory which they now
occupy at the end of the ninth century.
Number. The total Finno-Ugrian population amounts to
about 16,000,000, almost entirely located in Europe. Excepting
some 25,000 in north-west Siberia, the Ugrian population is
represented by the Hungarians with nearly 10,000,000. The
Finnish branch is, with the exception of about 60,000, almost
equally divided between Norwaj^ and Sweden, otherwise
confined to the Russian Empire, with a total of rather over
6,000,000. Some of the Finno-Ugrian tribes still retain their
nomad habits, though they generally appear to avoid open
steppes, preferring wooded country, especially in the vicinity
of rivers and lakes.
Language. The speech of the Finno-Ugrians forms a homo-
geneous linguistic unit, undivided by any striking differences.
It is distinguished from the other divisions of the Turanian
family both in grammar and vocabulary. The tendency to
form compounds is very marked in Finnish and Hungarian,
as well as in some of the other languages of this group. Vowel
harmony is completely observed in Finnish and Hungarian,
CHARACTEEISTICS AND CIVILIZATION 25
though in the other languages it has been either imperfectly
developed or has been lost under Eussian influences.
Some of the minor tribes have lost their native dialects,
having exchanged them for those of the surrounding alien
population.
Finno-Ugrian Characteristics and Civilization
Characteristics. In physique the Finno-Ugrians are for the
most part strongly built and of middle height, with a tendency to
be short, squat, and brachycephalic Their complexion is greyish
or olive-coloured ; their eyes are grey or blue, their hair light,
and their beard scanty. They are as a rule wanting in energy
and alertness both of mind and body. They are slow and
conservative, inclined to be suspicious and vindictive, taciturn
and melancholy. With the exception of the Hungarians, they
have hardly ever displayed warlike qualities. The favourable
side of their character includes patience, perseverance and
industry, faithfulness, and honesty. When they get over their
natural distrust of strangers, they are found to be friendly and
hospitable.
Civilization. Various stages of progress are apparent among
the Finno-Ugrians. Some, as the Finns and the Hungarians,
have, at least in the towns, adopted the ordinary civilization
of Europe. These two are the only Turanian peoples who,
while following in the steps of European culture, have pre-
served their individual nationality. Other tribes have adopted
agricultural pursuits. These are mostly insignificant popula-
tions living scattered in Russia, which will doubtless in course
of time be absorbed in the surrounding Slavonic population.
The lowest stage is represented by the wilder tribes, such as
the Ostyaks, Voguls, and Lapps, who are still nomads, though
as a rule they no longer frequent open steppes. They are
generally keen hunters. They are mostly divided into a num-
ber of small clans which are exogamous. Women among
them occupy a very inferior position, being treated as servants,
and not being allowed to take part in their heathen religious
ceremonies. There is still found among them the most primi-
tive form of house, which consists of converging poles covered
with skins or sods so as to form a screen round a central fire.
Their winter dwellings are partly underground. They use
long snow-shoes in winter, and largely employ boats in summer.
26 THE FINNO-UaRIAN DIVISION
The evidence of the higher numerals, which vary in the
different languages and are sometimes evidently borrowed,
indicates that their original system of counting did not extend
beyond seven ; and even now these tribes show little aptitude
for calculation or trade. Those tribes which have not been
subject to direct European influence have even at the present
day not progressed beyond the simplest form of patriarchal
government. The nomadic tribes are now partially beginning
to settle down.
Religion. With the exception of a few outlying tribes, the
Finno-Ugrians have adopted Christianity ; but several
thousands of the Ugrian Ostyaks and Voguls and the east
Finnish Cheremisses are still unbaptized. Many old pagan
beliefs also survive among the nominal Christians, besides
being found in poetry such as the Kalevala. The deities here
are chiefly spirits representing phenomena of nature. Thus,
there is a forest god among the Finns, Lapps, and Cheremisses.
Again, Yumala, the Finnish name for god, seems originally to
mean ' sky '.^ Traces of ancestor worship also survive. Thus,
the Ostyaks sacrifice to ghosts and make images of the more
important dead. Images are also found in the tombs and
barrows of most Finno-Ugrian tribes. The Voguls still use
idols, generally wooden, to which animal sacrifices are offered,
and the lips of which are sometimes besmeared with blood.
Some curious combinations of Christianity and paganism are
found. Thus, the Cheremisses are said to sacrifice to the Virgin
Mary. All the tribes seem to believe that disease, due to
possession by an evil spirit, can be both caused and cured by
spells and incantations, to which they attribute extraordinary
potency. Such belief is conspicuous in the Kalevala. A
knowledge of the necessary magical formulae is possessed by
wizards (the equivalent of the Shamans of the Central Asian
Turanians), who are both exorcists and mediums able to
ascertain the will of the gods. Their oflice is generally
hereditary. A magical drum plays a prominent part in their
invocations. Thus it appears that the three main features of
the original Finno-Ugrian religion were nature worship,
ancestor worship, and witchcraft.
History. Most of the Finno-Ugrian tribes have no recorded
history, and their oral traditions shed but scanty light on
their past.
HISTORY OF THE FINNO-UGRIANS 27
It is only the Finns proper, and especially the Hungarians,
who, in their later period, play a part in ordinary European
history. The linguistic and archaeological data collected chiefly
by Finnish scholars have made it possible to reconstruct in
outline the migrations of these tribes. The results of these
investigations are the following. The Finno-Ugrians origi-
nally lived together east of the Ural mountains, and spoke
a common language. They were hunters and fishermen, not
agriculturists. At some remote period of antiquity they
moved into Europe, and perhaps settled on the Volga and
the Oka, where they learned some rudiments of agriculture.
They were still in the neolithic stage. About 600 b. c. they
came in contact with an Iranian people, from whom they
learned the use of metals and borrowed the numerals for 100
and 1,000. Hungarian and some other languages also borrowed
the word for 10. There was probably a trade route up the
Volga in the fourth century b.c. About that time the Western
Finns must have separated from the rest and begun migrating
north-westwards. Soon after the Christian era they came
into contact with Letto-Lithuanian peoples in the Baltic
provinces, and then with Scandinavians. From both Lithua-
nians and Scandinavians they borrowed a very large number
of words expressing materials and ideas of civilization. Thus
the Finnish names for gold, king, and everything concerned
with government are Scandinavian in origin. The Finns had
probably completed their occupation of Finland by about
A.D. 700. Meanwhile the Slav tribes known later as Russians,
which had been coming up from the south, pressed the Finns
northward and separated the Western from the Eastern Finns
and the Ugrians, who were driven back towards the east. The
introduction of Christia^ity among the Finns about a. d. 1000
was followed by a long political and religious struggle between
them and the Swedes. About a. d. 1300 Finland was defi-
nitely converted and annexed to Sweden, remaining a depen-
dency of that country till 1809, when it was ceded to Russia.
The Western Finns have thus been almost completely domi-
nated by Swedish civilization.
The Ugrians and the Eastern Finns, cut off from a westward
movement, came in contact with tribes of another division of
the Turanians, the Turks or Tatars, by whom they were more
or less Tatarized. Some tribes adopted a Tatar language.
28 THE FINNO-UGRIAN DIVISION
while others (the Mordvins, Cheremisses, and Votyaks) bor-
rowed many Tatar words. One of the large settlements
formed by Eastern Finns was Great Bulgaria on the Volga,
which continued to exist as a state till 1238, when it was
destroyed by the Mongols, another division of the Turanians.
A branch of these Bulgarians had many centuries earlier
migrated to the Balkan peninsula, where they were so com-
pletely Slavonized that the identity of their language and
race survives only in the name of the Bulgaria of to-day.
The Hungarians, after moving westward, remained during
part of the ninth century in a district probably lying between
the Dnieper arid the Danube. Then crossing the Carpathians
they conquered the old Roman provinces of Pannonia and
Dacia, which they have now occupied for a little more than
a thousand years.
A. The Finns
Name. It is certain that the Finns were in Europe soon
after the beginning of our era. The earliest authority for the
name, the meaning of which is entirely doubtful, is Tacitus
(c. A. D. 100). In his Germania (ch. 46) he locates the Fenni in
the country which is now Lithuania, and describes them as
a tribe of hunters in the lowest stage of civilization, poor,
living in tents, and wearing skins. It is to be inferred from
his account that they were without any knowledge of reindeer
and of the use of snow-shoes. Half a century later Ptolemy
wrongly pushes the Finns, whom he calls ^lwol, to the south-
west on his map, placing them to the east of the Vistula,
between the Ovii/eSoi ("Wends) and TvOmves (Goths). But the
habitat which he assigns to them at any rate shows that they
must by that time have advanced to the neighbourhood of the
Baltic. The name assigned by these two ancient authorities,
Fenni and ^lwol or ^ei/i/oi, undoubtedly survives in that of the
inhabitants of Finland.
Earlier Habitat It is thus probable that the Finns had by
the beginning of our era moved from their earlier habitat on
the Ural farther northwards, and at the time of Tacitus extended
from the Ural to the region of the Baltic, occupying the whole
of the territory of Northern and Central Russia of to-day ; for
many Finnish place-names are found in these regions. Much
later other branches of the Finnish race still lived near the
THE FINNS 29
Ural MouD tains, and even to the east of them on the Irtish
river.
At that time these branches were probably not separated
by Slavs, but occupied all the intervening country. Thus at
the time of Nestor (eleventh century) there lived in the interior
of Eussia Finnish tribes which have now disappeared. Again,
the still existing Finnish tribes were formerly much larger,
for with the spread of Christianity they have been more and
more absorbed by the Russians, and, in any case, as nomads in
former times they required more territory than they do now
as agriculturists. It is probable that before the Teutonic
migrations a large part of Eussia was occupied by Finns,
and that before the incursion of the Slavs the north of Russia
was the exclusive possession of Finnish tribes. After the
Goths moved to the Pontus, the Teutons became acquainted
with the Finno-Ugrian tribes of inner Russia. Among the
peoples ruled by the Ostrogoth king Hermanarik, the Mordens
(i. e. the Mordvins described below) are mentioned ^ in the
fourth century of our era. That the Finns extended southward
as far as the isthmus between Don and Volga is indicated by
the fact that the Volga first became known by its Mordvin
name Rhau to Ptolemy, who calls it the Ra.^
Early Civilization. The numerous words borrowed by the
Finns from the Teutons are important as throwing light on
the state of civilization at which the former had arrived by the
time they came into contact with the Teutons.*
From this evidence it is clear that the Finns borrowed
mythological ideas as well as customs from their Teutonic
neighbours. The results of research, however, do not so far
justify the assumption that the geographical contiguity of
Finns and Teutons goes back into prehistoric times. Accord-
ing to A. Hackmann,^ the Finns when they migrated into
Finland were already familiar with the use of iron. The
Teutons were deeply impressed by the Shamanism of the
Finns, and marvelled at their skill in magic.*^ It was not long
before the Teutons entered into trade relations with their
northern neighbours, and they early imposed tribute in furs
upon them, as we learn from Old Norse authorities."'
Finns and Lapps. The old Teutonic authorities extended
the name of Finns to the inhabitants of the high latitudes of
the Scandinavian north, the Lapps, who, though they at the
30 THE FINNO-UGEIAN DIVISION
present day both culturally and racially diverge widely from
the Finns, were at that early period hardly as yet differen-
tiated in language and physical type from the Finns of
Finland. This is the Finna land of the Anglo-Saxon epic
Beowulf (a. D. 580). In Norway even now the Lapps are
called Finner (old Norse Finnar) or Finns.
i. The Western or Baltic Fimis
The Finnish people that is the most important, both numeri-
cally and culturally, are the Finns proper. In their own
language they call their country SuomL
Habitat. They inhabit mainly the Grand-Duchy of Finland,
which till the fall of the Czar was governed by the Emperor of
Russia as its Grand Duke, but which in October 1917 declared
itself an autonomous Republic, and more recently a consti-
tutional monarchy. It is situated between the gulfs of Bothnia
and Finland, including also farther north a large territory
in Lapland. They are also scattered over the adjacent Russian
Governments of Olonets, Archangel, Novgorod, Petrograd
Tver, Yaroslavl, besides certain districts of Norway (Finn-
marken in the extreme north, above Finland) and of Sweden.
There are two main subdivisions of the Finns — the Tavasts
who occupy the southern and western parts of the Grand-
Duchy, while the Karelians are found to the north and
east of them.
Number. The number of the Finns in Finland in 1900 was
2,352,990,^ constituting 86 per cent, of the inhabitants of
the Grand-Duchy, the remaining 14 per cent, being Swedes.
There are besides about 8,000 in Norway, 20,000 in Sweden,
and about 200,000^ distributed over the adjacent parts of
Russia proper. A considerable number of emigrant Finns
also now live in the United States of America. The total
number of Finns at the present day may be estimated at
something over 2,600,000.1^
Language. The Finnish language is fundamentally Turanian,
and in particular has very fully developed the characteristic
feature of vowel harmony. But it has been profoundly in-
fluenced by Scandinavian, both in vocabulary and structure.
In its present form it consists of Turanian material recast in
an Aryan mould. It is full of Swedish words, some of the
simplest terms being borrowed from Scandinavian. The
WESTEEN OR BALTIC FINNS 31
grammar has been radically modified, both by the rejection of
un-Aryan and by the adoption of Aryan peculiarities. The
various nominal or verbal forms are no longer merely roots
with a string of obvious suffixes attached, but the ending
forms a whole with the root as in Greek and Latin inflexions.
The adjective is declined and agrees with its substantive.
The verb forms compound tenses by means of auxiliaries.
There is also an abundant supply of relative pronouns and
particles.
Literature. The oldest linguistic material in Finnish
consists of lists of single words, chiefly personal and proper
names, compiled in the first half of the thirteenth century.
But the first Finnish book did not appear till 1544. An
energetic study of the national language as well as antiquities
has resulted in the publication of numerous works in Finnish.
Several collections of Finnish popular and mythological
poetry have been published, and there is a copious general
modern literature in Finnish.
Characteristics. In physique the Finns, as opposed to the
Swedish-speaking population who retain their Scandinavian
characteristics, are a strong and hardy people, short in stature,
with almost round head, and neck very full and strong. The
forehead is low, the face flat, the cheek-bones prominent,
the eyes mostly grey and slanting somewhat inwards. The
nose is short and flat, the mouth protruding, the lips thick,
the beard weak and sparse. The hair, which was no doubt
originally black, is now brown, red, or even fair. The com-
plexion is brownish. The Finns are morally upright,
hospitable, faithful, and submissive, but are also somewhat
stolid, indolent, irascible, and vindictive. They are dis-
tinguished by a keen sense of personal freedom and inde-
pendence. Many of these physical and moral qualities they
have in common with the other divisions of the Turanians.
The qualities in which they diverge are doubtless due to the
considerable infusion of Swedish blood which they have
undergone.
Civilization. Originally leading a nomadic life as hunters
and fishers, the Finns have long ago succumbed to the
influence of European civilization. They are now everywhere
settled as herdsmen, agriculturists, traders, or follow the
various other occupations of a modern European state. They
32 THE FINNO-UGRIAN DIVISION
may be said to be on the same cultural level as tbe Swedes,
whose civilization they have adopted and under whose
political system they lived for centuries. The early Finlanders,
before they came under Swedish influence, do not seem to
have had any political organization, but to have lived in
separate communities independent of each other. It is
a striking feature of the country life of the Finns of to-day
that they hardly ever live in houses clustered together as
villages, but in isolated farms in the middle of their fields and
meadows.^^ This may be a survival from their nomadic period,
when, owing to the necessity of wide pasturage, their dwell-
ings lay far apart.
Religion, The higher religion of the. ancient Finns consisted
in the worship of gods who were the personified forces of
nature, as Ukko the god of the air, Akti the god of waters,
and others. After their contact with the Swedes, the
Christianization of the country began in the twelfth, and was
completed by the end of the following century.
In 1529 Gustavus Vasa introduced the Lutheran form of
Protestantism, which has remained the religion of the country
in spite of the temporary effort, made under Russian rule
in the reign of Alexander III, to subject the Finns to the
Orthodoxy of the Greek Church.
History. The migration of the Finns into the regions now
inhabited by them began at the latest in the fourth century of
our era, and by a. d. 700 they were probably in complete
possession of the Finland of to-day. They probably found the
Lapps in previous occupation of the country. It was not till
the introduction of Christianity in the middle of the twelfth
century that they were brought into contact with civilized
Europe.
The early Finlanders seem to have been both brave and
aggressive. Their 'repeated attacks on the coast of Sweden
resulted in the invasion of their country in 1157 by the
Swedish King Eric IX, who conquered the people and had
them baptized. Finland was gradually reverting to inde-
pendence and paganism, when in 1209 a missionary bishop
named Thomas (an Englishman) arrived and began the work
of reviving Christianity.
He nearly succeeded in detaching Finland from Sweden
and forming it into a province subject only to the Pope. In
WESTERN OR BALTIC FINNS 33
1249 the famous Birger Yarl undertook a crusade in Finland,
compelling the Tavasts, the western subdivision of the Finns
proper, to accept Christianity. After finally subjugating
the country, the Swedes spread their civilization among the
Finlanders, gave them laws, according to them the same
civil rights as belonged to themselves, and introduced agri-
culture and other beneficial arts into the country. .Gustavus
Vasa and his successor did much for Finland by founding
schools, building churches, encouraging learning, and intro-
ducing printing. In the beginning of the seventeenth century
Gustavus Adolphus established the Diet of Finland, composed
of the four orders of the nobility, clergy, burghers, and peasants.
The conquest of Finland by Sweden resulted in almost con-
tinuous wars between that country and Russia, in the course
of which Finland was constantly devastated and suffered great
misery. Peter the G-reat tried to wrest Finland from Sweden,
and by 1716 was in occupation of the whole country. In
consequence, the province of Viborg, the eastern division of
Finland, was in 1721 finally ceded to Russia. After two
unsuccessful attempts to recover the lost province, war broke
out again between the two countries in 1808, but was ended in
1809 by the cession of the whole of Finland, and the Aland
Islands to Russia. Finland, however, did not become a part
of Russia as a conquered province, but, maintaining her free
constitution and fundamental laws, became a semi-independent
Grand-Duchy with the Tsar as Grand Duke. But towards the
end of Alexander Ill's reign, the Slavophil movement in
Russia began to aim at subjecting Finland to orthodoxy and
autocracy. With the accession of Nicholas II, the constitutional
conflict became acute, and the 'February manifesto' of 1899
virtually abrogated the legislative power of the Finnish Diet.
Russian officials and the Russian language were forced on
Finland, and in April 1903 the Russian Governor was invested
with practically dictatorial powers. To all this the people of
Finland opposed a determined resistance, which in November
1905 culminated in a national strike. ' As a result the
demands of Finland were granted and the status quo ante 1899
was restored. In 1908-10 friction with Russia was again
renewed, the Imperial Government repeating the attempt to
curtail the power of the Finnish Diet. The collapse of the
Russian Empire holds out to Finland the prospect of gaining
TURANIANS C
34 THE FINNO-UGRIAN DIVISION
permanent freedom. In October 1917 a commission of the
Finnish Diet was appointed to work out a scheme of Finnish
autonomy in federation with Russia.
Bibliography.— Castren, Vorlesungen ilber die altaischen Fo/ybgr, pp. 144-52.
Finland in the Nineteenth Century, by Finnish authors, illustrated by Finnish
artists ; Helsingfors (Stanford, London), 1894. Abercromby, Pre- and Proto-
historic Finns, 2 vols., London, 1898. The Grand Duchy of Finland, Fisher
Unwin, London, 1903. Maurice Chalhoub, La Finlande (well illustrated),
Paris, 1910. Renwick, Finland of To-day, London, 1911.
a. The Karelians
Habitat, The Karelians form the second of the two main
subdivisions of the Finns in the narrow sense. They occupy
the east and the north of Finland, extending from the extreme
east end of the Grulf of Finland past Lake Ladoga towards
the White Sea, and southward from the Government of Arch-
angel through Olonets (around Lake Onega), Novgorod, and
Tver. Three small groups of Karelians are also found in
Ingria, which forms the northern and north-western part of
the Government of Petrograd. They are believed to have
migrated here from Finland about a.d. 1100. There appear,
moreover, to be authentic traces of a Karelian population in
the Governments of Kaluga (south of Moscow), Yaroslavl (east
of Tver), Vladimir, and Tambov, as far south as the Volga, but
here they have been merged in the Slav people. Though the
Karelians are not generally regarded as separate from the
Finns, they have long been a distinct tribe. Living farther
east, they have come less under Swedish and more under
Russian influence than the inhabitants of West Finland. But
as many of the districts which they inhabit are out of the way,
the Russian influence has not been strong. Hence they have
adopted less of European civilization, and have in places
preserved their own customs better than the Westerners.
Number. The total number of Karelians is about 260,000,^ ^
of whom about 63,000 live in Olonets, and about 195,000 in
Novgorod and Tver. These figures include the Karelians of
the southern districts who can still be distinguished from the
Russians, but not any estimate of those who have become
totally absorbed in the Slav population.
Language. The language of the Karelians is practically
the same as that of the Tavasts or Western Finns. It is,
WESTERN OE BALTIC FINNS 35
however, purer Finnish, because it has been far less subjected
to Swedish influence.
The great national epic of the Finns, the Kalevala, was
collected among the Karelians, chiefly in East Finland and
Olonets, by Elias Lonnrot in 1835. It is only since then that
the Finnish language has been used for literary composition,
and it has been so used with ever- increasing enthusiasm.
Several authors have distinguished themselves in this way ;
but the most gifted of the imaginative writers in Finnish is
Johani Aho, who was born in 1861. The most important
works on the language itself have been Lonnrot's great
Finnish -Swedish Dictionary and Donner's Comparative
Dictionary of the Finno-Ugrian languages (in German).
Those of the Karelians who live near Russian settlements
can generally speak Russian, though they use their own
language among themselves.
Characteristics, The Karelians are slighter in build and
better proportioned than the Finns. Owing doubtless to inter-
mixture with the Russians, they resemble the latter to a con-
siderable extent. Their eyes are usually blue, their hair is
generally brown or reddish, and is clipped level with the
eyebrows. They have low foreheads. The Karelians are more
enterprising, vivacious, and sociable, but less persevering
than the Finns.
Occupations. The occupations in which the Karelians engage
are very various. One of them is agriculture, which however
in their habitat is a struggle against nature. Another,^
the best and most profitable, is the felling, transport, and
floating of timber for the saw-mills. Fishing in rivers and
lakes is a common occupation among them. They also fish in
the sea for salmon, herring, and marine animals in Kandalaksha
Bay (the north-western branch of the White Sea). Hunting
in the forests has been reduced from what it was in former
days since the law against trapping was passed in 1892. The
carrying trade with Finland, which used to be extensively
practised, has also been reduced since the Finns have taken
to opening a shop in almost every Karelian village.
Dwellings and Food. The houses of the Karelians are built
on a sort of permanent scaffolding and are reached by ladders.
A corridor divides the rest of the house from the store shed.
On the ground below are sheep pens and cattle sheds. The
c 2
36 THE FINNO-UGEIAN DIVISION
principal food of the Karelians consists of fish and vegetables ;
but they also use flour. On fast days they eat salted mush-
rooms and edible fungi stewed with turnips and potatoes. They
brew a sort of country beer called hraga. They do not drink
vodJca.
Religion. Owing to E/Ussian influence the Karelians belong
to the orthodox Greek Church, while the Finns are Lutheran
Protestants. The Karelians began to be Christianized in the
thirteenth century.
We learn from Russian Chronicles that in the year 1227
Prince Yaroslav sent out priests to baptize a number of
Karelians. According to a bull of 1351 the Karelians had
before that date adopted the Catholic doctrine, which the same
bull informs us they had been obliged by the Russians to
renounce.
History. Though the language of both tribes is the same,
the Karelians have not only always been separated from the
Tavasts while in the north, but have even often been engaged
in actual hostilities with them. Their history is almost entirely
unknown till the time of the Swedish invasion in the twelfth
century. They are first mentioned in the ninth century. An
early Norse account ^^ states that in a.d. 877 a vassal of Harold
Haarfagar in Lapland was visited by an envoy of the Kvens
(or Finns) ^* and asked for help against the Karelians, who had
been devastating their land. We further gather from a Saga
that the Karelians, as well as other Finnish tribes, were tribu-
tary to the Swedish King Eric Edmundsson, who died in
A.D. 833. It is most probable that the Russians of Novgorod
began early in the twelfth century to exact tribute from the
Karelians. They had to enforce it sword iii hand, for it was
resisted by the Karelians, who in 1187 murdered the Novgorod
tribute collectors. But in spite of the conflicts between the
Novgorod Russians and the Karelians^ they often made common
cause. The Karelians are mentioned (for the first time in
Russian history) as having in 1143 made a raid against the
Finns (whom the Russians call Yem). They also fought on
the side of the Novgorodians against Sweden. But in 1323
a peace was concluded by which the Russians ceded a large
part of Karelia to Sweden. Peter the Great wrested Karelia
from Sweden in 1721, since when it has been part of the
Russian Empire.
WESTERN OR BALTIC FINNS 37
Nestor (eleventh century), the reputed author of the earliest
Russian Chronicle, mentions a trade route from Greece along
the Dnieper and Lovat to Lake Ilmen (on which Novgorod is
situated) and thence down the Volchov, the Ladoga, and the
Neva into the Gulf of Finland. The Karelians as inhabiting
these latter regions naturally took part in the trade which
passed through their country. Bjorko in the Gulf of Finland
was the emporium of this trade, and during the Middle Ages
used to be a depository for the trade of the Hanseatic towns
with Russia.
Bibliography.— Castren, Ethnologische VorUmngen, pp. 144-53.
b. Other Western Finns
There are in Western Russia four other tribes of Baltic
Finns, which are closely allied in speech.
1. The Vepsas, or Northern Chudes, inhabit the country
round the upper course of the Oyat river (east of Lake Ladoga),
and extend to the south-west of Lake Onega in the Government
of Olonets. There is written evidence that the Vepsas and
Karelians lived on the north-east of Lake Kubinsk (north of
the town of Vologda) as late as the middle of the thirteenth
century. A hundred years later a Russian monk, who founded
a monastery at the south-east corner of Lake Onega, mentions
the Chudes (Vepsas) and Lapps as living in the neighbourhood
of that lake.^'"* The Vepsas probably represent the Ves, who
are stated by the Russian Chronicle to have lived near Lake
Bielozero (60° N., 38' E.). They now number about 25,000,
being the remnant of a once much larger tribe.
Both the Vepsas and the Votes are closely allied in language
to the Esthonians.
2. The Votes, or Southern Chudes, at one time probably the
original inhabitants of the whole of Ingria, the district round
Petrograd, are now restricted to about thirty parishes in
the north-western part of that region. They were partly
driven out of their old home by Karelians from Finland and
by Russians from the south.
They are first mentioned by Nestor in 1069.^^ About ten
years ago they numbered, together with the Ingrian Karelians,
about 14,000.1^
3. The Esthonians inhabit the province of Esthonia, the
38 THE FINNO-UGEIAN DIVISION
north of Livonia, nearly as far south as the river Salis, as well
as the islands of Dago and Oesel. There are also smaller
groups of them to the east in the neighbouring Governments
of Petrograd, Pskov, and Vitebsk. The name Est or Ehst, by
which they are known to foreigners, is probably the same as
the Aestii of Tacitus, though the latter designation originally
belonged to a totally different tribe. The Esthonians call
themselves md Tties or ' country people ', and their country vivo.
They are the peasantry of the Russian province of Esthonia
and of the neighbouring districts.
Next to the Finns they are the largest western tribe, the
Esthonian population exceeding 1,000,000.
They were serfs till 1817, when they were freed. But their
condition was so little improved that a serious rebellion broke
out among them in 1859. Owing to the influence of the
surrounding Russian and German population, they have
become more civilized than the other tribes in these regions.
Two dialects may be distinguished in the Esthonian lan-
guage, a northern spoken around Reval, and a southern around
Dorpat. The oldest linguistic records are single words, mostly
place and personal names, dating from the first half of the
thirteenth century. The first traces of their literature, which
made a great start in the nineteenth century, goes back to the
sixteenth.
BiBLiOGKAPHY.-- Wiedemann, Aus dem inneren und dusseren Leben der
Esthen, 1876. Kirby, Esthonia (with map), 2 vols., London, 1895.
4. The Livonians are the old Finnish inhabitants of West
Livland (or Livonia) and North Kurland. They have become
almost entirely absorbed by the Letts. They are mentioned
as a warlike, predatory pagan tribe in the Middle Ages. Their
language has borrowed almost half its vocabulary from Lettic,
which has also influenced its word-formation and syntax. It
is a dying language, which twenty-five years ago was spoken
by about 2,000 people. It survives, if at all, only along a
narrow strip of coast in the extreme north-west of Kurland. ^^
Bibliography.— //is^o/-f/ of Livonia in Scheffer's History of Lapland,
London, 1704 ; v. Parrot, Liven, Latten, Esten, 2 vols. (German), Stuttgart,
1828. Cp. Maps of the Baltic Provinces in Abercromby, Pre- and Proto-
histofic Finns, London, 1898.
WESTERN OR BALTIC FINNS 39
c. The Lapps
Linguistically the Lapps are closely allied to the western
branch of the Finns, but racially they occupy a somewhat
doubtful position.
Habitat. The territory inhabited by the Lapps is chiefly
the extreme north of the Scandinavian peninsula, for the most
part within the Arctic Circle, whither they have been driven
by the Finns. The term Lapland is used to designate some-
what vaguely the region occupied by the Lapps in Norway,
Sweden, Finland, and Russia. In Norway it covers the divi-
sion of Finmarken and the higher inland parts of Tromso and
Nordland ; in Sweden the districts of Norbotten and Vester-
botten, besides the ^lyq districts called Lappmark ; in Finland
the northern part of the district of Uleaborg, chiefly around
Lake Enare ; and in Russia the western part of the Govern-
ment of Archangel in the Kola peninsula. The southern
boundary of the Lapps in Sweden is roughly 64*" N., though
scattered families of them occur much farther south.
Names, The Lapps are by the Swedes called Lapper, by
the Russians Lapari, and by the Norwegians Finner. They
call their country Sahme or Same, and themselves Samelats :
names almost identical with those employed by the Finns for
their own country and race. ' Lapp ' is probabty a nickname
imposed by foreigners.
Classes. The Laplanders may be divided into the three
classes of Mountain Lapps, Forest Lapps, and Fisher Lapps,
the proportions of the three varying according to the nature
of the territory which they inhabit. The first two classes are
nomadic, and are the true representatives of their race.^^ In
the wandering life of the mountain Lapp, his autumn residence
on the borders of the forest district may be considered the
central point. It is there that he erects on piles his small
wooden storehouse. Early in November he begins to wander
south or east into the forest land, and, in Sweden, occasionally
visits the towns. About the beginning of May he is back at
his storehouse ; but as soon as the weather grows warm he
pushes up to the mountains, and there throughout the summer
pastures his herds and prepares his stores of cheese. By
October he is busy at his storehouse, killing the surplus rein-
deer and curing meat for the winter. In Norway the Mountain
40 THE FINNO-UaEIAN DIVISION
Lapps lead a harder life. There they are in winter usually
settled near the churches, while in summer they visit the
coasts. Flesh is the favourite and in winter the only food of
the Mountain Lapps. They also use reindeer milk and cheese,
and rye or barley cakes.
The Forest Lapp is mainly distinguished by the narrower
limits of his nomadic life. He never migrates outside a certain
district. For in this he possesses hereditary rights and main-
tains a series of camping grounds which he visits in regular
rotation.
In April or May he sets his reindeer free to wander as
they please ; but immediately after midsummer, when the
mosquitoes become troublesome, he collects them again.
About the end of August they are again let loose, but are once
more collected in October. During the winter the Forest
Lapp pursues the same course of life as the Mountain Lapp.
Besides the Mountain Lapps, there are in Norway both River
and Sea Lapps. The E-iver Lapps, many of whom are descend-
ants of Finns proper, breed cattle, attempt a little tillage, and
entrust their reindeer to the care of Mountain Lapps. The
Sea Lapps are in some respects hardly to be distinguished from
the other coast dwellers of Finmark.
In Finland the great bulk of the comparatively few Lap-
landers in the Duchy belong to the fisher class, many of them
being settled in the neighbourhood of Lake Enare. In the
spring they go down to the Norwegian coast to take part in
the sea-fisheries, returning to the Lake about midsummer.
Formerly they found the capture of wild deer a profitable
occupation.
The Eussian Lapps are also for the most part fishers. They
maintain a half-nomadic life, very few having become settlers
in the Eussian villages. It is usual to distinguish them
according to the district of the coast which they frequent, as
Murman and Terian Lapps. A separate tribe, the Filmans
(i.e. Finmans), who wander about various tundras, or mossy
steppes, along the northern coast of the Kola peninsula, owe
their peculiar dialect and their Lutheran creed to a former
connexion with Sweden.
Number. The total number of the Lapps is over 30,000,
distributed as follows:— in Norway, 20,786 (in 1891); in
Sweden, 7,000 (in 1904) ; in Eussia 2,040 (in 1897) ; and in
WESTERN OE BALTIC FINNS 41
Finland about 1,000. They seem to be increasing in Norway,
and are pushing farther south. But in Sweden they are
gradually abandoning their nomad habits and becoming
merged in the Swedish population.
Language. The Lappish language is very closely connected
with Finnish, but its phonetics are diiFerent and more compli-
cated. It is broken up into very distinct and even mutually
unintelligible dialects, owing chiefly to the influence of the
various nationalities with which the Lapps have been in
contact. An eminent authority, Baron G. von Duben, dis-
tinguishes four leading dialects, but a greater number is
recognizable. Thus, according to Lonnrot, there are in Russian
Lapland alone three dialects due to the influence of Norwegian,
Karelian, and Russian respectively. Lappish has borrowed
many words from Norwegian, Swedish, Finnish, and Russian.
That it began at a very early period to borrow from Old Norse
is shown by the use it still makes of Scandinavian forms
belonging to a linguistic stage older even than that of
Icelandic. An analysis of their vocabulary throws some light
on the state of their civilization before they came in contact
with the Norse. Thus agricultural terms, the names of the
metals, and the word for 'smith' are all of Scandinavian origin.
Literature. The language of the Lapps was long ago reduced
to writing by missionaries, but very little has been printed in
it except school-books and religious works. The New Testa-
ment was only translated into Norwegian Lappish in 1840,
and it was not till 1895 that the entire Bible was printed in
the same dialect. The only Gospel that has been translated
into Russian L/appish is that of St. Matthew in two versions.
A number of Lappish popular tales and songs have also been
taken down from the lips of the people and published. One
of the Saga-like pieces thus preserved seems to contain
a reminiscence of the original home of the race in Central
Asia ; for a reference to Lake Baikal, and possibly also to the
Altai Mountains, has been found there. The story of Nyav-
visena, daughter of the sun, is full of quaint folklore about the
taming of the reindeer.
Characteristics. The most obvious physical characteristic of
the Lapps is shortness of stature, the average height of the
men being 5 ft. and of the women 4 ft. 9 in. The body is as
a rule fairly well proportioned, but the legs are rather short
42 THE FINNO-UGRIAN DIVISION
and inclined to be bandy. The complexion, though usually
dark, is sometimes fair. The colour of the hair varies from
blond and reddish to a bluish or greyish black. The eyes are
^ black, hazel, blue, or grey. Besides being the shortest, thfe
Lapp is the most brachycephalic type of man in Europe,
perhaps in the world,^*^ their average cephalic index being
about 83. In width of face the women are more Turanian
than the men. but in neither sex is the opening of the
, eye, though narrow, really oblique. The nose is always low
and broad. The muscular system is usually well developed.
But there is a deficiency of fatty tissue which affects the
features (especially by making the eyes prominent) and the
general character of the skin, the thinness of which can hardly
be paralleled among other Europeans. Among the Lapps, as
among other lower races, the index is shorter than the ring
finger.
The Lapps are a quiet and an inoffensive people, among
whom crimes of violence are almost unknown. The only
breach of law common among them is the killing of tame
reindeer which are the property of others. The Russian
Lapps are morally inferior to those of Scandinavia. They
have a bad reputation for lying and untrustworthiness, and
they are very generally addicted to drunkenness. In Scandi-
navia the importation of intoxicants among the Lapps has been
restricted since 1723. Here too education has made some
advance, while the Russian Lapps are still quite illiterate.
The Lapps are even now largely nomads, many of their
habits having probably changed but little since they first
tamed reindeer. Their manner of life is still in the patri-
archal stage.
Religion. The great majority of the Lapps are nominally
Christians, being Protestants in the Scandinavian countries
and members of the Grreek Church in Russian territory.
Though the first attempts to Christianize them began in the
eleventh century, they openly worshipped their heathen idols
till nearly the end of the seventeenth century in Swedish
Lappmark, and secretly in Norway till some way on into the
eighteenth century. The practice of heathen rites survived
into the nineteenth century, and is probably not yet extinct.
Lapp graves prepared in the old heathen manner have been
found in Norway dating from as late as the years 1820-6.
WESTERN OE BALTIC FINNS 43
History, The very fragmentary information that we possess
of the history of the Lapps is based on the evidence of language
and on the scanty references to them in the literature of the
peoples with whom they have come in contact. From the
geographical position which they have long occupied in
the extreme north-west of Europe, it is to be inferred that
the Lapps represent the first wave of the westward migration
of the Turanian race in Europe. Linguistic evidence shows
that they were in touch with the Scandinavians in the first
centuries of our era. In the early Middle Ages they began to
be discriminated from the Finns by the name of STcridefinnas
or 'run-Finns ',2^ the first word of the compound referring to
the snow-shoes (now sM) used by them. Procopius (1053-4)
calls them ^kplBl^lvol^ and Adam of Bremen (eleventh century)
places them, under the name of Scritifinni, on the boundary
of Sweden and Norway. In early times the territory of the
Lapps in the east extended much farther southward. In the
fourteenth century they were still to be found on the shores of
Lake Onega. In the middle of the sixteenth century they
were found in south-east Finland near Lake Saima, as far south
as about 60° N. latitude. In Norway and Sweden they did
not come into the southern parts of their present habitat till
after the Middle Ages.22
Bibliography.— Schftffer, The History of Lapland, translated from the
last edition in Latin and illustrated (to which is added Histoiy 0/ Livonia),
London, 1704. Friis, Lappish Mythology (Norwegian), Christiania, 1871.
Gustav von Diiben, Om Lappland och Lapparne (Swedish ; illustrated ; full
bibliography), Stockholm, 1873. Donner, Lieder der Lappen, 1876. Retzius,
Finland, 1885. Hedges Butler, Through Lapland with skis and reindeer, ivith
some account of ancient Lapland and the Murman coast (bibliography ; fully
illustrated), London, 1917. Admiral Degouy, Sur la Cote Mourmane, with
map, in Bevue des Deux Mondes, Paris, August 15, 1918.
ii. The Eastern (Kama) Finns
Habitat. The eastern branch of the Finns, which consists of
four main tribes with a population of over 2,000,000, is scattered
over a wide territory in Eastern Russia, extending from about
65° to 53° N. and from about 42° to 55° E. In the south-west
of this territory they border on the region (in the Governments
of Vladimir and Tambov) which the Karelian branch of the
Western Finns appear to have occupied in bygone times.^"^
44 THE FINNO-UGRIAN DIVISION
Among the Eastern Finns the Permians constitute a closer
group based both on proximity of habitat (the region of the
Kama river) and on the intimate affinity of their languages.
a. The Permyaks
The Permyaks form the first subdivision of this group.
They may be treated as practically one tribe with the Zirians,
because their dialects differ only very slightly, because both
call themselves by the same name, Komi-mort or ' Kama
people ', and because the two peoples only begin to be dis-
tinguished towards the end of the Middle Ages in the Russian
Chronicles. In early times the Permyaks were almost as
famous as the old Bulgarians. In the Scandinavian Sagas
their country was celebrated under the name of Byarmaland.
Their proper home was, and to a large extent still is, the river
district of the Kama. Thus a Russian qhronicle of 1396 says :
' The Kama river surrounds the whole Permyak land, and on
this river live many heathen ; it flows southward into the
Tatar land, and falls into the Volga sixty versts below Kazan.' 2*
Trade and Trade Routes. In the Middle Ages the Permians
were great traders. They are stated in 1096 to have made
a trade route to Yugria over the Urals, along the Vogulka
river (a tributary of the Kama) and the Sosva (in Western
Siberia). There was formerly a trade route from the Caspian
along the Volga, Kama, Dvina, and Pechora to the Arctic
Ocean. For this trade there were three emporia : Bolgari on
the Volga, Cherdin on the Kolva (a tributary of the Kama),
and Cholmogor on the Dvina. To Bolgari wares came direct
from Persia, Bokhara, Armenia, Arabia, and, according to some,
even from India. A part of these wares then went north to
the Permians, who exchanged them for furs which they
obtained from Siberia. The Permian tribes were long in
exclusive possession of this important trade. But the powerful
mercantile republic of Novgorod, from about the beginning of
the eleventh century, commenced attempts to subject Permia,
owing to its value for their trade, and succeeded in doing so
by 1100. After the fall of Novgorod, the Permians came under
the dominion of the princes of Moscow. In 1472 Cherdin and
nearly the whole of the territory of Permia were conquered.
But till the middle of the sixteenth century the Permians still
retained their own chiefs as vassals of the Czars.
EASTERN FINNS 45
Habitat, Number, S^c. The Permyaks live in the districts
of Perm and Cherdin in the Government of Perm. Their
numbers in 1897 were about 50,000.'-^5 Their occupations are
hunting, fishing, and agriculture. Their language has been
the subject of treatment by various Eussian scholars.^^
They belong to the Greek Orthodox Church. The first
Christian missionary who worked among them (1375-96) was
St. Stephen.
Of all the surviving Finnish tribes the Permyaks are the
most Russianized, and they will probably before very long be
absorbed in the Slav population. ^"^
b. The Zirians
Habitat. The important tribe of the Zirians ^^ is the most
northerly of the Eastern Finns. They inhabit in the province
of Archangel more than half of the Pechora District (of which
they formed 60 per cent, of the population in 1899), and in the
Province of Vologda the whole of the Ust-Sisolsk District
(on the Sisola), and two-thirds of the Yarensk District (on the
Vichegda). They are also found on the upper Kama, in the
Governments of Vyatka and Perm. Their centre is the town
of Ust-Ishma, at the junction of the Ishma and the Pechora.
In former times they extended farther west than they do now.
On the east about 1,000 Zirians live on the Asiatic side of the
Urals along the lower Ob.
They call themselves, from their old home, by the same name
as the Permyaks, Komi-mort or ' Kama-people'.
Number, Their total numbers are about 208,000.2"^
Characteristics. The average height of men among the
Zirians is 5 ft. 4 in.^^ They are robust in build. They are
bl(3nd and grey-eyed. They do not differ much in physique
from the ordinary Russian peasant of Archangel. The physi-
cally best type is found about Ust-Ishma and Makheva.
Occupations. The Zirians are hospitable, vivacious, and of
easy morality. They are an energetic, enterprising, and
shrewd people, given to trade and commerce, the trade across
the Urals in Samoyed wares being largely in their hands.
They also practise reindeer breeding, in which they have been
engaged for a very long time. In 1896 they possessed in
the Pechora district about 225,000 head of reindeer,^^ single
Zirians sometimes owning as many as 4,000 each. They
46 THE FINNO-UGEIAN DIVISION
further engage in hunting and agriculture to some extent.
They often hire Samoyeds as labourers and herdsmen.
Manner of Life. Having been in constant touch with the
Russians since the ninth century, the Zirians have adopted
much that is Russian in customs and dress. They are ceasing
to be nomadic, having assimilated the rural institutions of the
Russians. They often live in large villages, inhabiting log
houses much the same as those of the Russian peasants. Their
food is chiefly meat, fish, and milk. They are fond of vodka,
but they also brew a sort of beer from barley malt.
Religion. The Zirians were converted to Christianity in the
fourteenth century by the missionary and later bishop of Perm,
St. Stephen. They are now devout adherents of the Orthodox
Greek Church. Nearly every village in their country has
a well-built church.
Language. The language of the Zirians ^^ is closely allied
to that of the Permyaks, the two tribes being mutually intelli-
gible. It has borrowed many Russian words. There is also
in the vocabulary a Samoyed element associated with rein-
deer; for the Zirians have derived from. the Samoyeds the art
of breeding and herding those animals.
Among the Finno-Ugrians the Zirians, next to the Hun-
garians, have the oldest, though only scanty, linguistic texts.
They date from the second half of the fourteenth century,
consisting chiefly in a translation of the Gospels, probably
the work of St. Stephen. These are partly written in Zirian
characters which St. Stephen formed out of the Church Slav
alphabet.^^ Otherwise the Zirians have no literature nor
written memorials. *
c. The VotyaJcs
Habitat. This tribe forms the third member of the Permian
group, being closely allied to the Zirians. Their territory lies
to the south of that of the Zirians, for the most part along the
river Vyatka and the upper Kama, chiefly in the south-eastern
part of the Government of Vyatka. They are also found in
the Government of Ufa,^^ into which some of them migrated
about the sixteenth century ; and this region being more
fertile is said to have improved their physique here. As
a rule the Votyaks are physically weak, and possess only
moderate intelligence. They are an agricultural people.
EASTERN FINNS 47
but they are also noted as very industrious and skilled
artisans.
Number. Their total numbers are about 420,000.^*
Language. The language of the Votyaks, like that of their
kinsmen the Permyaks and the Zirians, has borrowed many
elements from the Chuvash, Tatar, and Eussian.
Religion. The Votyaks may have been Christianized about
the same time as the Permians and Zirians, but there is no
trustworthy information on this subject. They are now, like
the other divisions of this group, adherents of the Orthodox
Greek Church. When Castr^n wrote (1851),^'^ there were,
however, still some pagans in the population. In any case,
Shamanistic practices still survive among them.^^
In the Middle Ages the Votyaks became subject to the
republic of Chlinow, which was founded in 1174 by colonists
from Novgorod, on the river Vyatka. This republic lasted till
1459, when it was overthrown by a Prince of Moscow. After
the fall of Chlinow and Novgorod, the Votyaks came under
the dominion of Moscow. They are said to have retained
a kind of independence till 1589, when they voluntarily
became subject to the Russian Czar Feodor Ivanovich.^"^
According to their own traditions, the tribal chiefs of the
Votyaks formerly dwelt on the Kazanka, in the neighbourhood
of Arskoi Prigorod, where they had a fortress, but whence
they were later driven by the Tatars into their present
territory.^^
d. The Volga Group
The Volga (or Bulgarian) group of the Eastern Finns
inhabit the regions of the middle Volga, and consist of three
main tribes. They have borrowed more Tatar elements, while
the Permian group have come more under the influence of the
Slavs. This contrast is reflected in the outward appearance of
the two peoples. The Volga Finns are no longer nomads,
having adopted the settled life of the surrounding Slavs. In
early times the Bulgars are described by the Teutonic writer
Jordanes as having their seat above the Pontus. The Arab
writer Ibn Fozlan describes them as living on the middle
Volga near its confluence with the Kama. He, in a.d. 921,
visited their capital, which was on the left bank of the Volga
(situated c. 54° 54' N. lat.), and gives some information about
48 THE FINNO-UGEIAN DIVISION
it. Islam was adopted there in the following year. Some five
centuries before a section of the Bulgars had left the main
body, crossed the Danube, and penetrated into Moesia."'-^
Here they became so merged in the Slavs with whom they
came in contact that they lost not only their racial type,^^ but
their language. Thus it has come about that their origin is
indicated almost solely by the name of the modern state of
Bulgaria.*^
1. The Mordvins. Habitat. This tribe lives in the region
of the middle Volga in the Grovernments of Samara, Simbirsk,
and Penza. ^^ There are two sub-tribes, the Mokshans in the
east, living chiefly on the Sura and Moksha rivers, and
the Ersans in the west, on the Oka. They are found scattered
over the Governments of Vyatka, Kazan, Nizhni Novgorod,
Penza, Saratov, Tambov, and Simbirsk.*^
Names and Mode of Life. These two subdivisions are already
mentioned by Rubruquis ** under the name of Moxel and
Merdas or Merduas. Herberstein,*^ who knows them only
under the name of Mordwa, says they were good bowmen, but
differed from the Cheremisses in having stationary dwellings.
Owing to the fertility of their land, they had early given
up their nomadic life and taken to agriculture and cattle-
breeding. Though they were once a very warlike and cruel
people, they are now peaceful and industrious agriculturists
and bee-keepers. Of their old customs they have retained little
or nothing.
Religion. Pallas found some heathen among them, but they
are said to have adopted Christianity, which has been preached
to them since the time of the Empress Anne (1730-40).
Number. The total number of the Mordvins is over
1,000,000,*« and is even given as high as 1, 860,000.^7
Dialects. There are two Mordvin dialects, which show
many borrowings from Chuvash, Tatar, and Russian.
History. Jordanes, who first mentions this people under
the name of Mordens, seems to have counted them as belonging
to the dominion of the Gothic leader Hermanarik. It is
uncertain to what extent they were later subject to the
Bulgarian kingdom. Nestor (eleventh century) speaks of them
as Finnish, and they are mentioned by many mediaeval
authors, who however give little information about them. In
1104 they repulsed the attack of a Muscovite prince named
EASTEEN FINNS 49
Jaroslav Svyatoslavich.^^ rpj^^ attacks were repeated by his
successors, who succeeded in making some sections of the
Mordvins tributary. But soon after came the Mongol invasion,
which subjected both Russians and Mordvins. When Mongol
rule in Russia terminated, the Mordvins, in alliance with
Tatars and their kinsmen the Cheremisses, again engaged in
conflicts with the Russians. Ultimately, when the dominion
of Russia on the Volga was consolidated, the Mordvins became
subject to that power.
2. The Cheremisses. Habitat. This tribe inhabits the banks
of the Volga, chiefly the western or 'meadow' bank, for the
most part in the neighbourhood of Kazan. The few who live
on the mountainous side are called ' Hill Cheremisses ' and are
physically stronger. They also extend to the north of Kazan,
along the Kama and the Vyatka rivers, occupying the southern
parts of the Governments of Perm and Vyatka. They are
further to be met with in the Governments of Kostroma,
Nizhni Novgorod, Ufa, and Orenburg.
Number. Their number, which seems to have increased
considerably during the last century, is now about 375,000.'*^
Name. The name 'Cheremiss' is said to have been given
them by the Mordvins and to mean ' Easterners '. They call
themselves Mara ' men '.^^
Language. The language, in which two dialects, the
Western and Eastern, are to be distinguished, has been
strongly influenced by Chuvash, Tatar, and Russian.^^
Manner of Life. The Cheremisses have given up nomad
life, and are now active agriculturists. They live together in
villages consisting of only a few houses, at the most twenty to
thirty.
Religion. Though long subject to Tatar rule, they did not
adopt Islam, but retained their own Shamanistic cult, which
has even now not disappeared. Christianity, which was intro-
duced among them in the middle of the eighteenth century, is
only nominal, the population generally being still heathen.^^
History. In history the Cheremisses are first mentioned by
Jordanes (who calls them Svemniscans) as among the peoples
whom Hermanarik, King of the Goths, subjected about
A.D. 350. In Russian history their name first occurs in Nestor
(eleventh century), but the information which he and the
Russian Chronicles supply about them is very scanty. The
TURANIANS
50 THE FINNO-UGEIAN DIVISION
oldest accounts represent them as living in the centre of
the Bulgarian state ; hence they probably formed a part of that
great and famous kingdom. After the destruction of that
power by the Mongols, the Cheremisses became subject to the
Tatar Khans, whose seat was at Kazan. From that time
onwards they are often referred to in Eussian history. They
always made common cause with the Tatars, and fought
obstinately against the Russians ; and even after the fall of
the Khanate of Kazan they maintained their hostility. At
that time they were a very wild, cruel, and rapacious people.
They used to wander about as nomads in the forest region
between the Volga and the Vyatka. According to their own
traditions, the Cheremisses formerly lived under their own
tribal chiefs, and their manner of life was much the same as
that of the Ugrian peoples.^^
3. The ChuvasJies. Habitat. This tribe consists of -a mixture
of the Cheremiss branch of the Volga Finns with Tatars.^*
They live on the right bank of the Volga and on the Sura,
in the Governments of Kazan, Simbirsk, Samara, and in lesser
numbers in Saratov, Ufa, and Orenburg.
Number. Their numbers in 1897 were 843,755.'^^
Characteristics. Physically the Chuvashes resemble the
.Finns, being round-headed, flat-featured, and light-eyed, but
their type has been affected by long association with the
Tatar element. In dress they have been thoroughly Russian-
ized. They are described as industrious, moral, and very
cleanly in their habits.
Occupations. They are agriculturists, cattle-breeders, and
bee-keepers, as well as fishers and hunters.
Religion. Since the middle of the eighteenth century >they
have been Christians for the most part, but they hold the
heathen magic priest in high regard, and cling to many of
their old Shamanistic practices.
Bibliography.— Vambery, Das Tilrkenvolk, Leipzig, 1885, pp. 444-95 ;
On the Chuvashes (in Hungarian), Buda-Pest, 1883. Aschmarin, Volga Bulga-rs
and Chuvashes (in Russian), Kazan, 1902. On the language : Schott, De
lingua Tschiitvaschorum, Berlin, 1841 ; Solatnitskiy, Chuvash-Russian Dic-
tionary, Kazan, 1875.
B. The Ugrians
The Ugrian group consists of three branches. Two of
these, the Ostyaks and the Voguls, living as neighbours,
THE UGRIANS 51
chiefly on the Asiatic side of the Urals, are more closely
associated as Ob-Ugrians, and are few in number. The third,
which has been separated from the other two for more than
1,000 years, is by far the most important, occupying a wide
territory with a large population. These are the Hungarians.
Name. This group is called Ugrian from the name of the
extensive region on both sides of the lower Ob and Irtish
which is bounded by the habitat of the Samoyeds in the north,
of the Tatars in the south, b}^ the Urals in the west, and by
the rivers Nadim, Agan, and Vach in the east. Within these
limits are found the Ostyaks and the Voguls, who in Eussian
chronicles and other old documents bear the common name
of Ugrians. South of these, in prehistoric times, lived various
kindred tribes, among whom the most powerful were the
Unogurs, later called Ugurs, Uigurs, and Ungars^^ (the modern
Hungarians).
Migrations. This latter tribe migrated westward by various
stages, till they finally settled in the basin of the middle
Danube, which they occupy at the present day. It is im-
possible to say when the Ugrian group left their original
home in the Asiatic Highlands, but they had probably reached
the region of the Ural mountains in the early centuries of
our era.
History. In the eleventh century the Ugrians are often
mentioned as on the banks of the Volga. But the first trust-
worthy account of the present Ugrians is derived from Nestor,
who for the year 1096 notes that they were southern neigh-
bours of the Pechorians and Samoyeds. In 1187 the Ugrians
were tributary to Novgorod, and in a chronicle of the year
1264 Yugra is mentioned as one of the districts of Novgorod.
In the time of Jenghiz Khan's successors Yugria seems to
have sufiered from the devastations of the Mongols, as related
by Piano Carpini, who in 1246 journeyed through Russia as
Papal Envoy to the Mongol Grand Khan. He tells of an
expedition made in 1242 by a part of Batu Khan's hordes
through the country of the Mordvins, Bulgars, and Bashkirs
against the Samoyeds and others as far as the Arctic coast.
In 1499 Ivan Vassilyevich sent his armies into Yugria and
made it a Russian province.'^' In 1571 the Tatars again
endeavoured to found a new kingdom, but it was short-lived,
for in 1580 the famous Russian Cossack Yermak appeared on
d2
52 THE FINNO-UGEIAN DIVISION
the scene, expelled the Tatar Khan, and conquered Yugria as
well as the whole of Western Siberia.^^
a. The Ugrian Ostyaks
Habitat This tribe lives along the Ob, the Irtish, and its
tributaries the Konda and the Vasyugan, in the Tobolsk and
the Tomsk Governments.
There are three groups of Ostyaks : the northern Ostyaks
in the northern Berezovsk District ; the eastern, south of
Surgut and along the Vasyugan as far as its tributary the
Chayanka and south-east of that river about as far as the
latitude of Tomsk ; and the south-western or Irtish Ostyaks
in the northern part of the Tobolsk District, along the Ob, the
Irtish, and the Konda. At the present day the territory of
the Ostyaks is almost entirely restricted to Asia, but about
a thousand years ago their lands still stretched into Eastern
Europe, whence they were for the most part driven back over
the Urals by the Russians. In the central provinces of Russia
numerous place and river names of Ugrian origin still survive.
Here the Ostyaks have almost entirely disappeared, having,
where not expelled by the Russians, become merged in the
neighbouring Zirian, Vogul, and Samoyed tribes ; it is only
in West Siberia that they remain comparatively intact.
Name, The name Ostyak has no linguistic affinity with
any of the languages of the three people so called. The
Ugrian Ostyaks are known simply as Ostyaks or as Ugra,
Yugra. The most probable derivation of ' Ostyak ' is from the
Tatar word Oushtak, ' barbarian ', by which the Tatars called
all the tribes of the middle Yenisei and the Ob, when they
reached the Yenisei valley in the thirteenth century. In the
old Novgorod annals of the eleventh century, the Ostyaks are
known by the name of Ugra. The old term Ugra or Yogra is
still used by the Zirians for their neighbours the Ostyaks of
the Urals. The Samoyeds call the Ostyaks Yara7i or Yargai
(from Ya7'a ' stranger '). The general name by which the
Ostyaks (as well as the Voguls) call themselves is Mans.
Number. The number of the Ugrian Ostyaks is given in
Asiatic Russia (for 1911) as 18,591.^^ They seem to be de-
creasing, as infant mortality is high among them and they
suifer much from famine.
Characteristics. The average height of the Ugrian Ostyaks
THE UGEIANS 53
IS 5 ffc. 3-4 in. They are long-headed and have round flat
faces, broad and rather flat noses, prominent cheek-bones, dark
narrow eyes, and yellow or yellow-gre}^ complexions. Their
hair is • long, smooth, and mostly black. Their beards are
scanty. Owing to admixture with Russian blood, the Turanian
type is, however, less marked among them, though they live
almost entirely in Asia, than among the Mordvins, who live in
Europe. In character they are timid, good-natured, obliging,
simple, and superstitious. They are also honest where they
have not been affected by civilization.
Mode of Life. The Ugrian Ostyaks are still nomads. In
the south-west, where they have been most influenced by
Russian colonization, they have in some places given up
their wandering life, though even here they remain seasonal
nomads, living in their wooden huts for the fishing season, and
often for the hunting season as well.
In the northern and eastern districts they are wanderers.
In winter they live in tents made of reindeer-skin and some-
times in half-underground log-huts covered with snow. In
summer they live in tents made of birch-bark. During their
migrations reindeer are used for drawing their wooden sledges.
Their winter dress is made chiefly of reindeer-skin, while
their summer clothing consists of fish-skin, or is woven by
women from the nettle plant. The dress of the Ostyaks in
-the Obdorsk region is practically the same as that of the
Samoyeds, except that they have adopted the veiling of women
from the adjacent Tatars.
Their food consists chiefly in fish (eaten raw in summer and
frozen in winter) and the flesh of reindeer, the entrails of which
are eaten raw, while the rest is usually cooked. They also
frequently gather cranberries and cedar nuts. They are fond
of drinking vodka.
Occupations, Their occupations are hunting, fishing, and
reindeer breeding. They hunt, chiefly in winter, elk and
reindeer, on snow-shoes with the aid of dogs, using old-
fashioned flintlocks. In remoter districts they also employed
bows and arrows recently. In winter they also fish through
the ice. Very few of them engage in agriculture.
The Ostyaks are skilled in handicraft such as wood and
bone carving, fine embroidery on linen, and the manufacture
of ornaments with beads. They make musical instruments.
54 THE FINNO-UGEIAN DIVISION
shaped either like a boat with five reindeer-sinew strings,
called the domhra (which they consider to be their original
instrument), or like a swan with nine metal strings. On these
instruments they play their own original music.
Language. The Ostyak language has three or four dialects,
the purest of which is said to be that which is spoken at
Surgut. The dialect employed round Berezov is so different
from that round Obdorsk that the two are mutually unintelli-
gible. The Ostyaks have no written records, but possess an
oral tradition of legends and a national war epic called
Tarnin-a7'a, ' the song of Tarn ' (an evil anthropomorphic
power). As ifc makes no reference to the conflicts of the
Ostyaks with the Tatars who subdued them in the sixteenth
century, we may infer that it originated at a period anterior to
those conflicts.
Clans. Like the Samoyeds, the Ostyaks are split up into
a number of small clans under patriarchal institutions, each
with an elder at its head. The clan consists of a number of
families of common descent who consider themselves related,
and is consequently exogamous.
The clan migrates as a body on nomadic expeditions.
Neighbouring clans are combined under a common chief,
who is accounted a prince and whose main duty is to pre-
serve harmony among them. This status was recognized b}^
Katharine II (1762-96), and has been continued by the Russian
Government down to the present day. The chiefship and the
eldership are hereditary dignities. The national epic of the
Ostyaks shows that at the time when it was composed they
were already organized as a confederacy consisting of many
small settlements, each with its own elder and all under
a supreme chief (called z/or, ur, or urt).
Civilization. The civilization of the Ostyaks is still very
primitive. They understand counting by tens, but they have
no knowledge of figures. Among them, as among the Samo-
yeds and other related races, marriage is concluded by the
father or nearest male relative of the bride, for whom a price
(kalim) is paid by the bridegroom. The woman has no say in
the matter. She is strictly a servant, is considered unclean,
and lives a life of degradation. Polygamy is allowed, but is
rare nowadays because of the high price that has to be paid
for the bride. The dead are interred in forests. No graves
THE UGRIANS 55
are dug, but the body is laid on the ground and covered with
skins. In the north the old custom of burying the dead in
a canoe is still practised. All the belongings of the deceased
are placed in his grave because of the very widely diffused
belief that the departed continue to have the same wants and
occupations as when alive. Both at his funeral and for some
years afterwards his relatives offer reindeer on his tomb.
Religion. Many of the Ostyaks have since 1715 belonged
officially to the Kussian orthodox Church, but such adherence
has not to any great extent influenced their Shamanistic beliefs
and practices. In the Berezov and Taz districts they are even
officially still classed as pagan.
There are three great gods common to all the Ostyaks. One
of them is ' the old man from the mouth of the Ob', the god of
all fish. The first catch of fish is offered to him every season,
and many sacrifices of animals are offered and various objects
are deposited where he is thought to live. He is always repre-
sented with a bow and arrows and a shield. The second is the
goose god, the protector of all birds (i.e. that frequent the
river Ob). The third is the god of the Konda, of whom we
know very little. The principal destructive deity is Tarn,
god of war, sickness, bad weather and everything injurious to
life, generally regarded as a female.
The great gods are usually represented by anthropomor-
phic idols, which the Ostyaks seldom keep in their tents, but
usually in the open air on a distant wooded height. Near
these sanctuaries there is usually a Shaman, who looks after
the image of the god.
Besides the great gods every Ostyak has a lesser family
deity, the image of whom he keeps in his tent. These private
gods are accounted tutelary deities. They accompany the
Ostyak on all his wanderings and are kept in a separate
sledge. Sacrifices consist in besmearing the lips of the idols
with fish oil or blood, and placing a vessel with fish oil or
flesh before them as nourishment. Sacrifice is regarded as
a gift for service to be done, or as a reward for service already
done.
Mystical properties are possessed by the swan and the goose
among birds, and especially by the bear among animals. When
a bear has been killed his body is placed on the ground, while
the people dance round it and apologize for killing it, throwing
56 THE FINNO-UGRIAN DIVISION
the blame on the Eussians for having supplied them with iron
arrow-heads.
The Shaman, who is not necessarily hereditary, chooses his
successor, male or female. His costume is very similar to that
of the Samoyed Shaman, being made of reindeer hide, with
many metallic jingles. The magic drum of the Ostyak Shaman
differs from the type used by the other natives along the
Yenisei in being round instead of oval. It is an absolutely
necessary implement to the Shaman, who is in every respect
an interpreter of the gods. Conversation with a god can only
be carried on by him and only by means of song and beat of
drum. This ceremony is always accompanied by a sacrifice
consisting of one or more reindeer. Now that the south-
western and many of the northern Ostyaks are nominal Chris-
tians, the marriage ceremonies among them are a combination
of Christian and Shamanist rites.
The oath with the Ostyaks as with the Samoyed s is an act
of the highest religious importance, and that which is taken
on a bear's snout is the most sacred.
History. The Ostyaks have no historical records of their
own, though from their legends and their national epic some
inferences of an historical nature may be extracted. What we
know of their history is derived from Russian chronicles.
From the Novgorod annals we know that they were called
Ugra in the eleventh century, when they had fights with the
Novgorodians. In 1398 they are mentioned as distinct from
but related to the Voguls. These two tribes are again men-
tioned in 1483, when a Moscow military expedition conquered
their lands. When the Ostyaks were driven from their
European settlements by the Russians, it is probable that they
concentrated in Western Siberia, where they fought with the
Samoyeds for supremacy in the region between the Urals and
the Ob. These fights are vividly described in the old war
epic of the Ostyaks. As a result of the conflict some of the
Ostyaks were merged in the Samoyed tribes, but the bulk of
the Ostyak nation still exists in the same region as they have
occupied for many centuries. About 1500 the Tatars subdued
the whole valley of the Irtish. In 1581 the Ostyaks suc-
cumbed to the Russians, and in 1586 the first Cossack settle-
ment was built at the mouth of the Irtish. It was, however,
only after a long and hard struggle, and not till forty-one
THE UGEIANS 57
Ostyak villages had been destroyed that the Eussians entirely
subdued them. Later, the Ostyaks helped the Eussians in
conquering other native tribes. At the time of the Eussian
conquest the Ostyak territory extended much farther than it
does now. Eemains of their forts destroyed by the Cossacks
in the sixteenth century are found in several parts of the
country, many near Obdorsk. In 1897 some South Ostyak
villages still spoke a Tatar language, and Mohammedan
customs, such as abstention from pork and the veiling of
women, prevailed. But Eussian influence has revived among
the Ostyaks and has been making great progress among them,
chiefly in consequence of Eussian women marrying Ostyak
men. Hence many Ostyak villages in the Irtish region
speak only Eussian, and young men will not learn Ostyak,
though the old men still speak it. The Eussification of the Ob
Ostyaks has also been extended by trade.
In the case of the Ostyaks we have an example of the
partial mixture of three branches of the Turanians — Ugrian,
Samoyed, and Tatar — besides intermarriage to some extent
with the non-Turanian Eussian.
Bibliography. — C2istYen,EthnologischeVoi-lesungen, pi). 101 -28. Czaplicka,
m Hastings's Encyclopaedia of Religion and Ethics, vol. viii, pp. 575-8.
b. The Voguls
Habitat. This tribe lives on both sides of the Urals, but the
bulk of them are found between the Urals and the Irtish and
the Ob. Formerly they extended farther to the west and the
south. Most of them are settled in the Government of Tobolsk,
including the territory' of the Konda, but they also extend
eastwards to near the Irtish, Tavda, and Tara ; westwards
beyond the frontier of the Government of Perm (between the
head waters of the Pechora and the Urals) ; in the north to
the Sosva ; and in the south to the Lozva.
They are closely allied to the Ugrian Ostyaks, to whom and
themselves they apply the common name of Mansi (from the
river Man, the scene of the Vogul deluge), as being one people.
The Zirians call both by the common name of Yograyas.
Number. Their numbers are about 7,000,^^ of whom about
2,000 are in Europe. Their population seems to be decreasing,
partly in consequence of admixture with the Eussians.
Characteristics. They differ little from the Ostyaks in
58 THE FINNO-UGRIAN DIVISION
physique. They are below middle height. The face is round
and flat, the cheek-bones prominent, the nose broad though
not flat, the hair long and black, the. beard weak, the com-
plexion dark. The features are not markedly Turanian. The
Voguls are said to be the least sociable of the Siberian tribes.
Mode of Life. Like the Ostyaks they are mostly hunters
and fishers. They breed reindeer, but have few horses. Those
in the southern districts practise agriculture to some extent.
They are half nomads, spending the winter, like the Lapps, in
wretched huts, but in summer and autumn wandering about,
occupied chiefly with hunting, especially the sable. They
trade with the Samoyeds, Ostyaks, and Russians, principally
in furs. Their food consists chiefly of fish or the flesh of
reindeer.
They usually wear Russian dress. They also weave garments
of nettles, or at least did so in recent times.
Language. In their language, which is closely allied to
Ostyak, two dialects may be distinguished — the northern,
spoken on the upper Lozva, the northern Sosva with its tribu-
taries, and the Ob ; and the southern, spoken on the lower
Lozva, the Pelinka, Vuglak, Konda, and Tavda.
Burial. When a Vogul dies his body is not taken out
through the door, but through the window or a specially made
hole. The graveyard is usually in a forest. The body is
conveyed there by reindeer and laid in a boat or boatlike
coffin. The burial is accompanied by a funeral feast.
Religion. Though the Voguls have been mostly nominal
Christians for a century, they are still largely devoted to their
old Shamanistic religion.
Bibliography.— Castren, Ethn. Vorlesungen, pp. 128-9. Szinnj'ei, op. cit.^
p. 12. Muller, Der Ugrische Volksstamm, p. 165. Hunfalvy, Die Volker des
Urals, Buda-Pest, 1888. Meyer, Konversationslexikon, vol. xx, p. 714. On
the language : Hunfalvy, Vogul grammar ami dictionary (in Hungarian),
Buda-Pest, 1872; Ahlqvist, Vogul texts and grammar, Helsingfors, 1894;
Munkaczy, Collection of Vogul popular poetry, Buda-Pest, 1882-3.
c. Hungarians or Magyars
Habitat The Magyars are by far the largest and most
important branch of the Ugrian group. They are the dominant
race in the Kingdom of Hungary. They constitute nearly
50 per cent, of its population, and are much the most numerous
THE MAGYARS 59
and compact of its many racial elements. The country in-
habited by them is a remarkable geographical unit defined on
all sides by the natural boundaries of mountains (chiefly the
Carpathians in the north-west, north, east, and south-east) and
rivers (the Danube, Save, and Unna), and forming the basin
of the Middle Danube. Most of the Magyars inhabit the major
portions of two extensive plains, one of which lies to the west
and south-west of Budapest and has an area of about 6,000
square miles, while the other, which lies between the Danube
and Transylvania and is much larger, has an area of about
37,000 square miles. In the former is scattered a considerable
German population. In the latter, however, the Magyars
form a solid racial block with hardly any alien elements inter-
spersed. The plain, which is traversed by the Theiss (Tisza)
and its many tributaries, extends over the greater portion of
Central and Southern Hungary.
Though in some parts covered with barren wastes of sand
alternating with marshes, the plains in general present a very
rich and productive soil, and form the most fertile part of the
kingdom. They were occupied by the Hungarians a thousand
years ago, as a territory congenial to their then nomadic
habits. There is on the extreme east a compact isolated body
of Magyars surrounded on all sides by the Rumanians of
Transylvania and of Rumania. It embraces the three Szekel
counties of Transylvania.
Name. The Hungarians call themselves Magyars or ' sons
of the earth ', and their country Magyarorszdg, ' land of the
Magyars', in Turkish Magyaristan,^^ • country of the Magyars'.
But the general European name given them and their country
(Latin Hungaria, French Hongrie, English Hungary, German
Ungarn) is derived from Ugria, the old designation of the
Ugrian territory on the Urals (see pp. 24, 51). It is preferable
to use Magyar as an ethnological term, because ' Hungarian '
may be used in the political sense of ' inhabitant of Hungary ',
a territory which in addition to the Magyars contains at least
seven other ethnic groups —Serbians, Croats, Slovaks, Ruthe-
nians, Rumanians, Slovenes, and Germans (besides Jews and
Gipsies).
Number. The Magyar population in 1916 was 10,050,000
out of a total of 20,886,487, or slightly under one-half.«^ The
remaining population of Hungary consists mainly of six
60 THE FINNO-UGEIAN DIVISION
other races distributed either in compact ethnic groups or
in colonies surrounded by other nationalities. These are :
Eumanians, 2,949,000 ; Germans, 2,037,000 ; Slovaks, 1,968,000 ;
Croats, 1,833,000 ; Serbs, . 1,006,000 ; Euthenians, 473,000.«=^
Thus in round numbers the Slavs contribute five and a half,
the Eumanians three, and the Germans two millions to the
population of Hungary.
Emigration. Emigration has been a very serious drain on
the population of Hungary, which in the period between 1896
and 1910 lost more than one million of its inhabitants in this
way. Of upwards of 150,000 Hungarians who emigrated in
1906 more than one- third were Magyars. The cause of this
great outflow before the War was partly the grinding poverty
of the mass of the peasantry, and partly the resentment of the
subordinate races against the Magyarization to which they
have long been subjected by the Government. The flow of
emigration, being chiefly to the United States, has had con-
siderable effect on the political situation in Hungary, because
a proportion of the emigrants return ^* with much wealth and
Americanized ideas.^^ There is also an annual emigration
from the Transylvanian counties to Eumania and the Balkan
territories of 4,000 to 5,000 persons. There has been a steady
migration from Hungary proper of peasants and workmen
into Croatia-Slavonia, where they become rapidly merged in
the Croat population.
Racial Problem. The position of the Magyars in the centre
of Hungary presents a racial problem of grave significance.
They are here surrounded by a fringe of other nationalities
which mainly occupy the circumference of the kingdom in
large, compact, and uniform ethnic groups. Each of these
groups is in direct touch with a kindred people living across
the border of Hungary ; in the east the Eumanians in Tran-
sylvania and the Banat with those in Eumania and Bukovina ;
in the south the Serbs and the Croats with those on flfc other
bank of the Danube, the Save, and the Unna ; in the ^est the
Germans with those in Lower Austria and Styria ; in the north
the Slovaks with those in Moravia ; and lastly the Euthenes
with those of Galicia who occupy the opposite slopes of the
Carpathians. The disruptive tendencies within the Kingdom
of Hungary, caused by differences of nationality and the
repression exercised on the subject races by the Magyars, are
w^
THE MAGYAES 61
strengthened by the attraction of the contiguous kindred races
beyond the frontiers.
Supposing at the end of the War it were proposed to form
new states by the union of these alien races with their extra-
neous kinsmen, it is not likely that the Magyars, accustomed
to a tradition of domination extending over a thousand years,
would yield without strenuous resistance. As a result of such
a dismemberment the Kingdom of Hungary would shrink to
a territory of some 40,000 square miles with boundaries hard
to defend and a population, even if the isolated German colonies
were included, of not more than 10,000,000.
Characteristics. When the Hungarians arrived in their
present habitat they formed an amalgam of two Turanian
elements — Ugrian and Turkish. ^^ Owing to their admixture
with the Slavs or semi-Slavs already in possession of the
country and with the very numerous foreign immigrants who
from time to time settled in Hungary, the Magyars have lost
their once distinctively Turanian type. They may be de-
scribed as being, at the present day, of medium height,
muscular, well-built, with sharply cut features, dark fiery
eyes, black hair^ and the darker complexion which prevails
in south European countries. They are vivacious, excitable,
and fiery in temperament ; intelligent, good-natured, and
hospitable. They have the gift of oratory, and are intensely
patriotic. They are skilled riders and make very brave
soldiers. They are fond of music and dancing. They have
a characteristic national dance, called Csardas, in which slow
and very rapid movements alternate.
Occupations. When the Magyars entered the plains of
Hungary they were nomads, but they early gave up this
mode of life and adopted the settled civilization of Europe.
Their main occupations are agriculture and cattle-breeding.
Hungary is a pre-eminently agricultural country and one of
the principal wheat-growing regions of Europe. In 1900
nearly 69 per cent, of the total population derived their main-
tenance from agriculture and cognate pursuits. Arable land
forms nearly 43 per cent, of the total area of the country and
is being constantly added to by the reclamation of the marshes,
but especially by the transformation of waste prairie land.
Agriculture has also made some progress by improvements in
method, by the use of the most modern implements, and by
62 THE FINNO-UGRIAN DIVISION
the application of scientific discoveries. Owing to its wide
expanses of meadow and pasture land, which embraces 23 per
cent, of the area of the country, Hungary is exceptionally
well adapted for cattle-raising. In 1895 the numbers of the
live stock, in round figures, in Hungary proper were : pigs 6^,
sheep 7i, cattle 6, and horses 2 millions. The breed of Hun-
garian horses has been improved by government action in
establishing state studs and importing foreign, especially
English, stock. Forests cover 26-60 per cent, of the land of
Hungary, mostly in the mountainous tracts of the Carpathians.
Hence forestry gives occupation to large numbers of the popu-
lation in those parts.
IndusU^y. Native industry has been greatly developed by
the state since 1867. The principal industry is flour-milling;
the number of steam mills in 1905 was 1,845. Brewing and
distilling have been greatly developed. The sugar industry
has made great strides, the amount of beetroot used having
increased tenfold between 1880 and 1905. Other principal
industries are : the manufacture of agricultural machinery
and implements, leather, glass, and earthenware, cotton and
woollen goods, chemicals, tobacco (a government monopoly),
iron foundries, petroleum refineries, and paper mills. In 1900
2,605,000 persons, or 13 J per cent, of the total population, were
dependent on industries for their livelihood in the Kingdom
of Hungary.
^ Commerce. Hungary forms with Austria a single customs
and commercial territory. In 1907 the imports amounted to
£66,000,000 and the exports to £64,700,000; of the former
75 to 80 per cent, came from Austria, and of the latter 75 per
cent, went to Austria. The imports were chiefly cotton,
woollen, silk and leather goods, clothes, haberdashery, and
linen. The exports, consisting of flour, wheat, maize, barley,
wine in barrels, beef, cattle, pigs, horses, clearly indicate the
predominantly agricultural character of the country.
Government. Hungary is a constitutional monarchy under
an hereditary king, who is at the same time Emperor of Austria.
Beyond this personal union the two states are independent
of one another, each having its own constitution, legisla-
ture, and administration. The constitution is superficially
analogous to that of Great Britain, especially in being based
on no written document, but on immemorial prescription,
THE MAGYARS 63
coiijfirmed or modified from time to time by a series of enact-
ments. The earliest and most famous of these was the Golden
Bull of Andrew III, the Magna Carta of Hungary, which
dates from 1222, only seven years later than the English
Magna Carta of King John. The ancient constitution was
reformed under the influence of "Western liberalism in 1848.
It secured the supremacy of the Magyar race by a franchise
so narrow that it wholly excludes the representation of the
working classes in Parliament. Suspended after the collapse
of the Hungarian revolt in 1849, the constitution was restored
in 1867 under the terms of the Compromise (Ausgleich) with
Austria. The legislative power is vested in Parliament, which
consists of two houses — the Upper, or House of Magnates, and
the Lower, or House of Representatives (who are elected for
five years and are paid). The official language here is Magyar,
but delegates of Croatia-Slavonia may speak in their own
tongue. The executive power is vested in a responsible cabinet
of ten ministers.
Religion. Most of the Hungarians, 49 per cent., are Roman
Catholics (Magyars, Slovaks, Germans, and Croats) ; 14 per cent,
are Calvinists (Magyars) ; 13 per cent, adhere to the Orthodox
Greek Church (Serbs and Rumanians) ; 11 per cent, are Uniates
(Rumanians and Ruthenians) ; 7 per cent, are Lutherans
(Slovaks and Germans) ; 5 per cent, are Jews.^^ Perfect
equality is accorded to all religions and creeds.
Language. The Hungarian or Magyar language is akin to
those of the four other divisions of the Turanian family of
speech — the Samoyed, the Tungus, the Mongolian, and the
Turkish. There are two groups of words that afford evident
proofs of this linguistic kinship— the names of parts of the
body, and the numerals. Another evidence of relationship is
the fact that in these languages a word regularly begins with
one vowel or one single consonant, but never with a group of
consonants, as is often the case in the Indo-European languages.
The specifically Turanian feature of vowel harmony is more
consistently followed in the Hungarian, Finnish, and Turkish
languages than in any of the others. It is also to be noticed
that the main accent in Hungarian, Balto-Finnic, Lappish,
and Vogul is always on the first syllable. There is in particular
very extensive evidence of kinship between Finno-Ugrian and
Turkish in the use of possessive personal endings.^^ Thus,
64 THE FINNO-UGEIAN DIVISION
although the Magyars have for a thousand years been established
in Europe, and subjected to Aryan influences, their language
has nevertheless retained its essential Turanian features.
Literature. The Latin alphabet was introduced among the
Magyars in the eleventh century by Christian teachers from
Venice, and their earliest literary productions appeared in the
twelfth century. But it was not till the dawn of the Reforma-
tion that the Hungarians began to substitute their own
language for Latin as a literary vehicle, a native Magyar
literature commencing to develop between the years 1437 and
1530. From this period dates the text of the oath taken by
John Hunyadi when he was elected governor of Hungary
(1446), and the translation of the four gospels completed in
1466. To the next period (1530-1606) belong several Magyar
translations of the scriptures. During the seventeenth and
the greater part of the eighteenth centuries the progress of the
national literature was checked by the Germanizing influences
at work under the Hapsburg dynasty. The end of the
eighteenth and the beginning of the nineteenth saw the re-
generation of the native literature and the revival of the
native language. The establishment of the Hungarian Academy
in 1830 marks the beginning of an epoch in which gigantic
efforts were made to raise the intellectual life of the nation by
the cultivation of the native language and literature. Not
only has there been since then a great advance and increase
in the production of works of pure literature and of learned
and scientific books of all descriptions, but also of periodical
literature. Thus in 1830 there appeared only ten Magyar
periodical publications, but in 1895 there were 806.^^
History. The migrations of the Magyars, before they
appeared on the stage of history a thousand years ago, are
obscure. Early settled on the Urals, they moved westward
under the pressure of other tribes. They first migrated to the
Volga, where they formed part of the kingdom of the Bulgars.
After the overthrow of the latter and of their successors the
Khazars, the Magyars settled in the territory now called
Bessarabia, Bukovina, and Moldavia. Driven hence by the
Allied Bulgars and Pechenegs, their seven independent tribes
combined under the leadership of a single chief named Arpad,
and crossed in the district of the Verecze Pass, into the region
of the Upper Theiss in .895. Here they must have felt at
THE MAGYARS 65
home, for many parts of these low-lying lands resemble the
steppe regions of Central Asia."^^ The country now called
Hungary was at that time for the most part occupied by an
Aryan population, chiefly Slavs or semi- Slavs. The Magyars
first overthrew the kingdom of Moravia (founded c. 850) ;
the Bulgars, Serbs, Croats, and Avars, in the southern parts,
were next subdued, and Arpad completed the conquest of
the whole country by 906. This forcible intrusion of a non-
Aryan race altered the whole history of Europe. A striking
result was the dislocation of the great Slav people by separating
the northern from the southern, and the eastern from the
western branches. One of the consequences of this rupture
was the Teutonization of the western Slavs, who no longer
able to stand alone, and cut off from both Eome and Con-
stantinople, were compelled to take Christianity and civiliza-
tion along with it from Germany.
The arrival of the Magyars in Hungary was soon followed by
a period, extending over more than half a century, of devastating
raids which made their savage horsemen the terror and scourge
of Europe. They ravaged Thuringia, Bavaria, and Swabia ;
Lotharingia and Burgundy; penetrated into Italy as far as
Otranto ; and invaded the Eastern Empire, being bought off
only under the very walls of Constantinople. This state of
things was put an end to by the overwhelming defeat which
the Magyars suffered on the Lech in 955 while they were
besieging Augsburg.
Stephen I, one of the great constructive statesmen of history,
was the real founder of the Magyar dominion by establishing
firmly the Hungarian State and the Hungarian Church.
Though his predecessor had been baptized, Stephen was the
first Hungarian ruler under whom Christianity was introduced
among the people. He also set about civilizing the country
with the aid of foreign monks, who instructed the Magyars in
agriculture, arts, and handicrafts. The monks were followed
by foreign husbandmen, artificers, and handicraftsmen who,
encouraged by reports of abundant land, settled in the country.
Immigration was further stimulated by the bad harvests and
the epidemics that prevailed in Europe from 987-1060. By
the end of Stephen's reign Hungary came to be regarded as
a promised land in which peoples of all religions and nationali-
ties dwelt together in security.
TURANIANS
66 THE FINNO-UGRIAN DIVISION
Stephen broke up the tribal system "^^ and encouraged the
private ownership of the soil, making grants of land for
military service, not however on the basis of feudalism, but on
that of the organization of the Frankish Empire. He borrowed
the county system, which even now plays a prominent part in
Hungarian national life. He divided Central and Western
Hungary into a number of counties to be ruled by counts or
lord-lieutenants nominated by the king and liable to military
service. But Stephen made no attempt to weld into a united
nation the various races combined under his crown. Non-
Magyars were governed by the lord-lieutenants as subject
races forming the mass of the peasants who down to 1848
bore nearly the entire burden of taxation.
Hungarian life was still simple and primitive : the king's
property chiefly consisted of flocks and herds, or the products
of the labour of his serfs. But by the end of the century that
elapsed between their entry into Hungary and Stephen's
accession, the Magyars had been transformed from pure
nomads into a settled people ; and even in those parts of the
country where nomadism survived longer it had by the middle
of the eleventh century practically ceased to exist."^"
During the rest of the eleventh century the Hungarian
kings were engaged in almost incessant fighting. In 1046 and
1061 two dangerous pagan risings took place, followed by the
attacks of fierce barbarian hordes— the Pechenegs in 1067-8
and the Rumanians in 1071-2. Under Ladislaus and Koloman
the Hungarian dominions were extended by the conquest of
Croatia and a portion of the Dalmatian coast. Ladislaus
planted large colonies of Pechenegs in Transylvania and the
Trans-Dravian provinces. Under the rule of Koloman, who
greatly encouraged agriculture and trade, Hungary is said to
have been the best governed state in Europe.
In the twelfth century Hungarian history was chiefly
characterized by the interference of the Eastern Empire with
Magyar affairs, resulting politically in the increase of the
power of the nobility, and ecclesiastically in the diminution
of the influence of the Catholic Church.
The thirteenth century was marked by two very important
events. The first was the enactment of the Golden Bull, the
foundation "^^ of Hungarian constitutional liberty. The chief
aim was to strengthen the Crown by uniting its interests
THE MAGYARS 67
with those of the mass of the Magyar nobility against the
encroachments of the great barons. It includes among other
provisions the anti- feudal prohibition of heredity in the title
and estates of lord-lieutenants and the exemption of the
nobles from all taxation.
The other outstanding event of the thirteenth century was
the Tatar invasion in 1241-2. This was followed by a whole-
sale immigration into the country. Rumanians, mostly pagans,
settled in Hungary in vast numbers, threatening to overwhelm
the Christian population.
In the year 1301 the house of Arpad came to an end, de-
stroyed by the rise of the great nobles to power and a recog-
nized position. During the four centuries of the rule of this
dynasty the nomadic Magyar race had established itself
permanently in Central Europe, adopted Western Christianity,
and founded a national monarchy on the Western model.
Under the house of Anjou (1310-82) the Hungarian State
was built up again, and the Magyars were led back to civili-
zation. In 1370 Poland was added to the Hungarian throne,
and during the next twelve years the dominions of King Louis
included the greater part of Central Europe from Pomerania
to the Danube, from the Adriatic to the Steppes of the Dnieper.
On the other hand, Hungary suffered during the fourteenth
century from various disasters, losses, and new perils. Hungary
was twice ravaged (1347-60, 1380-1) by the Black Death,
which carried off at least one-fourth of the population. The
Vlachs (or Rumanians) of Moldavia (which together with
Bessarabia and the Bukovina the Hungarians had ever since
the eleventh century claimed as part of their original home
before they entered modern Hungary) threw off the Hungarian
yoke. King Louis was compelled in 1353 to acknowledge the
ruler of the Bosnians as King of Bosnia, while both the Serbians
and the Bulgarians refused to acknowledge the hegemony of
Hungary. In the middle of the fourteenth century a new
danger began to threaten the kingdom. The Ottoman Turks
in 1353 crossed the Hellespont from Asia Minor and began
that career of conquest which made them the terror of
Europe, and in particular of Hungary, down to the end of the
seventeenth century. They conquered Southern Bulgaria in
1365, overpowered Serbia in 1371, and threatened Croatia and
Dalmatia in 1380.
E 2
68 THE FINNO-UGRIAN DIVISION
The Turkish peril became acute under Sigismund (1387-
1437), who made it the chief aim of his policy to expel the
Turks from Europe, or at least to keep them out of Hungary.
For this purpose he endeavoured in 1413 to unite Christendom
against the Turks, and thrice himself met them in the field.
He also fortified the southern frontier and turned a small fort,
the later Belgrade, into an enormous first-class fortress, which
proved strong enough to repel the Turks for more than a
century. In spite of wars and rebellions Hungary made some
progress during his reign. Magyar students at this time
began to resort to foreign universities in considerable numbers ;
thus between 1362 and 1450 no fewer than 4,151 frequented
Vienna, and nearly as many Prague, though there were
already two universities in Hungary itself.
Sigismund's successor Albert renewed hostilities in 1439
against the Turks, who had captured an important fortress in
Serbia and subjugated the greater part of Bosnia. The Magyars
under John Hunyadi defeated the Turks in 1442, but were in
turn beaten at Varna in 1444. Hunyadi, who in 1446 had
been elected governor of Hungary, relieved Belgrade in 1454
and overthrew the Turkish army. Hunyadi's son, Matthias,
was elected King of Hungary in 1458. He raised an army of
first-rate efficiency, which also acted as a civilizing force by
curbing the lawlessness of the Magyar nobility. Politically,
Matthias raised Hungary to the rank of the greatest Power in
Central Europe. He succeeded in preserving the territorial
integrity of Hungary against the Turk. But throughout his
reign the Czechs and Germans were just as dangerous to his
country as the Turks. After his death in 1490 the Magnates
plunged the country back into the chaos of mediaevalism.
There followed a period which was the. most discreditable in
the whole course of Hungarian history.
In 1514 took place a terrible peasant rising, of which the
enslavement of the Hungarian peasantry was the immediate
consequence. The labouring class was converted into a
sullenly hostile force within the state. To this has been
mainly due the impossibility, from that time onwards, of a
healthy political life in Hungary.
The pressure of the Turks now began to be more serious
than ever. In 1521 Sultan Suleiman succeeded in capturing
Belgrade, and in 1526 inflicted on the Magyars a complete
THE MAGYAES 69
defeat on the plain of Mohacz. He returned to his dominions
with 105,000 captives and an enormous amount of booty, after
utterly devastating one -fourth of Hungary. In 1541 Suleiman
again invaded Hungary and captured Buda, finally agreeing
in 1547 to a five years' truce, for which the Hapsburg emperor
paid £100,000. The outcome was the division of the kingdom
of Hungary into three parts, the Emperor holding thirty-five
counties, the Hungarian ruler, with the title of prince, retain-
ing Transylvania and the sixteen adjacent counties, while the
rest, comprising most of the central counties, was annexed to
the Turkish Empire. This division, in which the aims and
interests of the parts were totally divergent, continued for
more than 150 years. Two fresh Turkish invasions took place
in 1552 and 1566, resulting in the capture of many forts. The
suspension of hostilities was brought about by the truce of
Adrianople which, concluded in 1568, was prolonged till 1593
and consequently called the ' Long Peace '. It is probably no
exaggeration to say that no nation ever suffered more from
the effects of foreign invasions combined with the misgovern-
ment of its rulers than the Hungarians in the sixteenth
century. Their plight was aggravated by the hostility of the
Hapsburgs, who were determined to rule the Magyars from
Vienna by means of foreigners, mainly German and Czech.
To all these evils were added the terrors of religious perse-
cution. The Eeformation had in 1552 obtained complete recog-
nition in Transylvania. But with the entry of the Jesuits
was inaugurated a fierce persecution, the deliberate object of
which was the extirpation of Protestantism. But as the latter
was by this time identical with Magyarism, the very existence
of the Magyars as a nation was now threatened. A better
day, however, dawned with the Peace of Vienna, concluded
in 1606 by Stephen Bocskay of Transylvania. This treaty
secured for the Magyars of Eoyal Hungary religious liberty,
political autonomy, and complete amnesty. It is remarkable
as the first constitutional compact between the ruling dynasty
and the Hungarian nation.
Almost equally important was the twenty years' truce of
Zsitvatorok, which was negotiated by Bocskay between the
Emperor and the Sultan. This arrangement for the first time
established a working equilibrium between the three parts of
Hungary, with a decided preponderance in favour of Transyl-
70 THE FINNO-UGRIAN DIVISION
vania. For more than half a century after the Peace of
Vienna Transylvania thus became a bulwark of the liberties
of the Magyars.
During these fifty years the Turkish Empire in consequence
of misrule was powerless to interfere in Hungarian politics.
But in 1657 the Turks again became active and occupied
Transylvania, which in 1661 became a feudatory of the Turkish
Empire. In 1664 the Treaty of Yasvar gave Hungary a respite
from regular Turkish invasions for a space of twenty years.
Meanwhile the Catholic reaction in Hungary, begun in 1601
on the plan of converting the great families, proved so success-
ful that in 1665 only four noble Protestant houses remained in
Royal Hungary, and the country was completely Catholicized.
Under the Hapsburg Emperor Leopold I (1657-1705) the
Hungarian gentrj^ were subjected to cruel oppression as mem-
bers of an inferior and guilty race.
The activities of the Turks were renewed in 1683 with the
siege of Vienna, which was, however, unsuccessful. Their aggres-
sive power was now on the wane. They were successively driven
out of Buda in 1686, Belgrade in 1688, and Bosnia in 1689.
Though they rallied and threatened Vienna anew, they were de-
feated in 1691, and in 1697 were routed by Prince Eugene of
Savoy at Zenta. The Peace of Karlowitz, concluded in 1699, left
the whole of Hungary (except an insignificant amount of terri-
tory) in the hands of the Emperor, finally reuniting her long
separated provinces under a common sceptre. This year marks
the final deliverance of Hungary from Turkish dominion.
Liberation from the Turks, however, brought the Hungarians
no internal relief Leopold had in 1687 transformed the
elective monarchy of Hungary into an hereditary one, and the
Peace of Karlowitz only strengthened the despotism prevailing
in the land of the Magyars. The situation was aggravated by
the determination of the Primate Kollonich to Germanize
Hungary by wholesale immigration into the recovered pro-
vinces. A rising of malcontents in 1703 was followed in 1711
by the Peace of Szatmar, which guaranteed a general amnesty,
full religious liberty, and the recognition of the inviolability
of the ancient rights and privileges of the Magyars. By this
settlement the Hungarian nation secured all it had won by
former compacts with the Hapsburgs. Now began a new
period in which the interests of the dynasty and of the nation
THE MAGYAES 71
were identical, and in which the Magyars enjoyed the advan-
tages of domestic tranquillity and recuperation for nearly a
century and a half.
By the Pragmatic Sanction, which secured the female suc-
cession of Maria Theresa, Hungary became an integral part of
the Hapsburg dominions.
A standing army under the control of the Austrian council
of war had hardly been established in 1715 when a new
Turkish war broke out in the following year. Though the
Magyars were victorious (1716-18) and gained a considerable
amount of territory, nearly all their conquests were lost again
in a fresh conflict in 1739.
Now followed forty years of enlightened absolutism, in
which educational reform was promoted in Hungary, schools
and colleges being founded all over the country.
The well-meaning but misguided policy of Joseph II (1780-
90), under whom an edict making German the official language
of the common state of Austria-Hungary was passed and a
census for the purpose of taxation was introduced, led to
a dangerous rebellion. His successor Leopold (1790-2) found
the country on the verge* of revolution, but by his wisdom
won back the Magyars. The Diet of 1790-1 passed^ laws
confirming the royal prerogatives and the national liberties.
Hungary was declared a free, independent, and unsubjugated
country, governed by its own laws and customs. Legislation
was to be exercised by the King and the Diet conjointly and by
them only. Diets were to be triennial. Latin was still to be
the official language, but Magyar was now to be introduced
into universities and schools.
The bonds between the Magyar nation and the Hapsburg
dynasty were drawn closer by the struggle between Francis I
(1792-1835) and the French Eevolution, and were strengthened
by Napoleon's mutilations of Hungary. Though towards the
end of his reign the forces of reactionary absolutism were
everywhere supreme, a strong undercurrent in the opposite
direction was beginning to run in preparation for future
emancipation. Thus when in 1823 a war-tax was imposed
and recruits were called out without consulting the Diet, the
counties instantly protested against this as an attack on the
constitution. In 1832 there was a large majority of Liberals
in the House of Representatives, but their activities were
72 THE FINNO-UGEIAN DIVISION
frustrated by the Upper House, in which the Magnates united
with the government to form a Conservative party.
On the accession of Ferdinand I (1835-48), the government,
becoming alarmed, attempted to crush the reform movement
by arresting and imprisoning the leading agitators, the chief
of whom was Louis Kossuth. But in 1839 the Liberals succeeded
in passing two important measures — one making Magyar the
official language of Hungary, and the other freeing the
peasants' holdings from all feudal obligations.
The Liberals under Kossuth in 1843 gained fresh triumphs in
the Diet ; Magyar was now declared to be the language of the
schools and law-courts as well as of the legislature ; mixed
marriages were legalized ; and official positions were thrown
open to those who were not members of the nobility.
In the next few years a disintegration of the Liberal party
set in, but in 1848 Deak reunited all the Liberals on the com-
mon platform of the 'Ten Points'. These, under the name of
the ' March Laws ', were adopted by the legislature and received
the royal assent. Hungary thus became to all intents and
purposes an independent state.
Though the Magyars were supported by the German demo-
crats, who were in temporary power in Vienna, there was an
ominous stirring of the subject races in Hungary itself. Croats,
Vlachs (Rumanians), Serbs, Slovaks, resented Magyar domina-
tion, which had been carefully secured under the revolutionary
constitution by means of a very narrow franchise. Each of these
races hoped that out of the chaos then prevailing it might
succeed in creating for itself a separate national existence.
Slav aspirations soon adopted the deliberate policy of a federal
system as opposed to the Magyar-Austrian dualism in favour
at Pest and Vienna. Even the Imperial Government was
induced to declare publicly at Vienna that the basis of the
Austrian State was ' the recognition of the equal rights of all
nationalities'. This at once roused the Hungarian Liberals.
In July the Diet, under Kossuth, refused supply for the Croatian
troops, and consented to sending reinforcements to the Imperial
forces in Italy only on condition that the anti-Magyar races
in Hungary should be first disarmed. The Croatians at once
declared open war on Hungary by crossing the Drave with an
army of 36,000 men. This placed the extreme revolutionaries
in power at Pest. After the defeat of the Croatians on Septem-
THE MAGYARS 73
ber 29, a large force of Hungarian militia was sent to the aid of the
German revolutionaries in Vienna, but they were defeated, and
the Vienna revolution collapsed. In December, 1848, Ferdinand
abdicated in favour of his nephew Francis Joseph, then aged
eighteen. But the Hungarian Diet refused to acknowledge
him, on the ground that without the consent of the Diet no
one could sit on the Hungarian throne. The nation was called
to arms, Louis Kossuth meanwhile being the actual ruler of
Hungary. In the ensuing* warfare the Austrians were at first
successful, but the Hungarian leader, Girgei, afterwards gained
the upper hand. On April 14, 1849, the Diet proclaimed the
independence of Hungary, excluded the house of Hapsburg
from the throne, and elected Kossuth President of the Hun-
garian Eepublic. This step resulted in an alliance between
Austria and Eussia. One of the Hungarian armies was defeated
by the Austrians, and the other surrendered to the Russians,
while Kossuth took refuge in Turkish territory.
Hungary was now placed under martial law, under which
the country was subjected to wholesale confiscations and
brutalities. Six years (1851-6) of pure terrorism were suc-
ceeded by the Bach system of ruling the Magyars. Not
recognizing historical Hungary, it 'postulated an Empire con-
sisting of one common indivisible State, of which mutilated
Hungary (shorn of Transylvania, Croatia and Slavonia, Fiume
and the Temes Banat) formed only an important section. The
supreme government was entrusted to an imperial council
responsible to the Emperor alone, while the counties were
administered by imperial officials — Germans, Czechs, and Gali-
cians — who did not even understand the Maygar tongue. As
the Magyar nation refused to recognize this system, it was
ofiTered a shadowy constitution and autonomy in the ' October
Diploma'. The Hungarian leader, Deak, however, demanded
the restoration of the constitution of 1848 in its entirety, and
the Diet of 1861 adopted an address to the crown praying
for the restoration of the political and territorial integrity
of Hungary, a full restitution of the fundamental laws, and
a public coronation of the king. The reply to this was the
dissolution of the Diet and the levying of taxes by military
execution. The attitude of the Emperor was, however, funda-
mentally modified by the Peace of Prague, concluded at the
end of the Austro-Prussian War in 1866. The exclusion of
74 THE FINNO-UGRIAN DIVISION
Austria from Italy and Germany made the fate of the Haps-
burg monarchy depend on some permanent arrangement with
Hungary. The result was the Compromise (AusgleicJi) of 1867,
which practically consisted of an amplification of the March
laws of 1848. A public coronation of the king took place on
June 8. Hungary was now a free and independent state.
Since 1867 the Magyars have been divided, broadly speak-
ing, into two parties — those who accept the Compromise, be-
lieving it to have increased the polftical influence of Hungary ;
and those who see in the Compromise an abandonment of the
essentials of independence, and aim at the , restoration of the
conditions established in 1848.
Count Andrassy was instrumental in preventing the Imperial
Chancellor, Beust, from intervening in favour of France in the
Franco-German War of 1870. In the following year he suc-
ceeded Beust as Foreign Minister, the first instance of a Hun-
garian statesman attaining to this position under the Hapsburg
dynasty. It was fortunate that, in the hopeless political con-
fusion prevailing in Hungary at that time, Count Tisza, the
leader of the Liberal party, succeeded to power in 1872.
During the next eighteen years he practically ruled Hungary
as a dictator. The chief aim of his policy was to transform the
old polyglot Hungarian kingdom into a homogeneous Magyar
state. With this object in view he succeeded in putting an
end to the old strife between Catholics and Protestants by
uniting them in a common zeal for a race ideal. He also did
much to promote the astonishing material progress made by
Hungary during the last fifty years. Though it must be ad-
mitted that the political corruption of Hungary has been mainly
due to him, he undoubtedly deserves the credit of having placed
the country on a sound economic basis. It was his statesman-
like temper that made Hungary a power in the affairs of
Europe. It was also largely his influence that restrained the
anti-Russian ardour of the Magyars on the outbreak of the
Russo-Turkish War of 1877-8. The following nine years were
devoted to the financial and commercial rehabilitation of Hun-
gary by developing a vast system of railways, and by other
measures. This was chiefly the work of Gabor Baross, who
entered the cabinet in 1886, and was Hungary's greatest
finance minister.
The attacks made on Count Tisza during the debate on the
THE MAGYAES 75
Kossuth Eepatriation Bill led to his resignation. The ministries
that followed were of brief duration. BaniFy, in 1894, carried
through the Army Education Bill, the aim of which was to
Magyarize the whole Hungarian portion of the joint army ;
but he was so violently attacked on the proposal to renew the
commercial convention with Austria that he resigned in 1899.
The treaty was, however, renewed till 1903.
The proposal made in 1902 to raise the contingent of Hun-
garian recruits by 15,000 revived the question of a common
Austro-Hungarian army. Parliament refused to pass the Bill
except in return for the introduction of the Hungarian national
flag into Hungarian regiments, and the substitution of Magyar
for German in words of command. The king, however, refused
to yield his prerogative under the Compromise of 1867, and
reaffirmed the rights of the crown to maintain German as a
common military language. Count Istvan Tisza tried to carry
out the programme of the king and the majority, but. failed.
He appealed to the country, but was utterly defeated. The
repressive measures which the Government thereupon resorted
to — censorship, restriction of the right of public meeting, dis-
missal of officials, dragooning of assemblies and municipalities
— were steadily met by the Magyar nation with a refusal to
pay taxes, to supply recruits, and to carry on the machinery of
administration. The main object of the resistance was to im-
pose, by coercion, or if necessary by corruption, the Magyar
language and Magyar culture on the non-Magyar races of
Hungary. As a remedy for this state of affairs a coalition
government was formed, which, having agreed with the crown
to postpone military questions, put forward the proposal of
universal suffrage, so as to obtain the opinion of the whole
people on the points at issue between them and the crown.
In the ensuing election the Liberal party was practically wiped
out, and the coalition cabinet remained in office for two years
and a half without carrying out its programme. Meanwhile,
all the abuses previously prevailing were continued — muzzling
of the press in the interests of Magyar nationalism, imprison-
ment of non-Magyar deputies, and persecution of subordinate
races. In October, 1907, there was a great demonstration in
favour of universal suffrage, followed by riots at Budapest.
Finally, in November, 1908, Count Andrassy introduced a Bill
granting manhood suffrage, but with so many qualifying con-
76 THE FINNO-UGEIAN DIVISION
ditions as to make its effect nugatory. Among its neutralizing
features were plural voting and the absence of the ballot. Its
intention was at once recognized as Magyar domination rather
than fulfilment of the contract. Had it passed, it would only
have strengthened the Magyar and the German elements in the
electorate. A crisis arose in 1909 on the question of a separate
Hungarian bank, in view of the expiry, at the end of 1910, of
the Charter of the Austro-Hungarian State Bank. It was pro-
posed to open negotiations for a convention between the banks of
Austria and of Hungary, and in the case of failure to establish
a Bank of Hungary entirely dissociated from that of Austria.
The Emperor opposed this scheme on the ground that electoral
reform, the chief article of the ministerial programme, had not
been carried out. Dissensions broke out in the cabinet in regard
to the separate bank and the Magyarization of the Hungarian
regiments. As the King- Emperor refused to make any con-
cessions to the Magyar national demands, the Hungarian Par-
liament was adjourned indefinitely at the end of the year with-
out even voting the estimates for 1910. Hungary thus once
more entered on a period of extra- constitutional government.
The most important event in 1910 was the collapse of the
Coalition and the accession to power of the new ' National
Party of work '. A cabinet of moderate views was formed, but
was met with a vote of want of confiidence. The following
general election gave the government a triumphant majority.
The King in June announced that a Bill would be laid before
the Chamber ' on the basis of universal suffrage and in complete
maintenance of the unitary national character of the Hungarian
state '. A new constitution was also promulgated for the pro-
vinces of Bosnia and Herzegovina which had been annexed in
1908. A proposal to increase the Austrian Army and Navy
was further announced.
The renewal of the Charter of the Austro-Hungarian State
Bank, which had expired at the end of 1910, again led to the
Independent party pleading for Hungary having a bank of its
own. The general election held in June, 1911 ; made the Social
Democrats the predominant party in the Diet. In this year
a protest was made against the German dues exacted from
Austro-Hungarian shipping on the Elbe, while a strong
feeling was aroused regarding the Italian attack on Turkish
torpedo-boats near Prevesa on the Albanian coast.
THE MAGYARS 77
A resolution was passed by the Kossuth group that reservists
should not in future be called out in time of peace unless the
annual levy of recruits had been previously passed by the
Chamber ; but on the King threatening to abdicate the resolu-
tion was dropped. A two years' military service Bill was
passed ; and a Bill to increase the annual contingent of Honved
recruits was adopted, but amid scenes of great violence. On
December 31, 191.^', was produced the long-expected Reform Bill
(delayed since 1905), by which the number of voters was
increased by 75 per cent, of what it then was.
On March 8, 1913, the Franchise Reform Bill was passed. It
was in almost every detail marked by a determination to main-
tain at all costs the hegemony of the Magyar element. Dis-
turbances in Croatia were allayed by an arrangement allowing
the use of the Croatian language on Croatian railways.
On June 28, 1914, the murder of the Archduke Francis Ferdi-
nand and his wife took place at Sarajevo, the capital of Bosnia.
This crime being treated as the result of a Serbian conspiracy,
a peremptory note of unprecedented harshness was on July 23
presented to Serbia requiring a reply by 6 p.m. on July 25.
Serbia accepted the conditions ' in principle ', but suggested
arbitration. Diplomatic relations were at once broken' off,
and though Sir E. Grey proposed arbitration by the four
Great Powers, war was declared on Serbia by Austria- Hungary
on July 28.
a. The Hungarians, who were once the bitter enemies of the
Turks and were subject to their rule for a century and a half,
have for the first time become the allies of the Turks in the
present war. It is noteworthy that there is a marked
parallelism between the position of the Hungarians and the
Ottoman Turks as nations. Both are members of the Turanian
family. They are the only two members of that family that
have shown themselves capable of founding and maintaining
independent states for centuries. Both have lost their original
racial characteristics by constant admixture with non-Turanian
elements, but have both nevertheless preserved their original
Turanian languages which are closely akin. Both have
about the same populations (c. 20,000,000), of which scarcely
50 per cent, are Hungarians and Turks (cp. pp. 59 and 212),
the rest of the inhabitants of their states being made up of
a number of alien races. Both aim at preserving their own
78 THE FINNO-UGRIAN DIVISION
nationality intact by repressing the peoples subject to them.
Both are predominantly agricultural and both are warlike.
There might thus seem to be the possibility of a natural
feeling of solidarity between the two nations. It is, however,
doubtful whether they will ever be drawn together except by
motives of expediency and self-interest. It is true that during
the Eusso-Turkish War of 1877-8 the Magyars showed strong
sympathy with the Turks, but this was most probably due to
the anti-Russian feeling caused by the part B-ussia had played
in suppressing the Magyar revolution of 1849. On the other
hand, there was in the earlier period of Turanian studies
a distinct bias among Magyar philologists against recognizing
close kinship with other Turanians as representing a lower
grade of civilization. Again, the languages, though akin, are
mutually unintelligible ; and difference of religion, combined
with historical associations, profoundly divides the two peoples.
The Turk, on the other hand, is more and more tending to
reject European culture and influence. Thus the alliance of
the two Turanian elements, in association with the two
Germanic nations of the Central Empires, is likely to continue
on a utilitarian basis only.
Bibliography.— Umlauft, Die Lander Osterreich-Ungarns in WoH unci
Bild (15 vols.), vol. xii, 1886, on Hungary ; Die Osterreichische Monarchie in
WoH und Bild, Vienna, 1888-1902, 24 vols. : 7 vols, on Hungary. Hungary,
Its People, Places, and Politics. The Journey of the Eighty Club to Hungary in
1906, London, 1907. Seton-Watson, Racial Problems in Hungary, London,
1908. Gonnard, La Hongrie au xoc^ siecle (economic and social). Drage,
Austria-Hungary, London, 1909 (book of reference) ; The Problem of Hungary
in the Edinburgh Review, 1909.
History : Vambery, Der Ursprung der Magyaren (ethnological), Leipzig,
1882; Hungary in Ancient and Modern Times, London, 1897. History of the
Hungarian Nation (10 vols.), Budapest, 1898 (millennium volume by various
authors in Hungarian). Andrassy, The Development of Hungarian Constitutional
Liberty, London, 1908 (comparison with English constitutional development).
Knatchbull-Hugessen, The Political Evolution of the Hungarian Nation, 2 vols.,
London, 1908 (pro-Magyar). Seton-Watson, Racial Probletns in Hungary,
London, 1908 (critical of Magyar attitude to subject races).
Language : Simonyi, Hungarian Grammar (in German), 1910. Czuczor and
Forgasi, Hungarian dictionary of the Academy of Science, 6 vols., 1862-74.
English-Hungarian dictionaries, by Dallas, Pest, 1860, and Bizonfy, Buda-
pest, 1886.
Literature : Emil Reich, Hungarian Literature, London, 1898. Riedl,
Hungarian Literature, Heinemann, London, 1906.
THE FINNO-UGEIAN DIVISION 79
NOTES
^ This is analogous to the transition of meaning, in Vedic Sanskrit, of
Dydiis (gen. divas ; Greek, Zeuy, gen. Ai/^ov), the sense of which is both ' sky '
and ' god of the sky '.
"^ See Jordanes, Getae, 23.
^ Cp. Miillenhof, Deutsche AUerthumskundey 3, p. 16.
* Cp. V. Thomsen, Ueher den Einfiuss der germmiischen Sprachen auf die
iinnisch-lappischen (translated into German by E. Sievers), 1870 ; Karsten,
Finnisch-ugnsche Forschungen, 2, pp. 192 ff.
^ Die dltere Eisenzeit in Finnlatid, 1905,
" See Uhland, Schriften, 6, 398 fF. ; Miillenhof, Deutsche Alterthumskunde,
2, 48 ; Gering, Ueher Weissagung und Zauber im nordischen Altertum, 1902,
p. 10.
' See Weinhold, Altnordisches Leben, 100 ; Wackernagel, Zeitschrift filr
deufsches AlteHhum, 9, p. 563.
* According to Meyer, Konversationslexikon, vol. xxii (1909-10), p. 296, the
total population of Finland in 1907 was 2,974,804. If 14 per cent, be deducted
for the Swedish population, the Finns would then number over 2\ millions.
^ See Meyer's Konversationslexikon, 1907, vol. xvii, p. 294.
^" Szinnyei, Finnisch-ugrische Sprachwissenschaft, Buda-Pest, 1910, p. 14:
according to the 1907 figures in Meyer, op. cit., this total would have been
2,800,000.
" Cp. Meyer, Konvermtionslexikon, vol. vi (1904), p. 581.
^^ These are the figures given in the Encyclopaedia Britannica, vol. x,
p. 390 ; but in vol. xxiii, p. 874, the Karelian population of Russia is given as
208,000, and that of the Finns as 143,000. Szinnyei also gives the total
number of the Karelians as about 208,000 (p. 15).
^^ Castren, Ethnologische Vorlesungen, p. 147.
" This is the name by which the Swedes still call the Finns.
^^ Abercromby, Pre- and Proto-historic Finns, i, 5.
^^ Abercromby, op. cit., i, 6.
" Szinnyei, Finnisch-ugrische Sprachwissenschaft, Leipzig, 1910, p. 16.
^^ Cp. Abercromby, op. cit., i, 6; Szinnyei, op. cit., p. 15.
^'•' According to Szinnyei, op. cit., p. 17, scarcely one-fifth (i.e. 6,000) of
the Lapps are nomadic and occupied with reindeer breeding.
^° Hence Szinnyei, op. cit., p. 17, asserts that though the language of the
Lapps is very closely connected with that of the Baltic Finns, the Lapps
are anthropologically not akin to the latter, being in this respect quite
isolated. He therefore assumes that they originally spoke another language,
and borrowed their present speech from a Finno-Ugrian tribe. But can their
physical divergences not be accounted for by the rigorous climatic influences
to which they have been subjected for perhaps 2,000 years ? Cp. next note.
^^ From this it may be inferred that in earlier times the physical difference
between Lapps and Finns was not marked, though it is so now.
'^ Szinnyei, op. cit., p. 17.
"^'^ See above, p. 34 ; Castren, Ethnologische Vorlesungen, p. 138.
^* Castren, o/;. cit., p. 138.
80 THE FINNO-UGRIAN DIVISION
^^ In 1897 the Permyaks and the Zirians together numbered 258,309.
'*^ Cp. below, note 31.
^■^ Cp. Castren, Ethnologische Vodesungen (Der Permische Stamm), p. 136.
2** Cp. note 25, and Szinnyei, op. cit., p. 13. The Encyclopaedia Britannica,
vol. xxvi, p. 317, gives their number as only 86,000.
^^ Abercromby, op. cit, i, 32.
^° In addition to these about 50,000 were owned by Samoyeds.
^^ Grammars of the Zirian language have been published by Castren,
Ilelsingfors, 1844 ; v. d. Gabelentz, Grundzuge der Syrjanischen Grammalik,
Altenburg, 1841; Wiedemann, Grammatik der Syrjamschen Sprache, St. Peters-
burg, 1844; also a dictionary by the latter scholar: Syrjanisch-deutsches
TVorterbuch, 1880-1.
^2 Szinnyei, op. cit, p. 13.
^^ According to Castren, Ethnologische Vorlesungen, p. 137, there are also
a few of them in the Governments of Kazan and Orenburg.
^* Szinnyei, op. cit, p. 13; Scobel (1909) states their number to be about
250,000; Castren, Ethnologische Vorlesungen, p. 137, about 200,000.
"" Op. cit., pp. 136-42. 30 Scobel, op. cit
^^ Castren, op. cit., p. 141. ^^ Castren, op. cit, p. 137.
^^ Byzantine writers refer to the Danube Bulgarians as a purely nomad
people : Vambery, Ungarti, p. 56. A Slav text describes the early history of
these Bulgarians from the time of their appearance in the fifth century down
to A.D. 765 : op. cit, p. 57.
^'^ Some traces of this are, however, still to be found.
*^ Vambery, Ungarn, pp. 55-60, adduces a considerable amount of evidence
to show that the original national character of the Old Bulgarians was
Turkish, and that their language has been preserved in the form of Chuvash.
Arab writers describe the Volga Bulgars as half nomads, who had wooden
houses, but in summer changed their dwellings.
Szinnyei, op. cit. ^^ Castren, op. cit., j). 135.
42
^^ Ihid. ^^ Ibid. ^^ Szinnyei, op. cit., p. 114.
^■^ According to Schubert (1835), their numbers were 92,000 ; to Koppen
(Russlands Gesammthevblkerung, 1838, St. Petersburg, 1843), 388,111.
*^ Castren, op. cit., p. 134.
^^ Szinnyei, op. cit., p. 13 ; according to Castren, Eth^i. Vorlesungen (written
in 1851), p. 133, the Cheremisses numbered about 200,000, which is, however,
perhaps only an uncertain estimate.
^° Castren, ihid. ^^ Szinnyei, op. cit., p. 13.
^^ Szinnyei, op. cit., p. 13 ; Castren, op. cit., p. 132 ; cp. Miiller, Der Ugrische
Volksstamni, Zweite Abtheilung, pp. 462-8.
^^ Castren, op. cit, p. 132,
^* The converse opinion has, on the other hand, also been held that the
racial basis of this tribe is Tatar, which has been consideiubly modified by
the surrounding Finnish peoples. In any case the mixture which they repre-
sent is that of two Turanian elements. See pp. 191-3.
^^ According to the Encyclopaedia Britannica they number about 500,000.
^^ See Castren, Ethn. Vorlesungen, p. 93.
^' See Lehrberg, Untersuchungen zur Erlduterung der dltem Geschichte Russ-
lands, pp. 61-93.
NOTES 81
^'^ See Castren, oj). cit., pp. 103-6.
^^ The figure given by Miss Czaplicka (from Patkanoflf) is 17,221.
^'^ Meyer, Konversationslexihon, vol. xx, p. 714; Asiatic Russia (1911),
6,814; Czaplicka {op. cit, p. 576), 6,500; Szinnyei {op. cit., 1910), 5,000.
^^ A Persian word in form {stdn, ' place, country ').
^^ Schafer, Lander- und Vdlkerkarte Eiiropas, 4ih. ed., Oct., 1916. If the
Magyar-speaking Jews and Gipsies, who are accounted Magyars, are
deducted, the Magyar population does not exceed 9J millions; cp.next note.
^^ Op. cit. There were also (in 1910) 933,458 Jews in Hungary, not counting
a great number who have become Christians and are reckoned as Magyars ;
moreover (in 1893), 275,000 Gipsies, of whom 104,000 describe themselves
as Magyars. There are besides 70,000 Slovenes and a small number of
Greeks, Bulgars, Albanians, and Italians.
'^' In 1906 the number was 27,602.
"^ Cp. Seton- Watson, Racial Problems in Hungary, appendix xiii, p. 470;
Drage, Austria-Hungai-y, p. 289.
"•^ Vambery, Ursprimg der Magyaren, p. viii, sees in the Magyars a mixed
people in which not Finno-Ugrians but Turks form the chief ingredient.
^''^ Vambery, Der Ursprung der Magyaren, Leipzig, 1882, pp. 343-65, collects
the traces of the old Turanian religion (also social customs) of the Magyars
before they embraced Christianity.
^^ See especially Dr. Siegmund Simonyi, Die ungarische SpracJie, Strass-
burg, 1907, pp. 35-7 ; Szinnyei, op. cit., pp. 47-52.
^^ See Emil Reich, Hungarian Literature, London. 1898.
■^^ Cp. Castren, Ethnographische Vorlesiingen, pp. 130-1.
"^^ Till then the old patriarchal system of government of Turkish nomads
had been strictly adhered to, that is, a federal system in which power was
divided among several tribal chiefs. They only turned to their supreme
chief when, under pressure of some great common danger, closer cohesion
appeared a necessity. The numerous raids into European countries by the
old Magyars were independently undertaken by tribal chiefs.
'2 Even in the middle of the twelfth century a half nomadic manner of
life continued here and there: Vambery, op. cit., p. 428.
"•'' See Andrassy, The Development of Hungarian Constitutional Liberty,
London, 1908 ; Knatchbull-Hugessen, The PoUticcd Evolution of the Hungarian
Nation, 2 vols., London, 1908.
TURANIANS
CHAPTER III
THE SAMOYED DIVISION
Hahitaf. This division of the Turanian family, though
numericall}^ small, covers an immense territory, extending
along the coast of European and Asiatic Russia from the
White Sea to the banks of the river Khatanga, and from
the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Sayan mountains in the
south. Their chief abodes are the desolate Tundras^ of
the Arctic coast. In old accounts of voyages Samoedia was
always regarded as the country between the Pechora and the
Ob, but at the present day the Samoyeds extend much farther
east. On the western side of the Urals they occupy the district
of Mezen in the government of Archangel, and on the eastern
side, in Siberia, the territory from 44° E. as far as the
peninsula of Taimir. Formerly they extended southward to
the Altai range and its eastern extension, the Sayan mountains,
and to the Upper Ob and Yenisei, but were driven north-
wards by Turco-Tatars in the fifth century of our era and later
by Ostyak tribes. They gradually spread northward, following
the course of the Ob and the Yenisei, occupying the region
between these rivers till they reached the Arctic coast, along
which they spread westward to the White Sea and eastward
into the Taimir Peninsula.
Tribes. There are three main tribes of the Samoyeds :
a. The YuraJcs, who occupy the coast region from the
White Sea to the Yenisei. They are a vigorous and brave
people, mostly reindeer nomads who wander in the woodless
Tundras within the Arctic circle. They also engage in hunt-
ing and fishing to some extent, displaying great daring during
their expeditions. Their chief centres are near Obdorsk and
near the Gulf of Mezen. Five sub-dialects may be distinguished
in their language.
b. The TavgJiis, who live east of the Yuraks in the Taimir
Peninsula, and extend from the Yenisei to the Khatanga.
They are mostly reindeer nomads who wander in the Tundras.
TRIBES 83
c. Tlie Ostyak Samoyeds, who do not belong to the Tundra
district, but live south of the other two tribes in the forest
zone of Tobolsk and Yeniseisk between the Middle Ob and
the Yenisei (lat. 60° N. and between long. 80° and 90° E.).
They are for the most part forest nomads, living chiefly by
hunting, though they at the same time fish in the Yenisei.
Instead of reindeer they have horses as well as dogs. They do
not live in tents but in small huts called yurtas. Only a small
portion of this tribe lives in the north, on the Taz river. These
own reindeer, but only few in number.
d. These main tribes are further subdivided. Thus in the
Yamal Peninsula ten different sub-tribes may be distinguished,
each with its fixed boundaries for reindeer pasture. Besides
these three main branches, there are in the south of Siberia
several small tribes of Samoyed origin that still to some
extent inhabit the old home of the Samoyed group, the Altai
and the Sayan mountains, and the region to the north of these
ranges, between the Upper Ob and the Yenisei, in the south
of the governments of Tomsk and Yeniseisk. These. tribes
have been largely Tatarized and are fast losing their identity.
At the time of Pallas (1776) they spoke the Samoyed language,
but a few decades later they were much under Tatar influence,
and now there are only traces of their real relationship to be
found. Here again we have an example of members of one
Turanian group being absorbed by those of another. These'
southern Samoyed s are :
1. The Soyotes (or Soyones), who live between the Altai and
the Sayan mountains, partly in the Chinese territory of north-
western Mongolia on the Russian frontier, from the sources of
the river Kobdo to lake Kossogol, and still farther eastward
towards the Selenga. They are a small and rapidly disappear-
ing tribe, isolated among their cold and bare mountains.
They live entirely by hunting the sable, the squirrel, and the
bear, the fur of which they exchange for their own require-
ments. They use reindeer, less often horses, for driving and
hunting. They live in wooden huts (yurtas) in different places
according to the season of the year. A section of them has
adopted a Mongolian (the Buryat) dialect. Their religion is
partly the Lamaist form of Buddhism, partly Shamanism.
They are an example of a Samoyed tribe which was formerly
Turkified, and is now being rapidly Mongolized.
f2
84 THE SAMOYED DIVISION
2. The Karagasses inhabit the northern slopes of the Sayan
range (between 90° and 95° E.). Numbering only 449 in
1911,- they are losing their distinctive characteristics.
3. The Motars (or Motors), who live to the north of the
Karagasses, have become merged in the neighbouring Tuba
Tatars and the Soyotes. One section of them formerly entered
China and was exterminated.
4. The Kamassins live to the north of the Motars in the
Kansk district of Yeniseisk. They are herdsmen and agri-
culturists. Their language has a large Tatar admixture.
5. The Koibals, who inhabit the Upper Yenisei, formerly
left the Sayan mountains and took possession of the Abakan
Steppe (in the Minusinsk region), which had been abandoned
by the Kirghiz in the earlier years of last century. They are
hardly to be distinguished from the Tatars of Minusinsk.
They are cattle-breeders.
6. The Belth's, who live in the Abakan Steppe, are agri-
culturists and cattle-breeders. Their language is of a Tatar
type. In religion they ar6 nominally Christians.
Name. The name Samoyed, by which the Russians call this
people, is of uncertain meaning ; but the first part of the word
is most probably related to Saine and Suomi, the names b}^
which the Lapps and the Finns respectively called their own
country. They call themselves Hazava, ' the men '. The
.Ostyaks call them Orglioy or VorTcho, names which suggest
relationship to ' Ugrian '. The name Samoyed itself occurs in
a Russian chronicle as early as a. d. 1096.
Number. The total number of the Samoyed population is
somewhat conjectural. Though formerly doubtless very much
greater, it is now seriously reduced and can hardly amount to
much over 20,000. The figures given for the three main tribes""
in Asiatic Russia (for 191 1) are : Yuraks, 7,057 ; Tavghis, 1,370 ;
Ostyak Samoyeds, 6,559 ; a total of 14,986 for Siberia. To
these should be added about 6,000 Yuraks on the European
side of the Urals. We thus obtain an aggregate of nearly
21,000. By the inclusion of the small remnants of the Tatarized
Samoyed tribes of Southern Siberia, the sum total of the
Samoyeds recognizable as a distinct racial unit can hardly
exceed 22,000 souls.
Characteristics. In general physique the Samoyeds resemble
the Ugrian Ostyaks. But their eyes are narrower, and their
CHAEACTEEISTICS AND MODE OF LIFE 85
complexions and hair are darker than those of people belonging
to undoubted Finno-Ugrian stocks. The Samoyed is short in
stature — the average height of the men being 5 ft. 2 in., that of
the women slightly less. They are mesocephalic. Their hair is
straight, black, and glossy. The colour of their skin is sallow.
The eyes are narrow, oblique, and far apart. The face is broad,
flat, and round, with little or no beard. The cheek-bones are
prominent ; the nose is flat and open ; the lips are thick. As
a rule they are stoutly built and very muscular. There has
been some admixture of Russian blood, the race being less
pure in the west than in the east. To the west of the Pechora
a Slavonic and Teutonic strain is observable, some Samoyeds
being found here with light hair, fair skin, and eyes of the
Aryan type.
They are intelligent, energetic, pacific, and cheerful ;
sociable and hospitable ; honest, but thriftless. They are very
dirty and never wash; and never change their clothes till they
fall to pieces. Women are regarded by them as unclean, and
are not allowed to enter certain parts of the chum or conical
tent made of reindeer skins.
Mode of Life. The main occupations of the Samoyeds are
reindeer breeding, hunting, and fishing. Before their north-
ward migration they also practised agriculture. The Yuraks
and Tavghis, as mainly reindeer breeders, are nomadic, being
on the march with their tents for four months in the year, as
they migrate south in winter and north in summer. A rich
Samoyed — the richest are found in the Yamal Peninsula — may
possess as many as 5,000 reindeer. The Ostyak Samoyed is
more engaged in hunting and to a less extent in fishing. In
hunting the Samoyeds formerly used bows and arrows, but
now employ primitive flintlocks. Most of the implements
used by the Samoyed are made of bone and stone. But he
also employs three metal tools — the axe, the knife, and the
borer — with which he is very dexterous. The women are
expert in sewing.
The Samoyeds, like the Osfcyaks, also engage in trade, taking
their furs to Berezov, Obdorsk, and elsewhere. But the Zirians,
who are the Jews of the Tundra, have most of this trade in
their hands.
But though the Samoyeds are nomads, they have shown
themselves capable of settling down. Thus at Kozhva, in
86 THE SAMOYED DIVISION
the Government of Archangel, some of them have become
a stationary population engaged in growing barley, rearing
cattle, and fishing.
Clothing and Food. The clothing of both men and women
among the Samoyeds is made of reindeer skin. Both sexes
wear charms, the favourite one being the tooth of the bear.
Their chief food is the flesh of reindeer. In some parts they
make a kind of rye bread. They are fond of chewing tobacco,
taking snuff, and drinking vodka.
Customs. Monogamy prevails among the Samoyeds, though
there is no objection to polygamy. A price is regularly paid
for the bride. The Samoyed will sometimes sell his wife for
some teams of reindeer or exchange her for another man's
wife.
Interment has become the custom of the Samoyeds since
their adoption of Christianity. But the traditional method of
burial was to deposit the bodies on the Tundra in what were
merely wooden boxes, which were consequently often rifled by
wolves and foxes. The indigenous belief of the Samoyeds is
that beyond the mouth of the Ob below the earth lies the
world of the departed, where the shadow will live as long as it
lived on earth, while the soul is reincarnated.
Religion. Though the Samoyeds are nominally Christians
they have retained a good deal of their primitive religion, and
are essentially still heathen. They believe in their old divini-
ties, offer sacrifices to wooden idols, and hold their Shaman
priests (called tadehi) in high esteem. They think that the
God of the Christians cannot know much about reindeer, and
consequently appeal to their native gods in matters connected
with their herds. Of their indigenous deities the chief is Num,
the giver of life. They also believe in a devil called Aa, in
certain other spirits, and in household gods. The latter can be
approached without any mediator, but for the others the inter-
vention of a Shaman, who is regarded as a representative of
Num, is necessary. The Samoyeds have no temples, but resort
to certain places in the hills which they consider sacred. The
island of Vaigach is regarded as especially holy, and it is there
that, the devout Samoyed would wish to be buried. One of
their chief idols, called Khese, is in the Yamal Peninsula.
Language. Linguistically the Samoyeds are more closely
connected with the Finns than with any other branch of the
LANGUAGE AND HISTORY 87
Turanians. In these two divisions the agglutinative process
has advanced much further than in Mongolian, Tungusic, and
Turkish. Moreover, the relationship in vocabulary of these
two languages to one another is much closer than to any of the
other Turanian divisions. The degree of agglutination attained
by them is not far removed from the inflexional character of
the Indo-European languages. They thus form a kind of tran-
sition to the inflexional stage. Within the three main dialects
twelve sub-dialects have been distinguished.
History. The Samoyeds have never played any part in
history, and little is known of their origin ; but that their old
home lay in the Altai and Sayan ranges is indicated by the
fact that several South Samoyed tribes that still spoke the
Samoyed language in the eighteenth century even now inhabit
the northern slopes of those ranges. The exact period when
the main body of the Samoyeds in the north migrated from
this region is uncertain, because the earliest information we
Lave of them is from Nestor, in the eleventh century, when
they were already in occupation of their present territory.
The cause of their northward migration was the pressure of
the Turks who invaded Southern Siberia in the fifth century.
One section of them followed the course of the Yenisei, the
other that of the Ob. That this movement was due to the
Turks is shown by the fact that, whenever in the south a still
existing Samoyed tribe is found, there is always a Turkish one
south of it, and that all the Samoyed tribes that have lost their
nationality appear to have become Turks only. The Samoyeds
also came into contact with Finnish tribes. Tradition indicates
that some of the Samoyed tribes were driven away by Finns,
while others drove the Finns away. Thus the Ugrian Ostyaks
are said to have expelled the Samoyeds from the lower Ob to
the coast of the Arctic Ocean. The only region, on the other
hand, from which the Samoyeds seem to have ousted the Finns
is that which lies to the west of the Urals,
It is from the Russians that we derive most of our scanty
knowledge of the Samoyeds in earlier times. Three Samoyed
peoples are mentioned in Siberia as living east of the Yenisei
and south of the river Kan — the Tubins, the Motars, and the
Kamassins. Although small in numbers they were warlike,
and strenuously resisted subjection to Russian supremacy.
The Tubins first began to pay tribute to the Russians in 1629,
88 THE SAMOYED DIVISION
but they only did so regularly after 1654. These three tribes
were forest Samoyeds, whose chief occupation was hunting,
which accounted for their skill in archery. At the present day
the Tubins have disappeared, and the rest, with the exception
of a few Kamassins, have been Turkiiied. But the name Tuba
has remained, for the Koibals call themselves by it even now,
while Altaian tribes call the Black Forest Tatars ' Tuba '. The
Bubo, mentioned by the Chinese, were no doubt the same
Samoyed tribe. This is indicated not only by the name, but
by the habitat of this people mentioned by the Chinese, as well
as by their occupation with hunting and fishing, which they
never changed from the seventh to the seventeenth century.
The connexion of the Samoyeds with the Eussians in Europe
is of long standing. In the eleventh century they paid tribute
to the Novgorodians. Since the sixteenth century they have
been protected by law in their occupation of the Tundras. In
the south they have been impoverished by the loss of their
hunting grounds as Russian civilization has spread northward.
Russian rule, however, is not oppressive. Thus an adult Yurak
pays a tax of £l, which cannot be considered heavy. In 1835
the Samoyeds were given considerable powers of self-govern-
ment, being ruled in their own affairs by elders or mayors, one
for each Tundra, who is governor and judge in one, as well as
collector of the tribute, which he pays to the Government.
A further advance in this direction was made in 1892, when
a law was passed sanctioning native councils. These meet
annually in winter.
The Samoyeds are a dying race as a separate people; for
they are being pushed farther north, and are becoming poorer.
They attach great importance to their nationality, and keep
aloof from the Russians, being conscious that they cannot
retain their language, religion, and customs in contact with
civilization.
Bibliography.— Le Bruyn, Historische Nachrichten von den Samoyeden,
Riga, 1769. Pallas, Reise durch verschiedene Provinzen des Russischen Reichs,
St. Petersburg, 1776. Castren, Ethnologisclie Vorlesungen ilher die altaischen
Volker, St. Petersburg, 1857, pp. 79-88. Middendorf, Reise in den dussersten
Norden wid Osten Sibiriens, 1875. RadlofF,^i*s Sibirien, 2 vols., Leipzig, 1884
(vol. i, pp. 190-1). Jackson, The great frozen land across the Tundras and
among the Samoyeds, London, 1895. Stadling, TJirough Siberia (illustrated),
London, 1901. Ronaldshay, Cht the Outskirts of Empire in Asia, London,
BIBLIOGEAPHY AND NOTES 89
1904. Scobel, Geographisches Handhuch zit Andree's Handaflas, 4th ed.,
Bielefeld and Leipzig, 1910.
Language: Castren, Grammatik der samoyedischen Sprache,\^hA:\ Samoyed
Dictionary, 1855 ; Versuch einer hoihalischen und karagassi>ichen Sprachlehre,
1857 ; Friodrich Muller, Grundziige der Spnwhivissenschajt, voL ii, Vienna,
1882.
NOTES
^ The term tundra, borrowed by the Russians from the Finns, signifies
a treeless, swampy, moss-producing country fringing the Arctic Ocean. As
the Samoyeds, like the Lapps, mostly possess reindeer herds, they have to
keep to these inhospitable regions, which are little suited for human
habitation.
^ According to Asiatic Russia, Petrograd, 1914.
^ Castren considers the Samoyeds to be a mixture of Ugrians with
Mongolians, while Quatrefages classes them with the Voguls. Radlolf thinks
it is Ugro-Samoyeds whose relics are the numberless graves of the Bronze
Period which are scattered through western Siberia, in the Altai, and on the
Yenisei in the Minusinsk region. The people buried in these graves were
not nomads, but husbandmen, who kept horses, sheep, and goats. They
were familiar with mininor.
CHAPTEE IV,
THE TUNGUS DIVISION
Habitat. The vast domain inhabited by the Tungus covers
many hundred thousand square miles in central and eastern
Siberia and in the basin of the Amur. It stretches from the
Yenisei eastwards to the Pacific, where it occupies most of
the seaboard between Korea and Kamchatka. It touches the
Arctic Ocean in the coast district from west of the Lena to
east of the Yana river. It continues along the Anyui river
and the Stanovoi mountains eastward to the Chukchee Penin-
sula. But the Tungus are chiefly to be found in the region
watered by the three large eastern tributaries of the Yenisei,
which are respectively called the Upper, the Middle or Stony,
and the Lower Tunguska. The Amur also is mainly a Tungus
river almost from its source to its mouth, a number of their
tribes being distributed along its course, as well as along its
tributaries, the Sungari and Ussuri, in the south-east of Man-
churia, and the Shilka in the north-west.
Name. The name in its Eussian form, Tungus, is the Chinese
T'unghu, which is probably a corruption meaning ' the people '.
The Samoyeds call them Aiyas, 'younger brothers', which
implies that they were late immigrants into the territory near
the Yenisei from their original home in the east on the Amur.
Numbers. Though wandering over so vast a territory, the
Tungus are very few in number, not exceeding 75,204,
according to the estimate given by Asiatic Russia (1914),^ in
Siberia.^ There are besides, in China, over a million Manchus,^
who are the most important Tungus tribe. The numbers of the
Tungus are steadily decreasing, owing to the ravages of small-
pox, scarlet fever, and especially famine. Their domain is also
being encroached on from the north and east by the aggressive
Yakuts, and from the south by Eussians, now settled in compact
bodies in the province of Irkutsk about the upper course of the
Yenisei. In the Amur valley the same fate is overtaking the
kindred tribes, who are disappearing before the great waves of
CHARACTERISTICS, ETC. 91
Chinese migration from the south, and Russian encroachments
from both east and west.
Characteristics. The physical type of the Tungus essentially
resembles the Mongolian. They have broad flat features, small
nose, wide mouth, thin lips, small black and somewhat slanting
eyes, black lank hair, scanty beard, dark olive or bronze com-
plexion, and low stature averaging not more than 5 ft. 4 in.
They are distinguished from other Turanian peoples by the
square shape of the skull and the slim, wiry, well-proportioned
figure. The preceding description applies more particularly
to the Tunguska tribes, who may be regarded as typical
Tungus.
They are fearless hunters, capable of enduring hardships and
want with great fortitude. They are cheerful, persevering,
frank, trustworthy, modest, yet self-reliant. In moral qualities
they appear to be easily superior to any other native in-
habitants of Siberia.
Mode of Life. The great bulk of the Tungus, quite 95 per
cent., are nomads, who use the reindeer both for riding and
driving. They also to some extent use horses, cattle, and dogs.
They chiefly hunt fur-bearing animals, the most valuable cf
which is the black fox. They exchange the skins with Russian
and Yakut traders for provisions, clothing, and other neces-
saries of life. Only about 1 per cent, of the Tungus are agricul-
turists, who, having intermarried with Russians and forgotten
their language, have settled down chiefly in the Trans-Baikal
district. The remaining ^ per cent, of the Tungus have, like
some of the Mongolian Buryats, joined the regiment of
Cossacks.
The Tungus have no towns, villages, or houses, but only
tents, of which not more than two or three are found together.
The summer dwelling is made of birch-bark, the winter one
of skins, more rarely of logs.
Their main food is the milk and the flesh of reindeer, dried
fish, and a sort of cheese. They have little liking for a
vegetable diet.
Customs. A son grows up in his father's dwelling and has
no property of hi§ own. When he is married he occupies his
own section of the tent. The Tungus girl is free in her choice
of a husband, and receives her own share of inheritance like
her brother. Marriage is exogamous, though in the north, as
92 THE TUNGUS DIVISION
among the Yakuts, endogamous tribes are found. There is no
objection to polygamy, but few Tungus can afford more than
one wife.
When a man dies his corpse is usually sewn up in reindeer
skin and then placed in a wooden coffin, sometimes on high
wooden posts, while among the pastoral people round Lake
Baikal it is interred in the ground. On returning from the
funeral the mourners try to obliterate their tracks,'* or cut
down trees to bar the way, in order that the spirit of the dead
man may not pursue them.
The Tungus have a peculiar dance, which consists in
stamping on the ground while they repeat again and again
one particular word. They have but few musical instruments.
Among the southern Tungus, the influence of China has led
to the development of beautiful forms of art.
Religion. Though many of the northern Tungus have been
baptized and are therefore reckoned as ' G-reek Christians *,
they have not been affected by Russian orthodoxy below the
surface, and most of them are still devoted to Shamanism,
secretly keeping the claws of wild animals as amulets and
observing Christian rites only under compulsion. Among the
southern Tungus a good number are Buddhists owing to
Chinese influence ; the rest are Shamanists.
History. There is no doubt that the original home of the
Tungus was Manchuria, still the habitat of their most im-
portant tribe, the Manchus, and that all the Tungus tribes
wandering in eastern Siberia started from the fertile banks of
the Amur. Hardly anything is known of their early history
excepting the information supplied by the Chinese and sum-
marized below (under Manchus). The Russians, who found
the northern Tungus on the Yenisei at the beginning of the
seventeenth century, first mention their name in 1612. In
the following century these Tungus are described as engaged
in severe struggles with the Yakuts.
Tribes. We may distinguish two main divisions of the
Tungus based on their geographical distribution — the northern
or Siberian Tungus who are scattered over different parts of
Siberia (in the west on the Tunguska, in the north-east over
Yakutsk, and in the south-east on the Amur), and the southern
Tungus in Manchuria.
CHARACTERISTICS, ETC. 93
A. The Northern or Siberian Division
This includes : — {a) In the west, the Chapogir who inhabit
the territory between the Lower and the Middle Tunguska.
(h) In the north-east a reindeer nomad tribe living between
Chaun Bay and the Anadir, to the north of the Stanovoi
mountains, and the Lamuts in the Verkhoyansk and Kolima
districts of Yakutsk, along the northern shore of the Sea of
Okhotsk ; in the south-east, eight tribes which are either wholly
or partially Tungus, falling into two linguistic groups of four.
(c) The most widely spread and at the same time the western-
most of these are the Orochon. They extend from the north
of Lake Baikal eastwards to the Shilka, along that river and
the Amur to near its confluence with its northern tributary
the Oldoi (c. 123° E.), and northwards along the Olekma valley
almost as far as Olekminsk on the Lena, and southwards to
the Khingan mountains. Originally living in Yakutsk they
migrated to the Amur in 1825 and occupied part of the
territory of the Manegir. They inhabit both sides of the
Amur. In' physique they are small and thin. They have flat
faces, with small, sleepy-looking eyes, which are black or
brown in colour ; large, often pointed noses ; large mouths,
with thin lips and broad cheeks. Their hair is black and
smooth ; their eyebrows are thin and their beards scanty.
They are a nomadic people occupied with reindeer breeding
(as their name indicates). They have preserved their tribal
peculiarities in great purity. Nominally Christians, they keep
up a good deal of their old Shamanism. They wear the teeth
and claws of animals as amulets, and erect wooden idols in
their yurto,s or huts.
{d) The Manegir live east of the Orochon, along the right
bank of the Amur, from the mouth of the Oldoi to that of the
Zeya, and up the latter river and its tributaries to about
lat. 54° K and between long. 123' and 128° E. They are
nomadic, but they employ horses, of which they have large
herds, while the Orochon use reindeer. They frequent the
river banks in summer but the forest regions in winter.
Their language is like that of the Orochon : both for instance
accent the last syllable of words. But their physique is more
like the Manchu type, while that of the Orochon rather
resembles the Tungus of the north.
94 THE TUNGUS DIVISION
(e) The Birar occupj the valley of the Bureya and its
affluents up to about lat. 52° N., and extend towards the river
Dichum (c. lat. 49° N., long. 131° E.). They are nomads who,
like the Manegir, employ horses. They resemble the Manegir
both in physiognomy and in language. They have borrowed
words from the Chinese, the Manchus, and the Daurians.
(/) The Kile live east of the Birar in the valleys of the
Urmi and the Kur (which are northern tributaries of the Amur
on its north-easterly course), but do not extend down to the
Amur. They seem originally to have been a tribe of reindeer
nomads who, having settled on the Kur, took to hunting and
fishing.
In the region of the lower Amur near the sea there is a
linguistically connected group of Tungus tribes whose habitat
lies between 50°-53° N. and 136°-143° E. Three of these are on
the mainland and one on the island of Sakhalin. Taken from
north to south they are the following :
ig) The Negda inhabit the valley of the Amgun down to
near its confluence with the Amur.
(h) To the south of them live the Sanagir, along the upper
and middle course of the river Gorin, and extend north-east-
wards from the west of Lake Ovoron.
(i) The OlcJia, located to the east of the Sanagir, occupy
both sides of the Amur from the mouth of the Gorin to the
coast. As they show a modification of the Tungus type, they
have by some been thought to be of Mongol origin. They
keep dogs in large numbers.
(j) The 07'oJi:e inhabit the northern half of the island of
Sakhalin. They are said to be only 749 in number. They
are reindeer nomads. They are alluded to as early as 1709
by travellers as the reindeer-owning inhabitants of Sakhalin.
They use bows, arrows, and spears for hunting. Their food
consists offish, meat, roots, and herbs.
B. TJie fSoutJiern or Manchuricm Division
The Southern or Manchurian group of the Tungus occupies
the territory south of the Amur, not only Manchuria, but also
the coastal region to the east of the Ussuri river.
(k) The Dauriaiis live on the right or southern bank of the
Amur below Blagovyeshchensk. They are also found farther
west on the Nonni river.^ Both physically and linguistically
CHARACTERISTICS, ETC. 95
they show a strong Mongolian and Chinese admixture. In
type they are hard to distinguish from the Manchus. They
have ovhl and intellectual faces ; their cheeks are less broad
than those of other Tungus ; their noses are rather prominent ;
their eyebrows are straight; their skin is tawny, and their
hair brown. They are a tall, strong people. They have to
a great extent adopted Chinese customs ; thus the upper class
shave their heads in front and grow pigtails behind. By
occupation they are primarily hunters, but they also engage
in fishing. In religion they are Shamanists. Outside many
of their houses are to be seen shrines containing idols with
basins of incense before them. Another religious decoration
is a long pole adorned with votive skulls.
(Z) The Solo7i are an important tribe of Northern Manchuria,
neighbours of the Daurians. They live on both sides of the
Nonni river, northwards of Tsitsikar. They are chiefly hunters,
though some of them are agriculturists, cattle-breeders, and
traders. They begin hunting the sable early in October.
They are nomadic, using horses for hunting, in which even
their women take part. They keep horses, sheep, oxen, camels,
and hunting dogs. As regards religion they, like all Man-
.churians, are devoted to Shamanism. Like the Daurians,
they have been largely mixed with Chinese.
(m) The Ma^ichus are the sole Tungus tribe that has dis-
tinguished itself. The only one with any history, they have
given to China its last dynasty, which ruled from 1644 down
to the establishment of the Republic a few years ago. Their
original home is the region round the upper course of the
Sungari, north of Kirin (lat. 44° N., long. 1.26° E.). Their
name, which seems to have been first used by the Russians
atjput the middle of the seventeenth century, is of uncertain
origin.*^ The number of Manchus in Russian territory is 3,340,
while in Manchuria it perhaps exceeds 1,000,000."^ Here the
Manchus are outnumbered by the Chinese immigrants ^ and
the half-breed population. The Chinese who migrate into
Manchuria nearly always intermarry with Manchu women.
Thus the Manchu nation is gradually being absorbed by the
Chinese. The Manchus are most numerous in the towns as
officials and merchants. But a considerable proportion of
them still live in the mountains round the valley of the Liao.
A considerable number of Manchus live in China as officials,
96 THE TUNGUS DIVISION
but they disappear in the Chinese population. . The Manchus
are an energetic and warlike race. They are taller in stature
than any of their neighbours. They have also more' marked
features, thicker and more arched noses, less thin lips, and
larger mouths.
The Manchu language, which is still characterized by the
Turanian vowel harmony, is more worn down than the sister
languages, being regular and easy to learn. It is the only
Tungus dialect which has developed a certain amount of
literature; for since the foundation of the Manchu dynasty
in China, many, and those chiefly the most important, Chinese
works have been translated into Manchu. The Manchus have
used writing for about two centuries and a half, their alphabet
having been developed from the Mongolian.
The Manchus gave their name to the whole of Manchuria,
because the founder of the last Chinese dynasty called the
whole nation after his own tribe. Practically nothing is
known of the history of the Manchus prior to 1644, since
when it has been associated with that of China. For they are
never mentioned in earlier Chinese history, which, however,
refers to other Tungus tribes, some of which played a very
important part in the history of China. The earliest informa-
tion which the Chinese give of what is now Manchuria dates
from the eleventh century B.C. and relates to the powerful
tribe of the Suchiu (now ShucJii, Yuchiu, &c.) : they are de-
scribed as having brought to the Chinese arrows made of the
wood hu with tips of hard stone. After a long silence the
same tribe is again mentioned in 263 after Christ, as having
sent to the then ruling dynasty of China tribute consisting
of bows, arrows, armour, and sable skins. Their country and
institutions are described at some length. In the fifth centi^ry
after Christ another tribe composed of several hordes called
Mu-Tcy (later also Mo-hho or Mo-ho) is mentioned as living in
Manchuria on the Sungari river, and some account of their
manner of life is given.
In the same century the Chinese annals speak of a tribe
called Chy-Goey inhabiting the northernmost parts of the
present Manchuria and consisting of a northern and southern
division. The former were a reindeer people, chiefly occupied
with hunting and fishing, who lived partly in subterranean
dwellings, partly in tents of bark. The southern section, who
CHARACTERISTICS, ETC. 97
spoke the same language as the Mo-ho, lived in a swampy,
cold forest country, and kept horses, cattle, and many pigs.
To the southern Chy-Goey belonged a tribe called Khitan, who
were driven north by the Chinese and for a time acknow-
ledged their supremacy. But in the sixth to the ninth cen-
turies they rebelled against the Chinese. In 907 their chief
named Apaokhi founded the Khitan Empire, which embraced
the whole of Mongolia and Manchuria, extending from the
ocean in the east to Kashgar in the west. From time to time
northern China was subject to the Khitan dynasty till it was
destroyed in 1125 by the Kin dynasty. The latter arose from
the Tungus tribe of the Shuchi (mentioned above) on the ruins
of the Khitan Empire. It reduced China to a tributary state
and lasted till 1235, when it was in turn destroyed by O'gotai,
the son and successor of Jenghiz Khan. From that time
onward the Tungus tribes were first subject to the supremacy
of the Mongols and then of the Chinese, till the Manchu
dynasty came to the front in 1644. This line also derived its
origin from the wild Shuchi tribe. It gradually acquired such
power as to subjugate not only China proper, but also Mon-
golia, Manchuria, Tibet, Bokhara, Dzungaria, alnd other terri-
tories. Like all foreign hordes that have invaded and ruled
China, the Manchu dynasty has been completely absorbed by
Chinese civilization.
(n) The Goldi live in the north-east corner of Manchuria
along the Amur and its tributaries the Ussuri and the Sungari.
Their neighbours on the north are the Sanagir and the Olcha,
on the east the Oroch, on the west the Kile and the Manchus.
They number about 5,000. Two physical types have been
distinguished among them. In the one the face is round or
oval, with the well-known Mongol characteristics— broad
cheek-bones, small oblique eyes, broad, low noses. In the other,
the cheeks are wider, the eyes less oblique, the nose higher
and more arched, the lips thicker. Both types have black
hair, scanty beard and moustache, bony and muscular frames.
They are described as timid, good-natured, and honest. They
have acted as transmitters of Chinese culture to tribes beyond
them.
By occupation they are chiefly fishermen, using as a rule
small birch-bark canoes for one, but also larger boats. The}^
employ dogs to tow their boats up-stream. They also to some
TURANIANS Gr
98 THE TUNGUS DIVISION
extent engage in hunting, but liave settled homes and are not
nomads. They cultivate small - plots of land in which they
grow vegetables. They are good smiths and make beautiful
ornapaental spearheads. The women are skilled in needlework
and embroidery.
In religion the Goldi are devoted to Shamanism. They
bury their Shamans, as well as other important people, in huts ;
but the bodies of the poor are bestowed in wooden coffins which
are placed in trees out of the reach of wild beasts. As men are
in a majority there is no polygamy among them.
(o) The OrocJi live in the Eussian coast province, to the east
of the Ussuri and the lower Amur — from de Castries Bay in the
north down to Amur Bay in the south. Their neighbours in
the north are the Olcha and in the west the Goldi. In the
south they are much intermixed with Chinese.
Their physical type has been modified by Chinese and Gilyak
admixture. They are very short in stature. Their heads are
proportionately big, while their extremities are small. Their
faces are flat and almost square ; the forehead is low and some-
what receding ; the cheek-bones are prominent, the eyes small
and slanting ; the nose is small and flat, the mouth large, and
the lips thin. Their complexion is less dark and their hair
less thick than that of the Ainu, while their beards are very
scanty. Their hair is black or brown, and their eyebrows are
strongly marked.
In spite of their name, which means ' reindeer-keepers', they
are now nomad hunters and fishers. The number of this tribe
is stated to be 2,407.
Bibliography. — Fischer, GeschichteSihiriens, St. Petersburg,! 768. Castren,
Ethnologische Votiesungen, St. Petersburg, 1857, pp. 21-,^3 ; Reise-erinnerimgen
axis denJahren 1838-44; vol. i oi Nordische Reisen iind Forschungen, St. Peters-
burg, 185.3. Hickisch, Die Tungusen, St. Petersburg, 1879. F. Miiller, IJnter
Tungusen und Yahiiten, Leipzig, 1882. Schrenk, Rei^en und Forschungen im
Amurlande, vol. iii, pp. 19-58, 130-88, 276-310 (coloured ethnographic map
of all the Tungus tribes of the Amur), 366-85 (illustrated), 685-95 (illus-
trated), St. Petersburg, 1881-91. Younghusband, Tlie Heart of a Continent:
A Narrative of Travels in Manchuria, across the Gobi Desert, through the Hima-
layas, the Pamirs, and Hunza, London, 1896. Hosie, Manchuria : its People,^Re-
sources, and Recent History (map and illustrations), London. 1901 . Patkanoff,
The Geographical and Statistical Description of the Tungus Tribes of Siberia,
St. Petersburg, 1906 ; Statistical Data for the Racial Composition of the Popula-
tion of Siberia, its Language and Tribes, St. Petersburg, 1912. Czaplicka.
Aboriginal Siberia (social anthropology), Oxford, 1914, pp. 20-1 (with very
BIBLIOGRAPHY AND NOTES 99
copious bibliography). Asiatic Russia : with an atlas (no. 25 ethnographic
map of Asiatic Russia), St. Petersburg, 1914. The statistics a.re those of the
census of 1897, checked by district reports for 1911 ; the latter are slightly
more reliable than the former. On the Language : Castren, Gnindzilr/e einer
tungtisischen Sprachleht-e, St. Petersburg, 1856. Schiefner, in the Bulletin
of the St. Petersburg Academy, 1859. L. Adam, Gi-ammait-e de la langue
toiingonse, Paris, 1874. Schiefner, Linguistic specimens in the Bulletin of
the St. Petersburg Academy, 1874 and 1877. Biige, Vher die Stellung des
Tungtisischen zum Mongolisch-TUrkischen, Halle, 1887. Schrenk, op. cit.,
pp. 1-149, German Glossary of the Goldi Ianguag<% with comparative
reference to the other Tunofus dialects.
NOTES
^ Based on the census of 1897 ; according to Patkanoff, Statistical Data, &c.,
1912, the total number of Tungus is 76,507, 62,068 being Tungus proper
(those who call themselves by the generic name Avanki, and not by clan
names).
- Castren, EtJin. Vorlesungeti, p. 22, estimated the number of Tungus under
Russian dominion to be about 53,000 in 1851.
' Cp. Meyer, Konret^ationslexikon, vol. xiii, p. 218. The rest of the popu-
lation of Manchuria, perhaps four millions, consists of Chinese or a mixture
of Chinese and Manchus.
* This is a very ancient primitive custom ])ractised in India more than
3,000 years ago, as shown by a funeral hymn of the Rigveda.
'* See Schrenk, Reisen iind Forschiingen im Amurlande, vol. iii, p. 49; cp.
also his ethnographic map, facing p. 310.
^ Cp. Schrenk, op. cit., p. 188.
'' See Meyer, Konversationslexikon, vol. xiii, p. 213.
" But the Manchus are still owners of the soil, which they only let to the
Chinese. ■
a2
CHAPTER V
THE MONGOL DIVISION
Habitat. The original home of the Mongol race is Mongolia,
which forms a geographical link between the habitat of the
Southern Tungus on the east and that of the Turks on the west.
It is separated from Siberia in the north by the Altai, the Sayan,
and the Yablonai ranges ; from Manchuria in the east by the
Khingan mountains ; from China and Tibet in the south-east
and south by the In Shan and Ala Shan ; from Turkestan in the
south-west by the northern frontier of Dzungaria ; and from
Russian Central Asia in the west by no very definite natural
boundary. This territory lies roughly between lat. 40° to 50° N.
and long. 90° to 120° E. About nine-tenths of its inhabitants
are pure Mongols. The whole Mongolian race at the present
day lives within the boundaries of the Chinese and the Russian
Empires, about three millions being subject to China and half
a million to Russia.
Main brancJies. There are three main branches : — (1) the
Eastern Mongols, or Mongols proper, practically all in Mon-
golia ; ^ (2) the Buryats, in Siberia around Lake Baikal and
in south Irkutsk ; and (3) the Kalmuks, partly in and around
Dzungaria (to the - west, north, and south-east), partly in
southern Russia, and between the Don and the Volga. These
main tribes are further subdivided into a number of small
hordes.
Number. The total number of the Mongols may be estimated
at rather less than 3,500,000. The Eastern Mongols are by far
the most numerous, comprising probably 2,580,000. The
Buryats number 332,554,^ about two-thirds of them inhabiting
the districts round Lake Baikal, the rest the south of Irkutsk.
The West Mongols or Kalmuks total about 530,000, of whom
370,000 live in China, 110,000 in Southern Russia, and 50,000
in Siberia.
Name. The origin of the name Mongol is obscure ; but
Schott's derivation of it from mong^ 'brave', is commonly
CHARACTEEISTICS, ETOL: 101
accepted." In the tenth century they are first mentioned by
the Chinese under the name Mang-yu or Mang-yus, and by 1135
the Mongols are known by their present name as Mung-Tcu or
Mung-Jcus. But this name is very rare in 'Chinese chronicles.
Instead of it, Tata, which first appears in 880, is commoner.
From this time the expression Tata first appears in Chinese
history as a designation of wild hordes in the In Shan derived
from the Mo-kho tribe. Henceforth the term received a wider
application and finally came to designate as ' Tatars ' the wild
hordes not of the Mongol, but of the Turkish race.*
Characteristics. The Mongol is somewhat below the middle
height ; he has a short neck and slender limbs. He is charac-
terized by small black eyes, narrow straight eyebrows, promi-
nent cheek-bones, broad flat nose, thick lips, short chin, and
large protruding ears. His hair is black and coarse, and his
beard scanty. He is brachycephalic. Though his complexion
is brown, he shows colour in his cheeks. The east Mongolian is
slender and strong, but the other two branches show a tendency
to fatness.
The Mongols are by nature a lazy, phlegmatic people, not
having the quickness, intelligence, and energy of the Tungus
and Manchus. They like a quiet, peaceful life : those of them
that live within Chinese territory are satisfied with being
called the allies of China and being its actual vassals. But
that they have had the energy for great deeds is shown his-
torically by the achievements of Jenghiz Khan and of Timur;'^
for they founded the greatest empire that the world has ever
seen, conquering nearly the whole of Asia and a great part of
Europe. It is inconceivable that this should ever happen again.
For the main body of this race, which inhabits Mongolia, are
now devoted adherents of Buddhism, by which religion they
have been transformed from a very warlike into a peaceful and
unenterprising people.
Manner of Life. All the Mongolian tribes are nomads, whose
chief occupation is cattle-breeding accompanied by trade.
Religion. Though originally Shamanists, the Mongols have
adopted the religions of the more civilized peoples by whom
they have been subdued: Buddhism from the Chinese,
Christianity from the Russians, and to a slight extent Islam
from the Tatars by whom they have, been Turkified in the
neighbourhood of the Altai range.
iO.2 THE MONGOL DIVISION
Language. The main Turanian language to which Mongolian
is most nearly allied is Turkish, the two having more than
half their roots in common. All the three main dialects of the
language (corresponding to the three racial divisions) are so
closely related in roots, inflexions, and grammatical structure
that whoever understands one of them understands all. They
share the Turanian phonetic characteristic of ' harmony of
vowels ' by which all the vowels of the same word belong to
the same class, so that the nature of the first or root vowel
determines the nature of the other or inflexional vowels.^
The vocabulary contains many Chinese, Turkish, and Tibetan
words.
Writing. The Mongolian characters (used in a slightly
modified form by the Manchus also) form not an alphabet but
a syllabarium, the unit of which is the syllable, that is, a con-
sonant with its accompanying vowel. These characters are
lineal descendants of the original Uigur forms which were
themselves derived from the Syriac (Aramaic) writing brought
to the Uigurs' by Nestorian missionaries. An Indian and
Tibetan influence is noticeable in them. The arrangement in
perpendicular lines read downwards is due to Chinese, though
the columns are read from left to right (the direction of the
Indian script). This writing was given its ultimate shape by
two learned Lamas in the thirteenth century. It is, however,
very imperfect owing to the ambiguity of certain of its
letters.
History. The surest source of the earliest history of the
Mongols are the Chinese chronicles. These name the so-called
Hiung-nu as the first powerful people inhabiting the country
which is now Mongolia. De Guignes, the celebrated author of
the history of the Huns and Turks,^ as well as Klaproth,'^
Ritter,^^ and others, regard this people as Turks, while the
Russian Hyakinth,^^ followed by Neumann,^^ take them to be
Mongols. The balance of evidence, however, seems to be in
favour of the Turks, as some of the few known words of the
Hiung-nu language are of Turkish origin. De Guignes regards
the western Huns who invaded Europe under Attila in the
fifth century as a branch of the Hiung-nu people and conse-
quently as Turks also.
From the history of the T*ang dynasty of China (a.d. 618-905)
and later works it appears that the original camping grounds
HISTORY 103
of the Mongols were along the courses of the Kerulen, the
upper Nonni, and the Argun rivers. But the origin of the race
is obscure and mythical. Thus the native Mongol historian
Sanang Setsen (c. 1660) ^'' traces their descent from a blue
wolf. The Mongols did not begin to play any important part
till the second half of the twelfth century, having before then
been mostly vassals of the Tungus dynasties of Khitan and
Kin. Then, however, they were collected by Jenghiz Khan
to lay the foundation of his mighty empire. Their reputed
ancestor Budantsar by craft and violence became the chief
of a tribe living in the neighbourhood of his mother's tent.
His descendants increased in power till the eighth in succession,
Jesukai, made his power felt over a large area. He threw off
the yoke of the White Tatas (the Turks), to whom his own
tribe, the Black Tatas, had long been subject, and for the first
time united all the Black Tatas to one people. Jesukai was
the father of Jenghiz Khan (1162-1227), who, born as the chief
of a petty Mongolian tribe, became one of the greatest
conquerors the world has ever seen. He called his own tribe
' Mongol ' or rather ' Koko ' (Black) Mongol as a distinction
from the White Tata (or Turk) tribes. In the course of his
life he subjected the whole of Central Asia (including Man-
churia, Mongolia, Turkestan), and after destroying Peking
conquered northern China. When in 1219 he started from
Karakorum, his capital in Mongolia, on his westward advance,
his armies ravaged the north-west of India and penetrated
into southern Eussia. Thus when he died in 1227 he left an
empire which extended from the China Sea as far as the banks
of the Dnieper. And though it dwindled under his incom-
petent descendants and finally disappeared without a trace,
a momentous result of his rule was the presence of the Turks
in Europe ; for it was the advance of his armies that drove
the Osmanlis from their original home in northern Asia and
thus led to their invasion of Bithynia under Othman (died
1326) and finally their entry into Europe under Amurath I
(or Murad I, 1319-89).
Jenghiz Khan's empire was divided in 1227 among his sons,
and his conquests were continued by his grandsons. Ogotai,
the second (and eldest surviving) son who had become chief
Khan, died in 1241 and was succeeded by his son Kuyuk,
who reigned only seven years. The latter showed favour to
104 THE MONGOL DIVISION
Christianity; for his two ministers as well as his physicians
were Christians, and a Christian chapel stood before his tent.
Upon his death the lordship of the Mongols passed to the
house of Tuli (or Tului), the youngest son of Jenghiz Khan.
In 1251 Tuli's eldest son Mangu was elected chief Khan. He
practised perfect impartiality towards Christians and Moham-
medans alike, though Shamanism was recognized as the state
religion. In 1253 Mangu was visited by Eubruquis ^* and
other Christian monks. The former gives an account of the
chief Khan's palace at Karakorum, contrasting greatly with
the nomad tent- life of his forefathers. Assisted by his brothers
Hulagu and Kublai he considerably increased the Mongol
Empire. He himself conquered China, Tibet, and various
territories bordering on India. Hulagu stormed Bagdad, de-
stroyed the Khalifate there, and made the Seljuk sultans of
Iconium tributary. Hulagu was meditating the capture of
Jerusalem in order to restore it to the Christians, when he
was recalled by the death of Mangu in 1260. Kublai was now
elected Great Khan.
By this time the Mongol Empire had attained a greater
extent than any empire of the world either before or after,
reaching from the Sea of China to the frontier of Poland, from
the Himalayas to deep into Siberia. But this vast empire
was already developing the seeds of dissolution, which was
accelerated by Kublai's transfer of the capital to China in 1280.
Even during his reign several sub-khans made themselves
independent and formed a number of kingdoms of which
Turkestan, Persia, East and South Russia were the most power-
ful. In China itself Mongol rule lasted under the name of the
Yuen dynasty till 1368, when China threw off the alien yoke,
the house of Jenghiz Khan being supplanted by the Ming
dynasty (1368-1644).
The Mongols then withdrew to the regions outside the
Great Wall, where they united in the land between the Amur
and the Selenga with their kinsmen who had remained behind.
At first the descendants of Jenghiz Khan ruled here, but soon
the people divided into independent hordes with different
names.
In Persia Hulagu had founded in 1265 the dynasty of the
Il-khans, which lasted down to 1349. The Mongols here
completely adopted the language and customs of the country,
HISTOEY 105
the Sultans embracing Islam and even introducing the Arab-
Persian constitution.
In the land north of the Caspian between the Yaik (Ural)
and the Volga, the grandsons of Jenghiz Khan, Or da and
Batu, had founded an empire which extended to the Dnieper,
but which soon dissolved into several small Khanates. These
were gradually all subjected by the Eussians.
Their original nomad jnode of life, as well as their Shaman-
istic religion, was most faithfully preserved by the Mongols of
Transoxiana, where Jenghiz Khan's son Jagatai had founded
in 1227 a kingdom which extended from the Jihoun (Oxus) to
the Irtish. In this region arose that second great conqueror
Timur (' iron ') Lenk (' lame '), corrupted to ' Tamerlane ' (1333-
1405), who united the power of the Mongols and Turks, and
led them to new conquests. He was born at Samarkand,
which became his capital. He first subjected Persia, then
Georgia; in 1394 he penetrated to Moscow, overthrew by
degrees all the kingdoms of Central Asia, and in 1398 con-
quered India from the Indus to the mouth of the Ganges.
In 1401 he destroyed Bagdad, then invaded Asia Minor, and
in 1402 defeated the Osman Turks at Angora with his numeri-
cally far superior Mongol army. After his death in 1404 the
dissensions among his relatives in regard to the succession
soon led to a complete dissolution of the empire. Only in
Jagatai have the dynasties of Jenghiz Khan and Timur sur-
vived down to the present under foreign sovereignty.
It was from here that Babar ('the lion'), fifth in descent
from Timur and born in 1483 in Ferghana, founded the new
Mongolian Empire in India, that of the Great Moguls (that is,
Mongols) by defeating the Sultan of Delhi at the battle of
Panipat in 1526. This conquest of India was in no real sense
a Mongolian achievement. For Babar's invading army, which*
consisted of only 12,000 miscellaneous adventurers from Central
Asia, probably contained hardly any actual Mongols. The
dynasty itself was Turkish as descended from Timur, Mongol
only in the sense that it arose in the kingdom founded by the
Mongol Jagatai, Jenghiz Khan's son, in Transoxiana. The
Mogul Empire in India came to an end in 1858.
With this quite nominal exception the whole Mongol race
has for centuries been subject to other powers, predominantly
the Chinese and the Eussian Empires. Certain small sections
106 THE MONGOL DIVISION
of tlieiu were subdued by or merged in the Persians and Turks.
The Mongols were a brave and hardy people, but they never
showed themselves capable of consolidating the fruits of
victory, of forming a settled type of government, or of gaining
the allegiance of conquered peoples. The part they played in
the history of the world was transitory, for it virtually came
to an end after a century and a half. Their activity during
this period was mainly destructive, showing no sign of inde-
pendent constructive political ability. On the contrary they
have tended more and more" to assimilate themselves to the
superior civilizations with which they came in contact — those
of the Chinese, the Eussians, and the Persians. Thus in the
thirteenth century they adopted Buddhism from the Chinese
in the east, and later Christianity from the Russians in the
west. AVhen in touch with their kinsmen, the Turks, they
for the most part adopted Islam, which they exchanged, like
the latter, for their primitive Shamanism. Under these
influences they have on the whole become a peaceful, timid,
indolent people, steadily losing their racial individuality. It
is therefore not in the least likely that they will ever again
lead or even join in a career of conquest as they did in the
twelfth and thirteenth centuries.
Branches. The whole Mongolian race may be divided into
three branches speaking the three main dialects corresponding
to them : (i) The Eastern Mongols, (ii) The Buryats, (iii) The
Kalmuks.
i. The Eastern Mongols
Habitat. The Eastern Mongols, or Mongols proper, inhabit
their original home, Mongolia, which the Chinese divide into
Outer and Inner Mongolia. Outer Mongolia, which is con-
terminous on the north and west with Russian territory, is the
habitat of the Khalkas, who extend from the north-eastern end
of the desert of Gobi to the borders of Russian Siberia. The
Khalka people are divided into four great tribes.
The Urianghai territory, which covers an area of about 52,000
square miles in the extreme north-west of Mongolia south of
the Sayan range, is inhabited by five main tribes, estimated to
number about 100,000, which are now virtually Mongols, but
in origin are probably akin to the Samoyed Soyotes of Siberia
(p. 83). ^^
THE EASTEEN MONGOLS 107
Inner Mongolia, which is divided from Outer Mongolia by
the desert of Gobi and borders on China Proper and Manchuria
along the whole of the north-eastern and eastern frontier, is
inhabited by twenty-four tribes, which, from the military divi-
sions in which they are grouped, are known as the Mongols of
the Forty-nine Banners.
Besides these there are what the Chinese call the 'Herdsmen
tribes ', especially the Chakhar tribe, which inhabit the territory
in immediate proximity to the Great Wall.
Number. The total estimated number of the Mongols proper
has already been stated to be 2,580,000 (p. 100). But no ap-
proximate trustworthy estimate of each of the main tribes taken
separately seems to be obtainable.
Cliaracteristics, Besides the racial and mental characteris-
tics of the Mongols in general already mentioned (p. 101), the
people of the eastern branch are described as inquisitive, frank,
good-natured, and acute in practical matters. It is to be noted
that they have never intermarried with the ruling Chinese
race, even in the districts bordering on China. The hold that
the Lamaistic Buddhism of Tibet has on the Eastern Mongols
is indicated by the fact that the country is covered with
lamaserais. It is estimated that the Lamas constitute five-
eighths of the population.
Mode of Life. They are genuine nomads, living in tents.
Only princes, officials, and soldiers on service live in houses.
Their dwellings consist of round huts (yurtas) on wooden
frameworks covered with felt. In the middle is the hearth,
on which only dung is burnt. Opposite the door is the
domestic altar. Carpets or felt cloths are used for sleeping or
sitting on. The clothes of both sexes are sim'ilar and consisted
originally of materials derived from cattle and other animals.
But horse -hide and felt garments are being gradually replaced
by Chinese jackets and cloths. High caps of sheepskin . are
everywhere usual. The head is shaved, only a large plait
being left hanging down the back. The beard is shaved or
plucked out. Women wear plaits adorned with corals, ribbons,
and beads, and allowed to hang down over the breast. The
food of the Mongols is chiefly derived from the products of
the cattle they rear. A favourite article is also brick tea pre-
pared with meal, salt, butter, and milk. From milk, butter
and cheese are made, and Jcumiss distilled. Brandy is much
108 THE MONGOL DIVISION
drunk, but water not at all. Opium smoking is very general.
The Mongols are very dirty in their habits, and bathing is un-
known among them, as among the Chinese and the Kalmuks.
Occupations. The principal occupation of the Mongols is
cattle-breeding. It is estimated that each family has on the
average 50 sheep, 25 horses, 15 horned cattle, and 10 camels.
Among their domestic animals goats are included. Their
sheep are of the fat-tailed breed. Their cattle are also trained
for both carrying and riding. The Mongols engage largely in
the transport of goods. It is calculated that 100,000 camels
are used for the transport of tea only from Kalgan to Siberia ;
and that no fewer than 1,200,000 camels and 300,000 ox-carts
are employed in the internal caravan trade. The eastern
Mongols also to some extent engage in hunting. Agriculture
is only practised sporadically, chieily in the south, where the
Mongols have been taught by the Chinese. Various domestic
industries are also carried on by them.
Literature. The literature of the Mongols is chieily religious,
consisting mostly in translations from Tibetan and Chinese.
Their printed books are few. One of the most noteworthy of
these is the History of the Eastern Mongols,^'' by the Mongol
chief Sanang Setsen, dating from about 1660.
ii. The Buryats
Habitat. The Buryats extend from the Chinese frontier in
the south as far as lat. 55° on both sides of Lake Baikal, and
from the Onon in the east to beyond the Oka in the west
towards the town of Nizhni Udinsk. They thus live nearly all
round Lake Baikal. Eleven sub-tribes have been distinguished
among them — four to the west, and seven to the east of the
lake. The Buryats are most numerous on the east side, in the
valleys along the Uda and the Onon, and in the neighbourhood
of Nerchinsk. These Trans-Baikal Buryats came to their
present home only towards the end of the seventeenth century
from the territory of the Khalkas in northern Mongolia. They
appear to be increasing in numbers.^^'
The Buryats round Selinginsk, who claim Jenghiz Khan as
their ancestor, moved northward in the thirteenth century,
when they arrived on the upper Amur. Thence they migrated
westwards to Lake Baikal.
Characteristics. The Buryats physically resemble the
THE BUEYATS 109
Kalmuks. They are broad-shouldered and inclined to be
stout. They have large heads, square faces, small slanting
eyes, high cheek-bones far apart, broad flat noses, low fore-
heads, thick lips, swarthy and yellow complexions, jet-black
hair, and scanty beards. They keep their hair cropped very
close except on the crown, where it is made to grow in a long
queue hanging down behind.
They are an intellectual, but a phlegmatic and easy-going
people, lacking enterprise, but showing some energy when
they engage in agriculture.
Mode of Life, The dwellings, or yurtas, of the Buryats are
not erected in rows, but are scattered about and are surrounded
by large enclosures. At some distance there are huge enclosed
spaces where cattle graze in winter, and large crops of hay are
stored in summer. The Buryats are so fond of their manner
of living in their yurtas that when they inhabit houses they
make a hole in the roof and keep a fire burning in the centre
of the floor. In the north they use wood for fuel, but in the
south camel's dung. In summer they dress in silk or cotton,
but in winter in fur and sheepskin. As food they chiefly eat
mutton. They drink- brick tea, blending it with rye meal,
mutton fat, and salt. They are also fond of drinking intoxi-
cating liquor and of smoking tobacco.
Customs. Marriages are generally arranged by two families
exchanging daughters. But if there are only sons, a Jcalim,
or bridal price, consisting of cattle has to be pajd for the bride,
who, however, receives a dowry which counterbalances the
Jcalim.
The Buryats used to burn their dead till it was forbidden by
the Russian Grovernment. Nevertheless they still sometimes
cremate the bodies of Shamans before depositing the remains
in the trunks of trees. At Buryat burials a horse is sacrificed.
Occupations. The Buryats are a nomad people occupied with
horse and cattle breeding, hunting and fishing. A good many
of them, under Russian influence, also cultivate rye and wheat.
They are adepts at silversmith work, which is noted throughout
Siberia as ' Bratsky work ' (Bratsky, ' brother \ being the
Russian name for the Buryats). They are also skilled in
producing leather work and textile fabrics.
Government. The Buryats are under a special Russian
steppe government. But their own elders, the Taishas, still
no THE MONGOL DIVISION
exercise great influence among them. Several clans form
a commune, at the head of which is a chief Taisha.
Religion, The Buryats have, nominally at least, adopted
either Christianity or Buddhism. Those in the north, follow
a form of ordinary Buddhism, while those in the east are
Lamaists. Among them the Lamas, who form a large portion
of the population towards the Chinese frontier, are greatly
revered. They lead ascetic lives, refrain from spirits and
tobacco, avoid taking animal life, and are celibate. Like the
Tibetans they use praying machines. The western Buryats
are Christians. But Shamanism has by no means been de-
stroyed among them. It has annexed the crucifix as a symbol
for its rites, but shows few signs of otherwise falling under the
influence of the cross.
Language. The Buryat dialect ^" is closely akin to the East
Mongolian. The phonetic differences between them are slight^
Thus the Mongolian ^.s- appears in Buryat as ss ; e.g. tsalc ' time '
in the former is ssah in the latter. The relation of the Buryat
language to that of the Kalmuks is similar. Three sub-dialects
can be distinguished in Buryat.
The Buryats have some books of their own. For writing
they use Mongolian characters, which, as has been pointed out,
are defective in various respects (p. 102).
iii. The Kalmuks
Habitat The Kalmuks form the western branch of the
Mongol race, living partly in Asia and partly in Europe.
The Asiatic Kalmuks are found mainly in Chinese territory :
in Kobdo and Dzungaria, in East Turkestan, in the eastern
portion of the T'ien Shan, on the southern border of the Gobi
desert, on the Koko-nor range, and in the province of Kansu.
Several hordes are also under Eussian sway. They are thus
now found in the territory of Semiryechensk (near Kulja), and
in the southern part of the government of Tomsk on the Altai.
Widely separated from these are the European Kalmuks who
inhabit the banks of the Volga around Astrakhan and Stavropol
towards Saratov, and nomadize on the steppe between the Volga
and the Ural.
Number. The total number of the Kalmuks is estimated at
530,000, of whom 370,000 live in Chinese territory and 160,000
in the Russian Empire.^ ^ In the steppe of the Kalmuks, which
THE KALMUKS HI
extends between the Caspian and the Volga in the east and the
Don in the west, and from the town of Sarepta in the north to
the Kuma and the Manich in the south, the Kalmuk popula-
tion amounts to 76,000 ; to these are to be added 25,000 more
on the borders of the Don Cossacks ; and lastly 8,000 in the
adjoining provinces- of Orenburg and Saratov; making alto-
gether 109,000 in European Eussia. The remaining 50,000 or
so are in Asiatic Russia.
Name. The name ' Kalmuk ' is used only by the Volga
Mongols in the form of Khalimak, and even among them is
not common as a designation of themselves, but is rather
applied to them by the Tatars (Turks). The Kalmuks on the
Altai are also called Black ^^ or mountain Kalmuks as distin-
guished from the Turkified white Kalmuks (or Teleuts) of the
Government of Tomsk. Kalmuk is probably a Tatar word,
but it is as yet unexplained. The Tatars also call them Olot
(Eleuts), while the Eastern Mongols designate them Ogeled.
The favourite name among the Kalmuks themselves is ' Mongol
Girad ' or ' Mongol related tribe '. The ' Dorbon Oirad ' or
' Four related Tribes ', of which the Kalmuks have consisted
from ancient times, are the Dzungars in Dzungaria, the
Torgod2<^ in Kobdo, the Koshod,^^ and the Dorbot (Dorbot).
Characteristics. The physique of the Kalmuks completely
coincides with that of the eastern Mongolians, with wh9se
manners and customs theirs are also closely allied.
Occupations. The Kalmuks are nomads, chiefly occupied
with cattle-breeding. Their trade consists in bartering cattle
for corn, woollen clothing, cooking utensils, and other require-
ments.
Goveriiment. Among the Chinese ancj Siberian Kalmuks
the administration is in the hands of their tribal chiefs. The
Russian Kalmuks have as their chief a Lama who is appointed
by the Russian Government and who lives in Bazar Kalmuk
on the Volga near Astrakhan. As regards education the
Russian Government has done much for the Kalmuks in
recent times.
Religion. The Kalmuks in Chinese territory are mostly
Lamaist Buddhists. In Siberia they have here and there
adopted Christianity. Some, again, have taken Islam from
the Tatars with whom they have been in contact. Thus in
1904 a 'prophet' among the ^Kalmuks of the Altai region
112 THE MONGOL DIVISION
caused a ferment which led to the assassination of the Russian
district administrator.
Language. The language of the Kalmuks differs only slightly
from that of the Eastern Mongols. The dialectic difference very
frequently lies only in a divergent pronunciation of certain
sounds. Thus East Mongolian ds appears in Kalmuk as a soft
s (=z). The characteristic Turanian vowel harmony has in
Kalmuk reversed its direction, the vowels of the endings
influencing those of the roots instead of vice versa.
Writing. The characters of the Kalmuk script are an
extended and improved variety of those of the Eastern Mongols.
They were devised in 1648 on the basis of the latter. They
have a rounded appearance as compared with the Mongolian
letters. New signs were added so that each sound of the
language has its distinct graphic character. Hence no letter
is ambiguous or liable to be mistaken for another. The
Kalmuk writing is therefore the key to the other Mongolian
dialects, which it enables the reader to understand easily.
The Kalmuk orthography is phonetic, while the Mongolian
is historical. Thus in the spoken language a g between vowels
is dropped, the vowels then contracting; e.g. khan (originally
Jchagan) is pronounced in both dialects, while Jchdn is written
in Kalmuk, but Ichagan in Mongolian ; similarly Kalmuk nor
' lake ', Mongol nagor, but both pronounced 7idr.
Literature. The Kalmuks have, in addition to written laws,
a literature consisting mostly of poetry and historical tradi-
tions mingled with sagas ; an heroic epic poem,^^ and a collection
of fairy tales.^^
History. Nothing is known of the early history of the
Kalmuks ; but from the beginning of the seventeenth century
we begin to obtain information about their migrations and
other political events. Before 1600 there were probably no
Kalmuks west of the Altai. From their original seats in
Dzungaria parts of the ' Four related Tribes ' turned in their
migrations to the north, first to the Altai, then westward across
the steppe of the Kirghiz to the head waters of the Tobol, and
gradually reached the Emba and the Or. Between these two
rivers and the Ural the Torgod settled in 1616. Thence they
crossed the Volga in 1650 and took possession of the now
so-called steppe of the Kalmuks. They were followed in 1672
by the Dorbot, and in 1675 by the Koshod. Meanwhile a
THE KALMUKS 113
chief named Galdan, who became famous in Central Asia,
founded in 1671 a kingdom of short duration by subjecting
all the Olot (Kalmuk) tribes, the Telenget and the Kirghiz,
and expelling from their home the Khalka Mongols, who
migrated to the neighbourhood of their kinsmen the Buryats
on Lake Baikal. Galdan in 1696 was defeated by a nephew,
who with the help of the Chinese put himself at the head of
the Dzungar Kalmuks and founded the Dzungarian Kingdom
at Hi. This kingdom, however, only lasted till 1757, when it
was destroyed by the Chinese. Those of the Kalmuks who had
remained behind in the seventeenth century resolved in 1703
to escape from the persecutions of the Dzungarian king, and
settled down in E,ussia between the Yaik (Ural) and Volga.
Some 40,000 Koshod, Dorbot, and Dzungars in 1759 fled before
the Chinese conquerors of Dzungaria to the Volga. After the
Torgod, at the invitation of the Chinese Emperor, had in 1771
returned to Hi, a large part of the other Kalmuk tribes,
dissatisfied with Russian rule, returned amid great danger
and privations to China. Out of 169,000 about 100,000 are
said to have perished. Those who remained in Russia have
since the end of the eighteenth century lived peacefully as
nomads on the steppe between Volga and Ural. Besides the
Kalmuks some Buryats returned to Chinese territory, which
hereby gained a large accession of population. Since then the
Kalmuks, like the Mongols, have lived as peaceful subjects of
the Chinese Empire.
Bibliography.— d'Ohsson, Histoire des Mongols (between Jenghiz Khan
and Timur), 4 vols., Amsterdam, 1838. SchottjAlteste Nachrichten vonMongolen
und Taiaren, Berlin, 1846 ; Geschichte der Mongolen, Breslau, 1872. Castren,
Ethnologische Vorlesungen, pp. 33-53. Howorth, History of the Mongols, 3 vols.,
London, 1876-88 ; vol. i, Mongols proper and Kalmuks. Cahun, Introditction
a Vhistoire de PAsie, Turcs et Mongols, des origines a 1405, Paris, 1896.
Pozdneev, Mongolia and the Mongols, 2 vols, (illustrated), St. Petersburg,
1896-8 (the leading modern authority), in Russian. Terry-Ayscough and
Otter Barry, With the Russians in Mongolia, London, 1914. Carruthers, Un-
known Mongolia, 2 vols, (with bibliography, and fully illustrated), London,
1913. Cp. also Mayers, The Chinese Government, 2nd ed., Shanghai and
London, 1886, pp. 80-96.
Buryats: Howorth, op. cit., vol. i, pp. 681-92.
Kalmuks : Bergmann, Nomadische Streifereien unter den Kalmucken, 4 vols.,
Riga, 1804-5. Wenjukow, Die russisch-asiatischen Grenzlande, Leipzig, 1874.
Howorth, op' cit., vol. i, ch. ix, pp. 497-533 (Koshod), ch. x, pp. 534-89.
TURANIANS H
114 THE MONGOL DIVISION
NOTES
^ There were in 1897 only 402 E/>,stern Mongolians (belonging to the
Khalka tribe) in Siberia.
^ According to Asiatic Russia. Miss Czaplicka, Aboriginal Siberia, p. 20,
gives the number as 288,599 ; Meyer, Konversationslexikon, as 208,000.
^ Cp. Howorth, History of the Mongols, vol. i, p. 27 (liOndon, 1876).
^ Cp. (J'lstren, EtJinologische Vorlesungen, p. 38.
^ Who, however, was more of a Turk than a Mongol.
^ On the modification of this feature in Kalmuk see p. 112.
' Cp. d'Ohsson, Histoire des Mongols, vol. i. Historical Map of Asia, facing
p. 1, lat. 45° N. and long. 80-90° E.
^ De Guignes, Histoire ghierale des Huns, des Turcs, des Mongols et des
autres Tartares occidentaux, 4 vols., Paris, 1756-8 : vol. i, p. "224; Allgemeine
Geschichte der Hunnen und Tiirken, Greifswald, 1770, Introduction, p. 261.
^ Memoires relatifs a VAsie, vol. ii, p. 378 ff". (Paris, 1826).
^° Die Erdkunde von Asien, vol. i, p. 241 (Berlin, 1832).
^^ Cp. Castren, EtJinologische Vorlesungen, p. 36.
^^ Die Volker des sUdlichen Russlands in ihrer geschichtlichen Entwicklung,
Leipzig, 1847, p. 30.
^^ Chief of the Mongolian tribe of the Ordos. .
'* Klaproth, op. cit (note 9).
'^ Edited in Mongol and German by Schmidt, St. Petersburg, 1829.
^« Cp. p. 100, and note 9.
" Castren wrote a Buryat grammar and dictionary (ed. by Schiefner),
St. Petersburg, 1857 ; there is also a grammar of the Mongol Buryat
language by Orlov (in Russian), Kazan, 1878.
^* Among the Kalmuks should be counted the Hazaras, estimated at
600,000, a pure Mongolian race who wander about as herdsmen in Afghan-
istan between Herat and Kabul. They occupy all the highlands of the upper
Helmand valley, as well as a strip of territory on the frontier slopes of the
Hindu Kush north of Kabul. In the western provinces they are known as
the four Aimak or 'tribes'. They are descendants of military colonists
introduced by Jenghiz Khan. They are Shiite Mohammedg^ns. Their language,
which shows Persian influence, is strictly Mongolian, more particularly
Kalmuk, according to von der Gabelentz. Cp. the Military Report on Haza-
rajat (General Stuff, India, 1910), where the approximate strength of the
principal tribes is given as about 518,000.
^^ See map in Howorth, op. cit, opposite p. 384, lat. 47° N., long. 90° E.
20 Op. cit., ch. X, long. 85° E. ^i jf^-^^ i^^g. 90° E. ; see ch. ix.
" Edited in Kalmuk, St. Petersburg, 1864; translated into German by
Erdmann, 1857.
2^ Translated into German, Leipzig, 1866^
CHAPTER VI
THE TURKISH DIVISION
Habitat. The Turks inhabit an area which in geographical
extent and variety of climate and soil is equalled by the home
of no other people. The territory occupied by them forms an
almost continuous band across Asia into eastern Europe, between
the extreme limits of long. 150° E. in the east to long. 25° E.
in the west, and of lat. 35° N. in the south to lat. 55° N. in the
north, reaching at one point in the north-east as far as lat. 75° N.
This Turkish territory is bounded in the south by Tibet,
Afghanistan, Persia, and Arabia ; in the north by Liberia and
northern Russia ; in the east by Mongolia ; and in the west
by the Don, the Black Sea, and the eastern Mediterranean.
Starting from their original home, the Altai Mountains, they
have overspread to the north-east and the west a vast area,
limited chiefly to Asia, but also reaching in Europe as far
west as the Crimea and the south-eastern corner of the Balkan
peninsula. Their rule, based on the conquest of alien popula-
tions, still nominally includes Mesopotamia, Syria, Palestine,
and Northern Arabia, and formerly extended temporarily to
Persiu, Afghanistan, and India ; in Africa to Algiers (till 1830)
and Egypt (till 1914) ; in Europe to the whole Balkan peninsula,
and (till 1600) even to the plains of Hungary.
Turlis and Mongols, Though ethnographically the Turks
are not easy to differentiate in physique and customs from the
Mongols, there is at the present day no difficulty in distinguish-
ing between Turks and Mongols. The former speak Turkish
dialects, are Moslems by religion, live almost entirely in the
western half of Asia, and fall within the Arabic and, to some
extent, the European sphere of influence ; the latter speak
Mongolian languages, are Buddhists by religion, live in the
eastern half of Asia, and fall within the sphere of Chinese
influence. The difficulty of ethnographical demarcation be-
tween these two racial divisions is partly due to the physical
h2
116 THE TURKISH DIVISION
affinity of the Turks to the Mongols being closer than to any
other branch of the Turanians, and partly to the former fluid
condition of the tribes of the different Turanian divisions in
Central Asia. Hordes belonging to one branch when engaged
in raids were often joined by hordes belonging to another.
Thus the Mongolian hordes of the conqueror Jenghiz Khan
(1162-1227) were joined by contingents of Turks, who were
probably far more numerous than the Mongols themselves ;
for the chief traces left in Europe of the Mongol invasion
consist in the Turkish-speaking Tatars^ in Russia ; and the
name of Jenghiz Khan's son Jagatai is commonly applied to
a Turkish dialect and Khanate in the region of the Oxus. It
was also the Turks who, set in motion by the Mongol inva-
sions, were responsible for the introduction of Mohamme-
danism into Europe, as well as largely responsible for the
introduction of Mohammedanism into India.
Number. Nearly one-half of the Turkish race inhabits
Russian territory, more than one-third the Ottoman Empire,
and the rest (more than one-seventh) parts of China, Persia,
and Afghanistan. In Russian territory there are over
12,500,000, under 4,500,000 of these being in Europe. In
Turkey there are 1,891,000 on European'^ and about 8,000,000=^
on Asiatic soil, making altogether less than 10,000,000. In
Chinese Turkestan there are about 1,000,000 Turks, scattered
about in Persia about 2,000,000, and in the north of Afghani-
stan about 500,000, the total of Turks in these three
countries being thus about 3,500,000. The aggregate number
of all the Turks in the world is therefore about 26,000,000.*
These figures may be expressed as follows in a tabulated
form : —
The Turkish People
In Europe. In Asia.
In European Turkey :
Osmanli Turks .... 1,891,000 In Asiatic Russia . 8,191,315^
In Russia : „ „ Turkey . 8,000,000
Volga Turks 1,500,000 „ Chinese Turkestan 1,000,000
Caucasian Turks . . . 2,000,000 „ Persia 2,000,000
CrimeanTurksanclNogaians 180,000 „ Afghanistan . . 500,000
Bashkirs ...... 757,300 Total . . . 19,691,315
Total in Europe .... 6,328,300
Total in Asia 19,691,315
Grand total . . . 26,019,615
MEANING OF THE NAME 'TURK' 117
Name. The term Turk is now primarily applied to the
Osmanli branch of the race which conquered Constantinople
(in 1453) and the regions known as Turkey. The word is
probably derived from Tu-Mu (T'u-chueh), the name of a new
tribe mentioned by the Chinese as appearing in High Asia in
the sixth century, after the empire of the Hiung-nu had been
destroyed. ' Tu-kiu ' is first used by the Chinese in recording
the events of a. d. 545 and the following years. The ethnic
designation TovpKoi (Turks) first occurs among the Byzantines,
in particular in the account^ given by Zemarchos of his journey
in A.D. 568 as ambassador sent by the Emperor Justin II from
Constantinople to a Turkish chief in the Altai mountains. To
the Arabs the name first became known on missionary journeys
and during their conquest of Transoxiana (c. 650). The first
Turkish source (written in Turkish) in which the name Turk
appears is the Kudatku Bilik (a.d. 1070). The Turkish-speak-
ing tribes of Eussia, who are mostly Moslems and of Turkish
origin, go by the name of Tatars,^ a term which not only was
and is unknown to the Turks proper as an ethnic designation,
but is regarded as an insult if applied to them.^ It was intro-
duced into Europe by the Russians, who at the time of Jen-
ghiz Khan gave this name to the Mongols and Turks as
a whole, because the vanguard of his army, when.it appeared,
consisted of the tribe called Tatar. In the Middle Ages it was
used as synonymous with ' barbarian '.^ The term ' Turco-
Tatar ' is generally used by scholars to designate non-Russian
Turks. In order to avoid confusion it is preferable to employ
the general name Turk with a local or dynastic qualification
where necessary, as is done here : Siberian Turks, Volga Turks,
Seljuk Turks, and so on.
Language. The Turkish languages are remarkably uniform.
Allowing for the lapse of time and the importation of foreign
words, it is hardly an exaggeration to say that from the Lena
to Constantinople, from the old Turkish (Uigur) inscriptions of
the eighth century down to the present time, we have merely
one language in different dialects. The native vocabulary' and
grammar remains substantially the same in all of them.
Writing. The resemblance between Turkish dialects is
increased by the fact that they are nearly all written in a
somewhat artificial and standardized form. For the Arabic
characters, though extremely ill-suited to represent Turkish
118 THE TUEKISH DIVISION
sounds, are everywhere used by Mohammedan Turks. Hence
pure Turkish words written in Arabic letters are often hardly
intelligible even to Turks. Turkish-speaking Armenians and
Greeks often write in their own alphabets. Turkish news-
papers printed in Armenian characters are published in Con-
stantinople, and Greek characters are similarly employed in
several parts of Asia Minor.
In the Middle Ages the Uigurs and eastern Turks used
a short alphabet of fourteen letters borrowed from a Syriac
source, and probably introduced among them by Nestorian
missionaries.^^ The most interesting forms of Turkish writing
are represented by the inscriptions found in Siberia near the
Yenisei and Orkhon rivers, first discovered in 1722. Still
more important are the inscriptions discovered in 1889 in
Mongolia, south of Lake Baikal, one of them in Turkish and
Chinese dating from a. d. 733, and another dating from 800 to
805. The script is derived from the Aramaic alphabet.
Ethnic affinities and types. Ethnically the Turks are closely
akin to the Ugrians ; but their affinity to the Mongols is still
greater, both physically and linguistically. Thus the Mongo-
lian language has, besides identity of many forms, more than
half its vocabulary in common with Turkish. Owing to this
intimate kinship and to the admixture of foreign blood during
centuries of migration, it is no easy matter to set up a general
but distinctive Turkish racial type. The predominant charac-
teristics of the Turkish physique may, however, be said to be
the following: a short, thick-set body, with broad, strong bones,
a large brachycephalic head, small slanting eyes, low forehead,
flat nose, broad chin, scanty beard, black or brown hair, dark
(almost yellow) complexion. These are the characteristics of
the Kazak-Kirghiz, whom Vamb^ry^^ considers to be the best
representatives of the proper Turkish type, since they are still
found in their old home, have not been much drawn into the
stream of world-historic events, and so have maintained the
primitive Turkish mode of life more faithfully than their other
kinsmen. This Kazak-Kirghiz type, if emphasized, would
coincide with the Mongolian type, which there is good reason
to believe most nearly represents the proto-Turanians before
they separated into their five main branches.
Religion. Shamanism, the original religion of the Turks,
has survived, almost alone among the Turks of Siberia, of
TURKISH EELIGION 119
whom, to the number of over 300,000, this is the real faith.
But even these are mostly nominal Christians. There are also
about 30,000 Christians among the Volga Turks. Otherwise
practically the whole Turkish race are followers of Islam,
which they adopted in the first few centuries after the rise of
that religion. More or less distinct traces of their ancient
faith, however, survive in all their tribes. Of what their
original religion was like in early times we have some
evidence from Turkish archaeology and ancient inscriptions,
as well as from old Arabic, Byzantine, and Chinese writers.
Thus, images have been found in Turkish graves buried
with the body, as well as carvings of animals sacrificed
for the funeral feast. The Arabic writer Abulghazi tells of
a custom from the heathen period- of the Turks : on the death
of a beloved member of the family, a kind of doll or image was
made, kept for a long time in the house,^^ offered food, care-
fally cleaned, and finally prayed to. Theophanes (6th cent.), in
liis detailed account of the embassy sent in the sixth century by
the Byzantine Emperor Justin II to Mokan Khan in the Altai,
tells how it was received on arrival in Sogdiana by men who
warded off misfortune by means of bells and drums : Shamans
are here doubtless meant.^^ The Chinese, in describing the
religion of the Turks, state that they worshipped fire, air,
water, earth, and that they had a god whom they revered
as Creator of the world and to whom they sacrificed horses,
cattle, and sheep. At the beginning of the yes^r they assem-
bled at the capital of the Khan in the Altai in order to offer
these sacrifices to the Creator in a valley in which their ances-
tors had lived. In the fifth month they assembled again and
sacrificed to the other gods, to heaven, earth, air, water, fire,
and to the spirits of their ancestors ; while in the autumn they
made offerings to the tutelary deities of the soil, the fields, and
the meadows.^^ A branch of the Turks giving an account of
itself in the early part of the eighth century mentions heaven
or Tangri ^^ as its chief deity, and its worship of spirits of the
earth and waters.
It is probable that before they adopted Islam the Turks also
practised Buddhism, Zoroastrianism, and Nestorian Christianity
in a desultory way in Turkestan. Thus we know from the
archaeological discoveries, during the last twenty years, of
Dr. Sven Hedin, Sir Aurel Stein, Dr. von Le Coq, and other
120 THE TURKISH DIVISION
scholars near Khotan, Turfan, and other localities in the same
region, as well as from the travels of the Chinese pilgrims who
visited India by way of Central Asia between a.d. 400 and 700,
that Buddhism flourished in East Turkestan from about the
beginning of our era down to about a.d. 800. We are further
told by one of these pilgrims, Hsiian Tsang, who was enter-
tained by the Khan of the Western Turks near Tokmak
c. A. D. 630, that the Turks here were fire-worshippers, and
would not sit on wooden seats. The evidence of MSS. dis-
covered by the above-named explorers during their excava-
tions shows that there were followers of Nestorian Christianity
and even of Manichaeanism in East Turkestan during the
fifth and seventh centuries.
Character and Cwilization. The Turks are imitative rather
than original. In all their branches they have to some extent
assimilated the nearest civilization with which they came in
contact. Thus the only culture which they possessed up to
the seventh century of our era consisted in scraps of Chinese
and Indian civilization. Later, the eastern and western states
founded by them adopted Perso- Arabic civilization along with
Mohammedanism. The Osmanlis have in addition absorbed
the Byzantine and the West European influences to which
they have been subjected. The Turk, apart from the effect of
foreign civilizations, has uniformly been described in earlier
times by Chinese, Persians, Byzantines, and Arabs as by
nature savage, untameable, faithless, heartless, rapacious, and
work-shy. The verdict of modern times endorses this judge-
ment. The course of history shows that no other race has
brought such devastations and massacres, such lasting derange-
ments, into the life of other nations. The Turk has, more-
over, displayed no power of developing his own civilization,
which has consequently remained far behind that of both the
Iranians and the Semites. Nor has the Turk ever exhibited
any political capacity ; for he has only succeeded in establish-
ing one single State of any permanence, and that State has
been a glaring example of incorrigible misgovernment. Thus
he has come to be regarded as the personified opponent of
modern civilization, the arch-enemy of Europe, from which he
should be expelled at all costs ; and the watchword of both
past and present has been 'Down with the Turk '.
The fundamental cause of the secular conflict between Turk
TUEKISH CHAEACTER AND CIVILIZATION 121
and Aryan has been the former's love of wandering and the
accompanying love of war, which has been more developed in
him than in the nomads of any other race. But the complete
failure of the Turk has been due to the combination of two
unfortunate circumstances. In the first place, the cultivable
soil of the ancient world had already been appropriated by the
Chinese, the Aryans, and the Semites. For the Turk, when he
came on the scene, there were only left the barren steppes
of Central Asia, on which he could maintain his herds and
flocks only by constantly shifting his dwelling-place. Such
conditions naturally led to attacks and raids on the more
prosperous settled peoples in the neighbourhood, and the
struggle thus begun has lasted for thousands of years. In
the second place, an unfortunate fate brought the Turks, at
the time of their intensive activity, into contact with Islam,
which confirmed them in many of the dangerous aspects of
Asiatic modes of life and thought, while they lost many of the
good sides of their previous civilization. They early became
the sword of Islam, and from the Crusades onwards down to
the battle of Plevna and the recent Balkan wars, to the
massacres of Armenians and the persecutions of the Syrians
in the present war, it has been the Turks in most cases, whether
in Europe, Asia, or Africa, who have appeared as the champions
of the teaching of Mohammed and of the Asiatic world-view.
They have been subdued by Eussia throughout Siberia and
Central Asia, and have lost nearly all their independent terri-
tory in Europe. In the present war they have further been
deprived of a considerable area in Asia, and in Africa of the
sovereignty over Egypt. It remains to be seen whether the
political existence of the only remaining independent section
of a race that for thousands of years has exercised a gigantic
influence on the fortunes of Asia and Europe will survive.
If it falls a remarkable drama in the history of the world will
have come to an end. The Turks may be able to save them-
selves by combining the national Turkish elements into a single
homogeneous State. In that case they might either enter the
circle of cultured nations on a peaceful basis ; or, if organized
according to the Prussian gospel of force, they might become
a more permanently disturbing element in the world than
they have been in their unorganized past.
Migrations. Linguistic and ethnic evidence, corroborated
122 THE TURKISH DIVISION
by the geographical distribution of the Turanians, make it
probable that the Finno-Ugrian branch had long ago started
on their north-westward migration to Europe at a time when
the Turks were still in the steppe region of the Altai, in
immediate proximity to their nearest kin, the Mongols, lead-
ing beside them their primitive nomad life. Archaeological
evidence indicates that the westward extension of the Turkish
people began from the Altai and Sayan mountains, where to
this very day lies the boundary between the Turks and the
Mongols, and that it reached from there to the northern
coast of the Black Sea in very early times. The images
found in the graves near the Sea of Azov show an unmistakably
Turkish type : large head, flat nose, small slanting eyes, and
beardlessness — just the portrait that Jordanes gives of Attila.
The degree of civilization, as revealed by antiquities, differed
but little in those early days among the Turks from that which
the Russians found in Southern Siberia a few centuries ago.^^'
We have, however, no positive evidence as to the period when
the Turks separated from the Mongols. It is not till the fifth
century after Christ that Turkish movements into Europe
become historical.
There have been two lines of Turkish westward migration,
both starting from a common centre, but diverging to the
north and the south. The northern movement extended from
the Altai to the Volga, its general direction being represented
by the Trans-Siberian Railway. A comparatively small section
of the Turks followed this line. Starting from their original
home in the steppe country, about the upper courses of the
Yenisei, the Ob, and the Irtish, in a north-westerly direction,
they crossed the Tobol, and spread westward as far as the
gradual withdrawal of the Finno-Ugrians permitted. They
probably did not reach, at least in appreciable numbers, beyond
the Volga, because their farther advance on the middle course
of that stream was stopped by various Ugrian tribes such as
the Mordvins, as well as by the Slavs.
The southern migration, comprising the great bulk of the
Turks, moved partly eastward after crossing the T'ien Shan,
partly westward, long before historic times.
To the south-eastern movement belonged the Uigurs, whom
Chinese chronicles alread}'' mention in 400 b.c. as living west
of Lop-nor, and who must early have moved from the Upper
MIGEATIONS OF THE TUEKS 123
Irtish across tlie T'ien Shan, and by the Urumchi of to-day
towards the desert of Lop, but without taking possession of
its southern margin, which was occupied by an Aryan colony.^'
Nor did the eastern boundary of the Turks extend beyon^ the
Kumul or Hami of to-day. But all the farther did the main
stream move towards the west. It must have been Turkish
hordes which, advancing across the ancient Sogdiana, attacked
and destroyed the empire founded by Alexander the Great,
and during the period of the Sassanids nomadized on the
eastern frontier of Iran. It could only have been Turks who,
in the heroic legends of Iran, are described as naked foes
resembling monsters that lived to the north of this land.
Extending from the T'ien Shan to Asia Minor, the south-western
line was much longer than the north-western. The single units
— Kazaks, Uzbegs, Turkmens, Osmanlis, and others, of which
it consists like a chain — are also much more compact. They
all speak the same group of dialects, and have always been in
close touch with one another. But their movement was much
slower than that of the north-western line, because it was first
checked by Iran, Eome, and Armenia, and later by Eussia,
Byzantium, and Hungary. The north-western line of migra-
tion, on the other hand, was both much shorter and found less
resistance in the Slavs and Ugrians, with the latter of whom
they, to a considerable extent, even amalgamated.^^ It is some-
what remarkable that these two migrations were brought to
a standstill at their extreme ends by Ugrian peoples, another
branch of the Turanian race which had preceded the Turks on
their westward wandering.
The fragments of Turkish peoples left behind by the Mongolian
irruption, such as the Nogaians, constituted a chain connecting
the extremities of the northern and the southern migrations of
the Turks.
History. Our chief sources for the early history of the Turks
are Chinese Annals and the works of the Arabic Mohammedan
authors Eashid-ed-din, Abulghazi, and several others. The
account given by the latter of the origin of the Turks is
obviously fabulous. In the mythical genealogy with which
they begin, Turk, as one of the eight sons of Japhet, is here
stated to have settled in the region of Lake Issik-kul and of
the river Ili.^'^ One of his descendants had twin sons, of whom
the one was called Tatar, the other Mongol. The implication
124 THE TURKISH DIVISION
of close kinship in the latter statement at any rate confirms
the conclusion otherwise arrived at as to the intimate relation-
ship of the Turkish and the Mongolian divisions of the Turanian
family.
Early Chinese sources, especially about 200 b. c, make
mention of warlike nomads called Hiung-nu, who were a
danger to the Empire. They seem to have wandered on
the north and north-west frontiers of China, chiefly in the
region of the In Shan range, whence they made frequent
raids into Chinese territory. As a protection against their
attacks, the Chinese built their great wall. According to
a Chinese annalist of the first century b. c, the Hiung-nu were
an extremely savage and warlike people. Their whole educa-
tion consisted in training for war, which was their chief
occupation. They were a nation of horsemen, who at the
same time were hunters and cattle-breeders. Grazing their
horses, asses, camels, cows, and sheep along fertile rivers, they
wandered about without settling anywhere, and nowhere built
cities or castles. Their clothes were made of the skins or the
hair of animals. They believed that the washing and drying
of anything soiled was displeasing to the gods, who punished
such action with thunder and lightning.^*^ There can be little
doubt that the Hiung-nu are identical with the nomad horde
called Huns, who under Attila made a devastating raid across
Europe, and were in a. d. 451 ultimately defeated in France.
It is more doubtful whether they belonged to the Turk or to
the Mongol division of the Turanian family. Such indications
as there are seem to favour the latter alternative. No mention
of any of the chiefs of the Hiung-nu is made till Teuman
(214 B.C.), whose son in 209 b.c. became the real founder of the
Hiung-nu Empire. Between 177 and 165 b.c. he subjected
nearly the whole of High Asia, conquered Turkestan and
Bokhara, and extended his dominions to the Caspian. The
Hiung-nu at this time drove before them the tribe called
Yiieh-chi, who divided into two hordes, one of which invaded
the valley of the Indus, while the other expelled the Sacae
from East Turkestan and drove them into the valley of the Hi.
About the beginning of our era we hear of the existence in
East Turkestan of several independent cities, of which Khotan
was the most important.
Dissensions among the Hiung-nu led to their empire, in
HISTOEY OF THE TURKS 125
A. D. 48, splitting into a northern and a southern half. The
northern section on being attacked, with the assistance of the
Chinese, by the southern division, migrated north-westwards
to the region of the Aral Sea, where the Kazaks wander as
nomads at the present day.
In the sixth century a new tribe, the Tu-kiu (T'u-chiieh),
appeared in High Asia. After the Empire of the Hiung-nu
had been destroyed, their remaining hordes were driven by the
Chinese to the shores of Lake Balkhash. But even here they
found no rest from their enemies. A legend preserved by the
Chinese narrates that at last only a single boy survived. He was
nourished by a she- wolf ^^ till both were by some higher power
carried off to a mountain situated to the north-east of the land
of the Uigurs. Here they entered a cave through which they
came to a fertile valley 20,000 miles in extent. In this locality
the she-wolf bore ten young, who grew up to be warriors and
captured wives for themselves. Their leader was the wolf-son
Assena or Tsena ('wolf') : even in his time the wolf clan had
come to consist of 500 persons, who by reason of their origin
had a wolf's head as their banner. ^^ Their valley soon became
too small for them ; obliged to abandon it, they scattered in
the glens of the Gold Mountain (Altai). After they had settled
at the foot of a hill resembling a helmet, which in their lan-
guage was called tu-Jciu, the people adopted Tu-kiu (the Chinese
phonetic equivalent of Tiirk) as their own name.
Chinese sources of the sixth century furnish a good deal of
information about the Turkish institutions and customs of that
time. The following are among their statements : The Khan
was invested with supreme power. Marriage was effected by
arrangement, not capture. Amusements consisted of singing,
playing at dice, drinking Jcumiss to the point of intoxication.
They had a written alphabet, and used a duodenary cycle in
which the ^^ears were designated by the names of animals.
The period 546-82 was the first brilliant epoch of early
Turkish history. The tribes, united under the leadership of
Tumen, who took the title of Il-khan, made astonishing
progress. Though the chief of what had been only a servile
clan in China fifty years before, he had acquired so powerful
a position that he was able in 567 to send an embassy to the'
Byzantine Emperor Justin II, with a view to establishing
commercial relations, especially in the silk trade, with the
126 THE TURKISH DIVISION
west, and to co-operating with the Greeks against the Persians.
The Emperor sent a return embassy under Zemarchos, who
describes their reception and the barbaric pomp and luxury at
the court of the Khan. The Turks at that time were not only
masters of Transoxiana, but also of Khorasan to the south-west
of the Oxus, receiving tribute from the settled Aryans in that
region. Nevertheless, they kept to their nomadic manner
of life and remained in the steppes on the other side of the
Yaxartes as far as the Altai. Menander, who has preserved
the fragments of Zemarchos, calls the Turks of the embassy
Sacae, which is also the name given by the Byzantines to the
Turks beyond the Oxus and the Yaxartes. The Khan's Turks
were evidently not Kirghiz (Kazaks), because he presented
Zemarchos with a Kirghiz female slave captured by himself.
Several names mentioned by Zemarchos are Turkish, such as
Tarkhan, Khakan ; and Talas is the name of a place still exist-
ing on the edge of the Kirghiz steppe. The Volga, the Ural,
and the Emba already had Turkish names at that time.''^^
Several enibassies were subsequently exchanged between the
Turkish Khans and the Byzantine Emperors, and in 620-8
the Turks assisted Heraclius in his campaign against Persia.
In 582 the Turks split into two Khanates, which are heard
of for a century and a half: the northern near Lake Baikal
and the southern tributaries of the Yenisei ; and the western,
with two head-quarters, the one near Urumchi and the other
north of Tashkent. But their conquests and raids extended
much farther west and south than these names imply.
In 630 the Chinese pilgrim Hsiian Tsang (Yiian Chwang) ^^
was, on his way to India, well received by the western Turki-sh
Khan, who exercised some kind of authority from Turfan to
Merv. The western branch was independent till about 650,
and lasted as a political name till about 750. From about
650 the conquests of the Arabs, as a result of the preaching of
Mohammed, led to the subjection of Persia followed by that
of Transoxiana. Meanwhile dissensions had broken out among
the western Turks, between the tribes on the western and those
on the eastern side of Lake Issik-kul. The Chinese in 659
seized this opportunity to declare the annexation of the whole
"territory of the western Turks, including Dzungaria, Tashkent,
Ferghana, Bokhara, Khulm, Badakshan, Ghazni, Bamian,
Udyana, Wakhan, and Karateghin. For a whole century
HISTORY OF THE TURKS 127
(650-750) the possession of these domains was disputed, not
only by the Chinese, but also by the Tibetans in the east
and the Arabs in the west. Soon after 700, however, the
Mohammedan conquest of Transoxiana was completed. In the
east the really effective power seems to have been exercised by
a new Turkish tribe called Turgash, which had capitals at
Tokmak and Hi.
For the history of the northern Turks, our only authorities
are the Orkhon and Yenisei inscriptions as well as Chinese
writers. The half century following the division of the Turks
(582) was prosperous for the northern branch. Their growing
power made them a menace to the Chinese, who however con-
quered them in 630. This is the 'Chinese servitude ' mentioned
in the inscriptions. In 682 Kutluk re-established a Turkish
State on the Orkhon. He was succeeded by his brother, the
great chief Kapagan Khagan (691-716), who either subdued
or drove southward the Turgash early in the eighth centur}^
In 744 the northern Khanate was destroyed by a coalition of
the Uigur and two other, probably Turkish, tribes.
The Uigurs-^ established themselves at Balasaghun (near
Lake Issik-kul) in the middle of the eighth century. That they
were Turks is certain from the evidence of words taken down
by early travellers and of the literary relics in the Uigur
language. They already possessed an advanced civilization in
the fourth century, as is shown by the records of a Chinese
pilgrim who in a. d. 399 found west of Lop-nor 4,000 strict
Buddhists among the Uigurs.^^ In a.d. 478 the Chinese men-
tion the writing of the Uigurs, and in the same century state
that the Uigurs possessed a number of translations from Chinese
works. In 515 and 528 the Uigurs sent requests to China for
various Chinese books and a Chinese teacher. According to a
later Chinese authority, not only Indian Buddhism but Persian
Zoroastrianism, Nestorian Christianity, and even Manichaeanism
flourished side hj side among the Uigurs in the tenth century.
The Chinese at this period give an account of the capital of
the Uigurs, and state that there were eighteen cities in their
territory .^"^ They describe the Uigur country as producing
corn and fruits of all kinds, and as well adapted for silk
culture. They also mention that the Uigurs had their own
writing, though they also used that of the Chinese, while some
of them spoke Arabic. They observe that the wedding and
128 THE TURKISH DIVISION
funeral ceremonies of the Uigurs were the same as those of
the Chinese, but that their customs were otherwise identical
with those of the Turks. In the Khanates of Jenghiz Khan's
successors, the Uigurs were highly respected for their learning
and were employed in all the highest offices. But later
various peoples, other Turks, Mongols, and Chinese, migrated
into their country ; through the constant influence of Arabs and
Moslem Turks they gradually, lost their peculiar culture ; and
when they coalesced with the eastern Turks their name
vanished from history.
From the middle of the eighth century we hear nothing
of the Turks for about 200 years. But in the tenth century
Turkish adventurers appear as founders of the dynasty of the
Ghaznevids at Ghazni. About the same time we hear of an
Uigur kingdom which extended from Issik-kul to Kashgar.
Satok Boghra Khan, the ruler of this kingdom, was converted
to Islam soon after a.d. 941, and his dynasty lasted till 1120.
The earliest product of Turkish literature, the poem called
Kudatku BiliJc, ' the Blessed Knowledge ', which was finished
at Kashgar in 1070, gives a picture of life in East Turkestan
after its conversion to Islam, which still shows traces of
Chinese influence. But after this period nearly all Turks,
except a few obscure tribes like the Yakuts, adopted the
Perso- Arabic civilization. Several of the Turkish tribes, how-
ever, such as the Kazaks, the Turkmens, the Yuriiks of Asia
Minor, retained their nomad mode of life, and have not yet
abandoned it. But all Turks, whether nomad or settled, have
throughout the course of their history, down to the present
day, shown two national characteristics : submissiveness to
their own authorities, combined with attachment to the
despotic form of government ; and as fighters the power of
initiative independent of their officers — a trait noticed both
by the ancient Chinese and by modern European officers.
In the tenth century information about the Turks is also
supplied by the Emperor Constantinus Porphyrogenitus, who
in 940 wrote his treatise De administrando imperio. By that
time Turkish hordes were already getting nearer the frontiers
of the Byzantine Empire and eastern Europe. The collective
name of Turk was also already giving way to tribal names
such as Khazar, Pecheneg, Ghuz, and Uz. Of the Pechenegs,
who were a purely Turkish tribe, the Emperor tells that at
HISTORY OF THE TUEKS 129
first they dwelt on the Volga and the Ural, but about 890,
pushed by the Uz, they settled in the steppe regions of the
Don and the Dnieper — a statement confirmed by the Russian
annals, which place the appearance of this people on the
frontier of Russia about a.d. 915. The Turks are described
by the Emperor as an eminently warlike nation of riders,
divided into tribes and clans, mostly nomad, paying great
attention to their horses, which they allowed to graze in the
open, summer and winter ; a people hardened against the
severities of climate, hunger, and thirst. This account corre-
sponds exactly to the life and character of the Turkish nomads
of to-day, such as the Turkmens and Kazaks.
The accounts of the Turks by Arabic writers that have come
down to us from the tenth century are more detailed and
concrete. The two oldest of them, Ibn Dasta and Ibn Fozlan,
speak only of the western Turks on the Volga and the Black
Sea, of the Bashkirs and Pechenegs, as well as of the Magyars.
Mas*udi (943-8) in particular gives a very trustworthy picture
of the Turks. To the same century belong several other Arab
writers who supply information about the Turks. These
Arabs give the collective name of Ghuz to all the Turkish
nomads that wandered on the steppes east of the Volga,
beginning from the north of the Caspian and the Aral Sea,
and extending southward towards Dehistan, their neighbours
in the north being the Bashkirs and in the west the Pechenegs.
Mas'udi, who divides them into upper, lower, and middle
Ghuz, speaks of their capital as situated about a mile from the
Yaxartes and two miles from its mouth in the Aral Sea. All
the Turkish nomads in the north of Iran are called Ghuz and
are referred to as the plague of their civilized neighbours from
of old. To the tenth century belongs the rise of the Seljuks,
the leaders of the Kabaks, a tribe of the Ghuz, first heard of
in Transoxiana about 985. The activities of their chiefs
resulted in turning the Turkish dynasty which had established
itself in 962 at Ghazni (between Kabul and Kandahar) towards
India, the north-western part ai which became a Mohammedan
conquest between 1001 and 1026.'-^^ The Seljuk chiefs estab-
lished themselves as protectors of the Abbasid Caliph, who
formally ceded his temporal power to them. Alp Arslan, son
of Chakir, defeated the Byzantines at Manzikert in 1071, and
prepared the way for Ottoman conquests. His son Malik Shah
TURANIiNS I
130 THE TURKISH DIVISION
ruled over nearly the whole of modern Turkey in Asia and the
territory to the east as far as the frontiers of China. On his
death in 1092 the Empire broke up : Konia became the capital
of the Sultanate of Asia Minor, and various Seljuk dynasties
established themselves in Kirman, Irak, and Syria.
A new Turkish power was founded by the Khans of Khiva,
who were known as the Khwarizm Shahs. They were originally
vassals of the Seljuks, but made themselves independent and
conquered Khorasan and Irak. They had to contend with
another new arrival from the east, the Kara-Kitais, who were
probably Turks also and who were pushed westward from
China by the Kins. 'These new-comers conquered Kashgar,
Khotan, Yarkand, and later Transoxiana, pushing the Ghuz
tribes before them into Afghanistan and Persia.
In 1219 an extraordinary wave of invasion surged across
Asia to Europe under Jenghiz Khan, the greatest personality
ever produced in the sand deserts of Asia. After his death his
conquests were divided, Transoxiana, Kashgar, Badakshan,
Balkh, and Ghazni falling to the share of his second son
Jagatai, after whom the population and the language of the
countries about the Oxus came to be called. The latter never
ceased to be Turkish in speech and customs, because the hordes
of Jenghiz (though he himself and his family were Mongols)
comprised a large Turkish element. The Jagatai Khanate
lasted from 1234 to 1370. In 1321 it split into two consisting
of Transoxiana and Dzungaria.
In the latter part of the fourteenth century a new wave
of conquest was started by Timur (1333-1404), who had an
extraordinary power of collecting and leading Central Asian
hordes. He was a Turk by descent, and a native of the district
of Samarkand. He conquered Dzungaria (1370), Persia and
the Caucasus (1390), the Kipchaks on the Volga (1395), and
Northern India (1398). He then invaded Syria and Asia
Minor, where he defeated, though he did not annihilate, the
Osmanlis at Angora in 1402. His successors ruled at Samarkand
till 1499, their possessions including the northern parts of
Afghanistan and Persia, as well as Transoxiana. Timur's
Empire having fallen to pieces after his death, Mohammed I
(1413-21) succeeded in recovering for the Osmanli Turks all
the territories which his father had ruled over, and in re-
capturing the stronghold of Iconia (1416). His services in
HISTOEY OF THE TURKS 131
the regeneration of the Turkish power can hardly be over-
estimated. The Ottoman Navy is for the first time heard of in
his reign. His successor, Murad II (1421-51), laid siege ^to
Constantinople in 1422, but did not succeed in capturing the
city. By a treaty signed in 1424 the Emperor Manuel II
agreed to pay a heavy annual tribute and to surrender nearly
all the towns on the Black Sea. The .next few years were
marked by attacks on Serbia d-nd Hungary. In 1432 the
Turks plundered in Hungary as far as Temesvar and Her-
mannstadt, while in Serbia they captured Semendria and
invested Belgrade. But in 1442 the Hungarian hero, John
Hunyadi, expelled the Turks from Semendria and, penetrating
into the Balkans, inflicted severe losses on the Turkish army.
A large Christian army was led against the Turks in 1444, but
was completely defeated by Murad at Varna. In 1446 Corinth,
Patras, and the northern part of the Morea were added to
the Turkish conquests. Two years later Hunyadi, who had
collected the largest Hungarian army yet raised against the
Turks, was defeated at Kossovo with very heavy losses. In
1451 Murad died at Adrianople. He was succeeded by his
son Mohammed II (1451-81), who at once set about the realiza-
tion of the long-projected conquest of Constantinople. This
was accomplished after a siege of fifty-three days, as the result
of a tremendous assault with enormously superior numbers, on
May 29, 1453. This great event marks the entry of the Turks
as a European power, the history of which belongs exclusively
to the Osmanli branch of the Turkish race.
Bibliography. — Castren, Ethnologische Vorlesungen, pp. 53-79. Vambery,
Das Tilrkenvolk, Leipzig, 1885. Parker, A Thousand Years of Tatars, London,
1895. Leon Kahun, Introduction a Vhistoire de VAsie, Paris, 1896. Chavannes,
Documents siir les Tou-kiue (Turcs) occidentaux, Paris, 1903: in particular,
Part iv, Essai sur Vhistoire des Tou-kiue occidentaux.
Owing to their two lines of migration westward, the whole
Turkish race may be divided into the two groups of Northern
and Southern Turks. But as this old division no longer
clearly corresponds to the geographical distribution of to-day,
it is more satisfactory to distinguish the following five groups
based on the twofold division :
i. The Siberian Turks, comprising three branches : the
eastern on the Lena consisting of the Yakuts ; the central,
chiefly north of the Altai and between the upper Yenisei and
i2
132 THE TURKISH DIVISION
the upper Irtish ; and the western branch, between the rivers
Tom and Tobol, both north and south of the Siberian railway.
ii. The Central Asian TurJcs, comprising the inhabitants of
Chinese Turkestan, and of the steppes of southern Siberia and
Eussian Turkestan, a territory which extends from Lop-nor
in the east to the Caspian in the west, from the Siberian Rail-
way in the north to the frontiers of Afghanistan in the south,
and is inhabited by the largest and most compact body of the
Turkish race.
iii. The Volga TurTcs, or the Turkish peoples inhabiting the
territory of the middle Volga in the Governments of Kazan,
Ufa, Simbirsk, and Samara, and possessing an historical sense
of racial unity as always having occupied the region between
Tobolsk and the Volga.
iv. The Blade Sea Turks, the descendants of the ancient
Pechenegs, Uz, and Kumanians, who since the appearance of
the Huns have lived to the east and north-east of the Black
Sea and west of the Caspian, and of whom single fractions
still live partly in this region, and have partly migrated
down to the Caucasus or have been absorbed by other cognate
tribes.
V. The Webtern Turks, consisting chiefly of the Azarbaijans
in Persia and the Caucasus, and above all the Osmanlis in Asia
Minor. They migrated with the armies of Seljuk and Jenghiz
Khan, partly also of Timur, to Western Asia. By descent
belonging to the Black Sea Turks, they must have come from
the northern coast of the Caspian and the Aral. They origi-
nally belonged to the Turkish tribes known in the Middle
Ages as Uz, Ghuz, or Kumanians.
Each of these live groups is subdivided into tribes. They
are here treated, as far as possible, according to their geo-
graphical distribution from east to west.
i. The Siberian Turks
a. The Yakuts occupy nearly the whole valley of the lower
Lena down to the coast, where they extend between the
Khatanga and the Kolima (from about long. 100° E. to 160° E.).
In the south they reach from the sources of the Vilyui river to
the Sea of Okhotsk. In the beginning of the thirteenth cen-
tury they lived near Lake Baikal, whence they were driven
northward by the Mongol Buryats, who arrived in that region
SIBERIAN TURKS 133
about 1200, under pressure of the Mongol hordes moving
westward under Jenghiz Khan. In their present territory
they are surrounded by other Turanians ; the Tungus in the
west, south, and south-east, and the Samoyeds in the north-
west. They are thus completely isolated from the other
Siberian Turks. Their settlements are now steadily advancing
southwards into the hunting domains of the Tungus, who give
way before their superior civilization.
Name. The Yakuts call themselves Sakha or Sakhov.
There is still located in the neighbourhood of Minusinsk
a Turkish tribe called Sekha. This indicates where their
original home was before the time when their migrations
began. They owe their present name of Yakut to the Russians,
who borrowed it from the Tungus form Yeko or Yekot. One
branch, found between the Yenisei and the Khatanga in the
Yeniseisk Government, is known by the name of Tolgan.
Number. The Yakut population in 1911 numbered 245,500.^9
They are a prolific race, averaging ten to a family, and are
increasing in number. They absorb many Russian settlers,
who adopt their language and customs.
Language. The Yakuts speak a purely Turkish language,
which differs considerably from the western Turkish dialects,
being more archaic than any of the others, as is regularly the
case when a branch of any language is isolated.
Characteristics. Owing to admixture with the Tungus on
the one hand and with Russians on the other, the Yakuts show
more variations from the normal racial type than any other
Turkish or any Mongol people. But their usual physical
characteristics are the following. They are middle-sized, thick-
set, robust, and muscular. They have small round heads, nar-
row foreheads, broad flat noses, narrow eyes, wiry black hair,
and scanty beard. They usually cut their hair short, except
the Shamans, who grow it long. When well nourished they
are tall and active ; but in the north they are below medium
height, have a sickly complexion, and are indolent.
They show much more intelligence than the Tungus;
they are, in fact, probably the most intelligent native Siberian
tribe. They are good-tempered, orderly, and hospitable, labo-
rious, enterprising, and skilful as artisans, traders, and agricul-
turists alike. They are sociable, being fond of noise, song,
dance, and cardsv
134 THE TUEKISH DIVISION
Manner of Life. The Yakuts are nomads, whose chief occu-
pation is the rearing of horses and cattle. The breeding of the
former was the more usual in earlier times, but that of the
latter has become more prevalent at the present da}^ Lately
they have begun to breed dogs, to which, however, they are
harsh, considering them to be unclean and to have no soul.
They also fish and hunt, and search for the ivory of the fossil
mammoth, which they carve with some skill. The cultivation
of cereals has also been introduced among them. They were
familiar with smelting the iron ore of the Vilyui valley long
before they came into contact with the Russians. The steel
which they produce is flexible, but very good.
Dwellings, Their winter huts are made of logs, with small
windows, in which plates of ice or pieces of skin are inserted
instead of glass. They contain two compartments, one for
cattle, the other divided into sections for the use of the family.
In summer they leave these wooden dwellings and encamp in
conical huts made of birch-bark.
Food. The Yakuts who frequent the rivers live chiefly on
dried fish; the inland tribes like horseflesh, but they rarely
kill oxen for food. They are specially fond of Jcumiss, the
intoxicant made of fermented mare's milk. They also like
drinking large bowls of melted butter. A delicacy among
them is a jelly extracted from reindeer horns and flavoured
with pine-bark. A favourite form of food are berries and
cedar cones, which they collect in large quantities.
Social Institutions. The Yakuts are divided into clans,
which again combine to form larger units. Formerly the
clans were very extensive, when the Yakuts owned great herds
of horses, but since the adoption of cattle-rfearing both the
herds and the clans have grown smaller.
As the clan consists of blood relations, marriage is exoga-
mous. Among the Arctic Yakuts, however, endogamous
marriage has been introduced through the influence of their
eastern aboriginal neighbours, the Yukaghirs, who live on the
lower Yana and Kolima. The marriage ceremony consists in
an exchange of gifts, the bridegroom bringing the bridal price
and the bride the dowry. "When the Cossacks first came across
the Yakuts early in the seventeenth century they found
polygamy general among them, but this institution is little
practised now.
SIBEEIAN TURKS 135
Every Yakut is given two names, by one of which he is
never called. The latter corresponds to the 'secret' name
which in India has been given from the earliest times down
to the present day. and which is never divulged, in order that
witchcraft may not by its means be practised against its
owner.
When an important Yakut dies his best horse is killed and
eaten.
Religion. The Yakuts have been nominally Christians'^
since the beginning of the eighteenth century, but they have
a very hazy idea of the teachings of Christianity. They retain
much of their original nature-worship and Shamanism. Their
native chief god is called Tangra ; they also believe in many
malevolent spirits. In 1877 a Yakut definitely stated at
St. Petersburg that his people still secretly adhered to their
belief in their national gods.
History. Of the origin and earliest migration of the Yakuts
we have no direct historical evidence. Linguistic arguments,
however, indicate that they are descended from the eastern
Turks who, long before our era, lived north of the T'ien Shan,
and are known under the collective name of Uigur, and whose
language represents the oldest and least corrupted form of
Turkish.^^ It is known that at the beginning of the thirteenth
century they inhabited the region of Lake Baikal, whence
they were driven northward by the arrival of the Mongol
Buryats. They made for the Lena, but had to move far north
in order to escape from the raids of the Tungus. The tide has
now turned, and the Tungus are giving way before the south-
ward pressure of the Yakuts. The Cossacks first came in con-
tact with the Yakuts in 1620, when they were engaged in
internal dissensions. After becoming subject to Russian rule
the Yakuts were taxed in furs ; but now a poll-tax of four
roubles is (or was) paid by them in coin.
Bibliography. — Middendoiff, Reise in den diissersten Norden nnd Osten
Sibiriens, St. Petersburg, 1875, vol. iv, pt. 2: Die Yakuten, -pi^. 1537-1615;
, vol. iii, pt. 1 : on the Yakut Language, Die Sprache dei* Yakuten, von 0. Boht-
lingk, Einleitung, Text, YakiitischeGrmnmatik ; pt. 2 (1 85 1 ) : Yakutisch-Deutsches
Wofierhuch (pp. 184). Vambery, Das Tilrkenvolk, Leipzig, 1885, pp. 146-67.
Maydell, Reisen und Forschungen im Yakutskischen Gebiet in Ostsihifien, 2 vols.,
St. Petersburg, 1895-6. Asiatic Russia, vol. i, p. 144.
b. The Central Siberian IMrJcs. Habitat. By this division
136 THE TURKISH DIVISION
of the Turks are meant the tribes still occupying part of the
region that was the cradle of their race. Their home lies
chiefly in the southern portions of the Grovernments of Tomsk
and of Yeniseisk. This territory extends from north to south
between the Trans-Siberian Railway and the Altai mountains
(lat. 55°-50° N.) and from west to east between the southern
tributaries of the Upper Ob and those of the Upper Yenisei
(long. 83°-98° E.). The population consists of a mixture of
Turanian remnants — Samoyeds, Mongols, Turks— in which,
however, the Turkish element and the Turkish language prevail..
These Turks are more numerous in the Government of Tomsk,
much less so in that of Yeniseisk. In the former Government
70 per cent, speak their own language only and 30 per cent.
Russian as well, while in the latter 88 per cent, speak Turkish
and 1 2 per cent. Russian also.
Name, There is no general name by which this group of
Siberian Turkish tribes call themselves. But as the Altai
range is their original home, in which some of them still
live, and as the geographical area which they occupy extends
northwards almost continuously from that range, we may con-
.veniently call them Altaian Turks.
Number . The total number of the Altaian Turks is 158,303,
of whom 109,807 live in the Government of Tomsk and 48,496
in that of Yeniseisk.
Characteristics. Where they adjoin the Mongol-Kalmuk
territory, these Turks show a decidedly Mongolian type of
features. The most characteristically Turkish tribe among
them appear to be the Kumandins, who live to the north of
the Altaians proper. These tribes, however, being on the
whole an amalgam of different racial elements, present no
uniform special Turkish characteristics, but many variations
of the general Turanian type.
Though their mental faculties are little developed, these
Turks are not without wits and common sense. Their apathy
and their strong attachment to old Asiatic customs strike the
observer who compares them with the Russians. In agri-
cultural labour they are apt to be lazy, partly ^perhaps because
they are more easily exhausted than the Russians.
Mode of Life. These tribes are nomads or half nomads
according to the climatic and territorial circumstances of
their existence : the mountains and valleys restrict the
SIBERIAN TURKS 137
migratory instinct, while the plateaus afford free scope to
the cattle-breeding nomad; the forests on the other hand
impose a new kind of life, that of the settled nomad who
fishes or hunts. All these classes of the population practise
agriculture, especially the cultivation of barley, to a certain
extent. The iron industry is plied by a fraction of the Altaians
and the Forest Tatars, and has progressed among them as far
as the production of steel. Trade is also carried on from this
region along a route which has been used for centuries,
the main points of which are Petro-Paulovsk, Semipalatinsk,
Tyumen, Kurgan, and Tobolsk. This trade extends from the
extreme north to the Oxus region in the south-west, to the
Kirghiz steppe, and even to Persia. The produce passing
westwards are silk and cotton goods, raw wool, tea, dried
grapes and plums, horses, sheep, felt, skins, and other com-
modities. The stock-breeding part of the population pay
special attention to their horses ; for, being born riders, they,
like Turks in general, bestow the utmost care on these animals,
and feel more at home on their backs than anywhere else.
Those who have become settled live in villages during the
winter, but always endeavour if possible to move into the open
during the summer. Village groups ranging from 200 to 3,000
inhabitants are administered by elders, who, being survivals of
old patriarchal rule, are greatly respected.
Dwellings. The tent is not in such general use among the
Siberian Turks as among the Kirghiz. Commoner are different
kinds of dwellings ranging from the hut constructed of pine
branches to the square strongly- built winter house, which is
furnished with a stove, and beside which there is a cattle-yard
and a storehouse. The cattle-breeding nomad in summer erects
a hut formed of several poles held together by two rings and
covered with felt, while in winter he lives in a wooden yurta
with a conical roof. The forest nomad inhabits a square hut
made of boards. The wooden huts are poor and dirty, having
in the middle a hearth which gives out little heat but much
smoke.
Food. The food of these tribes is much the same as that of
the Kazan Turks. The favourite drink among them is tea,
especially brick tea, which they obtain from China. It is
boiled with salt as among the Mongols and Kirghiz. They
are also fond of airan or buttermilk. Kumiss is not in such
138 THE TUEKISH DIVISION
general use as among the Kirghiz. From this they make
a kind of brandy, which they indulge in copiously, not con-
sidering it to be forbidden by law, because it was not known
at the time of Mohammed.
Dress. In the south the fashions of China in dress, in the
north those of Russia, and in the neighbourhood of Tomsk
those of Bokhara prevail. The costume worn by the Kumandin
tribe is probably the oldest. The footgear of these tribes in
general resembles that of the Mongols, being in summer made
of horse-hide, in winter of the skin of the wild goat.
Family Customs. Marriages are arranged by the father of
the bridegroom at a time when the future husband and wife
are still infants. The Jcalim, or price paid for the bride,
a generation ago varied from 5 to 15 roubles among the
poorer classes. The betrothal is generally completed by the
father of the bride giving some presents to the parents and
nearest relations of the bridegroom. The wedding, which is
usually celebrated in summer, takes place after the young
couple have entered their seventeenth year.
Funeral Rites. Many heathen features are retained in the
funeral rites of even those Siberian Turks who have adopted
Christianity. Men are buried in their rain-coats, women in
their silk cloaks, while children are wrapped in birch- bark.
The corpse is interred lying on its back, with face directed
towards the east. Food and drink are placed in the grave.
Sometimes the favourite horse of the deceased man is sacri-
ficed, its fiesh being consumed at the funeral feast and its
skull being fixed to a pole, which is set up over the place of
interment. Light is set to a funeral pyre, around which
dancing and carousing go on for days together.
Religion. In the matter of religion the Altaian l^urks may
be divided into three groups : Christians, Mohammedans, and
Shamanists.
Christianity was introduced among them after 1584, when
this region was incorporated in the Eussian Empire. It is
chiefly found where the Eussian colonists are numerous,
where pressure is exercised by the Eussian administration,
and where the Turks have adopted the Eussian language ; but
their Christianity consists chiefly in the superficial practice
of its' ceremonies, for they are Shamanists at heart. It is
somewhat remarkable' that Christianity seems hardly ever
SIBERIAN TURKS 139
to take root among Turkish peoples, while Mohammedanism
appears to be peculiarly adapted to their religious needs.
Islam came into contact with the Siberian Turks at a much
earlier period. Its first emissaries probably reached the region
of the Tobol, the Ishim and the Irtish, at the time of the Old
Bulgarian Empire, by the trade route which in the eleventh
and twelfth centuries already extended from the Volga into
Eastern Asia. This earliest Moslem influence came to the
Siberian Turks hand in hand with trade. But it was not till
the religion of the Arabian prophet had assumed a Turkish guise
that Islam was able to contend successfully with Shamanism,
the old national religion. It then established itself here, and
not only survives, but even flourishes under the Christian rule
of Russia, whose missionary efforts against it seem to be of but
slight avail. The Arabic-Persian civilization of Islam has here
effaced all but a small remnant of ancient Turkish sagas and
customs, which survive only among the lowest orders of the
population.
The third religion found in this part of the Turkish world
is the old national faith, Shamanism. The tribes among
whom it chiefly survives are the Teleuts, the Shors, and the
Black Forest Tatars. It has maintained itself here because
the influence of the Chinese Buddhist culture from the south-
east and of Islam from the south and west could not easily
reach them in this region. Had the Siberian Turkish dynasty
not been destroyed by the Russians at the close of the sixteenth
century, Mohammedanism would probably be the religion of
the whole of this territory. Eventually Shamanism is likely
to disappear gradually before Islam or Buddhism rather than "
Christianity. One of the most primitive traits surviving
among these Shamanists is that Tengere KJian^ ' Lord Heaven',
figures as the supreme deity. There are also mountain, forest,
river, and house spirits that are propitiated by sacrifices and
offerings. The sacrifices consist chiefly of horses, cattle, sheep,
the flesh of which is roasted or boiled and hastily consumed
by the worshippers, while the skins of the victims are hung
on long poles to appease the evil spirits. Prepared food and
drink are also offered, including wine and brandy, but never
water. The hunter offers a wild goat made of dough, which
he places on the altar. The services of the Shaman, or Kam
as he is called, with his drum are constantly called in. He
140 THE TURKISH DIVISION
acts as a magician, exorcist, rainmaker, interpreter of dreams,
and in other similar capacities. With these survivals of old
Turkish religion there is a strange mixture of Buddhist in-
fluences. Thus, in a cosmogonic myth appear two personages
called Mai-tere and Mandi/shireh, who are merely transforma-
tions of the Buddhist Bodhisattvas Maitreya and Manjusri.
Iranian elements may also be traced in this type of myth.
Language. The language of the Siberian Turks has a marked
resemblance to the Uigur of the Kudatku BiliJc (1070), much in
the same way as the spoken dialects of Bokhara, Samarkand,
and Khiva are related to the literary Jagatai. In prehistoric
times it must thus have been identical with the Uigur language,
from which the Kazak first separated, and much later the
Kara-Kirghiz. Of the various Altaian dialects, that of the
Chernevs and of the Shors are nearest to this old Turkish
tongue.
Literature. Eadloff has collected specimens of the popular
literature of the tribes of South Siberia, consisting of the fairy
tales, songs, and legends of the Altaian Turks. These represent
genuine Turkish modes of thought in a manner not to be
found even among quite primitive Turkish peoples whose
poetry has been strongly influenced by Islam.
History. Nothing certain is known about the Siberian
Turks till the sixteenth century, wheji they were under the
rule of a prince named Yadikar, a contemporary of Ivan
the Terrible (1530-84), who subdued Kazan in 1552, Astrakhan
in 1554, and the Bashkirs in 1555. In the latter year an
ambassador of Yadikar appeared at the court of Moscow
bringing a tribute of 700 sable skins. The last prince of the
Siberian line was attacked b}^ the Cossack adventurer Yermak
with a force of 2,000 horsemen, and with the aid of fire-arms —
a form of weapon at that time entirely unknown to the
Siberian Turks— defeated in 1579. Finally, after varying
warfare, the prince was irretrievably vanquished in 1598, his
empire being destroyed, and his dominions incorporated in
Russia. Thus, with the tragic end of their last prince, the
Siberian Turks lost their independence, suffering the same fate
as their kinsmen on the Volga and in the Crimea. The hordes
of the Ostyaks and of the then numerous Voguls — both tribes
of another branch of the Turanian family — helped the
Russians to consolidate their new conquests in Siberia. When,
SIBERIAN TURKS 141
in the middle of the eighteenth century, the Chinese destroyed
the Dzungarian Empire, new Turkish and West Mongol
elements from the northern slopes of the Sayan mountains
submitted to Russian rule. Since then Russia has had in its
hands the destinies of all the Siberian Turks. The Yakuts
had been subjected in the seventeenth century. Islam enables
the Moslem Siberian Turks to resist the encroachments of
Russian civilization, because it protects them from absorption
and, by supplying them with an ordered system of social life,
improves their economic condition. It has had a similar effect
on the Turks of the Volga and the Crimea in the face of
zealous efforts at Russification. On the other hand, the
Christian and Shamanist Turks are being rapidly dena-
tionalized and are on the way to complete absorption or
destruction. The Russians have been steadily encroaching on
the territory of the nomads, ousting them from mountain,
valley, and forest. The simple nomad and forest- dweller is
also unscrupulously exploited by being paid ridiculously low
prices for his produce and being exorbitantly over-charged for
Russian manufactures. He is, moreover, over-reached by
scandalously high usury, while his health is ruined by the
deadly poison of brandy. Thus the time seems near at hand
when a large piwportion of the Turkish Altaians, completely
impoverished and decimated by disease, will cease to exist
except in name, destroyed by the melancholy fate which has
overtaken so many primitive races as a result of contact with
a higher civilization.
Tribes. About ten main tribes may be distinguished :
1. The Altaians, who live at the northern end of the Altaian
range in the valleys of the Katun and of the Chulishman.
They call themselves Altai KisJii or 'Altai Men', while the
Russians call them Altaian Kalmuks, a term which is mislead-
ing because, though their type is closely akin to that of the
Mongols, they are Turks. They are divided into twenty-four
clans, which, though territorially a good deal mixed up, have
a strong feeling of community of origin. Members of the
same clan consequently do not intermarry. Every clan has
its own tutelary spirit and certain peculiar prayer formulas.
Their facial type is uniform and Mongolian. The face is
broad and flat, the eyes small and oblique, the cheek-bones
prominent, the nose depressed and much too small for the
142 THE TURKISH DIVISION
face, the mouth large with thick lips, the beard scanty, the
complexion dark ; the eyebrows are deep black as well as the
hair, which is hard and bristly. The men mostly shave their
heads, leaving on the top only a small round patch, which they
plait into a thin pigtail. The figure is thick-set, spare, and
muscular. The legs are mostly crooked, doubtless as a result
of early and constant riding. Their gait is waddling. The
Altaians differ from the Mongols in having smaller figures
and flatter faces.
The Altaians have many good qualities. They are honest
and straightforward, peaceful and unobtrusive ; and they
show great respect to age as well as obedience to superior
authority. In spite of their docility, they value freedom above
everything. They hate service to such a degree that they
would sooner starve than endure it, and have no stronger term
of abuse than 'servant'. They are also extraordinarily hos-
pitable. They are extremely attached to their families, clans,
and homeland. Though they regard women as an inferior
race, they never beat their wives, and generally treat them
kindly. They are imaginative, but credulous and superstitious.
Their chief vices are indolence, dirtiness, and intemperance.
Spending the greater part of their lives in doing nothing, they
often suffer great hardships in consequence €>f their laziness.
Nevertheless they are able, when necessary, to endure long
spells of strenuous effort and privation. The dirtiness of the
Altaian is still more striking. He is so thoroughly water-shy
that his body is covered with a complete crust of dirt. Men
and women wear their under-garments till they rot off their
bodies. These people even consider dirt beneficial and cleanli-
ness dangerous. They consume their weak brandy, which
they distil from kumiss (fermented mare's milk) and ah^an
(buttermilk) in great quantities. Consequently almost half the
population is continuously drunk during the milk-producing
summer months. Even women and children drink this brandy,
but in great moderation. This intemperance is not only very
harmful to their health, but is economically very injurious
to the population, because it prevents their making provision
for the winter. The Altaians are also passionately fond of
tobacco, which is partly cultivated by themselves, partly
obtained from the Russians. Men, women, and children can
hardly pass an hour without smoking.
SIBERIAN TUEKS 143
The Altaians are mostly nomadic. As the splendid valleys
of the Altai supply rich pasture lands, they devote themselves
to cattle-breeding as their chief pursuit. Not only is there
excellent grass for horses, cattle, sheep, and goats, but the
whole of the Altai is free from all insects injurious to cattle,
while in winter its mountain meadows are free from snow.
The life here is, however, not truly nomadic. The pasturage
being so abundant, even large herds move over a very small
territory, while poor people can remain on the same spot
throughout the year. It almost looks as if their own extremely
dirty habits were the chief cause that forces them to change
their abodes ; for they never clean their dwellings, close
beside which their herds spend the nights. Though not
a people of hunters, they nearly all engage in hunting to some
extent, being for the most part excellent shots. In fact, the
whole male population during the winter shoot various kinds
of deer and wild sheep, ducks, and geese for the sake of their
flesh ; but the proper object of their pursuit are the small
animals, such as the common and the black fox, the sable, the
squirrel, and others whose fur is valuable and much sought
after by merchants. They employ only fire-arms, the use of
bows and arrows having died out since the beginning of the
nineteenth century. There are only the beginnings of an
artisan class, comprising chiefly workers in wood and tan-
ners. More advanced are the smiths, who though few in
number know the art of making steel and are very skilful.
Hence Altaian knives are preferred to those made by
E/Ussians.
The dwellings of the Altaians are mostly felt yurtas, those
covered with bark being rare. Of the former there are two
kinds. The first, which is conical in shape, is formed of ten to
fourteen poles covered with felt cloths, and tied down with
hair ropes. When migration takes place the poles are left
behind, only the felt covers being transported. The second
kind has a sloping roof and vertical walls, the frame being
either fixed or transportable. The interior arrangement of
these yurtas is always the same, there being in the middle
a kettle and hearth, on which a fire bums all day.
The Altaians chiefly eat mutton, but also to some extent
horseflesh. Though they often have large herds of cattle, they
do not use them as food. Accustomed from youth to the
144 THE TUEKISH DIVISION
greatest irregularity in feeding, they can fast for days, but
when they have food they eat to excess.
Young men and girls are allowed to speak to one another
freely, and women never conceal their faces. In arranging
a marriage, the bridegroom pays the bride's father the Tcalim
in money or cattle. The bridegroom's father builds his son
a new yurta and hands over to him a part of his property
when the wedding has taken place. The dead are generally
buried in hidden spots among the mountains. The body is
placed in the grave fully dressed, and is provided with a small
sack containing food for the journey.
The language of the Altaians is a pure Turkish dialect of
a very archaic type. It indicates that the Altaians have lived
for centuries separated by Mongols from the bulk of the
Turkish tribes of the south. Though it has many Mongol loan
words, it is by no means a mixed language.
The Altaians are Shamanists by religion. In their yurtas
are to be seen, suspended from the poles of the roof, images of
their gods who are called Tcudai. These, being made by Sha-
mans or other experts, are hung up to bring luck and to pro-
tect against the evil powers of darkness.
No statistics are available for the present numbers of this or
of the following tribes, because Asiatic Russia supplies, accord-
ing to the local census of 191 1 , the totals of the Siberian Turks
in each Government (Tomsk, Yeniseisk, &c.) only. The esti-
mate given by Vambery in 1885 amounts to between 14,000
and 15,000.
2. The Mountain or Black Forest Tatars, the Uryanchai of
the Mongols and the Chernevs of the Eussians, call themselves
Tuha Kishi'^^^ (Tuhsi men). They live in the mountains thickly
wooded with cedar in the region of the river Biya, between the
Katun and Lake Teletskoe. They are the most northerly of
the Turks inhabiting the spurs of the Altai, acknowledged as
the immemorial inhabitants of these localities. They consist
of an aggregate of five sub-tribes, which are again divided into
clans. They are semi-nomads, partly occupied with cattle-
breeding, trade, and agriculture. They keep more horses than
cows. They till the soil with the hoe, and sow wheat as well
as barley. . They are, however, for the most part hunters, as
well as collectors of cedar nuts and roots.^^ According to
Radloff =^* they numbered about 3,500 in 1869. Their language
SIBERIAN TURKS 145
is a Turkish dialect closely allied to that of the Altaians. In
religion they are for the most part Shamanists. They believe
in a seven-headed demon who swallows the moon,^^ but is
forced by the god Ulgon to restore it.^^ These Tatars, as well
as the Altaians, divide the year into thirteen lunar months.
They attribute the discovery of fire, from iron and stone, to
the three daughters of Ulgon.
The greatest poverty prevails among the Black Forest
Tatars. This is due to their own laziness and improvidence,
and to the consequent advantage which is taken of them by the
Russian population, and against which they cannot be pro-
tected. They might otherwise be very prosperous by making
hay in summer, by fully utilizing the large quantities of game
in the forests, by keeping bees and profiting by the wild
honey in which their country abounds, and by reaping a rich
harvest of cedar nuts (in the immense tract of cedar forest
extending from the Tom to Lake Teletskoe), which are a dainty
not only to the Russian Siberians, but also to the whole of
Northern Russia.
3. The Kumandins or Kumandi Kishi live partly on both
banks of the Biya from the mouth of the Lebed downwards,
and partly on the river Ishi and other tributaries of the
Katun. They are settled, living in small villages of from
five to ten houses. They are divided into Upper Kumandins
with two clans and Lower Kumandins with four. They are
almost exclusively agriculturists, who till the soil with the
hoe. They chiefly sow barley and rye, much less wheat. They
manufacture their own linen, and from the wool of their sheep
they produce a coarse cloth which they dye. They also
engage in fishing, while their hunting is limited to small
animals, chiefly squirrels, the skins of which they sell to the
Russians. Their clothing is very si'mple, that of the men
being almost the same as that of the Russian peasants. Their
houses are built of wood, and the dwelling-room is provided
with a stove. In religion they are Shamanists, who keep
images of the gods in their houses. As they are very tenacious
of their old traditions, Christianity has hardly made any
headway among them. In 1869 their numbers were 2,177,
4. The Lehed Tatars live along the Lebed, an eastern tribu-
tary of the Biya. Their language is the same as that of the
Kumandins, coming midway between the dialect of the Shors
TUEA.NIANS K
146 THE TUEKISH DIVISION
and the Altaians. Though they engage in agriculture to some
extent, they are chiefly devoted to the chase. They hunt the
sable chiefly near the sources of the Abakan. In summer they
shoot deer, and in winter squirrels, on the Lebed. Their main
exports are furs, which they sell to the merchants of Biisk and
Kuznetsk. In physique they closely resemble the Shors. By
religion they are Shamanists, retaining much of their primi-
tive Turkish mythology. The primaeval Father, the Creator
of all, is called Kudai Bai Ulgon.
5. The SJiors inhabit the forest region which extends north-
wards from Lake Teletskoe, living on the Kondema, the Mrass,
and the Tom. They are called Shor by the Altaians ; but they
have no general name of their own, calling their various divi-
sions after the rivers on the banks of which they live, as Tom
people, Mrass people, or Kondema people. They are divided
into many clans. Though officially called nomads, they are
for the most part settled. They all live in villages, a custom
which they seem to have adopted spontaneously. In this they
differ from other Altaian Turkish tribes, which have only given
up their nomadism owing to the pressure of the Russians.
There are two kinds of Shors. The lesser section, settled on
the lower Mrass and the Tom, are agriculturists who live in
villages like those of the Russians, and are to a great extent
Russified in language, religion, and customs. The other divi-
sion are the Black Forest Shors, whose chief occupation is
hunting and fishing. They also live on cedar nuts and wild
honey collected in the forests. They have become greatly
impoverished. According to Vambery they numbered 10,688
in 1869. Though nominally Christians, they know hardly
anything of Christian doctrine and are in reality still inclined
to Shamanism. One of their marriage customs consists in
carrying off the bride by stealth.
6. The Teleuts were formerly a considerable and warlike
Turkish people, who have migrated from the mountains to the
low country. In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries
they were greatly mixed with their northern, western, and
southern neighbours. The small remnant now called Teleuts
live chiefly in the district north of Kuznetsk. These are devoted
Shamanists, and offered a stubborn resistance to Russian sub-
jugation. Another section of them lives south of Biisk on the
lower Katun. These are Christians. A third branch of them
SIBEEIAN TUEKS 147
are to be found near the town of Tomsk. In the seventeenth
century they mixed with the neighbouring Turkish tribes
and became Mohammedans. There are two divisions of the
Teleuts, called Telenget and Ach Keshtim, both of which are
subdivided into many clans. They call themselves Telenget
Kishi (Telenget men), while the Russians name them 'White
Kalmuks '. They are mostly settled in villages, and practise
agriculture. To a considerable extent they have been Russian-
ized. The language of the Teleuts is the same as that of the
Altaians, and the poetry of both is of quite similar character.
The latter consists largely of songs composed in four- lined
stanzas. One of them, the song of ATc Koholi, is prevalent
among all northern Turks. The musical instrument of the
Teleuts (as of the Altaians) is a kind of rough wooden guitar.
The number of the Teleuts in 1885 was, according to Vam-
bery, 5,800.
Three Turkish tribes of mixed origin live in the Abakan
valley, having occupied this territory in the seventeenth
century after the Kazak-Kirghiz had retired from the Abakan
and Yenisei steppes. These are the following :
7. The Sagais. who inhabit the left bank of the Abakan
river to the south-west of Minusinsk. Tiiey are settled agri-
culturists, who no longer use a hoe for tilling the soil, but
a very primitive plough. They cultivate rye, wheat, and
barley. They all keep a small number of cows, sheep, and
horses. Formerly they were Shamanists, but now, at least
nominally, belong to the Greek Orthodox Church. They still
use the services of Shamans. They have been Russianized
to a considerable extent, and have lost much of their national
characteristics. In 1864 they numbered 11,720.
8. The Kachins live on the east side of the Abakan. They
are semi- nomadic, forming a transition to the stage of s.ettled
peasants such as their western neighbours the Sagais. They
are for the most part cattle-breeders, often owning considerable
herds. They are much wealthier than the Sagais. They carry
on agriculture only to a small extent. What distinguishes
these and other Abakan Turks is the rich development among
them of epic poetry, fairy tales, and heroic sagas in verse. The
language of both these two neighbouring tribes is very similar.
It was formerly greatly influenced by those of the Kirghiz and
Teleuts.
K 2
148 THE TURKISH DIVISION
9. The Kyzyls, who belong to the district of Achinsk and
inhabit the Yiis steppe, are neighbours of the Kachins. They
have long lived in this region, being mentioned as allies of the
Kirghiz in 1635. Various elements, such as Kirghiz, Teleuts,
and probably many Yenisei Ostyaks, have been absorbed by
this tribe. It consists of ten clans. Their language is nearest
that of the Kachins. About seventy years ago their number is
stated by Eadloff to have been 4,362.
10. The Tatars of the Chulim, a tributary of the Ob, are
found to the north-west of the Yiis steppe in the district of
Achinsk, isolated in the midst of a dense Russian population.
They live for the most part like Russian peasants, and have by
this time given up their native speech. Thirty-five years ago
Radloff estimated that not more than 500 of them still spoke
their Turkish dialect. They are thus becoming fused with the
Russians. They are in physique more like Mongols than
Turks. Their language, too, though Turkish, contained many
Mongol and Yakut words. It indicated that the majority of
them must have been immigrant Baraba and Irtish Tatars as
well as Teleuts. They consist, or formerly consisted, of three
clans.
c. The West Siberian TurJcs. The western section of the
Turks of Siberia live in the Government of Tobolsk, inhabit-
ing the Baraba steppe between the Ob and the Irtish, as well
as the valleys of the Irtish and the Tobol above Tobolsk. The
total number of the Turks in the Government of Tobolsk is
73,000, according to the local census of 1911 as given in Asiatic
Russia. Their habitat is bounded in the south by the Trans-
Siberian railway.
1. The Baraba Tatars, who are divided into several clans,
have been driven more and more, before the encroachment
of the Russian settlers, out of the fertile portions of the steppe
into the marshes and forests. They occupy for the most part
the region between the Om and the Tara, eastern tributaries
of the Irtish, where they live in separate villages or along
with Russians. They are agriculturists. Till the beginning
of the nineteenth century they were for the most part heathen,
but are now all Mohammedans. Formerly they offered a
strenuous resistance to Russian conquest, and later suffered
much from Kazak and Kalmuk raids.
2, The Tm'a Tatars, who call themselves Tarlyk, live chiefly
SIBEEIAN TUEKS 149
on the banks of the Irtish, from the mouth of the Tara down
to the district of Tobolsk, and not far from the Irtish, on its
small tributaries and on the lakes to the south of it. They are
divided into four tribes, which Siberian history shows to have
been in this same region in the seventeenth century. Owing
to their isolation they have preserved their racial purity better
than the two following groups ; but there are among them
a considerable number of immigrants, Sarts and Bokharans,
who form an administrative district of their own.
3. The bulk of the Tohol Tatars live on the Irtish from the
district of Tara down to the town of Tobolsk, and on the Tobol
from the latter place up to the district of Tyumen. There are
also a few north of Tobolsk. The population on these rivers
mostly consists of old Turkish inhabitants ; but those living
farther west and in the region of Tobolsk have been con-
siderably mixed with Sarts, Bokharans, and even Volga Turks.
The distinction of clans has, however, not been altogether
effaced among them.
4. The Tyumen Tatars live almost entirely in the districts
of Tyumen and Yalutrovsk, about two-thirds of them around
the former town, the rest to the east and the west of Tobolsk.
The number of those living to the north and south of these
districts is very small. This population consists of a mixture
of old inhabitants of the Irtish with Bokharans and Volga
Turks.
The total number of the Siberian Turks in 191 1 {Asiatic
Russia) was 537,015, made up as follows:
1. Yakuts . . • 246,405
2. Turks of Central, West Siberia, and the Far East Country 245,586
3. Kirghiz in Siberia 37,982
4. Karagasses 449
5. Other Turks (unclassified) . . . . . . 6,593
Total . . . 537,015
Bibliography.— Central and Western Siberians: RadlofF, ^«s S'/6mew,
vol. i, pp. 122-406. Vambery, Das Tilrkenvolk, pp. 91-146. Czaplicka,
Aboriginal Siberia, Oxford, 1914, pp. 17-18, 114-17.
ii a. East Central Asian Turks
Habitat. The habitat of the south-eastern portion of the
Central Asian Turks is East Turkestan, which, lying between
the T^ien Shan range on the north and the Kuen-lun range
150 THE TURKISH DIVISION
on the south, stretches from the Pamirs in the west to the
Desert of Gobi and the Chinese province of Kansu in the east
(long. 98° E.). The centre of this territory is taken up by the
Desert of Takla-makan, around which lies the habitable land.
Geographically this area forms Chinese Turkestan, but adminis-
tratively the Chinese province extends farther north across the
T'ien Shan, and includes the valley of Hi or Kulja, besides the
district of Dzungaria. The extreme eastern limit of the Turkish
population is the town called by the Turks Kumul, but by
the Chinese Hami, which forms the Chinese linguistic frontier.
The great bulk of the inhabitants are of Turkish stock. The
agricultural portion, which shows a strong Aryan admixture,
inhabits the oases. Those who live in the seven large towns
are more distinctly Turkish, consisting of Sarts and Uzbegs.
On the eastern and southern slopes of the T'ien Shan and the
northern slopes of the Karakoram range, various Turkish tribes,
collectively called Kirghiz (strictly speaking Kara-Kirghiz),
still lead a nomad life. Chinese Turkestan is the country in
which the Turks have from the earliest times been in contact
on the east with their nearest kinsmen, the Mongols ; and
though it was conquered by the Chinese (who had already
exercised an intermittent sovereignty over East Turkestan
from about 50 b. c. for eight centuries) in the middle of the
eighteenth century, the majority of the population is still
Turkish.
Name. A common political name is not used in the country
itself, because the man of East Turkestan only calls himself
by the district in which he lives. The vague terms 'Kash-
garlik ', ' Kashgarian ', and ' six-city man '^^ are sometimes used
in a general sense. The Turkish inhabitants still call their
country Mogulistan,^^ ' Land of the Mongols ', a name which
occurs as early as the fourteenth century for the territory
comprising Dzungaria and the greater part of East and West.
Turkestan.^^ The mass of the people also speak of themselves
as Sarts. The considerable Turkish population of Kumul
(Hami) and the surrounding villages, who constitute a speech
island among Mongolian tribes at the eastern end of the
T*ien Shan, call themselves Yerlik, ' country people ' or 'natives' ;
by the Mongols they are, like the Sarts of Central Asia, termed
Khotafi, ' townsmen ' or * settlers ' ; and by the Kirghiz they
are spoken of as Sarts.
CENTRAL ASIAN TURKS 151
Number, The total Turkish population of East Turkestan
probably amounts to over 1 ,000,000, which was the estimate of
Vamberyin 1885. The non-Turkish elements, which comprise
Tajiks, Hindus, Afghans, Mongols, Chinese, Dungans (Chinese
converted to Islam in past centuries), are (including the in-
habitants of Dzungaria and Kulja) in all likelihood much less
numerous. But no exact figures are available. The total
population (including all races) is estimated by Forsyth ^^ in
1873 at 1,015,000; by Kuropatkin at 1,200,000; by Pyevtsov
at 2,000,000; by Sven Hedin at between 1,800,000 and 2,000,000 ;
by Hartmann *^ at 1,500,000. The population of Dzungaria is
estimated at 600,000, and that of Kulja at 150,000.
Language. The Turkish idiom universally spoken in
Chinese Turkestan is Jagatai Turkish, the Uzbeg dialect of
Central Asia, and is essentially identical with the language
of the Sarts in Ferghana. Hence the inhabitants of East
Turkestan and of Transoxiana can easily understand each
other, and the literary language of both regions may be said
to be almost identical. Though the former never apply the
term Turk to themselves, they call their language Turkl. The
relationship of Turki to Uzbeg is not that of identity, but that
of a sister dialect ; for its grammar and vocabulary point to
its having had a separate origin and an independent develop-
ment. Various traces connect it with the old Uigur dialect
which is represented by the Kudatku Bilik (finished in a.d. 1070),
and which in the thirteenth to fifteenth centuries underwent
a considerable modification in consequence of the application
to it of the Arabic script as a result of the adoption of Islam.
Religion. Shamanism was doubtless the original religion
of East Turkestan. But we know that Buddhism prevailed
there from the second century onwards till the end of the tenth
century, and that Zoroastrianism and Nestorian Christianity
were introduced into the country early in the seventh century.
But Mohammedanism is now the religion of Chinese Turkestan
generally. It supplanted Buddhism during the period of
Uigur rule, becoming the prevailing religion of the country in
the latter half of the tenth century after the conversion of
Satok Boghra Khan. Among the Kirghiz of the mountains
its hold is quite superficial, nor does it go very deep among
the industrial and mercantile classes. Its influence is greatest
among the peasantry, who also supply the largest contingent
15^ THE TUEKISH DIVISION
of pilgrims to Arabia. Introduced from Transoxiana, Islam
has always, both before and after the Mongol irruption, been
reinforced from that region, but the Moslem fanaticism of the
west has never prevailed here, as it has among Tajiks, Uzbegs,
and Afghans.
Racial Affinity and Type. The Turks of East Turkestan are
the descendants of the ancient Uigurs, who were the most
eastern branch of the Turks remaining behind when the first
westward movement was made.
Among the Turkish inhabitants of the present day the
Mongol type, both in face and build, is more pronounced in
the north of Turkestan than in the west and south. The Turk
of Aksu, Kucha, and Turfan is characterized by a broad head
and nose, small eyes, scanty beard, medium height, and strong
build. But the people of Yarkand, Khotan, and to a less
extend those of Kashgar, show unmistakable traces of Aryan
admixture.^^ It may be said of the inhabitants of the 'six
cities ' *^ generally that they differ from other Central Asiatic
Turks by their more distinctively Mongolian type.
Characteristics. The people of East Turkestan have some
traces of the genuine Turkish national character. They show
more simplicity of manners than their western kinsmen. Ex-
cepting the inhabitants of Kashgar, Yarkand, and Khotan
(who have been prejudicially influenced by Tajiks from Kho-
kand and Kashmir), they are less addicted to lying and deceit
than other inhabitants of Central Asia, though they have been
subjected for three centuries to the demoralizing effect of
Dzungarian and Chinese oppression. This despotic rule has,
however, resulted in depriving this people of all courage, for
probably no other Central Asians are so cowardly. A lax
state of sexual morality has been observed to prevail among
the people of East Turkestan. There is also a good deal of
indulgence in intoxicating liquor. The smoking of nish, a
narcotic prepared from a species of hemp, prevails in all
classes of the population, and produces greater mental and
physical injury even than opium. The inhabitants of every
part of the country are devoted to music and singing. Men-
tally these people are unintelligent and lethargic ; but they
are honest and hospitable, kind in family relations, and sub-
missive to superiors. The peasantry are also among the most
industrious agriculturists of the Turkish race, surpassing th
CENTEAL ASIAN TURKS 153
Uzbegs, Azarbaijans, Osmanlis, Nogaians, Bashkirs, Kazanians,
both i,n this and in various domestic industries.
Dwellings. In keeping with the general agricultural
character of the people, their dwellings are niore like those
of the Afghans, Persians, and Osmanlis than those of the
Uzbegs, who prefer a felt tent in the midst of an enclosure.
They are houses built of stone, one-storied, and most primitive
in type, with windows looking on the inner court-yard, and
a bare, irregularly built, rough, exterior wall. Both the inside
and the outside present a poverty-stricken appearance. With
less irrational methods of cultivation, and above all with a less
oppressive government, the land north and south of the Takla-
makan, and to the north of the T'ien Shan, might be trans-
formed into a smiling and prosperous country. The not
inconsiderable part of the Turkish inhabitants who are nomads,
and who change their places of abode according to the season,
though to no great distance, live in felt-covered tents. Even
when they cease to wander, they still preserve their preference
for the yurta^ like the Uzbegs.
Dress. In dress the people of East Turkestan differ from
their western co-religionists only in the colour and the material
of their garments. The dark-blue linen gejierally used for the
upper garment is due to Chinese influence. The head-gear
consists of a round cap made oT wool or sheepskin ; only the
artisans and the traders wear a many- coloured turban, while
the white muslin turban is distinctive of Mollahs and Hajis.
The Turks of the north-east differ from the rest in wearing
a mitre-like cap of red and green cloth with a tassel hanging
down behind. The dress of women is much the same as that
of men, except that they wear a different kind of high cap.
They also use ear-rings and nose -rings as ornaments. They
follow the same fashion as other Turks in dressing their hair,
girls wearing a single long plait intertwined with ribbons
hanging down the back, while women have several small ones.
Food. In the matter of food the Turks here differ from
their western kinsmen in eating much more meat and fish, as
well as in consuming the flesh of animals forbidden by the
Kuran. In cooking they follow Chinese rather than Turkish
usage.
Marriages. Otherwise the Turks of this country conform
on the whole to the ethical standard prescribed by the system
154 THE TUEKISH DIVISION
of Islam. Marriages are arranged by the parents, as in other
Turkish countries, or are the result of personal affection, the
seclusion of women not being so rigorously observed as else-
where. The bridal price Qcalim), which is not of such impor-
tance here as among nomad Turks, consists mostly of articles of
dress or ornaments. At the wedding ceremony the marital
union is ratified by a piece of bread being dipped into a bowl
of salted water and then presented to the young couple. Before
entering the house of her husband the bride is placed on a
carpet and carried round a fire burning in the open air. This
is a very old custom, which is observed by the Uzbegs also.
Birth Ceremonies. Immediately after birth a piece of sugar
is placed in the mouth of the infant, which is not taken away
from its mother till the eighth day. On the fortieth day, after
the priest has whispered the creed in its ear, it receives its
name. The tenderness for children is very marked among
this people.
Position of Women. What is specially striking in the family-
life of this country is the much greater legal and social inde-
pendence enjoyed by women than among other Moslem Turks.
This is primarily due to the extraordinary facilities for divorce
prevailing in all parts of East Turkestan. It may also in
some degree be connected with the striking preponderance of
women over men in the population. As it is so much easier
here for women to maintain an independent social position,
they are often found at the head of commercial undertakings.
In the frequent political upheavals from which the country
has suffered, there are said to have been women who even
commanded divisions of armies.
Chinese Social Influence. In the rules regulating social
intercourse and in their games the Turks of East Turkestan
have borrowed many details from their Chinese neighbours.
The use of white as the colour of mourning is also due to
Chinese influence.
Intellectual Life. East Turkestan produced the oldest and
most important literary monument of the Turkish race, the
Kudatku Bilik,"^^ a poem composed by Yusuf Khass Hajil at
Kashgar (1065-70). But it has long been forgotten in the
land of its origin, where its very name is perfectly unknown.
Yet its language differs less from that which is regarded as
literarily correct at the present day than does the mediaeval
CENTRAL ASIAN TUEKS 155
(thirteenth century) German of the Nihelungenlied from the
classical language of modern Germany. It might have been
expected that in a predominantly settled population a literary
tradition would have survived. But all literary activity and
even interest have long been as good as non-existent. Nor is
any kind of higher education to be found. Nothing beyond
the lowest grade of mechanical scholastic teaching is obtain-
able even in Kashgar and Yarkand. For all education is here
still in the hands of ignorant Mollahs, as it was centuries ago.
The near future holds out no prospect of the very low intel-
lectual level of the Turkish population being raised, for
Kashgaria can only look to itself in the matter of schools.
The Chinese Government has never done anything ; nor has
the activity of foreign missionaries hitherto produced any
appreciable result. Not much can be expected from Turkey,
the numerous political agents of which, sent from Constanti-
nople, have only been uneducated intriguers. The great
development of Islam in Hussian Turkestan may perhaps
gradually lead to the improvement of purely Mohammedan
learning in East Turkestan ; but that the indirect influence of
the Volga Turks will soon make itself felt in the promotion of
secular education in the schools of the country does not seem
likely. About ten years ago some 2,000 students in winter
and 700 in summer availed themselves of what teaching the
schools in Kashgar provided ; but of these not more than
50 per cent, were genuine learners. Yarkand,*^ which till the
conquest of East Turkestan by the Chinese was the capital of
the country and at the same time its chief seat of learning,
now comes a long way behind Kashgar in the number of its
students ; for in 1895 there were only 200 attending its schools.
Neither in Yarkand nor in Kashgar do there seem to be any
public libraries.
Administration. The Chinese administration causes much
discontent among the population, because in practice it is
oppressive and very detrimental to the economic prosperity of
the country. The whole weight of taxation falls on the agri-
cultural and settled population. All the taxes and dues, if
expressed in money, would not amount to more than two
roubles a head. This sum in itself is not high ; but the burden
is so greatly increased by the extortions of officials that it vir-
tuall}^ reaches 30 to 40 per cent, of the annual produce of
156 THE TUEKISH DIVISION
the soil. The corruption among the officials, high and low, is
general. The Chinese rulers, who are ignorant of the language
of the natives, treat them with the greatest contempt, and deal
with them only through the medium of Beys and interpreters.
The latter, as chief exploiters of the people, do not show much
enthusiasm about bringing their complaints to the ears of the
higher authorities.
The nomadic population is much better off, for the Mongols
of Karashar and the Kirghiz of Kashgar, Aksu, Sarikol, and
E-askem are in the first place governed by their own chiefs.
The Kirghiz are, moreover, exempted from imperial taxation,
besides enjoying various special privileges. The Chinese
Government has followed this policy for the distinct purpose
of conciliating this border population, so as to have their sup-
port against foes from without. It has not, however, been
successful. The Kirghiz regard this treatment as a sign not
of magnanimity, but of weakness, and as a recognition due to
their own merit. Looking down on the Chinese with com-
plete and undisguised contempt, thdy would not hesitate, any
more than in earlier years, to join in any insurrection that
might arise.
Products and Trade. The products of East Turkestan may
be grouped under fiYQ heads : wheat and maize ; grapes ;
cotton ; silk ; cattle and sheep. Of these only the last three
are exported : cotton and silk as raw material, animals less as
live stock than in the form of manufactured products, as hides,
carpets, and felts. The chief market for these exports is Russia ;
the next, India. In 1904 the value of the exports to Russia
was £300,000 (four-fifths by way of Osh, one-fifth by way of
Narinskoe) ; of those to India, £100,000. The imports from
India, chiefly cotton and silk textiles, were worth £75,000-
those from Russia, £325,000. A considerable proportion of the
textile imports from India were marked 'Made in Germany ' ! ^^'
Trade Routes. Through East Turkestan passes the main
trade route which, having existed from very early times,
connects China with the "West. Kashgar forms its centre.
From here the main caravan route passes eastward through
Aksu, Kucha, Turfan, Kumul, Ansichow to the gate in the
Great Wall of China near Suchow on the border of the
province of Kansu.^"^ The journey from Kashgar to Suchow
takes two months and a half (74 days) as tested by Sir Aurel
CENTRAL ASIAN TURKS 157
Stein.'*^ From Kashgar the main caravan route passes west-
ward via Osh through Russian territory. Another route leads
northward from Kashgar to Narinskoe. There is also a
caravan route connecting Kashgar with India.*^ Starting
from the Punjab via Kabul in Afghanistan and Leh in West
Tibet, it crosses the Karakoram range. The route then divides
into two, the one leading to Khotan, the other to Yarkand,
which is still the chief mart in Chinese Turkestan as far as
trade with India and Afghanistan is concerned. Silk, porcelain,
musk, rhubarb are still regular articles of export from China
passing through Yarkand. From the latter place the route
continues till it reaches Kashgar in the north. '''^
Attitude towards non-TuvT^s. The strongest bond of union
among the inhabitants of East Turkestan is, as hitherto in all
Islamic lands, that of religion. The second unifying bond is
that of their language, to which they give the common name
of Turki. Except as expressed by the latter general term, they
are hardly conscious of a racial unity, for they never call
themselves Turks, but only name themselves according to the
separate parts of the country to which they belong. It is
primarily difference of language which keeps them aloof from
foreigners. Of the aliens who do not speak Turki, the Arabs
are the only people towards whom they have not this feeling,
and whom they hold in high esteem, doubtless because the
language of the Arabs is that of the Kuran. They are also
well-disposed towards a section of the Persians : not the Shiite
population of Iran, who seldom come to East Turkestan, but
the Sunnite inhabitants of Badakshan, who are covered by the
general name of Tajik. With the Afghans, who have not
inconsiderable colonies in Kashgar, Yarkand, and Khotan,
there is a good deal of friction. In spite of community of
religion, there prevails a pronounced hostility towards the
Dungans, the Chinese-speaking Moslems who live in the
country and partly also inhabit the valley of the Ili.^^ Here
the race feeling is so effective that various conflicts have
taken place between the two elements, though it might have
been expected that both would combine against the common
enemy, the Chinese. Hostility to the Chinese themselves is
based on all the most potent causes of estrangement : difference
of religion, language, and race, reinforced by the political dis-
content resulting from the oppressiveness of Chinese rule.
158 THE TURKISH DIVISION
History. We know from early Chinese annalists that a
Chinese protectorate was established in the first century b. c.
in East Turkestan ; that it ceased for more than half a century
till it was revived in a. d. 76 and lasted till the end of the
Later Han Dynasty (a.d. 25-220). We further know from
the evidence of Sir Aurel Stein's archaeological discoveries
(corroborating the accounts of Chinese pilgrims from c. a. d.
400-800) that Buddhism was introduced into the country
from India in the second century and lasted till the end of
the eighth ; and that the use of an Indian language derived
from Sanskrit and an Indian script prevailed there in the
early centuries of our era. After the defeat of the Western
Turks in a.d. 658 Chinese sovereignty was restored, and, inter-
rupted by a Tibetan occupation (676-9.2), lasted till the middle
of the eighth century. From a.d. 790 the whole of the Tarim
basin seems to have been under Tibetan supremacy till a.d.
860, when it was broken by the Uigurs, who established, north
of the T*ien Shan, a powerful kingdom which extended west-
ward as far as Aksu and lasted till it was destroyed by
Jenghiz Khan. We have already seen that the south-eastern
branch of the Central Asian Turks first became known under
the name of Uigurs. This name penetrated to Europe in the
sixth and seventh centuries, and the Uigurs early came to be
regarded as Turks par excellence. Thus they are not men-
tioned by the Arabic geographers of the ninth, tenth, and
eleventh centuries as Uigurs, but always only as Turks. It is
not till the Mongolian irruption under Jenghiz Khan, with
whom they allied themselves, that the name of Uigur is
revived and we hear of the country of Uiguristan north of the
T'ien Shan. The Kudatku Bilik gives the oldest authentic
picture of the social conditions of the Turks as drawn by
a section of the race itself It shows that the Uigurs were no
longer a nomad people, but were entirely or half settled. It
also shows that there were still some remnants of Shamanism
among them. It mentions caravans as coming from China.
In 1220 Jenghiz Khan conquered Turkestan; and in 1389
Timur devastated both that country and Dzungaria. East
Turkestan was visited by the Belgian monk Rubruquis in
1254, by Marco Polo in 1271-5, and in 1603 by Goes, who
noted the Moslem tolerance prevailing among the inhabitants.
CENTEAL ASIAN TUEKS 159
We have already remarked on the absence of religious fanati-
cism among them at the present day.
In the seventeenth century there arose a powerful Kalmuk
(Mongol) confederation which, expelling the Turkish element
from the north-west of the T*ien Shan, extended its rule over
the Hi and Issik-kul basins as well as East Turkestan. The
Turkish nomads who had been driven southwards wandered
during the seventeenth century in the eastern Pamir and
the north-western spurs of the Kum Mountains in the region
of Sarikol. In 1758 the Chinese invaded Dzungaria, where
they perpetrated an appalling massacre, and then conquered
East Turkestan. Chinese rule here was temporarily over-
thrown by Moslems from West Turkestan in 1825, 1830, and
1847. An insurrection broke out in 1857, but after the lapse of
a few months the Chinese regained possession of East Turkes-
tan. In 1864 a Dzungarian outbreak expelled the Chinese, and
an adventurer from Tashkent named Yakub Bey made himself
master of Kashgar. He ruled the country with a strong hand,
and not altogether to its disadvantage, till his death in 1877.
The dream of a Central Asian Islamic Empire which arose
during his dominion then came to an end, for dissensions
among his sons gave the Chinese their opportunity. They
re-established their rule in 1878, and East Turkestan once
more became a Chinese province. But the strong Islamic con-
nexions brought about with the west, especially Tashkent,
during Yakub Bey's rule, have been maintained, and owing to
the great development of Islam in Eussian Turkestan this
influence is likely to increase.
a. The TarancMs. To the people of East Turkestan belong the
Taranchis, the name given to those Sarts who were transported
to the Kulja region by the Chinese after they had gained
possession in 1758 of the Hi valley along with East Turkestan.
The nucleus of this Kulja population were Turks who were
descended from the Uigurs, and were partly settled here at
the time of the Kalmuk Khans in the seventeenth and
eighteenth centuries. Most of them were, however, trans-
ferred here as political delinquents from East Turkestan after
the Chinese conquered the valley of the Hi in the middle of
the eighteenth century. The Chinese are stated to have settled
6,000 families of Taranchis at that time on both banks of the
Hi. The Taranchis are said to have numbered 40,000 when
160 THE TURKISH DIVISION
Eussia temporarily acquired Kulja ; but when this town and
district were again ceded to the Chinese, the majority pre-
ferred, together with the Dungans (or Chinese-speaking Mos-
lems), to emigrate to that portion of the Hi region which fell
to the Russians.
At the present day the Taranchis constitute about two-fifths
of the population of Kulja, while their numbe;- in the Russian
province of Semiryechensk^^ amounts to 83,000,^^ being more
than three times as great as that of the Dungans.^*
The name Taranchi in Chinese means ' agriculturists ' or
'labourers'. This is the capacity in which they were em-
ployed by the Dzungarians in the seventeenth century.
The Taranchis have retained no individual characteristics.
In physical type, occupations, dress, houses, they are not to be
distinguished from the Sarts who live south of the T'ien Shan
in East Turkestan. Their language, too, is identical with the
dialect of the Kashgar Sarts, which itself hardly differs from
that of the ordinary Sarts.
Bibliography.— Ritter, Asien : East Turkestan. Richthofen, China,
vol. i, Berlin, 1877. RadlofF, Ethnographische Uebersichf der Tilrkenstdmme
Sibiriens und der Mongolei, Leipzig, 1883. A. W. Kuropatkin, Kashgaria
(Eng. Transl.), London, 1883. Vambery, Das Turkenvolh, Leipzig, 1885,
pp. 314-45. Sven Hedin, Through Asia, 2 vols., London, 1898 ; Scientific
Results of a Journey in Central Asia, 1899-1902 ; Central Asia and Tibet,
2 vols., London, 1908. Stein, Sand-buried Ruins of Khotan, London, 1904 ;
Ruins of Desert Cathay, 2 vols., London, 1912 ; Ancient Khotan, 2 vols.,
Oxford, 1907. Waiters, 0/j Yuan Chwang, 2 vols., London, 1904-5.
ii b. West Central Asian Turks
The Central Asian Turks include a group of four steppe
nomad tribes, all inhabitants of Asiatic Russia, the Kazak-
Kirghiz, the Kara-Kirghiz, the Kara-Kalpaks, and the Turk-
mens, who exhibit quite a special civilization. They have
always been described as fierce, unruly marauders, not only by
Persian, Chinese, and Russian writers, but by European travel-
lers and scholars as well. Lack of the sense of subordination
is characteristic of them. They represent, however, only an
early stage of development that forms a contrast to the cul-
tural epoch of settled peoples. They do not live in anarchy,
but in the perfectly regulated conditions of a primitive civili-
zation.
CENTRAL ASIAN TUEKS 161
1. The Kazak- Kirghiz
Habitat. The Kazak-Kirghiz are undoubtedly, both in num-
bers and conservative type, the most important nomad people
of Turkish descent. They extend over an immense territory
stretching from Kulja and Lake Balkhash in the east to the
Aral Sea, the Caspian, and the lower Volga in the west, from
the sources of the Irtish in the north-east to the Pamir and
the Uzbeg country in the south-west. They thus inhabit
a region of nearly 2,000,000 square miles lying roughly be-
tween lat. 40° and 55° N. and long. 50° and 80° E. They
everywhere roam in steppes and grassy valleys that afford
sustenance to their flocks and herds.
Number. This tribe of steppe-dwellers numbered 4,692,384
in IQll.-^^
Name. They never call themselves Kirghiz, but have from
of old called themselves only Kazaks, a word supposed to mean
' rider '. It is only by the Russians that they have by mis-
take been named Kirghiz. They should be carefully dis-
tinguished from the Kara-Kirghiz, because, though similar in
customs and manner of life, they differ in physique and lan-
guage. The earliest reference to the name of the Kazaks is to
be found in the Persian poet Firdusi (c. a.d. 1020), who speaks
of the Kazak tribes as much-dreaded steppe marauders, all
mounted and armed with lances.^*^ Since the eighteenth cen-
tury the Russians have used the compound expression Kirghiz:
Kaza^k chiefly in order to distinguish them from their own
Cossacks. Scholars and official writers also employ this term
to differentiate the Kazaks from the Kirghiz proper (or Kara-
Kirghiz).^' The first European to mention the Kirghiz by
name was Siegmund Herberstein (1486-1566), who speaks of
them as Tatars, that is, as a people of Turkic rather than of
Mongolian stock.
Language. The Kazaks, though inhabiting so vast a terri-
tory, form so individiial a linguistic unit that there is hardly
any difference of dialect between the Kazaks on the Caspian
and those on the upper Irtish. The universal prevalence of
a nearly pure variety of Turkish speech throughout the Kazak
steppes is almost sufficient to show that the Turkish element
must at all times have been in the ascendant. But though the
language is purely Turkish in structure, it contains not only
TURANIANS L
162 THE TURKISH DIVISION
many Mongolian, Persian, and even Arabic words, but also
some words unknown to the Mongols and perhaps borrowed
from Palaeo- Siberians who had been partly absorbed by them.
Racial Affinities. The Kazaks in their whole extent, not
only linguistically but also politico-socially, are so unified that
they can be called a single people. Their manners, customs,
mode of life, and character are ever3nyhere strikingly similar.
They have always and everywhere the same consciousness of
belonging to the people of the Kazaks. All this divides them
sharply from every other Turkish people. Their physique shows
that they have an admixture of Mongolian and to a less extent
of Iranian blood. The Mongolian element is due to their
having mingled with the Volga Kalmuks in the west and the
Dzungarian Kalmuks in the east. Thus, though ethnically
they represent rather the Mongolian type of features, they
retain the primitive Turkish speech of their race unimpaired.
The Mongolian type is, however, not so pronounced as in
the Altaian Turks (p. 141, 1). They have, it is true, broad, flat
faces, but the forehead is not so receding as with the Kal-
muks; the cheek-bones are less prominent, while the nose
is more so. They have a small mouth, narrow slits of eyes,
though not oblique, and a scanty beard. The head is brachy-
cephalic, and the hair long and black. The complexion is
dirty brown or swarthy, often of a yellowish tinge. But beside
this Mongolian type there are in almost all families single
individuals with an entirely different physiognomy : these
have oval faces, thick, bushy eyebrows, strong beards, promi-
nent curved noses, and occasionally fair complexions. Such
modifications of the fundamental type are probably due to
Finno-Ugrian influence in the north, and Iranian in the south.
The normal Kazaks are of medium height, broad-shouldered,
thick-set, often with a bull-like neck. They are frequently
corpulent when advanced in years. Their gait is lumbering,
but on horseback they are agile, active, and enduring. Their
eyesight is very keen, for they are accustomed continually to
observe surrounding nature. They are thus able for days to
follow the track of a lost animal.
Character and Habits. In character the Kazaks are honest
and trustworthy, but they are heavy, sluggish, sullen, un-
friendly, and inhospitable. They are excellent riders, horse-
manship being their chief amusement. They are more war-
CENTRAL ASIAN TURKS 163
like than their kinsmen the Kara-Kirghiz. They are hardy
and long-lived, but, largely no doubt owing to their dirty
habits, they suffer a good deal from diseases such as ophthalmia,
small-pox, and syphilis. They are naturally musical and
poetical, having a number of national songs ^^ which are usually
repeated from mouth to mouth with variations, and are sung
to the accompaniment of the flute and an instrument called
the balalaika. In summer the Kazaks spend most of their
time in sleep or in drinking Jcumiss, followed at night by feast-
ing and the recital of tales varied with songs. Though they
receive a certain amount of instruction from Mollahs, reading
and still more writing are rare accomplishments among them.
Nomadism. The Kazaks are genuine nomads : they wander
about the steppes without fixed libodes, always setting up their
tents where there is food for their flocks. It is not an aimless
roaming in the steppes like that of the hunters in the Tundras
and forests of north Siberia. This would be impossible with
such large herds as those of the Kazaks, because the interests
of neighbours would constantly clash. Hence a definite divi-
sion of the land takes place : a tribe regards a certain territory
as its property, and brooks no intrusion. The tribe again con-
sists of clans, and these of subdivisions, which regard certain
sections of the greater territory as belonging to them. In
winter either a forest tract or a deep valley sheltered from the
wind is resorted to. Here they are altogether confined to the
tent, and undergo endless discomforts. In summer, on the
other hand, open level tracts, well- watered and not infested by
insects, are sought after. It is on the winter abodes that the
density of the nomad population depends ; hence all conflicts
and warlike expeditions of Kazak hordes during past centuries
are to be regarded as due to pressure for the obtainment of the
best winter quarters. In recent times, under Russian rule,
definite districts have been assigned to them, and a regulated
condition of property has taken the place of the former less
definite state of things. Now every Kazak family has a winter
territory which lies within exactly fixed boundaries and can
only be transferred by legal sale. The price of the winter
tract varies according to its quality, and it is the endeavour of
every well-to-do Kazak to improve and add to his winter tract.
The summer seats, on the other hand, are the property of the
clan as a whole. For these the Kazak generally starts from
L 2
164 THE TURKISH DIVISION
his winter abodes with his flocks and herds about the middle
of April. The return takes place, usually by the same route,
in the middle of August. There is an autumn sojourn of
a month on the way (about September 15 to October 15),
the winter quarters being taken up at the beginning of
November.
Dwellings. The Kazaks live exclusively in yurtas or circu-
lar tents, consisting of a light wooden framework covered with
felt or red cloth, and provided with an opening above for light
and ventilation. An invariable feature of the yurta is a large
iron pot in the centre. ^
Clothing. The Kazaks . wear a flowing robe fastened with
a silk or leather girdle, which holds a knife, tobacco-pouch, and
other necessaries. They also wear wide pantaloons made of
cloth, silk, or leather.
Food. The Kazaks live chiefly on boiled mutton, in the
cooking of which they are unexcelled. They also eat the flesh
of horses and goats. They make butter and cheese from the
milk chiefly of sheep, less commonly from that of cows. From
fermented mare's milk they produce Jcumiss, which is their
universal drink and which they consume in large quantities.
Occupations. The chief occupation of the Kazaks is the
breeding of iive classes of animals : camels, horses, sheep,
goats, cattle. They raise camels only in small numbers, but
keep far more horses than are required, probably because
the Kazaks are a nation of riders. They breed only one kind
of sheep, the fat- tailed variety. These are strong and very
fleshy, but the wool yielded by their fleece is very hard. The
tail is often very heavy, and has to be dragged on the ground ;
a kind of cart, with two wheels is accordingly attached below
it for its support. Some of the wealthy Kazaks own as many
as 20,000 of these large fat- tailed sheep. The vast herds and
flocks are the chief property of the Kazak. They are at the
same time his sole means of existence. Their loss means
to him death by starvation. Their relative importance is well
expressed in his greeting, ' Are your animals and your people
well?' On their products he depends not only for food, but
for clothing and even housing. The chief industries are there-
fore skin-dressing and weaving. The wool is turned into felt,
which for firmness is superior to that of the Kalmuks and
Mongols. It is used for covering the yurtas, for mattresses.
CENTEAL ASIAN TUEKS 165
and for other things into which it can be made. A large
amount of this felt is exported to Central Asia and Eussia.
Six kinds of carpets are made out of the fine felt. They are
coloured with vegetable dyes produced in the country or with
dyes bought from the Eussians. Tanned lambskins are
exported to Eussia in great quantities/ Of lambskins the
Kazaks also make furs and caps. They make their own riding
trousers exclusively of goatskins, which they also export in
large numbers to Eussian villages. There are among the
Kazaks also a few workers in silver, copper, and iron. Trade
is confined among them mainly to the exchange of live stock,
skins, felts, and carpets for woven and other goods from Eussia,
East Turkestan, and China.
Three gi^eat Divisions or Hordes. An old division''^ of the
Kazaks is that into three hordes called Jws (' hundred '), which
are subdivided into tribes and clans down to communities of
^YQ to fifteen tents.
1. The great Horde comprises the nomads south of Lake
Balkhash between the Chinese frontier east of Lake Issik-kul
and the Yaxartes (Sir Darya). It is subdivided into a large
number of clans.*^''
2. The middle Horde occupies the steppe to the north of
the great Horde between the upper Tobol and the upper
Irtish. It comprises fiYQ tribes (subdivided into many clans) :
the Argyn, quite in the north of the steppe, on the middle
Irtish, Tobol, and Ishim ; the Naiman, south of the Argyn,
on the middle Irtish, from the Chinese frontier to Lake
Balkhash ; the Kipchak in the north-western part of the steppe
near the rivers Turgai, Uhagan, Tobol, Uya, as far as the town
of Troitsk ; the Kirai, mostly on the upper Irtish in Chinese
territory ; and the Kongrat, chiefly in the neighbourhood of
Tashkent.
3. The little Horde are the nomads of the western steppe
only, wandering mainly between the Aral and the Caspian.
It consists of the large tribe called Alshin and an association of
seven clans. A part of the Alshin tribe in 1801 migrated into
the Government of Astrakhan, and forms the so-called ' Inner
Horde '..
All the Kazaks of the three hordes count the mythical
Alash-khan as their tribal ancestor, and all three use AlasJi as
their watchword. Each clan also uses the name of one of its
166 THE TURKISH DIVISION
remote clan ancestors as its special watchword, and has its
special insignia and its own genealogy.^^
Organization. Though the Kazaks have been completely
subject to Russia since the eighteenth century, the tribal and
clan organization still remains fairly strong. They still choose
their own Khans, who are confirmed by the Russian Govern-
ment, but possess little authority beyond their respective
tribes. The real rulers are the elders of clans appointed by
public election. Brigandage and raids arising out of tribal
or clan feuds were formerly recognized institutions, but are
now severely punished. But though, since their subjection to
Russia, the Kazaks have become less lawless, they have scarcely
become less nomadic. A change of habit in this respect is
opposed not only to their tastes, but to the conditions of the
country which they inhabit. All the tribes are thus so essen-
tially nomadic that they cannot adopt a settled life without
losing their sense of nationality and being absorbed in the
Russian population.
Religion. The Kazaks adopted Islam about a. d. 1500, and
are adherents of the Sunnite sect. But though Mohamme-
danism has destroyed the religious side of their civili-
zation, except the cult of the hearth, their belief is lax.
They have few Mollahs, no Mosques or regular prayers, and
they make few pilgrimages to Mecca ; but they revere the tombs
of saints, which are a prominent feature in the steppe land-
scape. The chief prescription of the Kuran for which they
show respect is polygamy. They are really Shamanists at
heart, worshipping besides the Kudai, or good divinity, the
Shaitan, or bad spirit. They have a strong belief in the talchi,
or soothsayer, and other charlatans.
History. The Kazaks (a» well as the Kara-Kirghiz) seem,
from ancient times, to have been at home in the same parts
of Central Asia as they still occupy. They are already men-
tioned by Zemarchos, who traversed their country on his way
to the Altai, as nomads on more or less the same steppes as
those on which they wander to-day. They were probably in
possession of the great steppe to the north of Yaxartes (Sir
Darya) long before the time of Jenghiz (1162-1227),. under
whose sway they came and under whom (as well as Timur)
they fought. After Jenghiz Khan's death they fell to the
share of his eldest son Juji, head of the Golden Horde, but con-
CENTRAL ASIAN TURKS 167
tinned to retain their own Khans. When the Uzbegs acquired
the ascendancy many of the former subjects of the Juji and
Jagatai hordes seceded and joined the Kazaks. Thus about
A.D. 1500 the Kazaks formed a powerful state, having under
their Khan Arslan, as stated by the Sultan Babar^^ (1483-
1530), the founder in 1526 of the Mogul dynasty in India, as
many as 400,000 fighting men. Their numbers continued to
be swelled by fragments of the Grolden Horde, such as the
Kipchaks and others. The middle and the little Hordes of
the Kazaks voluntarily submitted in 1730 to the Empress
Anne of Russia. Most of the great Horde were subdued by
Yanus Khan of Ferghana in 1798, and all the still independent j
tribes finally accepted Russian sovereignty in 1819.
During the centuries when the hordes of the Kazaks lived
in perfect freedom between the extreme limits of the Russian
and the Chinese empires, which were not yet strong enough to
attempt to subject them, they never showed the capacity of
uniting to a single power and of forming an organized political
state. They lacked the fundamental requisite, the force of
a common interest, which alone would have been capable of
combining their tribes and clans. The power of the Khan
was nowhere able to guarantee their property to individuals
or to protect them from the irruptions of neighbours, for it
was far beyond his capacity to rule the vast territory nominally
subject to him. The power of wild hordes surrounding a leader
of this kind became effective only when they invaded a hostile
territory : motives of self-preservation in face of subjected
foes forced the single tribes to hold together, the whole horde
being transformed into an army, as was the case during the
invasions of Jenghiz Khan. The Kazak hordes have had no
opportunities for such temporary consolidation during the last
two centuries. Every tribe, having otherwise no interest in
looking beyond its own borders, always aimed at the obtain-
ment of as much prosperity as possible. It therefore resorted
to arms only when the advancement of its prosperity impelled
it to do so, or when the political circumstances of neighbours
promised rapid acquisition of great wealth by means of pre-
datory attack. Marauding excursions in the unlimited steppe,
the conflicts and insurrections of which the history of the
Kazaks consists in previous centuries, would have completely
ruined any settled people. But for the nomads it was a period
168 THE TURKISH DIVISION
of prosperity : it was just under these circumstances that the
wealth and the prestige of the Kazaks increased. But since
peace and quiet have entered the Kirghiz steppe, there has
been a steady decline in the prosperity of the Kazak tribes,
increasing with the progress of order. That the warlike and
marauding spirit has not been extinguished among them by
Russian rule is indicated by what happened in 1916 among
their kinsmen, the Kara-Kirghiz.^^ Their turbulent spirit
may very well revive with the resumption of political inde-
pendence. In the beginning of 1918 Russian Turkestan was
reported ^'^ to have declared itself a republic as a federal state
of Russia. Five months later a meeting of Bolshevist delegates,
including fifty Mohammedans, declared that Turkestan should
be autonomous, but federated to Russia.
Bibliography. — Vambery, Die primitive CuUur des Turko-Tatarischen
Volkes, pp. 440-1 ; Das Tiirkenvolk, pp. 279-313. Radloff, Aus Sihirien, vol. i,
pp. 406-39. Landsell, Russian Central Asia, 1885. OstionmofF, A geography
of the Turkestan country^ with an account of the Khanates of Bokhara and
Khiva, and a map of the country, Samarkand, 1891 (translated from official
text-book of geography). Skrine and Ross, HeaH of Asia, 1899. Parker,
A Thousand Years of the Tartars, 1895. Kraft, A trarers le Turkestan russe,
Paris, 1902. Meakin, In Russian Turkestan : A Garden of Asia and its
people, London, 1903 (maps and illustrations). Curtis, Turkestan, the heaH of
Asia, London, 1911. Wo^ikoff. Le Turkestan 7^usse, Paris, 1914. Stephen
Graham, Through Russian Central Asia, 1916.
2. The Kara-Kirghiz
Habitat. The Kara-Kirghiz live chiefly in the Government
of Semiryechensk, especially in the region south of Lake
Issik-kul, on the slopes of the T'ien Shan, extending from the
river Tekes westwards towards Khokand and the rivers Chu
and Talas; southwards to the Pamir plateau and to the northern
slopes of the Karakoram range ; and eastwards into the district
of Sarikol in the western parts of Chinese Turkestan. The
western limits of the present territory of the Kara-Kirghiz are
the watersheds of the rivers Chatkal and Talas. On the east
they extend beyond Aksu into Chinese territory. In the south
they reach to the neighbourhood of Shahid-ullah on the road
from Leh to Yarkand.
Number. Their numbers exceed 400,000/^ of whom the
great majority are found in the Government of Semirye-
chensk.
CENTRAL ASIAN TURKS 169
Name. The Kara-Kirghiz or ' Black ' Kirghiz appear to be
so called from the colour of their tents.^^ They call themselves
simply Kirghiz. The name is already mentioned in the sixth
century in the form of Kherkis by Zemarchos ^"^ in his account
of the embassy sent by the Emperor Justin II to the Altai. By
the Mongols and Chinese they are called Bur-ut.^"^
Race. The Kara-Kirghiz, having remained almost entirely
unmixed, are on the whole the purest and best representatives
of the Turkish race. It is to them alone that the distinctive
national name of Kirghiz strictly belongs/'^
Branches. There are two main branches of the Kara-
Kirghiz, the Sal (' left ') in the west, between the head
streams of the Talas and the Oxus in Ferghana and Bokhara,
where they come in contact with the Galchas, or Highland
Tajiks; and the Ong ('right'), who are much less numerous,
in the east, on both sides of the T'ien Shan about Lake Issik-
kul, and in the Chu, Tekes, and Narim (upper Yaxartes) valleys.
Each of these branches is divided into six or more tribes.*^*^
Occupations. The Kara-Kirghiz are essentially nomads,
whose chief occupation is stock-breeding. Some, however,
engage in agriculture, growing wheat, barley, and millet.
They trade chiefly by barter, cattle being exchanged for
manufactures from Turkestan, China, and Russia. Their indus-
tries differ only slightly from those of the Kazaks. Their
domestic animals and their daily pursuits are also much the
same. They breed camels, horses, cattle, sheep, goats, and pigs.
Their method of encamping is described by Radloflf '^ as
differing from that of the Kazaks. In winter they encamp in
whole clans on the banks of rivers in an uninterrupted series
of yurtas, often extending to several miles in length. In
summer they similarly encamp in rows of yurtas as they move
higher and higher into the mountains, each clan thus using
a particular strip of pasture. This method of nomad encamp-
ing is partly due to the geographical conditions of the country,
but also to the warlike character of the people itself. It
enables a whole army in a few hours to be ready for attack or
defence. That their turbulent spirit can easily be aroused is
shown by the Russian official account "^^ (printed below as
Appendix B) of a rising of the Kara-Kirghiz which took place
in August, 1916. The instigator of this revolt appears to have
been the German emissarj^, Dr. Werner Otto von Hentig, as
170 THE TUEKISH DIVISION
indicated by a notice in The T'imes of June 12, 1917, and
printed below as Appendix A, p. 229.
Government. The Kara-Kirghiz are governed by tribal
rulers elected by themselves, who enjoy unlimited authority
and with whom the Eussian administration interferes but
little.
History. Having played a much less important part in
political events than the Kazaks, the Kara-Kirghiz are very
seldom mentioned in history. Their name in its present form
occurs for the first time, as stated above, in the sixth century
after Christ. They are mentioned in Chinese chronicles of the
thirteenth century as living on the T'ien Shan. It is therefore
likely that the Kara-Kirghiz have inhabited this region since
then down to the present time.
Bibliography. — Vambery, Das Turkenvolk, pp. 257-78. Radloif, Aus
Sibirien, pp. 230-41.
3. The Kara-Kalpaks
Habitat. The Kara-Kalpaks, or ' Black-caps ', inhabit chiefly
the territory to the south-east of the Sea of Aral and on the
eastern side of the lower course of the Amu Darya (Oxus).
Number. They number 134,313 altogether in Eussian
Turkestan. The majority (111,425) live in the Amu Darya
division of the Sir Darya province, forming 50 per cent, of the
population of that division. The rest live in the Khanate and
in the Khokand district of the province of Ferghana (22,888).
Name. Their name of ' Black-caps ' has been given to them
in allusion to their high sheepskin hats.
Characteristics. The Kara-Kalpaks of the pure type, who
live near the Aral Sea, are a tall, powerful race, with broad,
flat faces, large eyes, short noses, and heavy chins. Their
women are described as the most beautiful in Eussian Tur-
kestan. They are pacific by temperament, and have conse-
quently suffered much from the attacks of their fierce nomadic
neighbours, the Kazak-Kirghiz.
Manner of Life. The Kara-Kalpaks are still to a certain
extent nomads, with large herds of cattle ; but they are on the
whole a peaceful agricultural people.
History. They are mentioned by the Eussian annalist Nestor
(eleventh century) by the name of ' Black Hats ', along with
the Turkmens, as neighbours of the Eussians. Later they
CENTRAL ASIAN TURKS 171
ruled for a time at Kazan on the middle Volga. Afterwards
they moved from that region to Central Asia. The raids of
the Kazak-Kirghiz drove them several times to move their
abodes, till ultimately they sought refuge under Russian
sovereignty in 1742. In the first half of the eighteenth century
they were still located at the mouths of the Sir Darya, but
now they are mostly to be found in the delta bf the Oxus, and
only sporadically in the district of Zarafshan.
Bibliography.— Asiatic Russia, vol. i, p. 163. Vambery, Das TUrkenvolk,
pp. 87, 442-3.
4. The Turkmens
Habitat. The Turkmens have from time immemorial been
settled in their present home, the steppe region between the
Oxus and the Caspian, extending from the north of the latter
sea south-eastwards, bounded by Persia and Afghanistan in
the south, and the Khanates of Khiva and Bokhara on the
east. Their chief habitat is thus the Province of Transcaspia.
Here there seem never to have been other nomads than the
Turkmens. There are also some Turkmen tribes in the Oxus
plains of Afghan Turkistan (the northernmost province of
Afghanistan) ; in Persian territory near the Hari Rud (not far
from the Afghan frontier) as well as in the Persian province of
Astarabad (near the south-east corner of the Caspian) ; and in
Turkey itself, scattered over the central plain of Anatolia.
Number. The number of Turkmens in the Russian Empire
was 290,170 in 1911.'^ No figures seem to be available for the
Turkmens of Persia, Afghanistan, and Turkey, but it may be
conjectured that their total number does not exceed 350,000.
Name. Turkmen is the correct form of the name, Turcoman
being merely a variation in spelling. As Turks par excellence
they have probably retained the name because, according to
tradition, at the tim^. of Oghuz Khan all Turks were called
Turkmen ('Turkdom').
Characteristics. In physical type the Turkmens are Turks
in the most proper sense. Though they belong to the group of
the west-central Turks, they form a link with the western
Turks, not differing essentially from the Azarbaijans of Persia
and the Osmanlis of Anatolia, except that down to the Russian
occupation of Merv (1883) they retained the condition of pre-
172 THE TURKISH DIVISION •
datory, horse-riding nomads, who were greatly feared by their
neighbours as ' man-stealing Turks '. Until their subjection
by the Russians, the Turkmens were a warlike people, who
conquered their neighbours. It was their boast that not one
Persian had crossed their frontier except with a rope round
his neck.
Now they have become a peaceful population. Among the
early Arabic writers who mention them, Mas*udi (943-8)
speaks of the Turkmens as thick-set and with small eyes, and
as much feared by their neighbours owing to their power.
There can be no doubt that by the people whom they call
' Ghuz ' (derived from an earlier Oghuz) they meant the Turk-
mens of to-day. For Rashid-ed-din Tabibi, the genealogist of
the Turkish race, at the beginning of his account of their origin,
remarks, ' At that time the whole people of Oghuz still goes
by the name of Turkmen.' The names Ohuz and Turkmen
were also in alternative use, for while the Byzantines and
Arabs prefer to speak of the Uz or Ghuz, Nestor, in the
eleventh century, speaks of the Turkmens as neighbours of
the Kara-Kalpaks, and the name Turkmen or Turcoman was
not unknown to the writers who describe the crusades.
Tribes. The Turkmens are divided into seven main tribes,
each of which consists of several clans. They are the fol-
lowing :
(1) The Chaudors, the remains of a powerful tribe which in
the sixteenth century occupied a considerable part of the terri-
tory of the east coast of the Caspian. They now wander in the
steppe north of Karabugas Bay.
(2) The Yamut chiefly inhabit the south-east coast of the
Caspian. A considerable part of them have settled in the
island of Cheleken, and have exchanged cattle-breeding for
the petroleum industry which prevails there. A fraction of
this tribe is to be found half-settled in the Khanate of Khiva,
especially in the south-western part, whither they seem to
have been forcibly transplanted as colonists at the beginning
of the nineteenth century.
(3) The GoMens live in the mountains near the upper course
of the Atrak river, in the territory of the Shah of Persia, to
whom they pay, or used to pay, tribute. They are said to be
the most civilized and friendly of all the Turkmens. As
occupying the richest pasture-land on the northern edge of
CENTRAL ASIAN TUEKS 173
Persia, they have from early times suffered much from the
attacks of the Persians as well as the Kurds.
(4) The Tekkes are first heard of in the peninsula of Mangish-
lak on the north-eastern coast of the Caspian. They were
driven out of it by the Kalmuks in 1718. Later they occupied
the Akhal oasis, extending south-eastwards from Kizil-Arvat
along the Persian frontier, and the oasis of Merv. They were
the most important Turkmen tribe when the Russians con-
quered Transcaspia. They suffered a crushing defeat at Gok-
tepe in 1881.
(5) The SmiJcs have at all times lived on the middle Murghab
from Yolatan to the western spurs of the Paropamisus range,
in the neighbourhood of Penjdeh. They seem to be first
mentioned towards the end of the fifteenth century. They are
divided into five branches, which are again split into lesser
clans. Their number has been greatly reduced by the severe
conflicts in which they have been engaged during the nine-
teenth century with the Tekkes and the Salors, as well as the
Persians.
(6) The Salors are accounted the oldest and noblest of the
Turkmen tribes. Salor is the name of the great-grandson of
the mythical Oghuz Khan. It is known that the Salors came
in contact with the Arabs when the latter were advancing
towards the Oxus in the seventh century. Later, Salor was
accounted a collective name for all the Turkmens. Thus they
were the first of the Turkmen tribes to appear on the stage of
history, and they have preserved their generic name longest.
From ancient times they have remained in their old home in
the western corner of the Paropamisus range. They are also
found scattered in groups, north, south, and east of Merv. A
section of them migrated, in 1857, into Persian territory on
the left bank of the Hari Rud near the Afghan frontier. They
suffered much during the nineteenth century in conflict with
the Tekkes. It is not likely that they will long maintain their
identity as a warlike independent tribe of nomads.
(7) The Ersaris in the middle of the sixteenth century were
near the south-west coast of the Caspian, and a century later
in the Mangishlak peninsula, whence they were driven by a
tribe of Uzbegs into the steppe in the south of the IJst-Yurt
plateau. In the beginning of the eighteenth century they are
found, subject to Bokhara, on the left bank of the Oxus, where
174 THE TUEKISH DIVISION
they still live, from Khwaja Salar to Kerki, near which place they
are most numerous, while farther up the river there are but few
of them. They are in a stage of transition to a settled mode
of life, and with the adoption of agriculture are losing their
warlike spirit as well as many traits of their nomad tradition.
There are, besides these seven main tribes, several scattered
half-nomadic groups of Turkmens, living on the Volga, in the
district of Amu Darya, and in the region of Zarafshan, Astra-
khan, and Sir Darya. All these Vambery estimated at about
16,000 in the aggregate. The population of the seven main
tribes is greatly over-estimated by him, as the total of his
figures amounts to nearly one million Turkmens."^*
Bibliography.— Viimbeiy, Das Tilrkenvolk, pp. 19-21, 385-415 (385-8,
linguistic affinities ; 391-402, tribes). Asiatic Russia, vol. i, p. 175.
5. The Sarts
Habitat. Interposed in the chain of the west-central group
of Turks lies a mixed Turkish people, the Sarts, who occupy
the territory which, lying on both sides of the Sir Darya
(Yaxartes), extends from Samarkand in the west to beyond
Tashkent in the east. The great majority are found in
Ferghana, nearly all the rest in the territories of Sir Darya
and Samarkand.
Number, In population the Sarts take the second place
among the Turkish peoples of Asiatic Russia, coming next to
the Kazaks with 1,847,000. There are 1,392,167 in Ferghana,
359,744 in the territory of Sir Darya, and 73,634 in that
of Samarkand.
Eace. They are a mixed race based on the original Iranian
inhabitants of the fertile parts of Turkestan, who have inter-
mingled with their conquerors, the Turkish Uzbegs. They are
sharply divided in their type from the remaining Turkish
inhabitants of Central Asia, resembling completely the Persian-
speaking Tajiks in build, swarthy complexion, large expressive
black eyes, straight nose, average mouth, even straight teeth,
bushy black brows, and very strong beards. Their physical
type and the fact that at Khojend and Samarkand they speak
Persian combine to show that the Iranians and not the Turks
were the fundamental element in this population. They them-
selves know nothing of their origin.
rn
CENTEAL ASIAN TUEKS 175
Name, This people are called Sart both by the Kazaks and
the Uzbegs, their surrounding neighbours. The name Sart is
given by the Eussians both to the Turkish language spoken in
Bokhara, Samarkand, and Ferghana and to the people speak-
ing it, as opposed to Tajik,'^^ which denotes the Iranian agri-
cultural population immediately to the south of the territory
occupied by the Sarts. The term is not properly an ethno-
logical name. It is found in the Turkish work Kudaiku Bilik
(eleventh century) in the sense of ' merchant V^ because at
this time and still earlier Iranian merchants from the Oxus
traded among the Turks. Hence the word Sart (from old
Turkish ' to wander ') came to be used for (Iranian) ' merchant '
and finally for (non-nomad) ' agricultural Iranian '.
Contrast with Tajik, His nearest kinsman, the Tajik, repre-
senting the pure Iranian, besides retaining his Iranian phy-
sique, retains his Iranian language also. The Sart, while
retaining much of his original type, speaks Turkish through-
out. He has, however, lost what is still to be found among
the Tajiks, and is their chief peculiarity — a graceful carriage.
The Sarts also show less individuality, being unusually alike
and uniform.
Occupation, As occupation the Sarts prefer trade or light
work ; but they like complete inactivity best.
Religion. Like their pure Turkish neighbours, the Sarts in
religion are Mohammedan Sunnites.
Bibliography.— Radloff, Aus Sibirien, pp. 224-5. Vambery, Das Tiirken-
volk, p. 370. Asiatic Russia, vol. i, p. 164.
Here may be mentioned two Turkish tribes inhabiting the
region of the Yaxartes (Sir Darya).
6. The Kipchaks
The Kipchaks are a half-nomadic tribe inhabiting the north
of Ferghana, especially the district of Andijan and Osh, in the
region south of the upper Sir Darya, forming about 10 per
cent, of the population of the former Khanate of Khokand.
They consist of purely Turkish elements from Central Asia.
They are perhaps more correctly to be regarded as a clan of
the Kara-Kirghiz, and should be called Kirghiz-Kipchaks.
Although they are partly settled, they have preserved the wild
and warlike spirit of complete nomads. In all the feuds, wars.
176 THE TURKISH DIVISION
and revolutions of modern Khokand they have had the lion's
share, and consequently acquired in Central Asia a reputation
for extraordinary bravery. Their numbers were 60,785 in
1911, according to Asiatic Russia J"^
Bibliography.— Vambery, Das Tilrkenvolk, p. 278 (cp. Reisein MitteJasien,
Leipzig, 1865). Alexander Kuhn, Das Gehiet Ferghana, das friihere Khanat
von Chokand, in Russische Revue, viii, 352. Radloff, Aus Sibirien, vol. i,
p. 225.
7. The Kuramas
The Kuramas are a completely settled people living on the
banks of the Chirchik and the Angren, tributaries of the
Yaxartes. They consist of a mixture of impoverished Kazaks,
who have been forced to settle, and of Sarts or perhaps Uzbegs.
At the present day they form the most industrious part of the
population of the middle Yaxartes. Their name Kurama in
Turkish means 'mixture'. Their numbers are quoted by
Vambery from Kostenko (of the general staff in Russian
Turkestan) as 77,301. As they are not mentioned in the census
lists of Asiatic Russia, they are perhaps, in the latter work,
included among the Sarts.
Bibliography.— Radloff, Aus Sibirien, vol. i, p. 224. Vambery, Das
Turkenvolk, pp. 312 and 372.
8. The Uzbegs
Habitat. The Uzbegs occupy the country which extends
from about long. 72° E. along the east side of the Oxus, and
from about lat. 41° N. also on the west side down to the Aral
Sea, being bounded on the latter side by the territory of the
Turkmens. They are the predominating population of the
province of Samarkand, and of some parts of the provinces of
Ferghana and Sir Darya. In the Khanates of Khiva and
Bokhara, where the Turkish element forms the great majority,
the proportion of Uzbegs is great. In Khiva, where the Turks
in general form 99 per cent, of the whole population, the
Uzbegs number 65 per cent. ; while in Bokhara, of the
67 per cent, of Turks, about one half (or about 33 per cent, of
the whole population) are Uzbegs. A considerable part of the
population of the towns of Afghan Turkistan (the most
northern province of Afghanistan) are of Uzbeg stock.
Number. The number of Uzbegs in Russian Asia amounts
CENTRAL ASIAN TURKS 177
to 592,150.'^^ To these must be added the Uzbegs in Afghani-
stan, estimated by Vambery at 200,000, making an aggregate
of about 800,000 Uzbegs. The numbers of the Uzbegs in the
three territories of Russian Turkestan in which they live are :
Samarkand, 490,143 ; Sir Darya, 76,784 ; Ferghana, 25,223.
Name. The term Uzbeg is not an ethnological, but a politi-
cal name. It is derived from Uzbeg Khan, who ruled the
Golden Horde till 1340, and who was a great propagator of
Islam. So ' Uzbeg ' in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries
came to mean Moslem Turks, as opposed to those who still
remained in the rough civilization associated with Shamanism.
At the beginning of the sixteenth century this name was
assumed by the adherents of Shabani Khan, the last conqueror
of Transoxiana. Finally it was employed as the designation
of the ruling tribes in the Central Asian Khanates (much as
Osmanli in Turkey), in opposition to Kirghiz and Sarts as well
as to non-Turkish tribes.
Race. The Uzbegs are of Turkish origin, but they are
a mixed race, the elements of which are, however, for the most
part various Turkish clans. The army with which Shabani
Khan invaded Transoxiana from the lower Yaxartes on the
north-east consisted chiefly of Turkish nomads inhabiting the
tract between the Aral Sea and the river Ural. The population
which they here found and conquered was itself a Turkish one,
with some Mongolian admixture, who had reached a more
advanced civilization, and who described the northern Turkish
invaders as naked barbarians, denouncing their vandalism in
destroying many works of art in Samarkand. The Turkish
amalgam produced by the conquest gradually adopted from the
conquering element the name of Uzbeg, which thus acquired
the value of an ethnic designation for the Turks of Transoxiana.
The inhabitants of Khiva, on the left bank of the Oxus, are,
with the exception of the Turkmens and a few Sarts in the
towns, Uzbegs throughout. In Bokhara the Uzbegs, on both
banks of the Zarafshan, as well as in the southern and western
districts, form the preponderant part of the agricultural popu-
lation. A similar remark applies to the Uzbegs of Kunduz,
Khulm, Akcha, Shibarghan, Andkhui, and Maimana in Afghan
territory.
There are said to be thirty- two clans among the Uzbegs.
"When sections of the same clan have become locally separated,
TURANIANS M
178 THE TURKISH DIVISION
the bond of kinship is by no means so strong among the
ITzbegs as, for example, among Turkmens and Kirghiz.
Characteristics. It is impossible to give a general account
of a specifically Uzbeg type, because of the influence exercised
by the admixture, in different localities, of Tajik, Sart, Persian,
and Afghan blood. Thus the Uzbegs, even in different parts
of Khiva, may to some extent be distinguished. Here the
Uzbeg may be described as taller than the Kirghiz and more
thick-set than the Turkmens, but not so tall and not so strongly
built as the Kara-Kalpak. The head of the Khiva Uzbeg has
an oval shape, his eyes are elongated, his nose is mostly thick,
his mouth large, his chin round, his cheek-bones not specially
prominent, and his complexion much fairer than that of the
Tajiks. His hair is more abundant than that of the Turkmens,
and its colour is predominantly brown. The Uzbegs of Bokhara
show traces of a more intensive mixture with the original
Aryan inhabitants, for dark hair and skin is much more
frequent than in Khiva, while the Uzbegs of Khokand are
scarcely to be distinguished from the Sarts living there.
Ujfalvy^^ gives the following general description of the
Uzbeg. He is of medium height, thin, with a dark-brown
skin tinged with yellow ; his hair is black, red, and rarely
chestnut brown f^ his beard sparse and black, his nose short,
straight, and broad at the base, his lips thick and protruding,
his brows arched but rather scanty, his mouth large, his chin
massive, his cheek-bones prominent, his whole face inclined to
be square, his ears large and prominent, his hands and feet
small. Vambery^^ thinks that a generalization such as this
can hardly be accepted, owing to local variations observed by
himself and to the divergent impressions made on different
travellers by the external appearance of the Uzbegs.
Besides still retaining many genuine Turkish customs, such
as subdivision into clans, the Uzbegs preserve most of the
attractive qualities of their Turkish kinsmen. The uniform
basis of their character is honesty, independence, and gravity.
They regard swift bodily movement as degrading, and consider
slow action of the limbs and stony expressionlessness of face
to be essential elements of decorum. "With these qualities their
mental sluggishness harmonizes, and they are consequentl}^
taken advantage of by the more alert Tajik. The Uzbeg's
ideal is the fearless and loyal warrior, straight in speech and
CENTRAL ASIAN TUEKS 179
action. He has consequently been averse to peaceful occupa-
tion and the cultivation of arts and sciences. He looks down
on the Tajik artisan and merchant as an inferior being. He
does not even regard very highly his Mollah or spiritual
teacher. His lower intellectual capacity is shown by the fact
that in the colleges of Khiva and Bokhara, Uzbeg theological
students are regularly found to be surpassed in ability by
those of Tajik descent.
In compensation for these weak points the Uzbeg shows
many fine traits in his family life. He treats his wife much
better than the Tajik does, and the deference paid by children,
even when advanced in years, to their parents is striking.
Though in public intercourse the rules of Islam prevail among
them, in private, within the walls of their dwellings, the prac-
tices of primitive nomadic life still survive, little affected by
the Iranian Moslem civilization in the midst of which the
Uzbegs have lived for centuries.
Mode of Life. In their manner of life the Uzbegs are
partly settled and partly half-nomads. The former, found
chiefly in the Khanates, are engaged almost exclusively in
agriculture, only very few carrying on trade or industry.
They are specially numerous along the Zarafshan river, and
above all along the left bank of the Oxus in Khiva, where the
Uzbeg husbandman is a model of his order. He is thoroughly
versed in the very important art of irrigation, and is devoted
to his occupation. The Uzbeg generally cultivates his own
fields, and it is difficult to realize that this simple, honest
peasant represents a conquering race. But he has remained
a warrior down to modern times, and this same peasant who
follows his plough is still ready to leap into the saddle, and,
sword in hand, to fight vigorously against his enemies. The
Uzbegs in fact form the fighting men in Khiva, Bokhara, and
on the left bank of the Oxus. In the latter locality they have
suffered a good deal in conflict with the still more warlike
Afghans.
Showing little aptitude for trade or industry, the Uzbeg
prefers an open-air life, living in isolated settlements, where
he pitches his felt-covered tent in a court surrounded by high
walls, liking it better even in winter than a fixed abode. The
nomad life would still appeal to him most if circumstances
permitted him to follow it. The number of complete nomads
M 2
180 THE TUEKISH DIVISION
among the Uzbegs is, however, extremely small, being at the
present day almost exclusively limited to the left bank of the
Oxus in Afghan Turkistan. The number of half-nomads is
considerably larger, because every Uzbeg is biassed in favour
of this mode of life, and is ready to spend the summer in the
open with his flocks and herds. But if the Uzbegs remain
under Eussian rule they will doubtless in the end completely
settle down to agriculture and other peaceful occupations, as
the Tatars of Kazan and Astrakhan have done.
Language. The language of the Uzbegs is called Jagatai
from the name of Jenghiz Khan's son, which came to be
applied not only to the Central Asian dominions ruled by him,
but to the Turkish language spoken by the inhabitants of that
region. The term Jagatai should properly be restricted to the
early literary records, which are written in the Uigur language
of the earliest Turkish settled inhabitants of Central Asia who
came from the east. The Uzbeg language is the result of the
dialect of the Turkish invaders from the north being grafted
on the older Jagatai.
Literature. Uzbeg literature, that is, the modern Turkish
literature of Central Asia, is only a popular literature, which
cannot compete with the superior Persian literature of Central
Asia. It consists chiefly of religious and chivalrous tales
derived from Moslem legend and the popular poetry of the
nomads, especially the Kirghiz, adapted to the somewhat more
refined taste of the Khanates. The historical works are for
the most part annals of Khiva and translations from Persian
or Arabic.
Civilization. Owing to the different influences to which the
Uzbegs of the Khanates have been subject and the varying
length of time since they have become settled, their civilization
is not uniform. Those who live on the lower Oxus and on its
left bank have preserved more traces of their old Turkish ways
than their kinsmen in Bokhara, Khokand, and East Turkestan.
Again, the Uzbeg of Khiva, the most genuine representative
of the race, observes many practices of the Persian civilization
of the ancient state of Khwarizm (Khiva). This indicates that
Turks were already settled on the lower Oxus before the adop-
tion of Islam. Among the reminiscences of Persian influence
is the celebration of the spring equinox, which is as strictly
observed in Khiva as among the Persians of Iran. Traces of
CENTRAL ASIAN TURKS 181
fire-worship survive in the belief of the Khiva Uzbegs in the
healing power of the sun and of fire. Traces even of old
Iranian myths have been preserved among the Turks of the
lower Oxus. In dress the Uzbeg resembles his kinsman the
Turkmen rather than the Iranian Tajik. In food he differs
little from other Turkish nomads ; only Jcumiss is hardly ever
to be met with. In spite of centuries of Moslem influence, it
is not the parents who arrange marriages, but the young
people themselves. The kalim paid for the bride consists of
horses, cows, sheep, camels, and so forth. The worship of
saints flourishes much less among the Uzbegs of Khiva than
those of Bokhara and Khokand, and the number of pilgrimages
to Mecca is exceedingly small.
Bibliography.— ^sm^/c Russia, vol. i, p. 174. Vambeiy, Das Turhenvolk,
pp. 346-72 ; Tschagataische Sprachstndien, pp. 29-40. RadlofF, Aiis Slhirien,
vol. i, pp. 225-9. Castren, Ethnologische Votiesungen, pp. 67-8.
iii. The Volga Turks
1. Kazan Turks
Habitat. The Volga Turks are found, with Kazan as their
centre, to the north, east, and west of the middle course of the
Volga. They are almost restricted to the territory of the
following ten governments of Russia : Kazan, Orenburg, Sa-
mara, Simbirsk, Vyatka, Saratov, Penza, Nizhni Novgorod,
Perm, and Tambov. A small number of them are scattered
about elsewhere, perhaps altogether 20,000. Most of these
have migrated to Ryazan or are descended from prisoners who
in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries were settled in
Lithuania about Vilna, Grodno, and Podolia. Others (about
2,000) live in Petrograd, where they pursue the callings of
coachmen and of waiters in restaurants. There are also some in
the Plock district of Poland.
Number. The total number of the Volga Turks is about
1,500,000. The Government of Kazan contains by far the
most, with more than half a million ; Orenburg comes next
with over a quarter of a million. The Turkish population in
the other governments diminishes in the order in which they
are enumerated above, down to Tambov with scarcely 15,000.
Name. By the Russians these, like other Turks living in
Russian territory, are called Tatars. - But they call themselves
simply Moslems or Musulmans, as opposed to the surrounding
182 THE TURKISH DIVISION
Russian Christians; for among them religion is by far the
strongest and most distinctive bond of union.
Language. In spite of the racial mixture the Volga Tatars
speak a pure Turkish dialect.
Race. It is somewhat uncertain who exactly were the an-
cestors of the Turks of Kazan, or how and when they reached
their present home. It is, however, not improbable that they
are descended from that section of the Kipchak horde which
in the thirteenth century moved northward and conquered the
region of the Kama, and after the devastations of Jenghiz Khan
and Timur, mingling with the remnants of the old Bulgars,
retired westwards and founded the city of Kazan, out of which,
in 1445, the Khanate of Kazan was created. It is also likely
that other elements of the Golden Horde came from the south-
east and settled in Kazan. In any case, there is no doubt as
to the Turkish origin of the Kazan Tatars, or the strong racial
admixture which they have undergone. The Eastern Finns
(Votyaks, Mordvins, Cheremisses), who from time immemorial
have dwelt on the middle Volga, undoubtedly exercised a great
influence on the ethnic development of this people.
Characteristics. Their physical characteristics are sufficient
to show that they are a mixture of Turks and Finns. They
are middle-sized, broad-shouldered, deep-chested, and strong.
They have long, regular faces, rather high cheek-bones, straight
noses, mostly black eyes, a yellowish complexion, and thin
beards.
The Volga Turks are on the whole distinguished by their
sobriety, honesty, thrift, and industry. By their assiduity
they often acquire considerable wealth. They live on the best
terms with their Russian peasant neighbours^
Occupations. The chief occupation of the Kazan Turk is
trade, to which he at once turns when he has acquired a small
capital by agriculture. On his commercial journeys he is
always a propagandist of Islam. His chief industries are soap-
boiling, spinning, and weaving. He is sometimes a worker in
gold. He makes a good shoemaker and coachman.
Dwellings. The houses of the Volga Turks differ from those
of the Russians, the windows all looking into an inner court,
as with their kinsmen who live far away in Chinese Turkestan.
These Turks are more cleanly in their houses than the Russian
peasantry.
THE VOLGA TUEKS 183
Customs. In the marriage customs of these Turks, the price
of the bride {kalim) is as important as among their nomad
kinsmen. It is negotiated between the parents of the bride
and of the bridegroom. Among rich Tatars it often amounts
to 1,000 roubles. Only one half of the sum is claimed by the
parents of the bride, the other half being spent on her trousseau.
Polygamy is practised by the well-to-do only, and is a de-
clining institution. Birth and death customs are almost
identical with those of all other settled Moslems. The festivals
of Kurban, Bairam, and Ramazan Bairam are celebrated in
the same way as in Bokhara and Stamboul.
Literature. The literature is chiefly religious, as among
other Turks, theology together with Persian and Arabic being
the main subject of study. There is, however, some popular
poetry which expresses the national spirit better, and contains
less of the foreign element than Osmanli literature does.
Religion. The Volga Turks are all Mohammedans excepting
about 28,000 Christians, or Keresh as they call themselves,
the descendants of those Tatars who were forcibly converted
by Ivan the Terrible in the sixteenth century. Religion, with
these Turks, is the most powerful of the motives by which they
are swayed. They are more like the orthodox Central Asians
in their religious zeal than the Mohammedans of Turkey and
Arabia. When in 1556 Ivan the Terrible captured Kazan,
even the harshest measures employed by him could not shake
the attachment of these Tatars to Islam. Till the end of the
sixteenth century no mosques were tolerated in Kazan, and
the Tatars were compelled to live in a separate quarter. But
the predominance of the Moslems gradually prevailed, so that
in the second half of the eighteenth century there were as
man}^ as 250 mosques in the Government of Kazan. A Ukase
of tolerance promulgated in 1773 helped the cause of Islam
among these Turks. Far from being won by Russian toler-
ance, the Moslems of the Volga have in modern times become
more closely united than ever with the Mohammedan world.
At the present day the Kazan Mollahs are trained not only
in Bokhara but in Constantinople, Cairo, and (till recently)
Medina. There has been a rapid increase in the number of
mosques, and a steady improvement in the status of Moslem
schools in the Government of Kazan. Between 1781 and 1868
the number of mosques rose from 250 to 729. In the latter
184 THE TUEKISH DIVISION
year there was one mosque to every 310 men, and one school
to every 119 boys. These schools have not been affected in
the least by the Russian educational system.
Education. The education in the Moslem schools has been a re-
ligious one only. Arabic and Persian being the chief languages,
the study of the mother-tongue has been quite neglected,
as among the Uzbegs and (till lately) among the Osmanlis,
and Russian is not taught at all, though the Tatar learns to
speak it otherwise. In consequence of the attention paid to
education, the percentage of Kazan Turks who cannot read and
write is extremely low. The production of printed books has
also been considerable among these Moslems. Thus in the
period 1802 (when an Oriental press was established at Kazan)
to 1885, more than 1,000,000 copies of Oriental works, almost
restricted to theology, were issued at Kazan. Some of these
even reached Central Asia, and India. Thus, during a period
of 360 years of Russian rule, the Asiatic conservatism of these
Kazan Moslems has in no way been weakened or influenced by
Russian culture. Every reform introduced by the Russian
Government has only stimulated the Tatars' zeal for their own
religious learning. Hence no conversion except among their
ruling families takes place, and only the quite uneducated
element is liable to be absorbed in the Russian population.
On the other hand, the Mollahs seem to have more success
among the Keresh or Christian Tatars than the Orthodox
Russian missionary has among the Moslems. In fact, the
Keresh have remained, both in certain customs and still more
in language, more Tatar than the Moslems themselves ; for
they intermarry much oftener with the neighbouring Christian
Chuvashes, Cheremisses, Votyaks, and Mordvins than with
Russians, and are on the other hand less exposed to the foreign
Arabic-Persian influence than the Moslems. Turkish national
modes of thought and life have thus been better preserved
among the Kazan Turks than among those of the west,
Azarbaijans and Osmanlis ; and in spite of a settled life of
centuries under Russian sovereignty, there is no prospect of
their absorption by the ruling race. What has here been said
of the Kazan Tatars applies to the Volga Turks in general.
Kazan was their educational centre both before and after the
Russian occupation in 1556. Even now in national, religious,
and intellectual matters Kazan takes the lead, because all the
THE VOLGA TURKS 185
Tatars on the Volga, from above Kazan down to its mouths,
always identify their interests with those of their principal
city.
Bibliography.— Vambery, Das Turkenvolk, pp. 419-43. Chicherin, The
State of Civilization of the non-Russian Tribes along the Volga in the Bulletin
of the Imperial Russian Geographical Society, 1906, pp. 591-647 (in
Russian). Mavor, From the Baltic to the Caspian in the Transactions of the
Philosophical Society of Glasgow (with illustrations and a map), 1898-9
(pp. 23).
2. The Baslikirs
Habitat. The Bashkirs inhabit the south-eastern part of
European Eussia, the region of the governments of Vyakta,
Perm, Ufa, Samara, and Orenburg, between the Kama and
Middle Volga on the west and the Ural range on the east.
They extend farther north than any other member of the
Turkish race in Europe, forming an intermediate population
between the genuine Turks and the Ugrians.
Number. The Bashkir population at the beginning of the
century numbered 757,300.^^
Race. The Bashkirs are commonly regarded as Turkified
Ugrians ; but racial, linguistic, and historical evidence appears
decidedly to favour the view of Vambery that in this people,
which is a mixture of Turk and Ugrian, the fundamental
nationality is Turkish, which, mingling with the neighbouring
Ostyaks and Voguls, has adopted many racial peculiarities
from these, but without changing their national Turkish idiom,
much in the same way as the Magyars have retained their
language.
Character. There is a difference of type between the Bash-
kirs living in the valleys of the Ural range and the in-
habitant of the steppes. The latter has a more pronounced
Turkish appearance. He is of medium height, with a large
head, broad, flat face, low nose, and prominent chin. His
kinsman in the forest regions has a long face, a convex profile,
a prominent nose, and higher stature, resembling rather the
Caucasian Asiatic. It has been observed that the Bashkirs
on the whole can hardly be distinguished from the Turks of
Kazan, Astrakhan, and the Crimea. They are predominantly
black-haired, black-eyed, and brachycephalic.
The general character of the Bashkirs shows both the good
and the bad qualities which distinguish most Turks who have
186 THE TURKISH DIVISION
only recently exchanged a primitive nomad existence for
a settled or half-settled manner of life. Hospitality is one of
the traits which they have preserved from earlier times. On
the other hand, the Bashkir suffers from excessive indolence,
the habit of brooding for hours on end and indulging in absolute
inactivity, from which even pressing necessity cannot arouse
him. In spite of the general impoverishment from which he
consequently suffers, one of his characteristics is cheerfulness,
or rather levity, in which he resembles the Kirghiz, though
without the cunning of the latter. Among the crimes which
he commits horse-stealing is the chief. He is not particularly
revengeful or intriguing. On the whole he has been a peaceful
and submissive subject under Eussian rule.
Manner of Life. Inasmuch as the Bashkirs, like the Tatars
of Kazan, the Nogaians, the Kirghiz, and the Central Asiatics,
are dominated by Moslem civilization, they naturally do not
differ greatly in manner of life from the neighbouring Russian
Turks and the Kirghiz. The exterior of their houses resembles
that of their Tatar neighbours, contrasting with the latter
chiefly in their poverty-stricken and ruinous appearance. The
interior arrangements are, however, more like those of the
Kirghiz tent than of the Kazan house. In dress the Bashkirs
differ little from the Tatars and Kirghiz. Their food is strikingly
similar in material, form, and nomenclature to that still pre-
vailing among the Kirghiz and in Central Asia. The fact that
air an (buttermilk) and kumiss (fermented mare's milk) are
their favourite drinks is an indication that no great length of
time has elapsed since the Bashkirs gave up a regular nomadic
life, for those beverages have long disappeared among the
Uzbegs, the Tatars of Kazan and the Crimea, and the still
half-nomadic Yiiriiks of Anatolia. In family life the Bashkirs
follow the usages of the Turks of Kazan, to whose standard
of civilization they conform in general. Marriages are con-
tracted after the Jcalim has been fixed, the amount ranging
from 3,000 roubles among the rich to a load of wood or hay
among the poorest. Although the betrothal often takes place
in early childhood, marriage is seldom consummated before
the age of eighteen in the case of men and sixteen in the case
of women. The wedding ceremonies resemble those of no-
madic rather than settled Turks. In the amusements of the
Bashkirs, music, song, and dance play an important part. Their
THE VOLGA TUEKS 187
dancing resembles that of the Chuvashes as well as of the
Magyars.
Religion. The Bashkirs probably adopted Mohammedanism
at an early period, but their adherence to Islam is lax, like
that of regular Turkish nomads. The veiling of women is not
required among them. Nor do they strictly observe the pre-
scriptions of Islam regarding ablutions and food, and they are
by no means averse to the use of vodka. The Mollahs have,
however, exercised a beneficial influence in the matter of
education. The number of schools is very considerable, and
the proportion of those who can read and write is consequently
remarkably high. Teaching is, however, restricted to the
study of the Kuran, all secular subjects being excluded. Every
attempt to transform the schools into centres of general educa-
tion and culture according to the European model has hitherto
failed.
Literature. In literary matters the Bashkirs are far behind
the Turks of Kazan. With the exception of some school-books,
which are rather written in the dialect of Kazan, the literature
of the Bashkirs consists exclusively of popular poetry, mostly
songs of four stanzas, dealing with love, chivalry, and attach-
ment to home. Here the national Bashkir spirit coupled with
the use of national imagery prevails, rather than the con-
ventional style and the gloomy breedings of Persian-Arabic
poetry.
Occupations. The force of circumstances has transformed
the Bashkirs from nomads into a settled people, who to some
extent are still semi-nomads. Their migratory instinct now
no longer goes beyond exchanging their fixed winter dwell-
ings for other abodes during the summer months, as is usual
among all settled Turks. Their favourite pursuits are wood-
cutting, carting, bee-keeping, hunting, training falcons, fishing.
They also work as labourers in mines. But their nomadic
nature has so little adapted itself to agriculture that they are
among the most sluggish and inefficient cultivators of the soil,
inferior even to the Uzbegs of Central Asia, and much more so
to their neighbours the Chuvashes. Though often possessing
enough arable land to render other peasants prosperous, Bash-
kirs lapse into poverty. Cattle-breeding would be more to
their taste, but the wide pastures that would appeal to them
are lacking, so they do not thrive even in this direction.
188 THE TUEKISH DIVISION
There has consequently been going on among them a general
impoverishment, which will probably lead to their ultimate
absorption in the surrounding Russian population.
Language. The language of the Bashkirs appears to be one
which, since the separate existence of this people, has had the
character of an independent dialect, and which is one of the
links in the Turkish linguistic chain extending from the upper
Irtish to the middle Volga. One point in which this dialect
differs from the rest is a slight influence exercised upon it by
the Ugrian language, both in vocabulary and phonetics (as the
change ofs to ^, e.g. Turkish soz ' word ', Bashkir Tioz),
History. The earliest information we have of the Bashkirs
is derived from Ibn Fozlan, who gives an account of the
journey which he made in a. d. 925 as an envoy of the Khalif
Muktedir Billah to Bolgari on the Volga. On his way thither
he passed, on the lower course of the Ural, the steppe inhabited
by the Bashkirs, of whom he says : ' We reached the land of
a Turkish people called Bashkird, against whom we were par-
ticularly on our guard, for this is the worst of all Turkish
peoples, being distinguished as the most violent and daring of
them in fight.' In describing their faith he speaks of the
wooden idols to which the Bashkirs turn when in distress,
though they have twelve special deities, those of earth, summer
and winter, rain and wind, trees, men and foals, water, night
and day, death and life. In these we may recognize the
tutelary spirits of the Altaians and the Chuvashes. This shows
that there was in the tenth century, east of the Volga, a Turkish
people called Bashkirs, who lived in the immediate neighbour-
hood of their present home, and who have, unlike so many
other kindred peoples, preserved their ethnic identity for a
thousand years. That they were once exclusively nomads is
shown by the fact that at the beginning of the thirteenth
century they joined the Mongol hordes of Jenghiz Khan, and
were for their services rewarded with a seal and flag, the usual
emblems of national independence. The Franciscan friar
Rubruquis narrates how in 1253, after a journey of twelve
days from the Volga, he reached the Bashkirs on the Yaik
(Ural). These people were throughout herdsmen, who had no
towns or forts, and who preferred the region of the steppes to
the mountains for their dwelling-place. In the middle of the
sixteenth century they came under the Russian rule of Ivan
THE VOLC^A TURKS 189
the Terrible. In 1773 they assisted Katharine II to quell
a revolt, and even fought for Russia, under a special military
organization, against Sweden, Poland, and Turkey. There is
evidence that even in the eighteenth century the habitat of
the Bashkirs extended much farther south. It is recorded
that about 1700 they lived on the lower course of the Yaik
(Ural), and that their pastures extended up to the Ural range ;
that whole districts of the Kirghiz steppe of to-day had
formerly been abandoned by the Bashkirs; and that about
1800 the Bashkirs wandered on the plateaus between the Emba
and the Ural mountains. In 1798 the Russian Government,
turning to account the warlike spirit which still manifested
itself among the Bashkirs, formed out of them an irregular
cavalry force, armed with bows and lances, to guard the
frontier along the Ural river against the Kirghiz. In 1812
Bashkirs fought against Napoleon in the 30th Cossack regi-
ment. The frontier guard was disbanded in 1814 ; but in 1 876
a new regiment of Bashkirs armed with rifles was established.
Bibliography.— Ujfalvy, Russian Review, 1877, no. 11 : Les Baskirs,
Paris, 1880. Vambery, Das Tilrkenvolk, pp. 496-517. v. Stenin, Die neuen
Foi'schungen Hher die Baschhiren in Globus, vol. 80 (1901), pp. 150-7.
3. Astrakhan Turks and Kundurs
Habitat. There are, besides, two small groups of Turks who
live at the mouth of the Volga. One of these are the Astra-
khan Tatars, numbering about 10,000 souls, who, along with
the Mongol Kalmuks (p. 110), are all that is left of the once
powerful Astrakhan Empire. Their occupations are agricul-
ture and gardening.
The other group are the Kundurs, who number about 12,000
and call themselves Kara-agach (' black- tree '). They separated
from the Nogaians of the Great Horde in the middle of the
thirteenth century, and when the Kalmuks in 1771 completely
abandoned the territory of the lower Volga, on their return to
the Hi valley (p. 113), they settled in the delta of the Volga,
on the banks of the rivers Ak-tobe and Bereket, in the neigh-
bourhood of the towns of Seitovka and Khoshdutovka.
Mode of Life. Here, in the vicinity of one of the Kirghiz
hordes and of the Kalmuks, \\\ey lead a half-nomadic existence,
passing thewinter in the towns just mentioned, but wandering
190 THE TURKISH DIVISION
during the rest of the year on the left bank of the Aktobe
river. Their features display a strikingly Kalmuk type. In
constructing their tents they give them an oblong shape
rather than the circular form usual among other Turkish
nomads. In their dirtiness and extraordinary indolence they
resemble the Kalmuks rather than the Nogaians.
Language. It is only in language and in a certain number
of customs that they retain traits of their Turkish origin.
Their language is related to the Nogaian, and not to the
Turkish spoken in the Caucasus and in Persia. The influence
of the latter country is shown by the fact that the Kundurs still
belong to the Shiite sect of Islam. In 1771 they submitted
to Russian rule. In 1785 they were placed under the adminis-
tration of the Krasnoyarsk district of Astrakhan, when summer
and winter quarters on the Volga were assigned to them.
Divisions. The Kundurs are divided into two branches,
each of which consists of several clans. It is somewhat strange
that this section of the Turks should, in spite of their associa-
tion with Kalmuks and Kirghiz, have been transformed from
regular nomads into semi-nomads of a restricted type within
the comparatively short period of a hundred years.
Food and Drink. In the matter of food the Kundurs
resemble nomads rather than a settled population, for they
live chiefly on meat and different forms of milk. They drink
Jcumiss, and above all brick tea, which they seem to have
become acquainted with through the Kalmuks.
Cost of Living. The struggle for existence is a hard one for
the dwellers in the Astrakhan steppe. Sixty years ago an
income of at least 135 roubles was necessary to support
a family of two persons : to obtain this the Kundur had to sell
one camel, two horses, one bull, two cows, five sheep, and
five goats.
Marriage Customs. Marriage is based, as everywhere
among the Turks, on the Jcalim^ which varies from 50 to
1,000 roubles. To counterbalance this the bride brings
with her to her future home certain articles of furniture,
a tent, a pair of oxen, and other valuables. The bride is con-
ducted home with the same ceremonies as prevail among the
Crimean Tatars and Nogaians. The Kundurs resemble the
latter also in their chief amusement, dancing, which has
ceased to exist among the neighbouring Turks, the Kirghiz.
THE VOLGA TUEKS 191
Religion. In religion the Kundurs are Mohammedans who
have maintained their adherence to the Shiite sect in the
midst of a purely Sunnite population. The continuance
among them of this sect in the neighbourhood of the fanatical
Volga Turks is probably due to that lukewarmness in matters
of religion which is characteristic of nomads and semi-
nomads.
Race. We have seen that the Kundurs are ethnically
a branch of the Nogaians, but linguistically they are clearly
less closely allied to the Nogaians than to the Kazak-Kirghiz.
Now, the recurrence of several of the Kundur clan names
among the Kazak-Kirghiz shows that they, and consequently
also the Nogaians, once formed part of the Kazak nation.
Though treated here as Volga Turks because of their geo-
graphical position, the Kundurs belong to the division of Black
Sea Turks under which the Nogaians are treated below
(pp. 194-7).
BiBLiOGRAPnY.— Vambery, Das Turkemolk, pp. 443, 552-7.
4. Chuvashes
Race. Though this people has already been mentioned
above (p. 50) as a branch of the Volga group of the
Eastern Finns, Vamb^ry^-'^ may be right in regarding them as
fundamentally a section of the Turkish race which has been
modified by the influence of their Finnish neighbours, the
Cheremisses. His theory is based on both the physical
characteristics and the language of the Chuvashes. On neither
ground does he appear to be convincing. He describes them
as of medium size, with a clumsy gait, a predominantly dark
brown complexion, somewhat prominent cheek-bones, brown
or black eyes, narrow forehead, and black hair. In the
women, he says, the narrowness of the eye and the prominence
of the cheek-bones are more marked, while the complexion is
much fairer than that of the Tatars. This account does not
altogether agree with that of other observers, and it is in any
case doubtful whether the evidence of physique favours
a Turkish rather than a Finnish origin in the case of tiiis
mixed people. The linguistic evidence seems to be no more
decisive. For though the Chuvashes speak a Turkish language,
it is to be noted that while two Turkish peoples living so far
apart as the Anatolians and the inhabitants of East Turkestan
192 THE TUEKISH DIVISION
can understand each other, the most accomplished Turkish
scholar can make out a Chuvash text only after an intimate
study of the accidence and phonetics of the language. Still
less does the mode of life followed by this people from very
early times support the Turkish theory. The Chuvashes have
been strictly settled perhaps longer than any distinctively
Turkish population, having early become the eminently
agricultural people they are known to be at the present time.
Such a past is by no means in keeping with the character of
the Turks, who have always shown a reluctance to abandon
their original nomadism.
Character. Their industry has helped them to prosperity,
and poverty is seldom to be met with in their settlements.
The Chuvash is distinguished for his kindness to his family,
and he honours and regards his wife far more than the Russian
or the Tatar does.
Customs. A few points in the customs of the Chuvashes
may be added. Marriages are not arranged by the parents,
but the bride is chosen by the young man himself. The
practice here prevails, as among the Turks, of paying a
Jcalim, which rises to the limit of 200 roubles. This is,
however, occasionally evaded when the youth has not suffi-
cient means. Then, with the consent of his parents, and in
collusion with the bride, he captures the latter, and carries her
off to his house, later on paying a kalim proportionate to his
means. When a man dies his body is dressed in his best
clothes and interred with the things which he used most
during life, such as tobacco, beer, and, according to his occupa-
tion, an axe, a musical instrument, or other object. A dead
woman, on the other hand, is supplied with needle, thread,
flax, linen, and other articles.
History. Some further details about the Chuvashes may
here be supplied. Their name first appears in the Russian
annals in the year 1524. Some more information about them
has come down in connexion with the foundation of various
towns in the sixteenth century. They suffered many centuries
of subjection to Bulgars, Mongols, and Tatars successively till
1743, when they came under Russian rule and began to adopt
Christianity. Thej^ have long been among the most peaceable
and submissive subjects of the Russian Empire.
Religion. In religion the Chuvashes are chiefly nominal
THE VOLGA TURKS 193
Christians, but also partly Moslems and partly still adherents
of their old pagan faith. No definite data are available as to
the local and numerical distribution of these forms of belief;
but it may be said in general that the majority of the pro-
fessed Christians live in the Government of Kazan on the
right bank of the Volga, while on the left bank, in various
districts of the Government of Samara, Ufa, and Orenburg,
many Mohammedans are interspersed, and in the districts of
Sizran, Kuznetsk, and Petrovsk the heathen population pre-
dominates. The Chuvash easily identifies Christian saints
with his old pagan gods, mainly owing to the extensive use of
images in the Russian Church ; while among those who are
Mohammedans almost every reminiscence of their ancient
faith has disappeared, in consequence of the strict monotheism
and intolerance of idolatry characteristic of Islam. The sur-
viving form of the old religion of the Chuvashes is a modified
kind of Shamanism, improved and widened by Christian and
Mohammedan influence.
Bibliography. — Vambery, Das Turkenvolk, pp. 444-95 (where a. full
account of the language and religion of the Chuvashes is given).
5, 6. Meshchers and Tepters
In this connexion may be mentioned two small peoples
living in the Governments of Kazan, Ufa, Perm, Penza, and
Saratov, numbering, according to Vamberj^'s estimate in 1885,
140,000 and 130,000 respectively. They are unmistakably
Ugrians in origin, but have been mixed with Turks, the
majority speaking a Turkish language and having adopted
Turkish customs.
Meshchers. The Meshchers of Penza and Kazan have been
completely Russianized in language, customs, and religion.
They are almost exclusively agriculturists. The more numer-
ous fraction of the Meshchers, who are Mohammedans, at the
present day live in the midst of the Bashkirs, and are said to
differ as little in their customs and their mode of life from
their Turkish neighbours as the Christian Meshchers do from
the Russians. They compare favourabl^^ with the Bashkirs in
their greater cleanliness and prosperity. They are industrious
and skilled tillers of the soil. Their physiognomy shows
I. clearly that they are not Turks, for the majority of them have
oval faces, fair hair, and light blue eyes.
TURANIANS "K
194 THE TURKISH DIVISION
Tepters. The Tepters are widely scattered in the Govern-
ments of Orenburg, Ufa, Vyatka, and Perm, mostly in regions
that were formerly occupied by the Bashkirs. They do not
show any distinct type, for they are the result of a mixture
of Turks with various East Finnish tribes, such as the
Mordvins, Chuvashes, Votyaks, and Cheremisses, who, after
the destruction of Kazan in the sixteenth century, fled to the
Urals, and there formed a racial amalgam the elements of
which are not easy to distinguish.
The Tepters are divided into Moslems and pagans, there
being also a few Christians who have been converted in recent
times. Though they have long been settled, they are among
the laziest and most unskilful cultivators of the soil, and in
consequence miserably poor, as far at least as the Moslem
section is concerned. The pagan Tepters, however, being
comparatively good and industrious agriculturists, seldom
suffer from poverty. The religion of the heathen Tepters
shows traces of a cult similar to that of the Chuvashes. They
believe in a supreme being who lives in heaven and to whose
power the evil spirits are subject. To the latter they attribute
all the diseases and all the misfortunes that befall mankind.
Believing that man continues to live after death, they suppty
the deceased with a switch to drive off the dogs that endeavour
to devour him in the next world. Their religious ceremonies
consist in sacrifices which they offer to the evil spirits (called
hereynet) once a year. It is to be noted that marriage by
capture is in vogue among them even when they are not driven
to this practice by the lack of a kalim.^'^
It is interesting to note that there was formerly a small
Moslem population (probably now extinct) living among the
Votyaks and called Besarmen, a corruption of the Turkish
Busurman for Musurman, Musulman. Besarmen or Basarman
was also corrupted to Basarban, a name applied about 1100 to
Moslem Turks living in Moldavia. This region consequently
came to be called Basarbania or Bessarabia.
iv. Black Sea Turks
a. The Nogaians
Habitat . The Nogaians at the present day inhabit the
Government of Stavropol, extending southward of the Kuma
to the territory of the Terek Cossacks and to Daghestan. At
BLACK SEA TUEKS 195
one time they preferred to wander in the steppes to the north
and north-east of the Caspian ; and there is no doubt that even
in earlier centuries they lived in the low country on the right
bank of the Volga down to the Sea of Azov.
Name. Their designation is not an ethnic but a political
one, being derived from Nogai, the name of a great-grandson
of Jenghiz Khan, who in 1259 distinguished himself in the
army sent out to devastate Poland. It was transferred to that
part of the Golden Horde which fell to his share, just as Seljuk,
Osman, and Uzbeg were to the hordes subject to those leaders.
It was thus adopted by numerous Turkish tribes extending
from the Irtish to the Crimea, and came to be given as a
collective term to all the Turks on the Black Sea, the Caspian,
and the Volga.^'^ In history, too, from the thirteenth century
onwards down to modern times, the Nogaians are constantly
mentioned in this sense as in alliance with Russians and
Byzantians, or fighting among themselves, or in conflict with
various neighbours, such as the Circassians, Kirghiz, Bashkirs,
Kalmuks, always present, but nowhere at home. The Nogaians
have, of all Turkish peoples, suffered most from the blows of
fortune to which warlike nomads have always been exposed.^*
They have in course of time been scattered and broken, not
only by the neighbouring nomads, but by the advancing power
of the Russians.
Migrations, The Nogaians seem often to have shifted their
habitat in bygone times, and it is impossible to determine the
exact territory occupied by them in former centuries. But it
is historically certain that they were located to the west of the
Sea of Azov and the north of the Crimea in the beginning of
the fifteenth century. We also know that a fraction of this
people, who in the beginning of the seventeenth century were
found on the middle Yemba, were driven westward by the
Kalmuks, and were transplanted by Peter the Great to their
kinsmen in the steppe on the Kuma and the Kuban.
Hordes. In the eighteenth century the following five hordes
of the Nogaians were to be distinguished : the horde on the
Sea of Azov between the Don and the Kuban ; the Crimean
horde ; the Astrakhan horde, which was greatly diminished by
migration to the Caucasus, the Crimea^ and the territory of
the Bashkirs; the Kasai and the Noruz tribes on the Kuban,
and especially the Laba ; and lastly, on the Aktobe (Akhtuba)
N 2
196 THE TURKISH DIVISION
river, a branch of the Volga, the Kundurs, who have already
been described among the Volga Turks (pp. 189-91).
Number. The great bulk of the Nogaians live in the
Government of Stavropol, where there are about 85,000 ; over
8,000 are to be found in the territory of the Terek, and nearly
2,000 in Daghestan. There are also a few thousands in
Taurida, the southernmost government of Russia (north of the
Black Sea). The total number of the Nogaians therefore
amounts to about 100,000.^'
Characteristics. In spite of their contact with so many
kindred and foreign elements, such as Bashkirs, Kalmuks,
Caucasians, Russians, Poles, Rumanians, and Hungarians, the
portion of the Nogaians who have remained faithful to their
old nomad life, the so-called Kara-Nogaians, have preserved
a comparatively purer Turkish type of physique than many of
their kinsmen. They have a thick-set figure, with a large head,
small eyes, and scanty beard, strongly reminiscent of the
original Turkish type. The settled or half-settled population,
however, which has been strongly intermingled with Cau-
casians, approximates in many points to the type of the
latter.
The Nogaians have few vices and many merits. They are
law-abiding, and submissive to authority. Robbery and
murder are practically unknown, though cattle-stealing is
pretty frequent. They are temperate and less given to drink-
ing brandy than their kinsmen on the middle Volga and in
the Crimea. The Nogaian is strikingly quiet and silent, a
prototype of the old Turkish virtue of gravity.
Occupations. The Nogaians are no longer anywhere in-
veterate nomads like the Kirghiz and Turkmens. But they
still have a predilection for cattle-breeding ; their dwellings
are either miserable clay huts or tents of felt ; and they prefer
meat as food. Airan (buttermilk), kumiss, and the various
kinds of cheese are just as popular with them as with the
steppe-dwellers to the east of the Caspian. Brick tea, which
is unknown to the Turkmens and the other western Turks, is
as much a necessity to the Kara-Nogaians as bread is to a
European. They must have become acquainted with it through
their contact with the Kalmuks, of whom, as well as of other
Mongols and of the Kirghiz, it is a favourite drink.
Dress. The dress of the men shows the strong influence of
BLACK SEA TUEKS 197
the neighbouring Caucasus, but the costume of the women
resembles rather that of the Kazan and Volga Tatars.
Customs. Little that is characteristic remains in the customs
of the Nogaians. The bride is conveyed to her new home in
a wagon, on which, in the case of rich girls, a bridal tent is
set up. The Nogaians take their wives chiefly from the settled
Tatars of the Crimea. The Jcalim is thirty cows or less. The
wife is treated like a slave, and enjoys none of the privileges
that are accorded to her among the Turkmens and the Kirghiz.
Polygamy is said to prevail pretty widely among* them. The
birth and death customs show not the slightest trace of old
nomad usages. Yet the account given by the traveller Taver-
nier of the Nogaians shows that at the end of the seventeenth
century they were more typical of Turkish nomadism than the
Kirghiz and the Turkmens are to-day.
Religion. In religious matters the Nogaians are more
closely connected with the nomad than with the settled or
half-settled Turks. They are nominally Sunnite Moslems, but
they are lax in their beliefs. Little influence has been exer-
cised on them by the Mohammedans of Kazan, whom they are
inclined to despise. They look rather to the Mollahs from the
Turkmen steppes, and especially those from Khiva and Bokhara,
who are highly respected by them.
Bibliography.— Vambery, Das TurJcenvolk, pp. 543-51.
b. The Caucasian Turks
A group in the Black Sea Turks is formed by those inhabit-
ing Cis-Caucasia, who came from the north and are Sunnites,
and those of Trans- Caucasia, who came from the south and
are Shiites. Their total number is 1,879,908 according to the
Russian census of- 1897.
1. The Kumulcs inhabit the region of the north-eastern Cau-
casus along the western coast of the Caspian from Shamkhal-
yangi-yurt to Yemikent in the Government of Daghestan.
One part of them lives in the valleys of the mountainous
country to the south, while another section occupies the sandy
plains between the Terek, its southern tributary the Sunsha,
and the Sulak. They may have been in possession of this
territory since the eighth century, for Derbend even at that
198 THE TURKISH DIVISION
time formed the boundary between the Aryans and the Turks
in the Caucasus.
Race. They would thus be the descendants of the Turks
who wandered on the steppe and the plains extending from
the right bank of the Volga to the Don and the Dnieper. In
any ease, a fraction of the Kumuks, called Nogai Kumuks, are
directly descended from the Nogaians. Under the pressure of
the Russians a section of the Nogaians retired to the territory
next to the Kumuks on the left bank of the Terek, where they
are still known under the name of the Kara-Nogais. The
main stock of the Kumuks were thus Turks who in very early
times migrated from the north into the region still occupied
by them, and formed the nucleus around which, in the course
of centuries, other stray Turkish fragments gathered. This
group formed, till the Turkification of Eastern Transcaucasia,
the ethnic frontier between Turks and Iranians. After the
Mongol invasion, when the stream of Turks began to flow from
the south, the chain connecting the Turks north and south of
the Caucasus was geographically established. But the racial
. bond that might otherwise have united Kumuks and Azar-
baijans has never done so, because they have always been
separated by difference of sect as well as of manners and
customs. The Azarbaijans, owing to the cultural influences
to which they have been subject, have always belonged to
Iran ; while the Kumuks, as immediate neighbours of the
Caucasian mountaineers, have from early times followed the
Caucasians in their manner of life.
Number. According to the Russian census of 1897 the
total number of the Kumuks was 100,838, a figure which, after
the lapse of twenty years, must be considerably exceeded at the
present time. The proportion of the population of Daghestan
to that of the Terek region is as two to one.
CJiaracteristics. In physique the Kumuk shows hardly any
trace of the genuine Turkish type, far less than do his kinsmen
on the Kura and the left bank of the Terek. In manners and
customs this is still more the case. They are described as on
the whole an industrious and peaceable people.
Mode of Life. Having been settled for centuries, the Kumuks
maintain themselves by rearing live stock (especially sheep),
agriculture, bee-keeping, and fishing. The men also engage in
the industry of making weapons, the women in that of silver
BLACK SEA TURKS 199
and gold embroidery. In dress the Kumuks differ little from
the neighbouring people of Daghestan.
Religion. The Kumuks are Sunnite Moslems, like all Cis-
Caucasian Mohammedans. Having adopted Islam at a very
early period, they even in the Middle Ages played the part of
missionaries and civilizers among the heathen mountaineers.
They consequently exercised a strong influence on their neigh-
bours, many of whom adopted their language and customs, just
as the Azarbaijans who penetrated into the Caucasus from the
south converted the Iranian population to Islam and gradually
imposed on it their Turkish language.
History. After their conquest by the Russians in 1559, the
Kumuks liberated themselves in 1604, but submitted to Peter
the Great in 1722, when he made his expedition to Persia.
Since then they have been subject to Russian rule.
2. The Karachai tribe of Turks inhabit the territory of
the head waters of the Kuban at the western foot of Mount
Elbruz.
Language. Although surrounded by Circassians, they have
preserved down to the present day their Turkish language,
which resembles that of the Codex Cumanus of 1303, and has
dialectic peculiarities showing that the Karachais came neither
from the east nor the south, but from the north, that is, from
the Kuma steppe.
Characteristics. In appearance the Karachais are as un-
Turkish as the Osmanlis and the Azarbaijans, being well-built,
with large black eyes and fair complexion. They are regarded
as the handsomest of the Caucasians.
Occupations and Customs. The occupations and customs of
the Karachais, as may be inferred from the Alpine character
of their home, are totally different from those of their kinsmen
in the north and the south. Living chiefly by agriculture and
also to a considerable extent by domestic industries, they have
long lost the warlike habits of their nomad ancestors. Traces
of old Turkish practices, however, survive in their love of
horseflesh, their addiction to beer-drinking (in which they
resemble the Chuvashes of to-day and all the Black Sea Turks
of former times), and in some specifically Turkish superstitions.
Number. According to the Russian census the number of
the Karachais in 1897 was 27,222. As according to the latest
statistics available in 1885 Vambery ^^ estimates their popula-
200 THE TURKISH DIVISION
tion at 19,800, it is likely at the present day to number nearly
40,000.
3. On the lower course of the Kuma there is a tribe of
nomads called by the Russians Truchmen, which is merely
a corruption of Turkmen. They are undoubtedly a branch
of the Turkmens, as is clear from the dialectic character of
their language. The time when they separated from their
kinsmen on the east side of the Caspian is not known, but
it cannot be long ago, since they would otherwise hardly have
been able to maintain their ethnic individuality. Their number
according to the Russian census was 24,522 in 1897.^^ It has
probably risen to between 30,000 and 40,000 at the present
time.
4. There are various Turkish tribes in Transcaucasia, dis-
tributed in the provinces of Kutais, Batum, Tiflis, Elizavetpol,
Baku, Daghestan, Erivan, and Kars. They inhabit partly the
mountains and partly the steppes, especially those around the
Kura river. They are most numerous in the governments of
Elizavetpol, Baku, and Erivan. These Turks first penetrated
into the Caucasus on the occasion of the Seljuk invasions,
about A. D. 1200, from Azarbaijan. Other migrations of these
Turks into Transcaucasia took place much later, in the sixteenth
and even the eighteenth centuries.
In physique there is little difference between these Turks and
their Caucasian brethren. But though they have for a century
and a half been under Russian rule, they have not in the
slightest degree changed in religion, customs, and usages. In
spite of being most fervent Shiites, they are on very good
terms with the Caucasian Sunnites and with their Russian
neighbours. Polygamy is rare with them, and their women
go unveiled to work. These Tatars are noted for their excel-
lence as gardeners, agriculturists, cattle-tenders, and artisans.
The total number of Turco-Tatars (that is, Turks) in Caucasia
was in 1897, according to the Russian census, 1,879,908.^"
After the deduction from this aggregate of the figures for the
Nogaians, Turkmens, Karachais, and Kumuks, there remain
about 1,665,000 Turks for Transcaucasia.'*^ After the lapse of
twenty years the Turkish population of the whole of Caucasia
must now amount to well over 2,000,000.'^^
BLACK SEA TURKS 201
c. The Crimean Turhs
Habitat, The plains and valleys of the Crimean Peninsula
have been occupied for at least seven centuries by Turkish
tribes that migrated thither from the steppe country which
extends from the east of the Sea of Azov to the Dnieper,
a region long occupied by Turkish peoples.
Number. In 1793 the number of the Crimean Tatars was
estimated at 159,125 ; but the emigrations into the Ottoman
Empire, which were resumed in the first years of the twentieth
century, have reduced their population to about one-half of
what it was at the end of the eighteenth century. At the
present day it cannot amount to more than 80,000.^^
Characteristics. Three types may be distinguished in the
Turkish population of the Crimea. The Tatars inhabiting the
northern plains have preserved the original Turkish physique.
These steppe-dwellers are of medium height and strong build,
with a dark yellow complexion, prominent cheek-bones, dark
ej'-es, narrow and oblique, broad nostrils, large ears, black hair,
and very scanty beard. The Tatars inhabiting the northern
slopes and the valleys of the Crimean mountains differ essen-
tially from those in the plains. They are tall, sinewy, and
slender. Their complexion approaches in fairness that of the
Caucasians. They have large dark eyes, and thick black hair
and beards. They are on the whole a handsome race. The
littoral Tatars, again, are probably a mixture of Turks, who
early penetrated into the peninsula, with Greeks, Romans, and
later with enslaved Circassians, Poles, Rumanians, Germans,
and Magyars. Being the result of the most complex imagin-
able fusion of different elements, this class of the Crimean
Turks has been divested of almost every vestige of its original
type. They are tall and strongly built, with tanned oval faces,
fine sparkling eyes, glossy black hair, and long noses of Greek
or Roman mould. Among the mountain and littoral Tatars,
women of a perfectly ideal type of beauty are often to be seen ;
but in consequence of early marriages and the hard work to
which they are subjected, they soon grow prematurely old.
Name. ' Crimean Tatars ' is a political rather than an ethnic
name, given by Europeans to this fraction of the Turks after
the Crimea as an independent state entered into intercourse
202 THE TURKISH DIVISION
with the neighbouring Christian powers. Krim, the name of
the peninsula, is a Turkish word.
Dwellings. The houses of the Crimean Tatars are built of
brick in the plains, and of stone in the mountains. They
commonly have a terrace on the top, used chiefly for purposes
of social entertainment. The interior of the house is divided
into three parts : kitchen, reception-room, and harem. A
striking feature is the hexagonal or octagonal stove with a
dome-shaped top. A regular feature are also the gaudily
coloured chests, which are found, from the Volga region to
the interior of Anatolia, as articles of furniture among the
settled Turks, as well as among the Magyars. As a general
rule, the houses of the Crimean Tatars are distinguished by
their orderly and cleanly appearance. The house stands in
a courtyard surrounded by a stone wall or a fence (coated on
the outside with clay), within a part of which the cattle are
confined at night, in order that the dung, which is used for fuel,
may more easily be utilized. Stalls are rare, as the cattle are
commonly left in the open air, even during the winter.
Dress. The dress of the Crimean Tatars differs only slightly
from that of the Anatolians, the costume of the women being
much the same as that of the men. The women contrast with
the girls only in their head-gear. They wear a turban, with
their hair divided and hanging down on both sides. The girls,
on the other hand, wear a fez adorned with coins and other
ornaments, while their hair in several plaits hangs down their
backs and on their shoulders.
Food and Drink. The food and drink of the Crimean Turks
resemble those of the Osmanlis rather than of their kinsmen
in the north. They eat meat, especially in summer, only in
small quantities, but all the more garden produce. Coffee,
owing to their continuous intercourse with the Osmanlis, has
long been a favourite drink among them. But spirituous
liquors are little used, the steppe-dwellers even considering it
a sin to cultivate a vineyard.
Occupations. Agriculture is the chief occupation of the
Crimean Tatars. It is at its lowest level among them, partly'-
owing to the climatic conditions, which expose them to frequent
droughts, early frosts, and flights of locusts. Though the soil
is very fertile, it requires irrigation, which has not been suffi-
ciently supported by the Russian Government, as it formerly
BLACK SEA TUEKS 203
was by the native Tatar rulers of the Crimea. This state pi
things has led to the rapid impoverishment of the Crimean
Tatars under Russian domination. A contributory cause has
been the natural laziness of the Tatar. Satisfied with little, these
descendants of a once fiercely warlike people are given up to
indolence, and sometimes prefer to starve rather than by a little
work to improve the conditions of life. Hence horticulture,
which might be made very profitable, is neglected by them.
The same applies to cattle-breeding, though there is plenty of
rich grazing-land. The number of cattle they keep is generally
small, and large flocks of sheep numbering 2,000 are rare.
These in spring are driven to the rich pasturage on the moun-
tain heights. The same breed of dogs is here used to guard the
sheep against wolves and thieves as in Hungary. The pastoral
life of the Crimea has so many points of resemblance with
that of the Magyars on the Hungarian steppes that both must
have started from a common source at a time when the an-
cestors of the Crimean Tatars and the Magyars dwelt side by
side.
Among the Crimean Tatars, as among the Magyars, the
gipsies are the musicians and entertainers. The favourite
instruments are the fiddle, the flute, and the drum. The sing-
ing, as with the Osmanli Turks, is slow and melancholy. The
national dance, the performance of which is accompanied by
the strains of the national melody, is described as unsurpassed
in the gracefulness of its movements. It is restricted to men,
because Islam forbids female dancing. Eesembling the national
dance of the Chuvashes and the Csardas of the Magyars, it
seems to have been common at one time to all Turks who
extended from the north of the Caspian to the Danube, but to
have been preserved in its purest form by the Magyars. The
Crimean Tatars are roused to moods of merriment chiefly by
the monotonous and melancholy national melodies played by
the gipsies.
Marriage Customs, A Crimean Tatar, who seldom marries
before thirty, can only procure a wife by payment of a Jcalim,
which is negotiated with the father of the bride, whose wishes
are little consulted in the matter. Even when the price
demanded is exorbitant or the bridegroom has insufficient
means, marriage by capture is seldom resorted to. because the
father ultimately accommodates himself to the situation. The
204 THE TUEKISH DIVISION
marriage festivities here, as among other Turks, last for several
days in the house of the bridegroom, who collects the wedding
presents, which range in value from three to fifty roubles. It
is an unheard-of thing to attend a wedding without presenting
a gift.
Religion. The Crimean Tatars are Moslems, and have been
so from very early times. Their devotion to Islam is, how-
ever, weak ; but they adhere to its forms sufficiently to be
proof against Christian propagandism. While among the
Kazan Tatars one who cannot read or write is -a rarity, in the
Crimea whole villages are found in which, except the Mollah,
no one can read, to say nothing of write, the Kuran. The
status of the Mollah himself is low, because the Moslems of
the Crimea are poor, and nine-tenths of the Mohammedan
religious endowments have been diverted by the Eussian
Government. A religious revival was caused a generation
ago by the establishment of a press at Bakhchisarai and of a
Tatar paper which has had an increasing circulation.
History. The Crimean Tatars occupied the peninsula in
the thirteenth century. They became tributary to the Ottoman
Empire in 1478, but during the sixteenth and seventeenth
centuries formed an independent Khanate, which prospered
till it fell under Turkish rule. They then suffered much from
the wars fought between Turkey and Russia for the possession
of the peninsula. In 1777 they became dependent on Eussia,
which finally, in 1783, annexed the whole of the Crimea. The
Crimean War of 1854 and the Eussian laws of 1860-3 and
1874 caused the Crimean Tatars to emigrate in large numbers
into Turkey.
Bibliography.— Holderness, Journey to the Crimea (notes relating to
the Crimean Tatars), London, 1823 ; Vambery, Das Turkenvolk, pp. 527-42 ;
^oyfovih, History of the Mongols, vol. ii, pp. 1011-56; Fester, Geographische
Charakterhilder aus der Krim, in the Deutsche Rundschau, 1911, pp. 467-72.
V. Western Turks
This branch of the Turks comprises all those Turkish tribes
which inhabit the territory of the Persian and the Turkish
Empires.
a. The Persian or Iranian Turks
Habitat. The Iranian Turks in the widest sense include
those of Transcaucasia, who have, however, been grouped
WESTERN TURKS 205
above as IV b, 4 (p. 200), because of their political position as
inhabitants of Russian territory. Those of them that live in
Persia proper are distributed in the following regions :
1. Azarhaijan, from the Araxes southward along the frontier
of Kurdistan past Urmia towards Kirmanshah. Here the
Turks are most numerously represented, being contiguous to
their kinsmen in Transcaucasia, from whom they are only
politically separated. They thus form the chief seat of the
Turkish element in Persia.
2. Khamseh, the district between Azarbaijan and Tehran,
especially in the neighbourhood of Zinjan.
3. The district of Tehran^ in the immediate neighbourhood
of the capital and in the valleys of Damavand.
4. Kirman : in the district bordering on Ears.
5. IraJc : in the neighbourhood of Hamadan.
6. Fars : where they wander between the borders of Isfahan
and the sea coast.
7. Khorasan : where they are most numerous around
Nishapur and Kuchan.
Eace, Racially and linguistically the Turks of Persia differ
little from one another. They are descended from the Turks
who under Seljuk came from the north of the Sea of Aral.
That they are closely akin to the Turkmens is shown by the
fact that several of their tribes, such as the Khoja-ali and
Begdilli in Karabagh, the Kara in Kirman, the Bayat around
Nishapur, as well as the Kenger in Transcaucasia, are identical
in name with corresponding tribes among the Turkmens of
Russian Turkestan. Other tribes are known to be of Turkmen
origin, though their names have disappeared from among the
Turkmens proper. Such are the Avshars, a very numerous
tribe, near Urmia, who have become Shiites. Another such
tribe are the Kajars, who formerly lived in the steppe border-
ing on Astarabad and are now scattered about in Persia ; from
them comes the present dynasty of the Shahs of Persia.
Again, the Kashkai in Fars are known to have migrated to
the south of Persia during the rule of the Il-khans.^'^ Thus
the Turks of Persia ethnically form a connecting link between
the Turkmens proper and the Osmans.
Each of the tribes has its own chieftain, who is appointed
by the Shah. In former centuries the clans seem to have lived
in compact masses, and to have been confined to particute
206 T^HE TUEKISH DIVISION
localities; but at the present day neither is the case. Only
the large and powerful tribes attach importance to their
descent ; while the small fragments are very much in the dark
as to their origin. Tribes once forming numerous units are
scattered across the wide territory extending from the Paro-
pamisus to the Kurdistan mountains, and from the Caucasus
to the Persian Gulf. Thus members of one and the same tribe
may now be found in the Caucasus, in Khorasan, in Hamadan,
and in Kirman.
The only exceptions are the following four tribes, which are
less dispersed and partly occupy their old habitat.
1. The Kajars, the chiefs of whom constitute the present
dynasty of the Shahs of Persia. They formerly dwelt on the
borders of Syria, but in a.d. 1400 they were forced by Timur
to migrate towards their old home in Turkestan ; on the way,
however, they settled in Azarbaijan and Irak. Till the time
of the Shah Abbas the Great (1585-1628) some of them also
remained in Transcaucasia ; but that monarch forcibly settled
them to the north of Astarabad and in the neighbourhood of
Kuchan, for the twofold purpose of breaking their power and
of making them a barrier against the predatory Turkmens.
2. The /Shahsevens or 'adherents of the Shah', whose name
is not an ethnic but a comparatively modern collective name
of a tribe composed of various Turkish elements from Azar-
baijan and the Caucasus. The bulk of them at the present
day live in summer on the slopes of Mount Savelan near
Ardebil, but in winter farther north in the Moghan steppe.
Besides these a considerable fraction of the tribe is found
within the Persian frontier, between Kum, Tehran, Kazvin,
and Zinjan. They are, generally speaking, the most restless
Turkish element in Persia, being still half or entirely nornadic.
3. The Kaslikais smd AUahverdis of the south, in the
province of Fars, are with few exceptions nomads.^^ The
name Kashkai is still found as a clan name among the Turk-
mens.
4. Karakoyunlus, in the neighbourhood of Khoi, are in all
probability descendants of a Turkmen tribe against which
Timur carried on a war of extermination all his life, but of
which a considerable number have survived.
Numher. The Iranian Turks number approxi m ately 2 ,000,000,
or rather more than one-fifth of the total, population of Persia.
WESTEEN TURKS 207
Characteristics. The Turks of Persia have been mixed with
various Aryan peoples — Caucasians, Kurds, Armenians, Iranians
— as the result of the importation of male and female slaves,
which went on for centuries. A distinctively Turkish type
can therefore not be looked for among them ; but a marked
mixed type, the basis of which has left genuine Turkish
physical traces, is noticeable as soon as Azarbaijans are seen
side by side with the relatively pure Persians of Sliiraz.
According to a close observer, the Iranian Turks compared
with the Persians have a less oval skull, a broader and less
expressive face, less arched brows, thicker eyelids, a shorter
and broader nose, wider cheek-bones and chin, more fleshy
lips, a taller and more massive and muscular iigure.^^ The
description of the Turks of Transcaucasia given by another
authority ^^ is similar. Vambery,^^ who agrees with these
accounts, adds that along the whole northern frontier of
Persia the Turks in Azarbaijan and in Khorasan show far
more traces of the national type than, for instance, the Kash-
kais in the south.
It is natural that a considerable change in customs must
have been undergone by a people who, separated for more
than eight centuries from the bulk of their kindred, have for
so long lived in the midst of old Persian culture, and been
strongly influenced by the religious bias of the Shiite sect.
Hence the Iranian Turk appears polite and refined compared
with his congeners in the north-east and the west. But his
native Turkish awkwardness and frankness is still apparent
when he is contrasted with the Southern Persian. This
difference is still observable among the townsmen of Tabriz,
Tehran, and Hamadan in spite of the immediate influence of
these centres of Persian culture, while the population of the
country districts shows still more evident traces of the Turkish
national character, some of their customs being clearly
reminiscent of those still prevailing among the Turkmens of
the steppe.
This similarity extends to various usages of family life, such
as certain benedictions, which are almost identical, birth and
wedding ceremonies, and particularly the laws of hospitality,
which the Iranian Turk observes much more conscientiously
than the Persian. The word of the Turk, too, is much more
to be depended on than that of the Iranian. He is also
208 THE TURKISH DIVISION
decidedly superior in manly qualities. To these he owes his
dominant position for centuries in Persia, where he represents
the really warlike ele'ment, for the army of the Shah consists
predominantly of Turks.
The affinity to the Turkmens is still more evident among the
nomads. The very fact that single tribes, in spite of local
difficulties and social pressure, have kept aloof from settled
life sufficiently indicates the essentially Turkish character of
these people. The chiefs alone are tinctured with Persian
culture, while the masses differ only in externals, but not in
modes of thought or customs, from their kinsmen of the steppe.
War and raids are the ideal of their life, and the monotony of
their ordinary leisure, lasting often for months, is varied only
by the care they bestow on their horses and their weapons.
The maxims of Saadi, of Hafiz, and of other Persian poets are
indeed often on their lips, but on their hearts are engraved
the old Turkish saws which they follow as their standard of
life and action. This tenacious devotion of the Turks to their
traditional customs is a somewhat striking ethnological phe-
nomenon. For there are few examples of a continuous and
intensive contact between two heterogeneous racial elements
in which the minority has been so little influenced by the
majority as the Turks in Persia. Though bound together by
a common faith and by political interest, they are still as
mutually antagonistic as they were nearly three thousand
years ago, in the days of Zoroaster. The Persian still sees in
the Turk the type of barbarism and ugliness as delineated in
the Shahname, while the Turk despises the Persian as
a coward. Hence a well-organized propaganda might prob-
ably without great difficulty succeed in consolidating the
Turkish population of Persia and in bringing about the incor-
poration of that country in a,n enlarged Asiatic Turkish
Empire.
Manner of Life. In their mode of life the Iranian Turks are
divided into two classes : the settled and the nomads or half-
nomads. To the settled class belong those Turks of Azarbai-
jan, Khamseh, Tehran, Irak, and partly also Khorasan, who
after the invasion of the Seljuks adopted the manner of life
of the Iranian population, settled down in towns and villages,
and devoted themselves to trade, industry, and agriculture.
But it is to the latter occupation that they are chiefly addicted.
WESTERN TUEKS 209
because they took to it by way of cattle-breeding, which was
an element in their previous nomadism, whereas in trade and
industry their Persian neighbours, with their greater aptitude
for these pursuits, have generally got the better of them. In
the whole north-western part of Persia the country population
is exclusively Turkish ; in Azarbaijan and Khamseh this is also
the case in the towns, while elsewhere the town population
consists of a mixture of Turks and Persians. The change to
settled existence came about chiefly after the rule of the Kajars
began, when the military and official class, attracted by the
life of ease now opened to them, grew more and more accus-
tomed to fixed abodes, and exchanged the sword for the
plough.
As to the nomads and semi-nomads, they are by no means
new arrivals from the steppe who have begun to wander in
Persian territory for want of arable land. They are original
nomads, who have been in the country for centuries, and,
owing partly to vicissitudes of history, partly to the strong
national Turkish distaste for a settled life, have continued
their old wandering habits. The territory in which these
Turkish nomads (called Hat, ' the people ') migrate can only
be stated in a general way. Thus, the Shahsevens are chiefly
to be found in the regions of Transcaucasia already mentioned,
but also in Khamseh and in the district of Tehran; the tribes
Khoja-ali, Begdilli, and Sheikhlu in Karabagh ; the Mah-
mudlu in Maragha ; the Janbeglu, Imamlu, Avshars, and
Usanlu, as also the Kajars, in Mazandaran ; and the Kashkais
and Allah verdis in the south of Persia.
The designation of nomad in the Central Asiatic sense of
the term is hardly applicable to any of the Turkish migratory
tribes in Persia, because in the first place they lack extensive
pastures, and their flocks and herds are, moreover, insignificant
compared with the Turkmen and Kirghiz scale. They breed
chiefly sheep, fewer camels, and still fewer horses. The sheep
form a transition between the Central Asian , fat- tailed <5ype
and those of Anatolia, while their horses are a cross between
the original breed of the steppe and the Arab, but without the
speed or the endurance of their progenitors. The Shahsevens,
the Kajars, and the Avshars appear to have the best horses.
The impression made on the observer by the Turkish
nomads of Persia is one of poverty and wretchedness. They
TURANIANS
^
210 THE TURKISH DIVISION
live in long low tents which are made of woven horse-hair,
and are by Europeans generally called ' gipsy tents '. The
interiors are bare and uncomfortable, suggestive of a people
that, without abandoning its ingrained love of wandering, has
long lost the real spirit of the primitive nomad. Only the old
clan conditions and the blind obedience to the tribal chiefs
(Il-khan) have still to some extent been preserved among
them. All able-bodied men are ready to take up arms at the
summons of the chief. Thus the Il-khans of the Kashkais
have succeeded down to modern times in inspiring the Persian
Grovernment with fear. The same is the case in the north of
Persia, where the Khans still enjoy greater authority than the
Shah, who would take care to avoid meddling in the internal
affairs of the various tribes. The patriarchal constitution of
the Turkish nomads in Persia, and even in the Russian terri-
tory of Transcaucasia, has thus been but little modified by the
ruling power.
Language. As regards its linguistic character, the Turkish
of Azarbaijan is most closely connected with the Osman
dialect, especially that spoken in Anatolia. In the twelfth
and thirteenth centuries there was probably no difference at
all between these two dialects, as at that time the Iranian
Turks and the Osmans constituted one and the same tribe, the
nearest kin to the Turkmens of to-day. The comparison of
the earliest linguistic records confirms this conclusion. A
Turkish Seljuk poem dating from the thirteenth century and
the language of the historian Neshri, who lived in the second
half of the fifteenth century, compared and contrasted with
the Azarbaijan Turkish of to-day, show clearly that these two
old Turkish specimens are both grammatically and lexically
very closely akin to the dialect of the present day Iranian
Turks. In course of time the Osman dialect, owing to special
cultural influences, diverged more and more from the common
language, while the Azarbaijan dialect remained essentially
unchanged. The Iranian Turks can understand the Osmans
much more easily than they can the Turkmens.
Literature. Owing to the strong influence of Persian
writers there has been little chance for the development of
a national Turkish literature among the Iranian Turks. In
the first place, there have been very few Turkish literary men
in Persia, and these have for the most part conformed to the
WESTERN TURKS 211
fashion of employing the Persian language. 'A small number
have, however, written Turkish poetry, which generally bears
the stamp of Central Asian culture or resembles the popular
lays of Anatolia. The works of some of the Turkish poets
of Transcaucasia belonging to the eighteenth and nineteenth
centuries have been collected and published.^^ There is also
a collection of epic songs by the national hero and national
bard Koroglu, who always appears as the prototype of the
Turkish spirit and the true representative of Turanian heroism.
That the nucleus of this heroic saga ^^^ was brought with them
by the western Turks from their home in the steppes is un-
doubted. The epic of Koroglu is known among the Uzbegs
and Turkmens in Khiva, by the Kazaks on the Sea of Aral and
to the north-east of the Caspian, and westwards as far as the
coast of Syria. Though not of much linguistic value, this epic
is all the more important as representing the national Turkish
character. There are besides some wedding songs, parables,
and proverbs that live in the tradition of the Iranian Turks
and can all be traced to a Turkmen or Central Asian source.
They all show how superficially centuries of Persian influence
have affected the customs and the modes of thought of the
Iranian Turk. He still appears much nearer to his Central
Asian kinsman than to the Osman, in spite of the bitter feuds
that have raged for 400 years between the Shiite Turks and
their Sunnite brethren in the north-east.
History. When the Turks first entered Iran it is difiicult to
say. But we know from the evidence of the Avesta that
Turanians, that is, Turks, were on the borders of Iran and in
conflict with its inhabitants many centuries b. c, and there
can be no doubt that the northern edge of Iran, that is, Kho-
rasan, the southern shore of the Caspian, and Transcaucasia
must from time immemorial have been subject to the invasions
of single Turkish tribes and hordes. But the Iranian Turks of
to-da^^ are for the most part descendants of those Turks who
invaded Persia from the eleventh to the thirteenth centuries
during the Seljuk and the Mongol periods.
Bibliography. — Vambeiy, Das Turkenvolk, pp. 569-93 ; Curzon, Persia and
the Persian Question, 2 vols., London, 1892, especially ch. 24 and vol. ii,
pp. 112-14. Scobel, Geographisches Handbuch, 2 vols., Bielefeld and Leipzig,
1909-10, vol. ii, p. 136. Sir Percy Sykes, Ten thousand miles in Persia or
eight years in Iran, London, 1902 ; The History of Persia, 2 vols., London,
1915.
O 2
212 THE TUEKISH DIVISION
b. The Ottoman Turks
Habitat. The remainder of the "Western Turks inhabit the
Turkish Empire, having moved farther away from their
original home than any other branch of their -race. By far
the most important tribe here are the Osmanlis or Ottomans.
Though not distinguished from other Turks in language or
customs they have played a more prominent part in history
than any other tribe of the race. This is the branch which
first became known to the west. They were originally a tribe,
settled in the mountain district to the south and south-east
of the Sea of Marmora, that took their name from their leader
Osman. Their habitat at the present day is, in Europe, the
south-east corner of the Balkan peninsula, and in Asia,
Anatolia, Armenia, and Northern Syria.
Number. In the absence of any trustworthy statistics it is
impossible to give a probable estimate of the numbers of the
nomad and semi-nomad Turkish population of Asia Minor.
Vamb^ry, thirty- three years ago, thought the Yiiriiks num-
bered about 300,000. If this figure is approximately correct,
all these nomads taken together cannot exceed half a million,
or rather less than 5 per cent, of the total population of the
Turkish Empire. It is probably considerably less.
The total number of Turks, settled and nomad, in the whole
Empire is about 9i millions. Of these less than two millions
are to be found in Europe. The latter were probably never
more numerous m the past, because the object of their con-
quests beyond Adrianople and Philippopolis was the spread of
Islam and not of Turkish nationality ; for the Turks never
felt quite at home in Europe, and preferred Asiatic soil for
their habitat.
Name, The name of the Osmanli Turks is genealogical
rather than ethnic, for it means the clan of Osman and their
descendants as opposed to Seljuks and other Turks. ' Otto-
man'^^^ is only a modification of ' Othman' (the Arabic form
of ' Osman ') much as ' Turcoman '^^^ is of the correct ' Turk-
men '. In the thirteenth century the whole of that part of
Asia Minor which was inhabited by Turks was called Turk-
menia, at least Marco Polo (ch. ii) speaks of the regions of
Konia, Kaisari, and Sivas by that name. Similarly other
mediaeval travellers treat Turkmen as a collective national
WESTEEN TURKS 213
designation, while the individual is called Tiirk. The name
Osmanli has become a sort of Imperial designation of the
religious and political unity of the Empire.
Race. To the ethnographer the Osman of to-day is a man
in whose veins Turkish blood constitutes an infinitesimally
small proportion, and whose physique shows not the slightest
trace of the Turkish type. His nationality is Turkish in a
political sense only; ethnologically it represents the most
varied conglomerate imaginable, an extraordinary mixture
of Turks with Aryan, Semitic and other races, such as Greeks,
Slavs, Kurds, Persians, Armenians, Georgians, Circassians,
Arabs, Abyssinians, Sudanese, and so on. The Turanian type
has become so effaced that traces of it are very rarely to be
met with among them, while on the other hand representatives
of the pure Aryan or the pure Semitic type occasionally crop
up in this mixed population. The physique of the Osmans
living in old Armenia, especially from Kars to Malatia, shows
a predominantly Aryan type founded on a Kurdish basis. It
is only in Anatolia proper (the provinces of Aidan, Konia,
Kastamuni, and Sivas) that the majority of the Osman popu-
lation shows a certain uniform type evolved from a Greek
substratum. Here the small number of immigrant Turks has
to such an extent been absorbed in the predominant original
Greek population that there has arisen a special Greek-Turkish
type in which the Greek element prevails more and more as
the coast is approached. In regard to European Turkey,
Stamboul itself presents the highest degree of mixture be-
tween Turks and the people of the nearer Asiatic, the Caucasian
Greek, and the Slavonic types, so that the Moslem Osmanli is
indicated only by his dress, his head-gear, his beard, and his
shoes. Hence the Osman of the Bosphorus can be transformed
into a Greek or regular South European by mere change of
dress and other means of external adaptation. The same
applies to the remaining European Turks, except that among
them the southern Slav and the Albanian type predominates.
Nomad Tribes. The Osmanlis are, however, not the only
Turks in the Turkish Empire ; for after the defeat of the Em-
peror Romanus at Manzikert (1071) Turkmens and Turks of
every description poured into Asia Minor. These are repre-
sented by a few single tribes which have remained nomads or
semi-nomads and, being less mixed than the Osmanlis, have
214 THE TURKISH DIVISION
preserved more of the Asiatic type. The most numerous of these
are known as Yiiriiks, and Turkmens, who wander in various
parts of Western and Southern Asia Minor, chiefly in the dis-
tricts of Aidan, Marash, and Diarbekr. The Yiiriiks extend in
small groups from the neighbourhood of Smyrna to the eastern
Taurus, and as marauders infest the whole of the south-western
parts of Asia Minor. ' Yiiriik ' means ' nomad ', the name given
them by their settled Turkish kinsmen, while they call them-
^' selves ' Tiirk ' or ' Turkmen '. The Yiiriiks are the most
thoroughly nomadic of all the races of Antolia, preserving the
old Central Asian nomadic habit with many customs accompany-
ing it. They sometimes wander very great distances between
their summer and their winter haunts. The attempts of Abdul
Hamid to force them to settle were only partially success-
ful. They resemble the Azarbaijans of Transcaucasia both in
physique and in dialect rather than the Osmanlis. Thus they
have retained a considerable number of old Turkish words
^ which in Osmanli have been modernized or replaced by Arabic-
Persian loan-words. Like other nomads the}^ attach great
importance to their division into tribes and clans. Some of
their clan-names occur among the Turkmens also ; one of them,
Kajar, is that of the Turkish family on the Persian throne.
This shows the close connexion of these nomads with the
steppe-dwellers of Northern Persia, and leaves no doubt as to
their Turknien origin. Down to the fifteenth century the
Yiiriiks were joined by fresh accesssions of Turkish nomads,
and as they continued to adhere to their migratory habits,
they have remained racially and linguistically purer than their
settled kinsmen in Asia Minor. Though they do not appear
to have a religion of their own, they are only nominally
Mohammedans. Their marriage customs are identical with
those of the Azarbaijans. It is somewhat remarkable that
their tents have not the same form as that of the Iranian
Turks, but have retained the circular Central Asiatic shape.
Their popular poetry, too, is more akin to that of the eastern
than of the western Turks. Their chief occupation is the
raising, of live stock ; in particular they are great camel
breeders.
The Turkmen tribes extend widely over Anatolia, but their
principal haunt is in the level plains around the great salt
lake in the centre of the country and in the eastern Taurus
WESTERN TURKS 215
Mountains. They are already mentioned as nomads in the
twelfth century. They are a tall, powerfully built race, more
distinctively Asiatic in physical type and in occupation than
the settled Turks of the towns and villages, who are more like
Europeans.
The Kizil-Bash Turks are found in the plains of Asia Minor
around Angora, Tokat, and Karahissar. They are not Yiiriiks
or Turkmens, but are for the most part descendants of Iranian
Turks from Azarbaijan and Transcaucasia. They differ some-
what from the surrounding settled Turkish population, both
in physique and customs. They are only semi-nomads, as
they spend the winter in huts and to some extent engage in
agriculture. They call themselves Eski Turk. Their women
are said to enjo}^ unusual freedom. They have a secret reli-
gion in which Shiite tenets seem to be combined with older
pagan elements.
Other small fractions of half or entirely nomad Turks are
the Avshars in the Anti-Taurus, who according to their own
tradition came from Khorasan and are probably related to
the Avshars who still live in that province, and from whom
Nadir Shah emerged.
There are, besides, the Nogaians around Adana, who
formerly consisted of 20,000 families, but by 1885 had been
reduced to only 2,000. This contingent of the Nogaians
migrated to Asia Minor from Russia after the Crimean War.
Language. When the Osmans appeared in Asia Minor they
spoke the same inner Asiatic dialect which, with slight modi-
fications, prevailed among the Turks from the T'ien Shan to
the Ural. This appears from the evidence of the personal
Turkish names occurring in the earliest Osman historians, as
compared with the same names found in the Kudatku BiliTc
(1070), and in the chronicles of the Ghaznevids. But Islam
exercised a more disintegrating effect on the language and
literature of the Osmans than on those of any other branch of
the Turks. Thus even in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries
their literary language was filled with an immense number of
Arabic-Persian loan-words, as it has continued to be down to
quite recent years, when the Pan-Turanian movement has
been endeavouring to eliminate them. It is only the popular
songs of Anatolia that have partially preserved the stamp of
the Turkish popular spirit ; still more their proverbs and
216 THE TURKISH DIVISION
parables, many of which, have remained so unadulterated that
they are still to be found in a literally identical form among the
Turkmens and the Uzbegs of Khiva. Only very slight traces
of the Turkish spirit survive in the Sharkis or ' love-songs ',
which for the most part imitate Arabic and Persian models.
The music that accompanies these is of pure Persian origin.
Old Turkish melodies are to be found among the Yiiriiks only.
The dialects of the settled Turks of Asia Minor may be
divided into the northern, western, and southern, the varia-
tions of which are, however, very slight. The philological
evidence of these dialects shows that the ethnic basis of the
population speaking the first two was predominantly or per-
haps exclusively Greek, while the third was fundamentally
Turkish. The southern dialect contains a considerable number
of words akin to the Turkish of Central Asia : an indication
that its vocabulary was less exposed .to the denationalizing
influence of Arabic and Persian literature than that of the
Osmanli literary and official language. A detailed study of
these dialects will probably shed more light on the propor-
tionate relations of the Turkish and the original elements in
the present population of Asia Minor.
Civilization. The Moslem culture of centuries has produced
an Osman civilization greatly modified by climatic and by
Greek intellectual influences. In spite o± the deep division
between Moslems and Christians, the former were unable to
remain unaffected by Byzantine culture. As long as society
was constituted on a nomadic military basis, the leaders of the
Persian-Turkish world view, of which Konia, and later Brusa,
were the centres, could remain unmoved. But when the
Turks appeared on European soil and received a multitude of
Greek Christian neophytes, the foundations of Asiatic Moslem
civilization were bound to be modified. Thus Byzantine
architecture took the lead instead of the Persian Central
Asiatic style. Selim I (1465-1521) introduced the custom of
shaving off" the beard, which among other Moslems, especially
those of Central Asia, is strongly objected to, and by the
orthodox is regarded as downright apostasy. The adoption of
the short jacket (called salta) by the Osmans is reprobated by
the adherents of the Moslem rules of dress, which require the
use of garments reaching to the ankles as well as concealing
the contour of the body. These are some of the usages and
WESTERN TURKS 217
customs which can be attributed to Graeco-Byzantine in-
fluence only. Modifications of Turkish clothing and food have
also been brought about by the requirements of the climate of
Anatolia.
Social History. Three successive main periods are observable in
the history of the social life of theTurks. The first has a strongly
marked Persian character, coming down to the consolidation of
the Ottoman State, especially to the conquest of Syria. During
this period the Persian influence made itself felt both in every-
day life and in literature. One of its manifestations is the
predilection for Persian words and phrases which characterized
the first phase of Osman literature. The second stage bears
an Arabic stamp. In proportion as the Osmans subjected the
Arab element of the population, the Arabic influence as
embodied in the Kuran, increased more and more both in
language and in social life. Society assumed a strictly Mos-
lem aspect, and even in popular language the commonest
ideas came to be expressed by Arabic words. The third
period began when the Osmans took root in Europe. Their
upper classes were at that time already so permeated with
Grreek elements that Hellenic blood flowed not only in the
veins of single grand viziers, but even of influential Ulemas
(priests). For a considerable proportion of Byzantine intellect
was now in the service of the conquerors. Thus not only in
political administration, but even in ecclesiastical life, institu-
tions and dignities came into being which were in opposition
to the real spirit of the Moslem- Asiatic world, and were for-
bidden as opposed to Moslem law. Only the power and
respect which the Osman procured for the doctrine of the
prophet were able to mitigate his transgressions and sinful
innovations in the eyes of the fanatics in the east. But
Arabs, Persians, Indians, Afghans, and Central Asians have
always regarded the Osmans as co-religionists whose manners
and customs were strange and surprising, without being able
to account for the nature and causes of this divergence.
Survival of few old Turkish customs. The strict centrali-
zation exercised since the middle of the sixteenth century by
Constantinople, the centre of this mosaic civilization, even on
the most remote provinces of the Ottoman Empire, has naturally
obliterated many old Turkish traits. The adoption of Persian
culture resulted, as early as the beginning of the sixteenth
218 THE TUEKISH DIVISION
century, in the Osmans looking down on Turkish civilization,
so that ' Turk ' and ' Turkish ' became synonymous with ' rude '
and ' uncouth '. Islam has always tended to denationalization,
but it has nowhere worked more effectively in this direction
than among the Osmanli Turks. Thus onl}^ a few of the old
customs which they brought with them from their home in
the eastern steppes still survive among them. These are the
following. In the interior of Anatolia, especially among the
Turks of Tokat, Sivas, and Engiirii (Angora), a child at birth
is bestrewn with salt and smeared with fat, as well as swaddled
in the same way as among the Kirghiz. At the wedding
ceremony the bride goes to the house of the bridegroom in
the same festal manner (though no longer on horseback, but
in a palanquin) as is the custom of the Kirghiz ; similarly the
daughter-in-law is not allowed to show her face to her father-
in-law, or to address him and her brothers-in-law by name.
The wedding formulas and songs resemble those of the Iranian
Turks of Azarbaijan ; but of the Tcalim or price paid for the
bride, so universal among other Turks, there is no longer
the slightest trace. Among domestic utensils the kettle
{kazan) still plays as important a role as is assigned to it by
Turkish nomads in general. The Osman's predilection for the
profession of arms and for the horse, but especially for cattle-
breeding, is a reminiscence of his old manner of life. More-
over, the thoroughly Hellenized Osman still pastures in the
valleys of Karaman the same species of sheep which his Turk-
men ancestors brought with them from the banks of the
Yaxartes and of the Tejend (Hari Rud), and which even after
a separate existence of more than six centuries has not lost its
excellence.
Characteristics. But what especially stamps the Osmanlis
as Turks is the general character of their moral qualities, which,
in spite of the strong Islamic tinge it has acquired, shows
a genuine Turkish groundwork that has prevailed over the
superimposed heterogeneous ethnic elements. Hence even
though he may be like the Greek, the Armenian, or the Cir-
cassian in features and build, the Osman in his mien and
bearing, in his movements and manners, betrays the real
Turk. In his heavy and portly appearance, in his seriousness
and sedateness, he is exactly like his tent-dwelling kinsman
of the steppes. The Anatolian peasant is honest, sober, and
WESTEEN TUEKS 219
industrious, suffers with the utmost patience the oppression of
officials, makes great sacrifices for his sovereign and his faith ; -
he is kind and unassuming in his domestic relations, and on
the field of battle makes one of the best soldiers in the world.
It is somewhat surprising that all these good qualities no
admixture of foreign blood has been able to extinguish.
Political success of the Osmanlis. It is a striking fact that
of all the Turkish tribes the Osmanlis have been the only one
that has succeeded in establishing a permanent state. "Whereas
the hordes of nomadic horsemen under Attila, Jenghiz Khan,
and Timur swept like a hurricane from the heart of the east
far into Europe without leaving behind a trace of their power,
the Osmans were able to found a state which has lasted six
hundred years ; which, at the period of its culmination, by its
extension far into three continents and its despotic rule over
peoples of various speech, faith, and colour, surpassed even the
Roman Empire in its prime ; and which the combined power
of the west has only succeeded in reducing to comparative
impotence after a struggle of centuries. The opportunity for
the brilliant military triumphs of their early period was due
to their having penetrated farther west than any other Turks,
and to their occupation of territory in immediate contiguity
to that of the Byzantine Empire at a time when that Empire
was in a condition of rapid decay. But how has this branch
of the Turks been able to maintain for so long the dominion
over foreign races which they established by the power of the
sword ? There can be no doubt that this capacity has resulted
partly from the strong admixture of Aryan blood and partly
from that fusion of Moslem Asiatic with Christian Occidental
civilization which have transformed the Osmanli Turk. The
Osmans brought with them from their home in the eastern
steppes the Turanian virtues of bravery, simplicity and the
patriarchal spirit, and spent the early period of their western
existence under the aegis of the comparatively higher Moslem
Persian civilization. When they appeared on the stage of
world history, they already approached, by the absorption of
so many Graeco-Slavonic elements, much nearer to Occidental
civilization than is commonly supposed. The official and
ruling class, even in the reign of Suleiman I (1520-66), during
which Turkey attained the highest point of her glory, had
already lost several elements of the old Turkish national
220 THE TURKISH DIVISION
character, which, though capable of founding a military state,
had never possessed the art of maintaining it. The Osmanli
acquired this faculty by his occidentalization, aided no doubt
by the unifying power of Islam, which he imposed on all
conquered nationalities. At the same time he retained the
old Turkish submissiveness to and belief in despotic rule.
This trait has led to a degree of misgovernment never equalled
in any other large state, because absolute power has been in
the hands of a long series of mostly incompetent and self-
indulgent sultans controlling a highly centralized system,
which even the ablest and most industrious rulers could not
have dealt with adequately. The result has been a general
condition of corruption and oppression prevailing not only in
conquered countries, but even in the homeland of the Osmanlis.
The disintegrating influence of the political and social degra-
dation working within has gone hand in hand with a number
of unsuccessful wars, which have shorn the Empire of practi-
cally all its conquests and reduced it almost to the limits of
the area inhabited by the Osmanlis themselves. Had the
Osmans not spent their energies in long-continued conflicts
with Hungarians, Germans, and Italians, but concentrated
their attention on collecting and consolidating their scattered
Turkish-speaking kinsmen whom they left behind, and who
extended from the T*ien Shan and the Altai to the Crimea and
the Danube, they might have formed a much greater and much
more stable combatant power highly dangerous to western
civilization. But they lacked the necessary political insight.
The denationalizing influence of Islam made them forget their
kinsmen in the east. As the vanguard of the Turks in the
west they remained cut off from their motherland, without
endeavouring to keep in intellectual touch with, and to rein-
force their power from, Central Asia.
History. The starting-point in the political history of the
Osmanlis is the period in which Er-tograul, or rather his son
Osman (died 1326) laid the foundation of the later Osmanli
state. But we must go back more than 200 years before this
to reach the epoch at which the Turks, under the name of
Seljuks, first entered (1071) Armenia, Anatolia, and North
Syria in considerable numbers. The Persian writer Mirchond ^"^
designates the Khazar steppe, that is, the region to the north-
east of the Caspian, as the locality whence these Turks came.
WESTERN TURKS 221
and the neighourhood of Yend in the north of Bokhara as the
starting-point of Seljuk's march against Samarkand. Most
Oriental authors represent the Seljuk Turks as belonging to
the Oghuz, a Turkish tribe whose identity with the first Turks
that in prehistoric times moved westward is undoubted.^^'^
These statements of Eastern authorities, taken in combination
with the evidence of the Seljuk dialect, justify the assumption
that the majority of the Turkish invaders, under Seljuk and
his descendants, of Northern Persia and Asia Minor were the
blood relations of the present Turkmens who, in the eleventh
century and earlier, were in occupation of the steppes extend-
ing from the north of the Caspian to the Volga.
The successors of Osman rapidly overran the north-western
part of Asia Minor and the south-western part of Europe,
ultimately making themselves heirs to the old Seljuk Sultans
of Konia or Roum, and leaders of the entire Empire. At this
time the Turkish power was bounded on the south by the Taurus
Mountains ; it was not till the beginning of the sixteenth cen-
tury that the Osmanli Sultans extended their sway south of the
Taurus, conqu ^ring Cilicia, Syria, and Egypt under Selim II
(1524-74).
Judging by the Turkification of the names of Greek towns,
which was in existence even in the earliest period of Osmanli
history, the influence of the Turkish language very soon began
to make itself felt in Anatolia. But the real Turkification did
not set in till the struggle of the Byzantine Emperors against
Turkdom had lasted nearly 200 years. It was chiefly the
Greeks and the Armenians who were most exposed to Turkifi-
cation, while the Semites in the south, the Kurds in the east,
and the Caucasians in the north were affected by it in a lesser
degree and at a later period. With the Greeks the trans-
formation proceeded very rapidly. For after the lapse of
scarcely a century it could be said in 1334 that, in the whole
of Western Asia Minor, Philadelphia alone retained its Greek
character. It was the Osmans who energetically entered on
the policy of Turkification, because they rather than the Seljuks
conceived the idea of developing a political state in Western
Asia. The devastating incursions of the Turks caused the
Greeks to flee first to the coast and then to Europe. The
interior of Anatolia thus becoming depopulated, the gaps were
filled up by the influx of Moslem Turks. Hence by the end of
222 THE TURKISH DIVISION
the fourteenth century Anatolia was probably as much Turkified
as it is to-day. Even in Europe the ethnic transformation
produced by the Osmans was early concluded.
Future of the Turkish race. Till the collapse of the Russian
Empire in 1917 it seemed likely that the two-thirds of the
Turkish race that are outside the Ottoman Empire, having
lost their political independence, were moving under the
guidance of Russia in a direction opposed to Moslem culture,
and were tending either to absorption in Russianism or to
a stagnation of their own civilization. It also seemed probable
that the independent fraction, forming the inhabitants of
the Ottoman Empire, after having lain for centuries under
the blighting influence of Asiatic Moslem civilization, would
have neither the will nor the power to pull themselves to-
gether, and by assimilation to the over-mastering spirit ot
the west, to escape destruction. Neither forecast, as matters
now stand, appears likely to be realized. On the one hand,
Russian Turkestan has recently proclaimed itself an autono-
mous republic, and the Turkestan extraordinary Mohammedan
general Congress has appointed a provisional government •,^^'^
and by the terms of the treaty recently concluded between
Germany and Russia, the Transcaucasian regions of Batum,
Ardahan, and Kars are to receive the right of ' self-determina-
tion'. On the other hand, the Pan-Turanian propaganda from
Constantinople has already been set in motion ^^^ among
remote tribes of the Turks,^^*"' such as the Yakuts of East
Siberia, and even among non -Turkish Turanians. The Os-
manlis and other branches of the Turks have, since their
earliest appearance on the stage of history, been the embodi-
ment of perpetual warfare and of brute force.' If the various
sections of the race came to be united under the leadership of
a rejuvenated Turkey and were efficiently organized, such
a combination might become a permanent source of unrest,
and in particular of danger to the Indian Empire.
Conclusions
Conclusions to be drawn from the data supplied above :
1. Owing to differences of religion, language, spheres of
civilization, and to wide geographical separation, the Finns
and Ugrians, the Samoyeds, the Tungus, the Mongols, and
WESTERN TUEKS 323
the Siberian Yakuts are not in the least likely to be drawn
into the Pan-Turanian movement.
2. Owing to community of religion, language, race, type of
civilization, and geographical contiguity, the Pan-Turanian
movement might possibly succeed among the following Turkish
peoples : the Osmanli, the Caucasian, the Persian, the Afghan,
the Volga, the Crimean Turks, and those of Turkestan (East
and West), and of Siberia : a total population of 26,000,000.
3. Owing to their national indolence, to their political
ineptitude, and to the steady diminution of the Turks of
Anatolia,^^^ the best element in the Ottoman Empire, the
Turkish peoples are not likely to combine, unless they allow
themselves to be organized by an outside power, that is,
Grermany.^*^^
4. There is a risk of the Iranian Turks, who constitute one-
iifth of, and the most warlike element in, the population of
Persia, combining, as a result of propaganda,^**^ with their
kinsmen and neighbours in the Caucasus, and ultimately
entering into closer relations with the Ottoman Empire.^^^
NOTES
* Cp. p. 117; Vambery, Da^ Tiirkenvolk, p. 60; Urspnuig der Magyaren,
p. 436; C-AHtven, Ethnologische Vorlesungen, pp. 18-20.
"^ Schafer, Map of the Countries and Peoples of Europe, 4th ed., Berlin,
1916.
^ The figure given by Schafer for the population of Asiatic Turkey is
19,710,000, but this population includes Syrians, Arabs, Kurds, Circassians,
Greeks, Armenians, Jews, and others, the respective numbers of whom it is
impossible to state. But 8,000,000 is the highest figure at which the Turkish
element can be estimated.
* Cp. p. 21, note 1. Politically ' Turk ' means a Mohammedan subject of the
Sultan of Turkey. It hardly affects the truth of this general statement that
the Anatolian Turks now give the nanie to Tatar immigrants from Russia.
^ Of this total for Asiatic Russia (local census of 1911) 537,015 Turks are
found in Siberia (p. 149), and 7,654,300 in Russian Turkestan. The Turkish
population of Asiatic Russia seems generally to have been greatly overstated.
® Preserved in the fragments of Menander Protector, and often discussed
by European scholars.
■^ Cp. ch. i, note 41, p. 23 ; cp. also Neumann, Die V'dlker des sildlicJien
Russlamls, p. 9 (Leipzig, 1847).
^ This is also the case with the Kazan Tatars.
224 THE TURKISH DIVISION
^ St. Louis is said to have been the first to have used it thus : ' quos vocamus
Tartaros ad suas tartareas sedes unde exierunt retrudemus.'
^^ The Mongol and Manchu alphabets represent further variations of this
writing.
" Das Turkenvolk, pp. 61-2. ^^ gg^ Vambery, op. cit., pp. 27-9.
^3 Op. c?7., pp. 13 and 62.
" Op. cit., pp. 63-4 ; Neumann, Die Vblker des sUdlichen Russlands,
Leipzig, 1847, pp. 88-9.
•'^ A name still used by the Osmanlis as equivalent to Allah.
^^ Cp. Vambery, Das Turkenvolk, pp. 24-44.
^"^ Op. at., p. 75.
^^ As in the case of the Chuvashes (pp. 50, 191) and Bashkirs.
^^ De Guignes, Allgemeine Geschichte der Hunnen und Turken, p. 113.
'^ It was probably due to this superstition that the Huns, and later the
Mongols, refrained from washing their clothes. Jenghiz Khan forbade the
washing of clothes and of domestic utensils with water : this rule is followed
by the Kalmuks at the present day. See Neumann, op. cit, pp. 26-7.
^^ Besides the Roman form of this legend there are other Asiatic varia-
tions of it : cp. Castren, Ethnologische Vorlesimgen, p. 61 ; Parker, A Thousand
Years of the Tartars, London, 1895, p. 178.
^"^ This is the white wolf idol which the Turks used to worship before their
conversion to Islam » and which has now been introduced into a neo-Turanian
prayer ; see Near East, Jan. 19, 1917.
2^ See Vambery, Das Turkenvolk, pp. 12-16.
24 Translated by Beal, London, 1884, and by Watters, London, 1904-5.
2^ Cp. Vambery, D'ls Turkenvolk, pp. 314 fF. ; Parker, op. cit., pp. 265 fF. ;
Grenard, La Ugende de Satok Boghra Khan et VMstoire, in Journal Asiatique,
1900, pp. 24 ff. ; on the Uigur kingdom with its capital Kara-Khoja, near
Turfan, ibid., pp. 28 f.
^^ Castren, Ethnologische Vorlesimgen, p. 65.
2"^ Op. cit., p. 66.
^* The learned Alberuni, who accompanied Mahmud of Ghazni to India,
wrote in Arabic a valuable account of the country and its institutions, which
he completed in 1030, translated into English by Sachau, 2nd impression,
London, 1908.
^•' According to vol. i, p. 144, of Asiatic Russia. The figure given in
Czaplicka, Aboriginal Siberia, p. 20, based on Patkanoff, Statistical Data, &o.,
St. Petersburg, 1912, is 226,739.
"''" Otherwise nearly all Turkish tribes are Moslems.
'^ Cp. Vambery, Das Tiirkenvolk, p. 328.
^2 The Koibals and the Soyones (pp. 83-4) also call themselves by this name.
^3 This agrees with the Chinese account of the Dubo (= Tuba). The name
indicates that these Tatars originally came from the east.
3* Atis Sibirien, i, p. 213. This scholar (p. 212) thinks that these Tatars
were in origin Samoyeds, who, already Turkified, migrated at the beginning
of the eighteenth century to the region which they now occupy, and that it
was the Kirghiz (i. e. the Kazaks) that Turkified these Samoyed tribes.
^5 In old Indian mythology eclipses are accounted for by a demon swallow-
ing the sun and the moon.
NOTES 225
^^ The Altaians also say 'Yalbagan has eaten the moon', though they
generally say 'the moon has become Buikhan' (i.e. Buddha) : the latter is
an imported Buddhist myth.
'' See note 43.
^^ Hartmann, Chinesisch-Turkestan , p. 73, note 3.
^'^ The author of the Kudatku Bilik (1070) calls the land Turkistan and the
language Turkdili, ' the tongue of the Turks '.
^° Report of a Mission to Yarkand, p. 62, where details for the different
towns and districts are given, as Yarkand, 224,000 ; Turfan, 126,000 ; Khotan,
120,000 ; Kashgar, 112,000, &c.
*^ Op. cit., p. 64.
*^ See photographs in Forsyth, op. cit., pp. 106-10, 118. According to
Sir Aurel Stein {Ancient Khotan, vol. i, p» 144) there is some reason for sup-
posing that the fundamental element in the population of Khotan at least
is allied to the Aryan Galchas or Alpine Tajiks.
^^ These are Kashgar, Yenghi-llissar, Yarkand, Khotan, Aksu, Kucha.
Later the ' seven cities ' came to be spoken of, Karashar being added as the
seventh.
*^ Two MSS. of this work have been preserved, one in Uigur writing at
Vienna, the other in Arabic characters at Cairo.
*^ The Chinese Buddhist pilgrims who visited India in the fifth to seventh
centuries after Christ represent the Kucha and Karashar of to-day as the
chie^ seats of the Turks. *^ Hartmann, op. cit., p. 65.
*^ See Yule, Cathaf/, i, pp. 273 f., 291, 297 ; iv, 241 f. For a modern account
of this gate see Stein, Ruins of Desert Cathay, ii, 273 f.
*^ See Stein, Note on the Routes from the Punjab to Turkestan and China.
Recorded hy William-Finch (1611), Lahore, 1917.
*^ Between India and Turkestan there have existed cultural and economic
relations from the earliest times.
^^ On these and minor trade routes, and on trade with Russia and India,
see Hartmann, Chinesisch-Turkestan, Halle a/S, 1908, ch. iv.
" Some of the Dungans form colonies to the west of Issik-kul, in the
Russian territory of the government of Semiryechensk.
^2 Asiatic Russia, vol. i, p. 143. ^^ Op. cit., p. 164.
^* Who number about 25,000 ; cp. note 51.
^^ According to Asiatic Russia, 1914, this is the total of all Kirghiz in
Asiatic Russia. It includes 37,982 Kirghiz counted among the Siberian
Turks (537,015). The number of Kirghiz in the Steppe country is stated to
be 2,173,959, and in Russian Turkestan 2,480,443. No distinction is made in
the Russian census between Kazak-Kirghiz and Kara-Kirghiz. But as in the
census of 1897, out of 4,084,139, the general number of Kirghiz. 350,000 were
Kara-Kirghiz, the present number of the latter may be taken to be rather
over 400,000.
, ^^ Hence the term Kazak came gradually to be applied to all freebooters
similarly equipped, and in this sense spread from the Aral-Caspian basin to
South Russia, where it still survives in the form of Cossack, spelt Kazak or
Kozak in Russian. Though Kazak and Cossack are therefore originally the
same word, the former now designates a Turkish nomad people, the latter
various members of the Slav family.
TCBANIANS P
I
226 THE TURKISH DIVISION
^" Cp. RadlofF, Aus Sibirien, p. 235.
=^* Cp. Vambery, Das Turkenvolk, pp. 292-8.
^^ Probably dating from the time of the Mongolian invasion ; cp. Vambery,
Das Turkenvolk, p. 284.
^" For details see Vambery, op. cit., pp. 284-7 ; Radloflf, Aus Sibirien,
pp. 235-40.
^^ Czaplicka, Aboriginal Siberia, p. 54.
^^ In Babar's Memoirs, written by himself (translated into English by
Leyden and Ei-skine, London, 1826); abridged in Caldecott, Life of Baber,
London, 1844; cp. Stanley Lane Poole, Baber (Rulers of India Series),
Oxford, 1899.
^^ See p. 169. Cp. Price, War and Revolution in Asiatic Russia, London,
1917, p. 272.
'* Jan. 17, 1918. Cp. note 104.
^^ Asiatic Russia, 1914, does not distinguish between Kazak and Kara-
Kirghiz, giving the total number of ' Kirghiz ' for the whole of Asiatic
Russia as 4,692,384 ; see supra, note 55.
^^ Vambery, Das Tilrkenvolk, p. 261, thinks they were so called by the
Kazaks as an expression of hostility ('black' = 'bad ').
^■^ See above, p. 126, and Vambery, Das Turkenvolk, p. 258.
""'^ The id is the Mongol plural ending as in Yak-ut. Bur-ut is identical
with Bur-yat {yat = ut), the name of the Baikal Mongols.
'^^ See what is said above (p. 161) of the Kazak-Kirghiz .
'" Described by Radloff, Aus Sibirien, pp. 230-4.
■^^ Alls Sibirien, p. 527.
^^ Translated from the Russian Journal, Semirechenskia Oblastnia
Viedomosti.
'^ Asiatic Russia, vol. i, p. 175. Vambery, Das Tilrkenvolk, p. 442, estimated
the Turkmens at probably one million.
'* Das Tilrkenvolk, p. 401.
■^^ The Aryan Tajiks, the aborigines of the fertile parts of Turkestan, were
subdued by the Turco-Mongol invaders. They were partly compelled to
emigrate to the mountains, where they are now known as Galchas. Number-
ing over 350,000, these are the principal owners of the irrigated land.
'^^ This is analogous to the early Anglo-Indian use of ' Banyan ', merchant
(from the Indian banya), because" this was the class that Europeans first came
in contact with on the west coast of India. Hence also 'Banyan tree ' (Ficus
Indica).
'■^ Vambery gives their number as 70,107, on the basis of ofiicial Russian
data when he wrote.
"* Asiatic Russia, vol. i. The Encyclopaedia Britannica (11th ed.) gives
conflicting figures; 726,500 under Turkestan, but 200,000 under Turks.
Vambery, Das Tilrkenvolk, p. 366, estimated the total number of Uzbegs at
2,000,000, including 200,000 in Afghan Turkistan.
'^ Le Kouhistan, le Ferghana et Kouldja, p. 62.
^^ According to Vambery, Das Tilrkenvolk, p. 335, this is not true of Khiva.
8' Loc. cit.
^^ Meyer, Konversationslexikon, 1903.
^^ See his Das Tilrkenvolk, pp. 447-95.
NOTES 227
^* See Vambery, Das Tilrkenvolk^ pp. 518-24.
^^ In Constantinople and Bokhara the Turks of Kazan and Ufa are still so
called.
^^ Cp. Howorth, History of the Mongols, ii, pp. 1011-56.
^^ This was the estimate of Vambery about thirty yeai-s ago ; see Das
Tiirkenvolk, pp. 546-7.
^« Das Tiirkenvolk, p. 566.
^^ See Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th ed., vol. v, p. 548 (Caucasia).
">' Ibid.
^^ Cp. Vambery's estimate of the Iranian Turks in Transcaucasia in 1885,
when, according to him, they numbered close on 1,000,000 (358,000 in Eliza-
vetpol, 305,000 in Baku, 214,000 in Erivan), p. 592. Transcaucasia declared
itself independent on April 22, 1918 (Supplement to Summary of Intelligence,
3. 6. 18). It is spoken of as the newly established Republic of Azarbaijan
Elizavetpol and Baku).
^"^ The Turks thus occupy numerically the second place among all the
natives of Caucasia, the Russians coming first with about double the number
(about 4,000,000).
^^ In the Near East, 31. 5. 18, p. 438, col. 2, there are stated to be some
200,000 Tatars in the Crimea. According to Pauli, Peuples uralo-alta'iques,
p. 35, the Lithuanian Tatars (see above, p. 181), numbering about 8,000 in
the districts of Minsk, Vilna, Grodno, Kovno, and in the south of Poland,
are direct descendants of the Crimean Tatars. They were partly prisoners
of war settled here in 1395, and partly volunteers in the Polish army. They
lost their language long ago, but are still Mohammedans, who only know
the Kuran in Polish and Russian translations, and write Russian and Polish
in Arabic characters.
^* Vambery, Das Tiirkenvolk, p. 576, enumerates the tribal names of the
Persian Turks ; see also Shell, Glimpses of Life and Manner^s in Persia, London,
1856, pp. 396-401.
^^ An account of a visit to the Kashkais is given by Colonel Oliver St. John
in the Report of the fifty-second meeting of the British Association (London,
1883), p. 638. Their winter quarters in the neighbourhood of the village of
Farashkend are especially described.
■ ^^ Cp. Polak, Persien, das Land und seine Beivohner (Lei^Dzig, 1865), i, 16.
^^ Seidlitz, Russische Revue, xv, p. 498.
^8 Das Tiirkenvolk, p. 580.
^^ By Adolf Berge, Dichtungen transkaukasischer Sanger des 18. und 19.
J ahrhunderts in aserbaidschanischer Mundart, Leipzig, 1868. __.
^^^ See Chodsko, Specimens of the p)opular poetry of Persia as found in the \
adventures and improvisation of Kurroglu, the bandit minstrel of Northern \
Persia, and in the songs of the people inhabiting the shores of the Casjnan Sea, J^
London, 1842.
101 Through the Byzantine forms 'Odcoixavm and TcwpKofxavoi.
^'^^ Cp. Mirchond, Historia Seldschukidarum, edited in Persian by VuUers,
Giessen, 1837, p. 4.
^^^ See Vambery, Das Tiirkenvolk, p. 386.
^"* Westminster Gazette, Jan. 17, 1918. In the Supplement to Summary
of Intelligence for 4. 6. 18 it is reported that a meeting of Bolshevik delegates
P 2
228 THE TUEKISH DIVISION
including fifty Mohammedans had declared that Turkestan should be autono-
mous, but federated to Russia.
^^^ Cp. Stiirmer, Ttvo War Years in Constantinople, London, 1917; and
article on the German Turanian Scheme, by Dr. Holland Rose, in the West-
minster Gazette for Jan. 3, 1918.
^^^' German propaganda leading to insurrection was also started in 1916
among the Kirghiz Turks of Southern Central Siberia, as shown below by the
translation from the Russian report in Appendix B (p. 229).
'^^ See Sir William Ramsay, The Litermixture of Races in Asia Minor, Pro-
ceedings of the British Academy, Oct. 25, 1916, pp. 41-3.
i°* It is reported in the Supplement to the Summary of Intelligence (27. 4.
18) that a special committee, including Dr. Schmidt and German officers,
had been formed at the War Office at Constantinople to deal with propa-
ganda in Persia and Central Asia, and to pay special attention to Turkestan,
Afghanistan, and India ; armed bands were to be organized in north-western
Persia to operate in southern Persia. It is also reported {S. of L, 24. 7. 18)
that German efforts to amalgamate various Moslem nationalities of Russia
with those of Turkestan by means of Turkish emissaries have had some
effect among the Tatars of Kazan, who were previously anti-German.
German officers were also reported at Tashkent carrying on propaganda
among the Moslems (S. of I., 18. 6. 18).
^^^ In the Summary of Intelligence (10. 5. 18) it is reported that fifteen
German officers were en route to join a Turkish military Attache, accom-
panied by twelve Turkish officers, at Tehran.
^'® In an article on 'Persia and Great Britain' {Near East, 19. 7. 18) the
writer remarks : ' Turkish statesmen aim at binding Persia to Turkey as
a subordinate ally.' On German intrigues in Persia see The Diary of a German
Agent, London, 1918.
APPENDIX
A GERMAN'S TWO YEARS' JOURNEY
[Extract from The Times, June, 1917.]
(From our Special Correspondent.)
Amsterdam. June 12, (1917).
* The Berlin Ldkalanseiger reports that Dr. Werner Otto von Hentig
returned yesterday, having carried through, under dangers and difl^i-
culties, an important diplomatic mission to the Amir of Afghanistan
for the German Government. Hentig's activities are described as
having frequently been the subject of discussion in the House of
Commons, while The Times is said to have recently called him by
the honourable name of ' * firebrand ". The expedition, which lasted
over two years, went via Persia, Afghanistan, Turkestan, and China,
across the Pacific, and back to Germany by North America and
Norway.
The activities of Dr. von Hentig in China, Turkestan, and Afghan-
istan were described in a dispatch from our Peking Correspondent
published in The Times of April 10 last. Hentig, after being thrown
out of Afghanistan, proceeded to Yarkand, and by lying and bribery
induced the local Sarts and Kerghiz in Hi to rise and murder many
Russian subjects, including women and children. In their turn,
thousands of the deluded rebels were killed, while Hentig marched
comfortably across China to the security of the German Consulate
at Hankow.'
Hentig is twice mentioned as an associate of Capt. Niedermayer in
German Intrigues in Persia : The Diary of a German Agent [W. Grie-
singer] : The Niedermayer Expedition through Persia to Afghanistan and
India (translated from the German), London, 1918.
B.
THE DISTURBANCES IN SEMIRECHIE
From Official Data.
Extract from Semirechenskia Ohlastnia Viedomosti, Nos. 200-215.
*0n the evening of 30th August (1916), news arrived concerning
the disturbance near Merke and in the region between Aulie-Ata
230 APPENDIX
and Merke. It is clear that the rumours were exaggerated beyond
measure.
By the 5th September it was ascertained that the centre of the
uprising of the Kirghiz of Syr-Daria was, as a matter of fact, not at
Merke, but in the valley of the Chu (whence the bands make their
appearance periodically) and near the post route. Troops have
already been sent there. Moreover, the detachment of 2nd Captain
Poltoratski, with Lieutenant Levashof to help him, has been sent
from the direction of Pishpek.
Noteworthy information arrived, which was no mere rumour,
concerning events which had taken place in Semirechie between
the dates of 30th August and 5th September. The district of
Prjevalsk was in a very bad plight. Only the town itself remained
intact, and a small part, Preobrajensk to Teplokliuchinsk, as well as
the village of Mikhail obsk (Sukhomlinovsk) and the Cossack villages
of Nikolaevsk. All the rest was in ruins. There were many victims.
The monastery of Issyk-Kulsk had not escaped violence. (No. 200.)
On the 5th September, official information of the 1st September
was received from the district of Prjevalsk. This made it clear that
the uprising in the district had begun by a Kirghiz attack on the vil-
lage of Gregorevka near Sazanovka, on the evening of the 9th August.
By the morning of the 10th the uprising had already spread to
Preobrajensk. The same day the insurgents undertook an attack
upon Prjevalsk. The town was fortified ; there were 42 men
belonging to the frontier guards on the spot, and 86 rifles among the
inhabitants. Peasants from the neighbouring villages arrived daily.
They related that the Kirghiz at first confined themselves to plun-
dering, but eventually began to massacre the Kussians. The school
of rural economy was destroyed, the inmates of the school and the
peasants who had taken refuge there were killed. The inhabitants
of the villages of Pokrovsk, Svetloi Poliana, Ivanitsk, Vysok, Boga-
tyrsk, and Lipinsk had reached Prjevalsk. The inhabitants of the
villages of Lizogubovsk, Sokolovsk, Otradny, Kazdolni, Graf Palen,
Valerianovsk, and Bobrik had collected at Teplokliuchinsk, where
they successfully withstood a siege. The villages on the south bank,
Issyk-Kulya Tarkhany, Barska-Un, and Gogolevka, suffered most of
all, and the population of Koltsovka was killed, including Kaichef,
the assistant district chief. Of the convoy of Kaichef only 5 men
of the lower ranks returned. All the inhabitants of the village of
Kybache reached Prjevalsk in boats, and those of the villages on the
north bank and of the monastery collected in Preobrajensk.
On the evening of August 15th, Cavalry Captain Kravchenko
arrived from Karkara with a company of the Drujina of Jarkensk
THE DISTUEBANCES IN SEMIEECHIE 231
and 30 Cossacks under Cornet Berg. He was accompanied by
the inhabitants of Karkara and of the villages of Tavrichesk and
Vlaislavsk.
On 19th August, Ensign Kyskin brought to Prjevalsk the inhabit-
ants of the hamlets of Meshchansk, Krasnoiarsk, Novokievsk, and of
the colony of Ohotnichi.
All the refugees found shelter in the town. On 16th August
a detachment of mounted troops under the Uralian Ouchinnikof
was sent to rescue the inhabitants of Sazanovka, where, during
six days, the peasants and the soldiers of Cornet Pokrovski had
been resisting the Kirghiz. Pokrovski and Ouchinnikof brought the
inhabitants of Sazanovka, Semenovka, Gregorevka, and Kamenka in
safety to Preobrajensk.
On the 19th or 20th, the sotnia of Cornet Ugreninof entered
Prjevalsk.
Things had recently quieted down. The Kirghiz had begun to leave
for Syr-Daria.
On 28th August, Berg routed a band, destroying 800 desperate
fighters, and dispossessed them of a huge quantity of cattle and
sheep. According to a statment made by the prisoners taken from
the insurgents, the latter tvere led hy a TurMsh General and two
Europeans. According to the assertions of the prisoners, the
General and the unknown Foreigners had taken part in the battle
on the Kastek. The same Berg and the Engineer Golovin were
sent on two other expeditions, which, moreover, met with complete
success.
On 27th August, the detachment of Sotnik Volkof entered
Prjevalsk.
On 1st September, the detachment of Bychkof (Voiskovoi Stai-shina)
entered Prjevalsk in safety. Instead of crossing by the Aksuiski
Pass, where the heat had made huge crevasses in the glaciers, the
detachment was obliged to cross the mountains at the station of
Choktal by a goat-track ; nevertheless, they covered the distance in
7 days (from Verni to Prjevalsk). They saw .many victims of the
rising. The telegraph was completely destroyed, but in the monastery
the churches, the dwelling-places, and the defences were intact.
Bychkof and his men picked up on the way, and brought to Preobra-
jensk, 4 men, 10 women and girls, and 50 children.
Judging by Colonel Ivanofs supplementary report, the garrison
had to work hard. On 13th August he summoned a special council
of war, consisting of Generals (retired) Korolkof and Narbut, General
Krasnoslobodski, and a number of officers and doctors. This council
distributed the relugees, saw to the defences of the town and its
232 APPENDIX
surroundings, conducted requisitions, and devised military measures.
The engineers and officials among the newcomers took part in the
council.
On 3rd September, the Voiskovoi Stars hina Bychkof, with the
detachment of Sotnik Volkof, was ordered to set out for the Syrty
to destroy the insurgents who were withdrawing. According to the
report of Colonel Ivanof, the crops were neither burnt nor trodden
down. This being the case, the peasants would be sent back to
their villages, on the first peaceful opportunity, to gather in the crops.
(No. 201.)
The village of Stolypino (Kochorka, " circonscription " boundary of
Narynsk) was the first victim of the rebellious Kara-Kirghiz of the
neighbouring communes. On 8th August it was surrounded by
the Kirghiz ; the peasants defended themselves for two days until
they were relieved by a small detachment of troops from Naryn.
The Kirghiz, however, continued the siege and set fire to the village :
the bazaar, the prayer-house, and other buildings were burnt. The
detachment decided to make for Tokmak, taking all the villagers with
them. From Kybach onwards the detachment was continually
attacked, especially while crossing the narrow ravine of Boamsk.
All the stations and bridges were burnt, and the telegraph line was
destroyed. The Kirghiz kept up a fairly accurate fire on the detach-
ment from the overhanging rocks and hill-tops. The ^ ' Intendance "
bridge over the river Chu near Kok-Mainak was burnt, so that the
stream of refugees was obliged to ford the deep and rapid river under
fire. About 10 women and children were drowned here. The Kirghiz
rolled down stones on to the road to stop the troops. According to
eye-witnesses' accounts, the attack was fiercest at the Semenovsk
bridge, where the Kirghiz fired fusillades at the troops and fugitives.
A great number of horses were killed, and about 40 carts abandoned
on the road. The sick and wounded from the village of Bystroretsk
(about 8 in number) were sent to Tokmak, but the refugees went on
to Kara-Bulak (Mikhailovsk), where they were soon joined by the
peasants from the villages of Orlovsk, Belopiketsk, and Bystrorechensk.
The villagers of Novorossisk (in the Bolshaia Keben) were particularly
heroic. They organized a kind of fortification in the middle of the
village, and held out for 12 days against the Kirghiz-Sarybagish, the
chief leaders of the revolt, by whom they were surrounded. All
the streets in the village of Novorossisk leading towards the peasants'
fortifications were strewn with Kirghiz corpses. The peasants of
Novor .... are at present at Samsonovskaia station, where they have
been treated liberally. (No. 204.)
The Prjevalsk and Karkarinsk Kara-Kirghiz have concentrated on
THE DISTUEBANCES IN SEMIEECHIE 233
the Tekes and the Siiimb. The Chinese Kalmuks had received bribes
from them, but the regular Chinese troops refused to let the insur-
gents pass. A division is now taking place among the latter, part
having decided to throw themselves on the mercy of the Russian
Government. The communes plunder each other mutually, and the
situation of the insurgents bids fair to become very serious in the
future.
The Kara- Kirghiz of the south bank of the Issyk-Kul and a portion
of the Pishpensk intend apparently to escape over the frontier to
Aksu, but the Chinese troops have set out irom Uch-Turfan to meet
them.
All the most turbulent elements of the different communes of the
districts of Vernensk and Pishpensk have assembled at Balkhash.
The peaceful Kirghiz at first gave them all the help they could, but
now strife has also arisen at Balkhash. There is no bread to be had,
and the rebels are living on mutton and berries. (No. 207.)
The telegraph to Prjevalsk was restored on the 15th September.
The line to Naryn will soon be restored.
The insurgents from Kochorka have left, having been dispersed
by the troops ; part have gone to the Ulakhol towards the south bank of
the Issyk-Kul, and part to the Jumgal. They were there encountered
by fresh troops.
In the district of Prjevalsk many Russian prisoners were set free.
The latter state that the insurgents are in a great state of discourage-
ment, and the irreproachable attitude of the Chinese Government
causes them particular apprehension. They hoped they would be
welcomed with open arms, as they had been assured hy agitators that
there would soon be war between China and Russia. Nevertheless,
the Chinese sent forward troops and received the insurgents with
artillery fire.
The provincial administration has just come to a very important
conclusion, concerning the revolt of the Kara-Kirghiz. As a result of
the report of the district administration and the military leaders, the
head military Governor decides that the conduct of the rebels of
the districts of Pishpensk and Prjevalsk affords no hope for the
future that Russians and Kara-Kirghiz can live on good terms in
the same region. The behaviour of the insurgents has always been
outrageous, and the Russian population has suffered far too much at
their hands for them to continue as neighbours. As a proof of this
there is the fact (according to the data given by the refugee organiza-
tion) that the number of victims in the sector of Issyk-Kul is over
3,000, of whom there are about 2,000 killed, and more than 1,000
missing.
234 APPENDIX
Certain measures have, of course, been already adopted as reprisals
against the insurgents. Many thousands of Kirghiz have been killed
by the troops. Their camps are being destroyed, and an enormous
number of their flocks are already in the hands of the army and
administration. Punitive troops are in hot pursuit of the rebels,
inflicting fresh losses upon them and setting free many prisoners.
But this is not all : the principal result of the combined operations
of the troops is that all the rebels are now driven into such moun-
tainous regions that they will soon feel the full effects of their foolish
revolt, owing to hunger and cold. Information is already coming in
as to their privations, the sickness that is rife among them, and their
utter confusion. The troops have been ordered to give no quarter to the
enemy. A part of the rebels may perhaps make their way into China,
but the Chinese authorities will not admit them all. The insurgents
know well that it is useless for them to seek to make peace at present.
They will receive no mercy. Sooner or later, time will oblige them
to repent and accept any conditions that may be imposed upon them.
Then, and then only, may their voices be heard by the authorities.
The basis for future discussion with the Kara-Kirghiz will be clearly
of a special nature.
In the first place, it is recognized as absolutely inadmissible that
the Kara-Kirghiz should return to the Keben valley and the east part
of the Chuiskaia valley around Tokmak.
Secondly, it is recognized that the banks of the Issyk-Kul should
be cleansed of the Kara-Kirghiz for ever.
Thirdly, it is recognized that the valley of the Tekes should become
a region exclusively Russian.
Every rebel community of the places already mentioned, whatever
its size may prove to be, is to be relegated to the mountainous tract
in the southern half of the district of Prjevalsk, to the region of
Lake Son-Kul, and to the boundary of Atbashinsk. The status of
these communities is to be that of purely pastoral people.
A new form of government has to be organized for them. The
military will be stationed at a series of newly -fortified points, and will
support the government.
All these projects w^ere submitted in general terms by special
telegram to the General Governor in chief of the region. General
Adjutant Kuropatkin recently confirmed in principle the views of
the administration of Semirechie, giving instructions to elaborate the
said schemes in detail, with plans, maps, and statistics. (No. 216.)'
CONFISCATION OF LAND IN TURKESTAN 235
Journal, 28th October, 1916.
CONFISCATION OF £AND IN TUEKESTAN
' In the daily report of General Governor General- Adjutant A. N.
Kuropatkin, published in the 185th Number of Turkestanshia Yiedo-
mosti, it is stated that: ''Land on which murders of Eussian people
had been committed in Turkestan would be confiscated by the
Crown."
The following plots are confiscated : —
800 desiatin of ground having native inhabitants, and belonging
to the town of Djizak, on the estate of Samarkangsk, situated along
the high road.
400 desiatin of the village and of the country estate of Zaamin, in
the district of Djizak.
200 desiatin of the village and of the estate of Ragejru in the same
district.
400 desiatin of the village and of the estate of Haukeut Bazar,
where twelve assessors were killed. They were making notes in
connexion with the rural government in July.
The following are also confiscated by the State : —
100 desiatin from the village and estate of Rohlai.
100 desiatin of the village and of the estate of Sosuk, and
100 desiatin of the village of Taugi, where Surbirzef, the head
official {chef de bureau) was murdered.
In this manner the quantity of land confiscated amounts to 2,100
desiatin.
The General Governor allow^s the native inhabitants of these plots
of ground to gather in the produce of their sowing, and all their
other belongings excepting plantations of timber, which must go to
the State together with the land.
The destroyed homes of the natives will be repaired, and so that
this piece of work should be well done, permission has been granted
to send for some prisoners of war if necessary, men who have been
sent away for work and who are under the administration of the
agricultural and governmental properties departments.
Permission has also been given to claim direct from the forests
administration the right to get timber for carpenters and joiners.
The sum of 2,000 roubles is allotted for the expenses of rebuilding
the homes and for the relief of the poorest of the native inhabitants.'
. INDEX
Aa, the Samoyed devil, 86
Abakan R., 146, 147 ;
steppe, 84, 147
Abbas the Great (1585-
1628), Shah, 206
Abbasid Caliph, 129
Abdul Hamid, Sultan of
Turkey, 214
Abercromby, Pre- and
Proto -historic Finns, 34,
38, 79, 80
Abulghazi, Arabic Mo-
hammedan author, 119,
123
Abyssinians, 213
Achinsk, 148
Ach Keshtim, 147
Adam of Bremen, 43
Adam, L., Grammaire de
la langue toungouse, 99
Ad an a, 215
Adolphus,Gustavus,King
of Sweden, 33
Adrianople, 131, 212 ;
truce of (1568), 69
Adriatic Sea, 67
Aestii, name of a tribe
(Tacitus), 38
Afghanistan, 13, 115, 130,
132, 157, 171, 176, 177,
228; frontier of, 173
Afghans, 151, 152, 153,
178, 179, 217
Agan R., 51
Agglutinative system,
Turanian, 16
Ahlqvist, Vogul texts and
grammar, 58
Aidan, 213, 214
Aimak ('tribes'), 114
Ainu tribe, 38
Airan (* buttermilk '), 137,
142. 186, 196
Airya, son of Thraetaona,
12,13
Airyana : see Iran
Aiyas, Samoyed name of
the Tungus, 90
Akcha, 177
Akhal oasis, 173
Ak Kobdk, 147
Aksu, 152, 156, 168, 225,
283
Akti, Finnish god of
waters, 32
Aktobe R., 189, 190, 195
Akhtuba : see Aktobe R.
Aland L, 33
Alash, 165
Alash Kban, 165
Albanians in Hungaiy,
81
Albanian type, 213
Albert, King of Hungary,
68
Alberuni, Arabic writer
on India, 224
Alexander III, Czar of
Russia, 32, 33
Alexander the Great, 123
Algiers, 115
Allah, 224
Allahverdis, Turkish
tribe in Persia, 206,
209
Alp Arslan, 129
Alshin, 165
Altai, derivation of, 23
Altai Kishi, 'Altai men',
141
' Altai men ' : see Altai
Kishi
Altai Range, 17, 19, 20,
22, 41, 82, 89, 100, 110,
111, 112, 115, 117, 119,
122, 125, 126, 131, 136,
141, 144,166,109,220;
original home of the
Samoyeds, 83, 87, of
the Turanians, 16 : re-
gion of. Ill,
122;
steppes, 16 ; Turks find
Mongols near, 101
Altaian dialects. 140
Altaians, 141-4,145,146,
188, 225 ; their charac-
teristics, 141 ; their lan-
guage, 144 ; their mode
of life, 143 ; their no-
madism, 143 ; their
numbers, 144 ; their
shamanism, 144 ; their
tribes, 88
Altaic linguistic family,
14
Amu Darya district,
174
Amu Darya R. : see Oxus
R.
Amur, basin of the, 90;
Bay, 98 ; R., 90, 92, 93,
94, 98, 104, 108
Anatolia, 171. 202,209-15,
217, 218, ' 220, 221 ;
Greek Turkish type in,
213; Turkification of,
222
Anatolian peasants, 218
Anatolians, 191, 202
Ancestor worship among
Finno-Ugrians, 26
Andijan, 175
Andkhui, 177
Andrassy, Count, 74, 75;
The Development of Hun-
garian Constitutional Li'
heHy, 1908, 78, 81
Angora, 215, 218
Angren R., 176
Animal sacrifices, 19
Anjou, House of (1310-
82), in Hungary, 67
Anne, Empress of Russia
(1730-40), 48, 167
Ansichow, 156
Anti-Taurus, 215
Anyui R., 90
Apaokhi, name of a chief,
97
Arabia, 115, 183; North-
ern, 115; pilgrims to,
152
Arabic, 183, 184; charac-
ters, 225, always used
by Mohammedan Turks,
117 ; geographers, 158 ;
influence on Osmanli
Turks, 217; known to
Uigurs, 127 ; literature,
216; script, 151 ; words
in Kazak language,! 62;
writers, 80, 119, 172
Arabic -Persian civiliza-
tion, 139 ; influence,
184 ; loan-words, 214,
215
INDEX
287
Arabs, 117, 172, 173, 213,
217, 223 ; conquer Per-
sia and Transcaucasia,
126 ; in East Turkestan,
157
Aral Sea, 13, 125, 129,
132, 161, 165,170,177,
205, 211
Aral-Caspian basin, 225
Aramaic alphabet in
Turkish inscriptions,
118
Araxes R., 205
Archangfel, Government
of, 30, 34, 39, 45, 82,
86
Arctic Circle, 82 ; Ocean,
14, 82, 87, 90
Ardahan, 222
Ardebil, 206
Argun R., 103
Argyn tribe, 165
Armenia, 123, 212, 213,
220
Armenians, 207, 213,218,
223 ; massacre of, 121 ;
Turkification of, 221 ;
Turkish-speaking, 118
Army Education Bill
(1894), 75
Arpad, Magyar chief, 64,
65 ; House of (895-
1301), 67
Arskoi Prigorod, 47
Arslan, 167
Aryan colony, 123 ; lan-
guages. 14 ; racial mix-
ture, 150, 152, 178, with
Osmanlis, 219 ; typo,
213
Aryans, 12, 15, 121
Asclimarin, Volga Bulgars
, and Chuvashes, 50
Asia, Central, 171, 174,
184, 220, steppes of,
121 ; Minor, 67, 123,
212, 214, 221 ; Russian,
176
Asian, Central, character
of Iranian Turks, 211
Asiatic Russia, 23, 52, 89,
90, 135. 144, 148, 149,
171, 174, 175, 176, 181,
226
Asiatic, Moslem civiliza-
tion, 216, 222; type,
214
Asiatics, Caucasian, 185 ;
Central, 186, 217
Assena, legendary wolf-
son, 125
Astarabad, 171, 205, 206
Astrakhan, 110, 140, 165,
174 ; Empire, 189 ;
steppe, 190
Atlantic Ocean, 15
Atrak R., 172
Attila, 11, 102, 122, 219;
his raid, 124
Augsburg, besieged by
Magyars, 65
Auharmazd, later form of
Ahura Mazda, 13
Austria and Russia, alli-
ance between (1849),
73
Austria, Lower, 60
Austria-Hungary, 71
Austro-Hungarian'Army,
75 ; State Bank, 76
Avanki, name of the Tun-
gus, 99
Avars, 65
Avesta, sacred book of the
Zoroastrians, 12, 21,
211
Avshars, Turkish tribe in
Persia, 205, 209, 215
Azarbaijan, 200, 205, 206,
208, 209, 215 ; dialect,
210 ; Republic of, 227
Azarbaijans, 132, 153,
171, 184, 198, 199,214;
Transcaucasian, 214
Azov, Sea of 122, 195, 201
Babar, founder of Mongol
Empire in India, 105,
167; his memoirs, 226
Bach system of ruling the
Magyars, 73
Badakshan, 126, 130
Bagdad, 104, 105
Baikal, L., 19, 41, 92, 93,
100, 108, 113, 118, 126,
132, 135
Bairam festival, 183
Bakhchisarai, 204
Baku, 200, 227
Balalaika, Kazak musical
instrument, 163
Balasaghun, 127
Balkan peninsula, 15, 115,
131, 212; territories,
60; wars, 121
Balkh, 130
Balkhash, L., 125, 161,
165
Baltic Sea, 15, 28
Balto-Finnic accent, 63
Bam i an, 126
Banat, 60
Bdnffy, Hungarian minis-
ter, 75
Banya, Indian word for
* merchant ', 226
Banyan, 226 ; tree (Ficus
Indica), 226
Baraba steppe, 148
Bartholomae, Prof., 21
Bashkird (Bashkir), 188
Bashkirs, 51, 129, 140,
153,185,186,193-6,224;
join the Mongol hordes
of Jenghiz Khan, 188 ;
mixture of Turk and
Ugrian, 185; their cha-
racter, 185; their habi-
tat, 185 ; their history,
185 ; their language,
188 ; their literature,
187 ; their manner of
life, 186 ; their num-
bers, 185 ; their occu-
pations, 187
Batu, grandson of Jen-
ghiz Khan, 51, 105
Batum, 200, 222
Bay at tribe, 205
Bazar Kalmuk on the
Volga, 111
Beal, translator of Chi-
nese pilgrims' travels,
224
Bear, 83 ; sacred among
Ostyaks, 55
BegdiUi, Turkish tribe in
Persia, 205
Belgrade, 131 ; captured
by Turks, 68 ; made a
first-class fortress, 68 ;
Turks expelled from
(1688), 70
Beltirs, Samoyed tribe, 84
Beowulf {a. d. 580), Anglo-
Saxon epic, 30
Bereket R., 189
Berezov, 54, 55, 85
Berezovsk district, 52
Berge, Adolf, Dichtungen
transka ukasischer Sanger,
227
Bergmann, Nomadische
Streifereien unter den
Kalmiicken, 113
Besarmen, corruption of
Turkish Musurman,
194
Bessarabia, 64, 67 ; origin
of the name 194
Beust, Austrian Chancel-
lor, 74
Bielozero, L., 37
Birar, Tungus tribe, 94
238
INDEX
Birger Yarl, 33
Biisk, 146
Biya R., 144, 145
Bizonfy, Hungarian lexi-
cographer, 78
BjorkO, 37
* Black caps ' : see Kara-
Kalpaks
Black death in Hungary
(1347-60, 1380-1), 67
Black Sea, 115, 122, 129.
131, 132, 195, 196
Blagovyeschensk, 94
Boats, Finno-Ugrian, 25 ;
burial in, 58
Bocskay, Stephen, 69
Bohtlingk, O., 135
Bokhara, country. 13, 97,
126, 138, 140, 169, 171,
173, 175-8, 180, 181,
conquered by Hiung-
nu, 124 ; Khanate of :
see country ; town, 179,
183, 197, 226
Bokharans, 149
Bolgari on the Volga, 44,
188 ; trade with Ara-
bia, Armenia, Bokhara,
Persia, 44
Bolshevists, 168
Bosnia, 68 ; (and Herze-
govina) annexed in
1908, 76; Turks ex-
pelled from, 70
Bosnians, 67
Bothnia, Gulf of, 30
Bows and arrows, 53, 55,
85,94, 96, 189
Braga (country beer), 36
* Bratsky work ', Buryat
silversmith work, 109
Brick tea, 107, 109, 137,
190, 196
Bronze period in W. Si-
beria, 89
Brusa, 216
Buda, captured by Turks
(1541), 69; Turks ex-
pelled from (1686), 70
Budantsar, 103
Budapest, 15, 75
Buddhism : among Bur-
yats, 110, East Central
Asian Turks, 151, Mon-
gols, 101, 106, 115,
Southern Tungus, 92,
Turanians, 15, Turks,
119; in East Turkestan,
120,158; Indian, among
Uigurs, 127 ; intro-
duced into China by
Indian missionaries, 23
among Buryats, 110 ;
Kalmuks, 111 ; Samo-
yeds, 83 ; of Tibet . in
Mongolia, 107
Buddhist influences, 140
Bgiie, tiber die Stellung des
Tungusischen, 99
Bukovina, 60, 64, 67
Bulgaria, 28. 48, 50, 67
Bulgarian, Empire, Old,
50, 139 ; Kingdom : see
Empire, Old
Bulgars, 18, 28, 44, 47,
I 51, 64, 65, 67, 182 ;
! Danube, 80 ; in Hun-
gary, 81 ; merged in
Slavs, 48 ; migration
of,48 ; to Balkan penin-
sula, 28 ; Old, 80 ; Sla-
vonized, 28 ; Volga, 18,
80
Bunsen, 14
Bureya R., 94
Burkhan (Buddha), 225
Bur-ut, Chinese and Mon-
gol name for Kara-Kir-
ghiz, 169
Bur- at: see Bur-yat
Bur-yat, 226
Buryat dialect, 83
Buryats, Mongolian tribe,
19, 91, 100, 106, 108,
113, 132, 135; crema-
tion among, 109 ; their
characteristics, 109,
government, 109, habi-
tat, 108, language, 110,
mode of life, 109,
occupations, 109, re-
ligion, 110. writing.
110
Butler, Hedges, Through
Lapland with Skis and
Reindeer, 43
Byarmaland, country of
Perm yaks, 44
Byzantine, architecture,
216; culture, 216 ; Em-
pire, 219, Turkish
hordes approaching,
128; Emperors, 221,
their relations with
Turkish Khans, 126 ;
forms of ' Osman ',
■' Turkmen ', 227 ; in-
fluence on Osmanli
Turks, 120, 217; wri-
ters, 80, 119
Byzantines, 117, 126, 172,
195
Byzantium, 123
Caldecott, Life of Baber,
226
Calvinists, 63
Cahun, Introduction a Vhis-
toire de VAsie, Turcs et
Mongols, 113
Cairo, 183
Camels for caravans in
Mongolia, 108
Canoes, burial in, 55
Caravans from China,
158
Carpathian Mts., 28, 59,
60, 62
Carruthers, Unknown Mon-
golia, 113
Caspian Sea, 111, 129,
132, 161, 165, 171-3,
195-7. 200, 203, 211.
220, 221
Castren (Finnish ethno-
logist and philologist),
16, 22, 34, 47, 89 ; Bur-
yat grammar and dic-
tionary, 114 ; Ethnolo-
gische Vorlesungen, 37,
"57, 58, 79, 80, 81, 88,
98, 99, 113, 114. 131,
181, 223, 224; Gram-
matik der samoyedischen
Sprache, 89 ; Grundzilge
einer tungusischen Sprach-
lehre, 99 ; Beise-erinner-
ungen, 98 ; Versuch einer
koibalischen und karagas-
sischen Sprachlehre, 89
Catholic Church, its de-
creasing power in Hun-
gary (12th c), 66
Caucasia, 227 ; total Tur-
kish population of,
200
Caucasians, 196, 199, 201,
207 ; Turkification of,
221
Caucasus, 132, 190, 195,
197-9, 200, 206, 223;
conquered by Timur,
130
Chakhar, tribe of Mon-
gols, 107
Chakir, 129
Chalhoub, Maurice, 34
Chapogir, Tungus tribe,
93
Chardash : see Csardas
Chatkal R., 168
Chaudors, 172
Cheleken I., 172
INDEX
239
Cherdin on the Kolva, 44
Cheremisses, 48, 49, 182,
184, 191, 194 ; adopt
Christianity, 49 ; sur-
vival among them of
Shamanistic cult, 49 ;
their habitat, 49 ; his-
• tory, 49-50 ; language,
28, 49 ; manner of life,
49 ; religion, 26
Chernovs, language, 140
Chicherin,r/ie State of Civi-
lization of the non-Russian
Tribes along the Volga,
185
China, 13, 137, 165, 169 ;
Sea, 103
Chinese, 15, 97, 121, 125,
127, 128, 151, 169 ; ac-
count of Turkish reli-
gion, 119; annalists,
124, 158 ; Annals, 123 ;
annex territory of Wes-
tern Turks, 126 ; Bud-
dhist culture, 139, pil-
grims, 225 ; chronicles,
101, 102, 122, 170;
civilization, 120 ; con-
quer East Turkestan,
159, Northern Turks,
127 ; culture, 97 ; Go-
vernment in East Turk-
estan, 155 ; hostility to
the, in East Turkestan,
157 ; immigrants in
Manchuria, 95 ; in-
fluence in'East Turkes-
tan, 153, 154 ; informa-
tion about, 96 ; invade
Dzungaria, 159 ; known
to Uigurs, 127 ; lan-
guage, 94 ; migration
into the Amur valley,
91 ; oppression, 152;
pilgrim (a.d. 399) on
the Uigurs, 127 ; pil-
grims, 158, to India,
120; sources on early
Turks, 124, 125 ; wri-
ters, 19, 119, 127, 160
' Chinese servitvide,' 127
ChirchikR.,176
Chlinow, 47
Chodsko, Specimens of the
Popular Poetry of Persia,
227
Cholmogor on the Dvina,
44
Christian writers, early,
19
Christianity : among Al-
taic Turks, 138; Bur-
yats, 110 ; Central Si-
berian Turks, 138, 139 ;
Chuvashes, 193; Ku-
mandins, 145 ; Mesh-
chers, 193 ; Mongols,
106; Shors, 146; Te-
leuts,146;Tepters,194;
Turanians, 15 ; Turks,
119; Volga Turks, 183;
favoured by Kuyuk
Khan, 104 ; introduced
among Finns, 27
ChuR., 168, 169,230,232
Chudes, 37
Chukchee Peninsula, 90
Chulim R., 148
Chulishman R., 141
Chum, conical Samoyed
tent, 85
Church Slav alphabet, 46
Chuvash language, 47, 48,
49, 80
Chuvashes, 50, 184, 187,
188, 191, 194, 199, 203,
224 ; marriage customs
among, 192 ; mixture
of Finns with Turks,
50 ; their character,
192 ; chai^acteristics,
50 ; customs, 192 ; ha-
bits, 50 ; history, 192 ;
numbers, 50 ; occupa-
tions, 50; religion, 50,
192 ; under Bulgars,
Mongols, Turks, 192
Chy-Goey, name of a
tribe, 96, 97
Cilicia, 221
Circassians, 195, 199, 213,
218,223; intheCrimea,
201
Cis-Caucasia, 197
Codex Cumanus (1303),
199
Coloman : see Koloman
Compromise {Ausgleich),
Austro -Hungarian
(1867), 74, 75
Constantinople, 65, 117,
118, 155, 183, 217, 222,
226 ; taken (1453), 131
Constantinus Porphyro-
genitus, Byzantine Em-
peror, writes about
Turks (940), 128
Corinth, 131
Cossack (Kazak or Kozak
in Russian), 225 ; regi-
ment, 189 ; settlement
on the Irtish, 56
Cossacks, 57, 91, 134, 135 ;
Don, 111 ; Terek, 194
County system estab-
lished in Hungary, 66
Cow, sacredness of, 12
Crimea, 115, 186, 195,
196, 201, 220
Crimean Mts., 201 ; War,
204, 215
' Crimean Tatars,' 201
Croatia, 67, 73 ; con-
quered by Magyars, 66;
disturbances in, 77
Croatia-Slavonia. 60, 63
Croats, 59, 60, 63, 65, 72 ;
declare war on Hun-
gary, 72
Crusades, 121
Csardas, national dance
of Hungary, 61, 203
Curtis, Turkestan, the heart
of Asia, 168
Curzon, Persia and the Per-
sian Question, 211
Cyrus the Great, 13
Czaplicka, 81 ; Aboriginal
Siberia, 98, 114, 224,
226 ; Ostyaks, 57
Czechs, 68, 69, 73
Czuczor and Forgasi,
Hungarian dictionary,
78
Dacia, 28
Dago I., 38
Daghestan, 194, 196-200
Datlas, lexicographer,
78
Dalmatia, 67
Dalmatian coast, 66
Danube R., 28,48,59,60,
67, 203, 220
Darius I., 12, 22
Darmesteter, 22
Daurians, Tungus tribe,
94 ; mixed with Mon-
gols and Chinese, 95
De Castries Bay, 98
De Guignes, Allgemeine
Geschichte cler Hunnen
und TiXrken, 224 ; His-
toire generate des Huns,
des Turcs, des Mongols,
102, 114
Deak, 73 ; Hungarian
Liberals under (1848),
72
Degouy, Admiral, Sur la
Cote Mourmane, 43
Dehistau, 129
Derbend, 197
Diary of a German Agent,
228
240
INDEX
Dichun R., 94
Dnieper R., 28, 37, 103,
105, 198, 205 ; steppes,
67, 129
d'Ohsson : see Ohsson
Dombra, Ostyak stringed
instrument, 54
Don R., 29, 100, 111, 115,
195, 198 ; Steppes, 129
Donner, his Comparative
DictionaryoftheFinno-
Ugrian languages, 35 ;
Lieder der Lappen, 43
* Dorbon Oirad ' : see ' Four
related Tribes ' of Kal-
muks
Dorbot (Dorbot), Kalmuk
tribe, 111, 112, 113
Dorpat, 38
Drage, Austria-Hungary,
78, 81 ; The Problem of
Hungary, 78
Drave R , 72
Diiben, Gustav von, Om
Lappland och Lapparne,
43
Dubo, Samoyed tribe,
88
Dii-bo ( = Tuba), 224
Dungans, Chinese Mos-
lems. 151, 157, 160
Dvina R., 44
Dydus {Divas), ' sky ', 79
Dzungaria, 97, 100, 110-
12, 126, 130, 150, 151,
158 ; conquered by Ti-
mur, 130
Dzungarian, Empire de-
stroyed by Chinese,
141 ; oppression, 152
Dzungarians, 160
Dzungars, Kalmuk tribe,
111, 113
E
Eclipses in Siberian
Turkish, 145, in old
Indian mythology, 224
Egypt, 115,221
Elbruz, Mt., 199
Elizavetpol, 200, 227
Emba R., 112, 126, 189
Emigration, political ef-
fect of, in Hungary, 60
Enare, L., 39
Encyclopaedia Britannica,
(11th ed.), 79, 80, 226,
227
Endogamous marriage,
among Tungus, 92 ;
Yakuts, 92, 134
English, 16; -Hungarian
dictionaries, 78
Engiirii : see Angora
Eraj : see Airya, son of
Thraetaona
Eric, IX, King of Sweden,
32 ; Edmundsson, Swe-
dish king, 36
Erivan, 200, 227
Ersans, Mordvin tiibe,
48
Ersaris, 173
Er-tograul, 220
Eski Tiirk, name of Kizil-
Bash Turks, 215
Est or Ehst (Esthonians),
38
Esthonia, 37
Esthonians, 37; language
of, 38
European travellers, 160
Exogamous marriage, a-
mong Tungus, 91, Tu-
ranian tribes, 21, Ya-
kuts, 134
Farrar, 14, 22
Fars, 205, 206
'■ February manifesto ' of
1899, 33
Fenni, Finns, 28
Feodor Ivanovich, Rus-
sian Czar, 47
Ferdinand I, Hapsburg
Emperor (1835-48) , 72 ;
abdicates (1848), 73
Ferghana, 126, 169, 170,
174-7
Fester, Geographische Gha-
rakterbilder aus der Krim,
204
Filmans (Finmans), 40
Finland, 27, 28 ; as Grand-
Duchy, 30, 33 ; ceded
to Russia, 27 ; con-
quered by Sweden, 33 ;
Diet of, 33 ; Gulf of, 30,
34,37; habitat of Finns,
30 ; national strike in,
33; recently declared j
a constitutional mon-
archy, 30 ; total popu-
lation of, 79 ; Western,
34
Finmark, 30, 39
Finna Land, 30
Finner (Finnar), old Norse
name for Finns, 30
Finner (Lapps), 39
Finnic branch of Tura-
nians, 16
Finnish, group, 24 ; lan-
guage, 30, 63, 86, in-
fluenced by Scandina-
vian, 30, Turanian, 30,
vowel harmony in, 24,
30 ; literature, 31 ;
place-names in North-
ern and Central Russia,
28 ; tribes, absorbed by
Russians, 29, now lost,
29
Finno-Ugrian, division,
16, 24, 122 ; influence,
162 ; religion, main fea-
tures of, 26 ; tribes in
contact withTeutons,29
Finno-Ugrians, 21, 22;
characteristics and civi-
lization of, 25 ; in con-
tact with Iranians, Let-
to-Lithuanians, Scan-
dinavians, 27 ; their
language,24, total num-
ber, 24
Finns, 17, 18, 20, 24, 26,
222; adopt Lutheran
Protestanism, 32 ; Bul-
garian : see Finns, Vol-
ga ; characteristics of,
31; Christianizationof,
32 ; civilization of, 29,
31 ; early religion of,
26, 32; Eastern, 191,
(Kama), habitat of, 43 ;
emigrants in America,
30 ; have adopted Eu-
ropean civilization, 25 ;
history of, 30 ; in Fin-
land, number of, 30 ;
in Norway, Russia,
Sweden, 30 ; Karelian,
43 ; migration into Fin-
l^ind, 30 ; migrations
of, 27 ; of to-day, coun-
try life of, 32 ; struggle
with Swedes, 27; their
name, 28; their total
number, 23, 24, 30;
Volga, 47 ; Western or
Baltic, 30
Firdusi, Persian poet, 12,
13, 161 ; his division
of the earth, 13
Firedhun : see Thraetaona
Fire-worship, 181
Fischer, Geschichte Sibi-
riens, 98
Fiume, 73
Forsyth, 151 ; Report of a
Mission to Yarkand, 225
INDEX
241
Forty-nine Banners,
Mongol military divi-
sion, 107
* Four related Tribes ' of
Kalmuks. 112
Francis I, Hapsburg Em-
peror (1792-1835), 71
Francis Ferdinand, Arch-
duke, murdered at Sa-
rajevo, capital of Bos-
nia, 77
Francis Joseph becomes
Emperor (1848), 73
Franco-German War of
1870, 74
Frankish Empire, 66
Frazer, Sir James, 14
French Revolution, 71
Friis, Lappish Mythology,
43
Fryana, the Turanian, 12
Funeral custom, primi-
tive, 99
Gabelentz, von der, 114
Gabor Baross, Hungary's
greatest finance minis-
ter, 74
Galchas (Aryan), 169, 225,
226
Galdan, a chief, 113
Galicia, 60
Galicians, 73
Georgia, 105
Georgians, 213
Gering, TJeher Weissagung
und Zauber im nordischen
Altertum, 79
German, democrats sup-
port Magyars, 72 ; in-
trigues in Persia, 228 ;
officers at Tashkent,
Tehran, 228 ; propa-
ganda among Kirghiz
Turks, 228, in Persia,
228 ; revolutionaries in
Vienna, 73
Germans, 59, 60, 68, 69,
73, 220; in Hungary,
63 ; in the Crimea, 201
Germany, 65 ; and Rus-
sia, treaty between, 222
Ghaznevids, dynasty of,
at Ghazni, 128, 215
Ghazni, 126, 130 ; Turk-
ish dynasty of, 129
Ghuz, Arabic collective
name for nomad Turks,
129 ; meant Turkmens,
172 ; Turkish tribal
name, 128
TURANIANS
Ghuz tribes, 130, 132
Gilyak, name of a tribe,
98
Gipsies in Hungary, 81
Girgei, Hungarian leader
(1849), 73
Gobi Desert,106, 107, 110,
150
Goes, Benedict, 158
GOklens, 172.
Gok-tepe, 173
Golden Bull of Andrew III
(Magna Charta of Hun-
gary), 63, 66
Goldi tribe, 97, 98
Gonnard, La Hongrie an
xx^ Steele, 78
Goose, sacred bird among
Ostyaks, 55
Gorin R., 94
Gospels, translated into
Hungarian, 64 ; Lap-
pish, 41 ; Zirian, 46
Goths [Vvdojvfs), 28^ 29.
Graeco - Byzantine in-
fluence, 217 ; -Slavonic
elements among Os-
manli Turks, 219
Graham, Siephen,Through
Russian Central Asia,
168
Great Bulgaria on the
Volga, 28
Great Wall of China, 104,
107, 124, 156
Greek : Christian neo-
phytes, 216 ; language,
216; Orthodox Church.
36, 37, 42. 44, 45-7, 51,
55, 56, 63, 84, 92, 147,
! 193 ; towns, Turkifica-
! tion of their names, 221
: Greeks, 213, 218,221,223;
in Hungary, 81 ; in the
Crimea, 201 ; Turkifi-
1 cation of, 221 ; Turk-
ish-speaking, 118
Grenard, La legende de Sa-
iok Boghra Khan et I'his-
toire, 224
Grey, Sir E., 77
Grodno, 181, 227
H
i Haarfagar, Harold, 36
I Hackmann, 29; Die alter e
I Eisenzeit in Finnland, 79
j Hafiz, Persian poet, 208
Ha lis in East Turkestan,
, 153
I Hamadan, 205, 206, 207
Q
Hami: see Kumul
Hanseatic towns, trade
of, 37
Hapsburg, dynasty, Ger-
manizing influence of,
64 ; Emperor, 69 ; Mon-
archy, 74
Hapsburgs, 70 ; their hos-
tility to the Magyars,
69
Hartmann,151; CTttwestscft-
Turkestan, 225
Hazaras in Afghanistan,
114; total number of,
23
Hazava, native name of
Samoyeds, 84
Heathen rites, survival
of, among Lapps, 42
Hedin, Sven, 119, 151;
Central Asia and Tibet,
160 ; Scientific Results of
a Journey in Central Asia,
160 ; Through Asia, 160
Hellespont, 67
Helmand R., 114
Hentig, Werner Otto
von, German emissary,
169
Herberstein (1486-1566),
48, 161
Hermanarik, King of the
Goths, 29, 48, 49
Hermannstadt, 131
Herodotus, 13
Hickisch, Die Tungusen, 98
Hindu Kush, 114
Hindus, 151
Hiung-nu, Empire, 117 ;
nomad tribe, 124, 125 ;
people, once inhabited
Mongolia, 102
Holderness, Journey to the
Crimea, 204
Holland Rose, German Tu-
ranian Sci
Hongrie, 59
Honved recruits, 77
Horde, Astrakhan, 195;
Crimean, 195 ; Golden,
166, 167, 177, 182, 195 ;
Great, 165, 189 ; Inner,
165 ; Jagatai, 167 : Ju-
ji, 167; Little, 'l65 ;
Middle, 165
Hordes, three, 165
Hosie, Manchuria, 97
House, primitive form of,
25
Howorth, History of the
Mongols, 113, 114, 204,
227
242
INDEX
Hsiian Tsang (Yiiaii
Chwang), 120, 126
Hu, kind of wood, 96
Hulagu, 104
Hulnie, his definition of
the Turanian area, 14
Hunfalvy, Die Vblker des
Urals, 58 ; Vogul gram-
mar and dictionary, 58
Hungaria, 59
Hungarian: Academy, 64;
admixture with Slavs,
61 ; Bank, question of
a separate (1909), 76;
Compromise (Ausgleich)
with Austria, 63 ; Con-
stitution analogous to
that of Great Britain,
62 ; Diet in 1832, 71 ;
Franchise Keform Bill
passed, 77 ; immigra-
tion alters history of
Europe, 65; language,
63 ; accent in, 63 ; es-
sentially Turanian, 64 ;
vowel harmony in, 24 ;
liberals under Kossuth
(1843% 72 ; literature,
64 ; national flag, 75 ;
' National Party of
Work,' 76; Social De-
mocrats, 76 ; steppes,
203
Hungarians, 17, 18, 20,
24, 46,51,58,196,220;
as allies of the Turks,
77 ; have adopted Euro-
pean civilization, 25 ;
migrations of, 27, 28 ;
on Middle Danube, 24 ;
their characteristics,
61 ; habitat, 58 ; occu-
pations, 61 ; total num-
bers, 24, 59; Turanian
type among, 61
Hungary, 123, 131, 203 ;
Catholicized (1601-65),
70 ; commerce of, 62 ;
delivered from Turks,
70 ; emigration from,
60 ; exports from, 62 ;
foreign immigration
into, 65 ; German colo-
nies in, 61 ; history
of, 64 ; imports of, 62 ;
industries of, 62 ; its
government, 62 ; king-
dom of, 17, 58, 59, 61 ;
made greatest Power
in Central Europe, 68 ;
pagan risings in, 66 ;
partition of, annexed
to Turkish Empire, 69 ;
plains of, 59, 115 ; pre-
eminently agricultu-
ral, 61 ; racial prob-
lem of, 60 ; religion of,
63 ; subject races in,
72 ; terrible peasant
rising in (1514), 68
Huns, 132, 224; identi-
cal with Hiung-nu, 125
Hunyadi, John, 64, 131 ;
in conflict with Turks
(1442-54), 68
Hyakinth, 102
Ibn Dasta, Arab writer,
129
Ibn Fozlan, Arab writer,
47, 129, 188
Iconia, 130
Idols among the Ostvaks,
55
Il-khan, tribal chief, 125,
210
II -khans, Persian dy-
nasty, 104, 205
Hi (Kulja), 110, 113, 127,
150, 151, 160, 161 ; R.,
123, 157, 159, 160, 189
Iliats, Turkish nomads
called, 209
Ilmen, L., 37
Imamlu, Turkish tribe in
Persia, 209
In Shan range, 124
India, 115, 157, 158, 184.
225, 228 ; north-west
of, conquered (1001),
129 ; Northern, con-
quered by Timur, 105.
130
Indian : civilization, 120 ;
Empire, 222 ; script,
158, influence on Mon-
golian, 102
Indians, 217
Indo- Aryans, 12
Indo-European family,
its eight branches, 22 ;
languages, 63, 87
Indus R., 124
Ingria, 34, 37
Irak, 130, 205, 206, 208
Iran, 12,13,123,157, 198;
frontier of, 123; legends
of, 123 ; and Turan,
blood feud between, 13
Iranian, elements in
Siberian Turkish my-
thology,140; influence,
162 ; meichants, 175 ;
i Moslem civilization,
179 ; myths, 181 ;
population, 199
Iranians, 120, 174, 175,
I 207 ; a settled people,
j 12 ; and nomad Tnra-
I nians, hostilities be-
I tween, 12 ; and Tura-
i nians, boundary dis-
putes between, 13, hos-
j tility between, 13
I Irkutsk, 90, 100
I Irredentism, Turkish. 11
Irtish R., 29, 51, 52, 57,
122, 133, 139, 148, 161,
165, 195
Isfahan, 205
Ishim R., 139, 165
Ishma R., 45
Islam, among Kumuks,
199, Mongols, 106, Si-
berian Turks. 139-41,
Uzbegs, 179, 180, Volga
Turks, 182 ; its dena-
tionalizing tendency,
218, 220, its unifying
power, 220
Issik-kul, L., 123, 126,
127, 128, 159, 165, 168,
I 225, 230, 233, 234
I Issyk-Kulsk : see Issik-
kul, L.
\ Italians, 220 ; in Hun-
! gary, 81
Italy, 65
Ivan the Terrible (1530-
84), 140, 183, 188 ■
Ivan Vassilyevich , 51
Jackson, The great frozen
land across the Tundras
and among the Samoueds,
88.
Jagatai, son of Jenghiz
Khan, 105, 130 ; Turk-
ish dialect. 116. 140,
151, 180
Janbeglu. Turkish tribe
in Persia, 209
Japan, Sea of, 14
Jaroslav Svyatoslavich ,
Prince of Moscow, 49
Jenghiz Khan (1162-
1227% 11, 51, 101, 103.
108, 114, 132, 158, 166,
167,180,182,219; con-
quers Turkestan ( 1220%.
158 ; his hordes largely
INDEX
243
Turkish, 130 ; Ids suc-
cessors, their respect
for Uigurs, 128
Jerusalem, 104
Jesuits, aim at extirpa-
tion of Protestantism
in Hungary, 69
Jesukai, 103
Jews, 223 ; in Hungary,
63, 81
Jihoun R. (Oxus), 13, 105
Jordanes, Teutonic wri-
ter, 47-9, 122 ; Getae,79
Joseph II (1780-90), Em-
peror of Austria, 71
Journey of tJie Eighty Club
to Hungary in 1906, the,
78
Juji, son of Jenghiz Khan.
166, 167
Jiis (hundred), 165
Justin II, Byzantine Em-
peror, 117, 119, 125,
169
K
Kabaks,a Ghuz tribe, 129
Kabul, 129. 157
Kachins, 147, 148
Kaisari, 212
Kajars, Turkish tribe in
Persia, 205, 206, 209
Kalevala, Finnish epic, 26,
35
Kalim, price paid for the
bride, 54, 144, 190, 194,
203, 218
Kalmuk, confederation,
159 ; khans, 159 ; raids.
148 ; type, 190
Kalmuks, 100, 106, 110.
162, 164, 173, 189, 190,
195, 196, 224 ; Altaian,
141 ; Black or moun-
tain, 111 ; Dzungarian,
162 ; European, 110 ;
migrate toRussia(l 703) ,
113 ; Mongol, 189 ;
steppe of the, 192; their
characteristics, 111, go-
vernment, 111, habitat,
110, history, 112, lan-
guage, 112, literature,
112, name. 111, reli-
gion, 111, total num-
ber, 110, writing, 112 ;
Volga, 162 ; White : see
Telenget
Kaluga, government of,
34
Kam, Turkish name of
Shaman, 19, 20, 139
Kama K., 44-7, 49. 182,
185
Kamassins (Samoyed
tribe), 84, 87 ; Turki-
fied, 88
Kamchatka, 90
Kan R., 87
Kandahar, 129
Kandalaksha Bay (White
Sea), 35
Kansk, district of, 84
Kansu, province of, 110,
150, 156
Kapagan Khagan, Turk-
ish chief (691-716), 127
Kara tribe, 205
Kara-agach, native name
of Kundurs, 189
Kara-Kalpaks, 170, 172,
178 ; their character-
istics, habitat, history,
manner of life, name,
170
Kara-Khoja, 224
Kara-Kirghiz, 150, 160,
161, 163, 166, 168, 175,
232,234; rising of , 169 ;
their government, 170,
habitat, 168, history,
170, language, 140,
name, 169, numbers,
225, occupations, 169 ;
two main branches, 169
Kara-Kitais, 130
Kara-Nogaians, 196, 198
Karabagh, 205, 209
Karabugas Bay, 172
Karachai, a Turkish tribe,
199, 200 ; their lan-
guage, numbers, occu-
pations and customs,
199
Karagasses, a Samoyed
tribe, 84 ; their num-
bers, 149
Karahissar, 215
Karakoram range, 150.
157, 168
Karakorum, Mongolian
capital, 103, 104
Karakoyunlus, Turkish
tribe in Persia, 206
Karaman, 218
Karashar, 156, 225
Karateghin, 126
Karelia, Swedish inva-
sion of, 36
Karelians (subdivision
of Finns), 30; their
characteristics, 35,
dwellings and food, 35,
history, 36, language,
Q 2
34, occupations, 35, re-
ligion, 36, total num-
ber, 34
Karlowitz, Peace of (1699),
70
Kars, 200, 213, 222
Karsten, Finnisch- Ugrische
Forschungen, 79
Kasai. Turkisli tribe, 195
Kashgar, 97, 128, 130,
152, 154-7, 159, 225;
to India, caravan route
from, 157
Kashgaria, 155
Ivashkais, Turkish tribe
in Persia, 205, 206, 207,
209, 210, 227
Kashmir, 152
Kastamuni, 213
Katharine II (1762-96),
Russian Empress, 54,
189
Katun R., 141, 144, 145,
146
Kazak, clans, 163 ; lan-
guage, 141, 161 ; raids,
148
Kazak, 225 ; and Cossack,
225.
Kazak-Kirghiz : see Ka-
zaks
Kazaks, 19, 118, 123, 125,
129, 147, 160, 161, 169,
170, 171, 174-6, 211,
224 ; called Kirghiz by
Russians, 161 ; their
character and habits,
162, clothing, 164,
dwellings, 164, exports
of felt, carpets, &c., 165,
food, 164, habitat, 161,
history, 166, number,
161, occujiations, 164,
organization, 166, ra-
cial affinities, 162, re-
ligion, 166 ; to be dis-
tinguished from Cos-
sacks, 161
Kazan, city, 44, 171, 181-
3 ; dialect, 187 ; govern-
ment of, 48, 132, 140,
181, 193; Khanate of,
50, 182 ; Moslems not
influenced by Russian
culture, 184 ; mosques
in, 183 ; Oriental press
at, 184
Kazan (kettle), 218
Kazvin, 206
Kenger, a tribe, 205
Keremet (evil spirits), 194
Keresh, 183, 184
244
INDEX
Kerki, 174
Kerulen R., 103
Khalif Muktedir Billah,
188
Khalimak, Tatar form of
Kalmuk, 111
Khalkas, Mongolian tribe,
106, 108, 114
Khamseh, Persian pro-
vince, 205, 208, 209
Khanates, Central Asian,
177, 180
Khans, 210
Khatanga R., 82, 132, 133
Khazar, steppe, 220 ;
Turkish tribal name,
64, 128
Kherkis ( = Kirghiz), 169
Khese, Samoyed idol, 86
Khingan Mts., 93
Khitan, dynasty, 97, 103 ;
Empire, 97 ; name of a
tribe, 97
Khiva, country, 140, 171,
172, 176. 178, 180. 181,
226; Khanate of: see
countrv ; Khans of, 130 ;
town, i77, 179, 197, 211
Khoi, 206
Khoja-ali, a Turkish tribe
in Persia, 205, 209
Khojent, 174
Khokand, country, 152,
168, 170, 175, 180, 181 ;
Khanate of: see countrv;
town, 176, 178
Khorasan. Persian pro-
vince, 126, 130, 205. 206,
211
Khoshoutovka, 189
Khotan, 13, 120, 130, 152,
157, 225 ; its antiquity,
124
Khotan (townsmen). 150.
Khulm, 126, 177
Khwaja Salar, 174
Khwarizm : see Khiva
(country)
Khwarizm Shahs, 130
Kile, a Tungus tribe, 94,97
Kin dynasty, 97, 103
Kins, 130
Kipchaks, 165, 167. 175,
182 ; conquered by Ti-
mur, 130
Kirai, aKazak tribe, 165
Kirby, Esfhom'a,\S8
Kirghiz (Kazaks), 126
Kirghiz (tribe), 84. 113,
137, 138, 147, 148, 150,
151, 156. 177, 178, 180,
186,189,190,195-7,209,
218,230,231; number of,
in Russian Turkestan,
225, in Siberia, 149. in
steppe country, 225 ;
steppe, 112, 126, 137,
189 ; total number of,
in Asiatic Russia, 225,
226
Kirghiz-Kipchaks, 175
Kirin, 95
Kirman,130,165,205,206
Kizil-Bash, 215
Klaproth, 102 ; Memoires
relatifs a VAsie. 114
Knatchbull - Hugessen,
The Political Evolution of
the Hungarian Nation, 78,
81
KobdoR., 83, 110, 111
Koibals, Samoyed tribe,
84, 88, 224
•Koko' CBlack) Mongol,
103
Koko-nor range, 110
Kola Peninsula, 39, 40
Kolima, district, 93 ; R.,
132, 134
Kollonich, Primate of
Hungary. 70
Koloman, King of Hun-
gary, 66
Komi-mort or ' Kama peo-
ple ' (Finns), 44 ; (Ziri-
ans), 45
KondaR.,52, 55, 57,58
Kondema R., 146
Kongrat, a K!azak tribe,
165
Konia, 212, 213, 216;
capital of Sultanate of
Asia Minor, 130
Koppen, 80
Korea, 90
Koroglu, Turkish epic
poet, 211
Koshod. a Kalmuk tribe,
111, 112, 113
Kossogol, L., 83
Kossovo, Hungarians de-
feated at, 131
Kossuth, Louis, 72, 73 ;
elected President of the
Hungarian Republic,73;
Repatriation Bill, 75
Kostenko, 176
Kostroma, Government
of, 49
Kovno, 227
Kozhva, 85
Kraft, J trarcrs leTvrheMan
russe, 168
Krasnoyarsk, 190
Krim, Turkish name of
Cri.nea, 202
Kuban R., 195, 199
Kubinsk, L., 37
Kublai Khan, 104
Kucha, 152, 156, 225
Kuchan, 205, 206
Kudai, good divinity (Ka-
zak), 166 ; images of
gods (Altaian), 144
Kudai Bai tjlgon, name
of the Creator among
Kumandins, 146
Kuclatku Bilik,eav\ieHt pro-
duct of Turkish litera-
ture (a.d. 1070), 20, 117,
128, 140, 151, 154, 158,
175, 215, 225
Kuen-lun range, 149
Kuhn, A., Das Gebiet Fer-
ghana, 176
Kulja : see Hi
Kum, 206 ; Mts., 159
Kuma R., Ill, 194, 200;
steppe, 199
Kumandi Kishi : see Ku-
mandins
Kumandins, a Turkish
tribe, 136, 138, 145
Kumanians, 66, 132
Kumiss (fermented mare's
milk), 107, 125,134,137.
142, 163, 164, 181, 186,
190, 196
Kumuks, 197, 200 ; their
charactei'istics, mode
of life, numbers, racial
affinity, 198
Kumul i^Hami), 123, '150,
156
Kundurs, 189, 196 ; their
clans, 190. food and
drink, 190, habitat,
189, language, 190,
marriage customs, 190,
mode of life, 189, re-
ligion, 191
Kunduz, 177
Kur R., 94
Kura R., 198
Kuramas, 176
Kuran, 157, 166, 187,204,
217 ; in Polish and Rus-
sian translations, 227
Kurban, 183
Kurdish basis of Arme-
nian Turks, 213
Kurdistan. 205, 206
Kurds, 173, 207,213.223;
Turkification of, 221
Kurgan, 137
Kurland (Courland), 38
INDEX
245
Kuropatkin, 151 ; Kash-
garia, 160
Kutais, 200
Kutluk, Turkish chief,
127
Kuyuk, son of Ogotai,
103
Kuznetsk, 146, 193
Kven, Swedish name of
Finns. 36, 79
Kyzyls. 148
Laba R., 195
Ladoga, L., 34; R., 37
Ladislaus, King of Hun-
gary, 66
Lamas, 102, 110 ; number
of, in Mongolia, 107
Lamuts, Tungus tribe,
93
Lapari (Lapps), 39
Laphmd, 36, 39
Lapp language, 16, 41
Lapper (Lapps), 39
Lappish, accent, 63 ; popu-
lar tales and songs, 41
Lappmark, 39, 42
Lapps, 37, 39, 58 ; classes
of, 39 ; first Turanians
in Europe, 43 ; in Fin-
land, 39, 40, Norway,
39, Russia, 39, 40,
Sweden, 39 ; kingship
of, 79; Murman, 40;
Terian, 40; their cha-
racteristics, 41, iiabitat,
39, history, 32, 43,
literature, 41, names,
39, relation to Finns,
29, religion, 26, 42,
total number, 40 ; Tu-
ranian type among, 42
Later Han Dynasty
(a.d. 25-220), 158
Latin, as a literary ve-
hicle in Hungary, 64 ;
official language of
Hungary (eighteenth
century), 71
Le Bruyn, HistorischeNach-
richten von den Samo-
yeden, 88
Le Coq, 119
Le Kouhistan, le Ferghana
el Koiddja, 226
Lebed R., 145, 146
Leh, 168
Lehrberg, Untersuchiingen
zur ErUiutet-ung der
dltern Geschichte Buss-
lands, 80
LenaR., 90,93, 117, 131,
132, 135
Leopold I, Hapsburg Em-
peror (1657-1705), 70
Leopold II, Hapsburg
Emperor (1790-2), 71
Lettic, 38
Letts, 38
Liao R., 95
Lithuania, 28, 181 1
Livland (Livonia), 38 j
Livonia, 38 j
Livonians, 38 |
' Long Peace ' : see Adria-
nople, truce of
Lonnrot, Elias, editor of
the Kalevala, 26 ; his
Finnish-Swedish Dic-
tionary, 35
Lop, 123
Lop-nor, 122, 127
Louis, King of Hungary,
67
Lovat R., 37
Lozva R., 57, 58
Lutheran, creed, 40 ;
Protestants, 36
Lutherans in Hungary,
63
M
Md mes (Esthonians), 38
Magic, 19, 29
Magnates, House of, in
Hungary, 63
Magyar, becomes official
language of Hungary,
72; domination, 76;
nationalism, 75; philo-
logists, 78 ; students
in foreign universities,
68 ; supremacy based
on narrow franchise,
63 ; sympathy with
Turks, 78
' Magyar ', better ethno-
logical term than
' Hungarian ', 53
Magyar-Austrian Dual-
ism, 72
Magyaristan, Turkish
name of Hungary, 59 j8l
Magyarization, 60 ; of
Hungarian regiments,
76
Magyarorszdg ('land of the
Magyars '), 59
Magyars, 14, 17, 129, 185,
187, 202, 203; de-
feated (955), 65 ; in
the Crimea, 201 ; mi-
grations of, 64 ; ravage
Bavaria, Burgundy,
Lotharingia, Swabia,
Thuringia, 65 ; their
anti-Russian ardour,
74, devastations, 65,two
political parties since
1867, 74
Mahmud of Ghaznl, 224
Mahmudlu, Turkisl> tribe
in Persia, 209
Mai-fere, corruption of
Maitreya, 140 ♦
Maimana, 177
Makheva, 45
Malatia, 213
Malik Shah, 129
Mammoth fossil, 134
Man R., 57
Manchu, alphabet, 96,
224 ; dynasty (1644),
97, in China, 96 ; lan-
guage, 16, 94, 96 ; type,
93
Manchuria, 94, 97, 107 ;
original home of Tun-
gus, 92 ; population of,
99
Manchurian division of
Tungus, 94
Manchus (Tungus tribe),
17, ]9, 92, 95, 97, 101 ;
in China, 90 ; origin of
name, 96 ; their ^total
numbers, 23, 95
Mandy-shireh, cori-uption
of Mafiju^ri, 140
Manegir, Tungus tribe, 93
Mang-yu, Chinese name
of Mongols, 101
Mangishlak Peninsula,
173
Mangu, chief Khan, 104
ManichR., Ill
Manichaeanism, among
Uigurs, 127 ; in East
Turkestan, 120
Mans, indigenous^ name
of Ostyaks, 52
Mansi, common name of
Ostyaks and Voguls,
57
Manuel II, Byzantine
Emperor, 131
Manzikert, Byzantines
defeated at (1071), 129,
213
Mara ' men ', 49
Maragha, 209
Marash, 214
' March Laws,' 72
Marco Polo, 212
246
INDEX
Maria Theresa, 71
Marmora, Sea of, 212
Mas'udi, Arab writer
(943-8), 129, 172
Massagetae, 13
Matthias, King of Hun-
gary (1485), 68
Mavor, From the Baltic to
the Caspian, 185
Maydeil. Reisen und For-
schungen im Yakutskischen
Gebiet in Osisibirien, 135
Mayers, , TAe Chinese Go-
vernment, 113
Mazanclaran, 209
Meakin, In Russian Turk-
estan, 168
Mecca, pilgrimages to,
166, 181
Medes, Iranian tribe, 12
Mediaeval writers, 19
Medina, 183
Mediterranean, Eastern,
14, 115
Menander Protector, frag-
ments of, 126, 223
Merdas or Merdiias (sub-
division of Mordvins),
48
Merv, 126 ; oasis, 173 ;
Eussian occupation of
(1883), 171
Meshchers, a tribe, 193
Mesopotamia, 115
Meyer, Konversationslexi-
kon, 79, 81, 99, 114.
226
Mezen, district of, 82;
gulf of, 82
Middendorf, Reise in den
dusf,ersten Norden und
Osten Sibiriens, 88, 135
Middle Ages, 199
Mills, Prof., 21
Ming dynastv (1368-
1644), 105
Minsk, 227
Minusinsk, 84, 89, 147
Mirchond, 220 ; Historia
Seldschukidarum, 227
Missionaries, foreign, in
East Turkestan, 155
Moesia, 48
Moghan steppe, 206
Mogul Empire in India,
end of (1858), 105
Mogulistan, 150
Mohacz, Magyars defeated
by Turks at, 69
Mohammed, 138
Mohammed I (1413-2n.
130
Mohammed II (1451-81 \
131
Mohammedanism, among
Altaic Turks, 138, 139.
Baraba Turks, 148,
Bashkirs, 187, Chu-
vashes, 193, Kazaks,
166, Meshchers, 193,
Teleuts, 14Q, Tepters,
194, Turanians, 15,
Turks, 1 15, 120. Volga
Turks, 183, Ytiriiks,
214 ; in Chinese Turk-
estan, 151
Mohammedans, Cis-Cau-
casian, 199 ; of Kazan,
197
Mohl, 22
Mo-ho, a tribe, 96, 97, 101
Mokan Khan, 119
Mo-kho : see Mo-ho
Moksha R., 48
Mokshans, a Mordvin
tribe, 48
Moldavia, 64, 67, 194
Mollahs, 163, 179, 183,
184, 187, 197, 204 ; in
East Turkestan, 153,
155
Mongol, admixture, 177 ;
alphabet, 96, 224 ;
characteristics, 97, 101 ;
division, 100 ; Empire,
extent of, 104 ; hordes
of.JenghizKhan (1162-
1227), 116, 133; in-
vasion, 49, 116, 198,
226, of Persia, 211 ;
irruption, 123, 152, 158;
language, 63, 87, nearly
allied to Turkish, 102 ;
tribes, 150 ; type, 136,
141,152, 162; words in
Kazak language, 162 ;
writing, 102
Mongol Oirad, name of
Kalmuks, 111
Mongolia, 83, 97, 115 ;
Outer and Inner, 106 ;
subject to China, 101
Mongolic branch of Tu-
ranians, 16
Mongols, 16, 17, 21, 22,
50, 51, 89, 118, 128,
136, 137, 148, 150. 151,
156, 164, 169, 196, 222,
224 ; adopt foreign re-
ligions. 106 ; Baikal,
226 ; Eastern, their
characteristics, 107, ha-
bitat, 106, literature,
109, mode of life, 107,
number, 107, occupa-
tions, 108 ; Eastern
branch, 100, 106 ;
Khalka, 113 ; their
history, 102, name.
100, number, 100, ori-
ginal home, 100, three
branches, 100, total
number, 23 ; Volga,
111 ; West : see Kal-
muks
Moquin-Tandon, 22
Moravia, 60 ; Kingdom
of, 65
Mordens : sec Mordvins
Mordvins, 29,51,53,122.
182,184,194; subjected
by Russians, 49 ; their
dialects, habitat, his-
tory, 48, language, 28,
mode of life, names,
number, religion, 48
Mordwa : see Mordvins
Morea, 131
Moscow, 34, 56, 105 ;
Princes of, 44, 47, 48
Moslem : and Christian
civilization fused in
Osmanlis, 219 ; cul-
ture, 222 ; influence
on Siberian Turks,
139 ; Persian civiliza-
tion, 219; schools, 184 ;
tolerance, 158
Moslem - Asiatic world,
217
Moslems : see Mohamme-
danism
'Moslems,' native name
of Volga Turks, 181
Motars, Samoyed tribe,
84, 87
Moxel (subdivision of
Mordvins), 48
Mrass R., 146
Mu-ky : see Mo-ho
Miillenhof, Deutsche Alter-
ihumskunde, 79
Miiller, F., Der Ugrische
Volksstamm, 58, 80 ;
Grundziige der Sprach-
wissenschaft, 89 ; Unter
Tungusen und Yaknten,
98
Mviller, Max, his defini-
tion of Turania, 14
Mung-kus, Chinese name
of Mongols, 101
Munkaczy, his collec-
tion of Vogul popular
poetry, 58
Murad I (1319-89), 103
INDEX
247
Muiad II (1421-51), be-
sieged Constantinople
(1422), 131
Murghab K., 173
Musulman, corruption of,
194 ; native name of
Volga Turks, 181
N
Nadim R., 51
Nadir Shah, 215
Naiman, a Kazak tribe,
165
Napoleon, 71 ; Bashkirs
fight against, 189 ^
Narim R,, 169
Narinskoe, 156, 157
Natural phenomena, ear-
ly Turanian worship
of, 19
Negda, a Tungus tribe, 94
Neo-Turanian prayer, 224
Neolithic stage, early
Pinno-Ugiians still in,
27
Nerchinsk, 108
Neshri, an historian, 210
Nestor, Russian annalist
(eleventh century), 29,
37, 48, 49, 51. 87, 170,
172
Nestorian, Christianity,
119, 120, 151, among
Uigurs, 127; mission-
aries, 102, 118
ettle plant, garments
made of, 53, 58
Neumann, 102 ; Die Volker
des sudlichen Russlands,
223, 224
Neva R., 37
New ^Testament trans-
lated into Lappish, 41
Nibelungenlied, 155
Nicholas II, Czar of Rus-
sia, 33
Niedermayer, German In-
trigues in Persia, 229
Nish, a narcotic, 152
Nishapur, 205
Ni zhniNovgorod, Govern-
ment of, 48, 49, 181
Nizhni Udinsk, 108
Noah, 12
Nogai, great-grandson of
Jenghiz Khan, 195
Nogai Kumuks, 198
Nogaians, 123, 153, 186,
189, 190, 191, 194, 198,
200; their habitat, 194,
migrations, 195, to Asia
Minor, 215, name, 195,
immbers, 196, occupa-
tions, 196, religion, 197
Nomadism, among Bash-
kirs, 187, Birar, 94,
Central Siberian Turks,
136, Chuvashes, 182,
East Central Asian
Turks, 153, Finns, 31,
Lapps, 25, 39, 42, 79,
Iranian Turks, 208,
209, Kara-Kalpaks, 170,
Kara-Kirghiz. 169, Kal-
muks. 111, 113, Kazaks,
128, 161, 163, 164, 166,
Kipchaks, 175, Kun-
durs, 191, Magyars, 61,
66, Manegir, 93, Mon-
gols, 107, Nogaians, 195,
196, Oroch, 98, Oro-
chon, 93, Oroke. 94,
Osmanli Turks, 212,
Ostyaks, 25, Samoyeds,
85, Shors, 146, Solon,
95, Tungus, 91, Tura-
nians, 15, 20, Turk-
mens, 128, 171, 200,
Uzbegs, 79, Voguls, 25,
Yakuts, 134, Yiiriiks,
128 ; Turkish, 197
Nomads, of Asia Mi-
nor, 213 ; popular
poetry of Turkish, 180 ;
Turkish, 177
Nonni R., 94, 103
Nurbotten, 39
Nordland, 39
Noruz tribes on the Ku-
ban, 195
Norway, 30
Novgorod, annals, 52, 56 ;
governihent of, 30, 34,
36, 47, 51 ; mercantile
republic of, 44
Novgorodians, 88
Nutn, chief god of the
Samoyeds, 86
Nyavvisena, Lappish
story of, 41
Ob R., 45, 51, 52, 55-8,
82, 83, 86, 87, 122, 136,
148
Ob-Ugrians, 51
Obdorsk, 53, 54, 57, 82, 85
* October Diploma,' 73
Oesel L, 38
Ogeled,East Mongol name
for Kalmuks, 111
Oghuz (tribe), 221
Oghiiz Khan, 11, 171, 173
Ogota', son of Jeiighiz
Khan, 97, 103
Ohsson, Hiatoire des Mon-
gols, 113, 114
Oka R., 27, 48, 108
Okhotsk, Sea of, 93, 132
Olcha, Tungus tribe, 94,
97, 98
Oldoi R., 93
Olekma Valley, 93
Olekminsk, 93
Olonets, Government of,
30, 34, 37
Ol.'it (Eleuts), Tatar
name for Kalmuks, 111,
113
Om R., 148
Onega, L., 37, 43
Ong (* right '), 169
Onon R., 108
Or R., 112
Orda, grandson of Jenghiz
Khan, 105
Ordos, Mongol tribe, 114
Orenburg,Government of,
49, 50, 111, 181, 185,
193, 194
Orghoy, Ostyak name' of
Samoyeds, 84
Orkhon,inscriptions,127 ;
R., 118, 127
Orlov, Grammar of the
Mongol Buryat lan-
guage, 114
Ormuz, Ahura Mazda : see
Auharmazd
Oroch, Tungus tribe, 97,
98
Orochon, Tungus tribe, 93
Oroke, Tungus tribe, 94
Osh, 156, 175
Osman, 195, 220 ; civili-
zation, 216 ; dialect,
210
Osmanli, an imperial de-
signation of unity,213 ;
branch, 117 ; political
sense of the name, 177 ;
literary language, 216 ;
literature, 183; Sul-
tans, 221
Osmanlis : see Turks, Os-
manli
Osmans : see Turks, Os-
manli
Ostronmoflf, A geography
of the Turkestan countrif^
168
Ostyak, clans, 54 ; Sha-
man, drum of, 56 ;
tribes, 82
248
INDEX
Othman (died 1326), 103
Otranto, 65
Ostyaks, 51, 52, 140, 185 ;
in conHict with Samo-
yeds, 56 ; Russification
of, 57 ; subdued by
Russians, 57 ; their
civilization, 54, history,
56, language, 53, mode
of life, 53, name, 52,
numbers, 52, occupa-
tions, 53, religion, 26,
55 ; three great gods
of, 55 ; Turanian type
among, 53 ; Ugrian, 84,
87 ; Yenisei, 148
Ottoman, Empire, 204,
222, 223, centralization
of, 217. emigrations
into, 201 ; Navy, 131 ;
Turks : see Turks, Os-
manli
'Ottoman,' modification
of ' Othman ' (Arabic
for ' Osman '), 212
Oushtak (Tatar) : see Ost-
yaks
Ovoron, L., 94
Oxus, plains, 171 ; R., 12,
13, 116, 126, 130, 137,
169, 171, 173, 175, 176.
179-81
Oyat R., 87
Pacific 0., 90
Paganism among Tepters,
194
Palaeo-Siberians, 162
Palestine, 115
Pallas (18th c), 48;
writer on Russia, 83 ;
Eeise durch verschiedene
Provinzen des Russischen
Reichs, 88
Pamirs, 150, 159,161,168
Pan-Turanian, move-
ment, 11, 215, 223;
propaganda, 222
Panipat, battle of (1526),
105
Pannonia, 28
Parker, A Thousand Years
of the Tatars, 168, 224
Paropamisus range, 173,
206
Parrot, Liven, Ldtten, Esien,
38
Patkanoff, 81; The Geo-
graphical and Statistical
Description of the Tungvs
Tribes of Siberia, 98] Sta-
tistical Data for the Racial
Composition of the Popula-
tion of Siberia, 98, 99,
224
Patras, 131
Patriarchal, constitution
of Turkish nomads in
Persia, 210 ; govern-
ment among Finno-
Ugrians, 26 ; institu-
tions of Ugrian Os-
tyaks, 54 ; rule among
Central Siberian Turks,
137 ; system among old
Magyars, 81
Pauli, Peuples uralo-alta'i-
ques, 227
Pecheneg, Turkish tribal
name, 128
Pechenegs, 64, 66, 129,
132
Pechora R., 44, 45, 57, 85
Pechorians, 51
Peking, 103
Pelinka R., 58
Penjdeh, 173
Penza, Government of,
48, 181, 193
Perm, Government of, 45,
49, 57, 181, 185, 193, 194
Permia, 44
Perniians, great traders.
44
Permyaks, 44 ; and Ziri-
ans, total number of,
80 ; their habitat, num-
bers, &c., 45
Persia, 12, 13, 105, 115,
130, 132, 137, 171, 173,
190, 199,204. 206,208;
clans of Turkish tribes
in, 205 ; conquered by
Timur, 130 ; Northern,
221 ; Shahs of, 172,
205, 206; Turkish ele-
ment in, 205
' Persia and Great Bri-
tain,' 228
Persian, 174,183,184 ; and
Arabic, Uzbeg transla-
tions from, 180 ; civili-
zation, 180; culture,
207, 208, 217 ; Govern-
ment, 210 ; Gulf, 206 ;
influence on Osmanli
Turks, 217; literature,
180, 216; territory, 171;
words in Kazak lan-
guage, 161 ; writers, 160
Persian-Arabic poetry,
187; -Turkish world
view, 216
Persians, 153, 172, 173,
178, 213, 217 ; in East
Turkestan,157 ; of Iran,
180
Perso-Arabic civilization,
120 ; adopted by nearly
all Turks, 128
Peter the Great, 36, 195,
199 ; occupies Sweden,
33
Petro-Paulovsk, 137
Petrograd, 181 ; Govern-
ment of, 30, 34, 38
Petrovsk, 193
Philadelphia, 221
Philippopolis, 212
Piano Carpini, 51
Plevna, battle of, 121
Plock, 181
Podolia, 181
Poetry of Iranian Turks,
211
Polak, Persien, das Land
und seine Bewohner, 227
Poland, 189, 195, 227;
added to Hungary, 67
Poles, 196 ; in the Crimea,
201
Polygamy, 134, 166, 183,
197, 200
Pomerania. 67
Pontus(BhickSea),29,47
1 Poole, Stanley Lane, Ba-
I ber, 226
j Fozdn^ev, Mongolia and the
Mongols, 113
Pragmatic Sanction, 71
Prague, 68 ; Peace of, 73
Prevesa on the Albanian
coast, 76
Procopius (1053-4), 43
Protestants, among the
Lapps, 42 ; in Hun-
gary, 63
Proto-Turanians, 16, 20,
118
Pskov, Government of, 38
Ptolemy's map, 28
Punjab, 157
Pyevtsov, 151
Q
Quatrefages, 89
i
I R
! Radloff, 140, 144, 148,
i 169, 170 ; Aus Sibirien,
t 88, 149, 168. 175, 176,
i 181, 224, 226 ; Ethno-
1 graphische Uebersicht der
INDEX
249
Turkenstdmme Sibiriens
und der Mongolei, 160
Ramazan Bairam, 183
Ramsay, Sir Wm., The
Intermixture of Races in
Asia Minor, 228
Rashid-ed-din Tabibi/
Arabic Mohammedan
autlior, 123, 172
Raskem, 156
Reformation, 64, 69
Reich, Emil, Hungarian
Literature, 78, 81
Reindeer, 28, 39, 40, 45,
46, 53, 58, 83, 85, 86,
91, 93; nomads, 82;
sacrifice among Ugi'ian
Ostyaks, 55, 56
Renwick, Finland of To-
day, 34,
Representatives, Hun-
garian House of, 63
Retzius, Finland, 43
Reval, 38
Rhau(Ra),Mordvin name
of Volga in Ptolemy,
29
Richardson, Persian Dic-
tionary, 14
Richthofen, China, 160
Riedl, Hungarian Litera-
ture, 78
Rigveda, 99
Ritter, 22, 102 ; Asien,
160 ; Die Erdkunde von
Asien, 114
Roman, Catholics, 68 ;
Empire, 219
Romans in the Crimea,
201
Romanus, Emperor, 213
Rome, 65, 123
Ronaldshay, On the Out-
skirts of Empire in Asia,
88.
Roum, country of, 18,
221
Rubruquis, 104, 158, 188 ;
mentions names of
Mordvin tribes, 48
Rumania, 59, 60
Rumanians, 59, 60, 67,
72, 196 ; in the Crimea,
201
Russia, 123, 165, 169 ;
Asiatic, 174
Russian : administration
(Kara-Kirghiz), 170 ;
annals, 129 ; census
of 1897, 198-200, 225,
of 1911, 223 ; Church :
see Greek Church :
civilization, 141 ; colo-
nists, 138 ; connexion
with Samoyeds, 88 ;
Empire, 192, collapse
of, 222 ; Government,
204, in the Crimea,
202 ; language, 48, 49,
138 ; manufactures,
141 ; missionaries, 184 ;
peasants, 145,148,182;
rule, 200, 222, Bash-
kirs under, 186, Chu-
vashes under, 192,
Crimean Turks under,
203, in Siberia, 88,
Kumuks under, 199 ;
settlers, 148 ; toler-
ance, 183 ; wi'iters, 160
Russians, 27, 122, 195,
196 ; Altaian, 136 ; in
Caucasia, 227 ; in con-
tact with Tungus, 92
Russo-Turkish war(1877-
8), 74, 78
Ruthencs, 59, 60
Ryazan, 181
S
Saadi, Persian poet, 208
Sable, 83, 95, 96
Sabme or Same (Laj)land),
39
Sacae, Byzantine name
of Turks, 126 ; expelled
from East Turkestan,
124
Sacrifice, Ostyak view of,
55
Sagais, 147
Saima, L., 43
St. John, Oliver, 227
St. Louis on the Tatars,
224
St. Stephen, Christian
missionary and Bishop
of Perm , 45, 46
Sairima, son of Thrae-
taona, 12, 13
Sakha, native name of
Yakuts, 133
Sakhalin I., 94
Sakhov : see Sakha
Sal (* left '), western
branch of the Kara-
Kirghiz, 169
Salem : see Sairima, son
of Thraetaona
Salor, Turkmen tribe,
173 ; collective name
for Turkmens, 173
Salta (short jacket), 216
Samara, Government of,
48, 132, 181, 185, 193
Samarkand, 130, 140, 174,
175, 177, 221 ; capital
of Timur, 105
Same, Lappish name of
Lapland, 84
Samelats, native name of
the Lapps, 39
Samoyed : Dictionary,
89 ; division, 82, habi-
tat of, 82 ; language,
63, 86 ; origin of the
name, 84 ; population,
total number of, 84 ;
tribe, formerly Turki-
fied, now Mongolized,
83
Samoyedic branch of
Turanians, 16
Samoyeds, 17, 20, 21, 22,
46, 51-3, 56, 58, SO,
82-8, 133, 136, 222;
keep aloof from Rus-
sians, 88 ; in contact
with Finnish tribes,87;
Ostyak, 83-5, pressed
northward by Turks,
87 ; Russian accounts
of, 87 ; Russian, Sla-
vonic, Teutonic strain
in, 85 ; their cha-
racteristics, 84, cloth-
ing and food, customs,
86, history, 87, mode
of burial, 86, of life,
85, religion, 86 ; three
main tribes, 82-4, total
number, 23, trade in
furs, 85 ; Tatarized :
see Turkified ; Turki-
fied, 83, 84, 224
Sanagir, Tungus tribe,
94,97
Sanang Setsen, historian
of Eastern Mongols
(c. 1660)^ 103, 108
Sanskrit, 16, 158
Saratov, Government of,
48, 50, 110, 111, 181,
198
Sarepta, 111
Sargon, Assyrian king,
22
Sarikol, 156, 168
Sariks, Turkmen tribe,
173
Sart means merchant,
175
Sarts, Central Asian
Turkishtribe, 149, 150,
250
INDEX
151, 159, 160, 174,
176-8 ; a mixed race,
174 ; contrasted with
Tajiks,175; their habi-
tat, 174, name, 175,
numbers, 174, occupa-
tion, 175, religion, 175
Sassanids, 123
Satok Boghra Khan, 151 ;
Uigur kingdom under,
128
Save R., 59, 60
Savelan Mt., 206
Sayan Mts., 82, 84, 100,
106, 122, 141 ; old
home of Samoyeds, 83.
87
Scandinavian influence
on language of Lapps,
41
Schafer, Lander- und Vol-
kerkarte Europaft, 23,
223
Scheffer, History of Lap-
land, 38, 43
Schiefner, 99
Schmidt,Dr.,and German
propaganda, 228
Schott, Alteste Xachrichten
von Mongolen und Ta-
taren, 113; De lingua
Tschuwaschorum, 50 ; his
derivation of ' Mongol ',
100 ; Geschichte der Mon-
golen, 113
Schrenk, Reisen und For-
schtingen Im Atmirlande,
98, 99
Schubert, 80
Scobel, Geographisches
Handbuch, 23, 80, 88,
211
Scritifinni, name of the
L^pps, 43
* Secret ' name among
Yakuts and in India,
135
Seidlitz, on the Trans-
caucasian Turks, 227
Seitovka, 189
Sekha (Turkish tribe"),
133
Selenga R., 83, 104
Selim I (1465-1521), 216
Selim II (1524-74), 221
Selingisk, 108
Seljuk, 132, 195, 221;
dialect, 221; dynasties,
130 ; invasion of Persia,
211 ; invasions, 200,
208 ; Sultans of leo-
nium (Konia), 104, of
Konia or Roum, 221 ;
Turks under, 205
Seljuks : see Turks, Seljuk
Semendria, 131
Semipalatinsk, 137
Semirechenskia Oblastnia
Viedomosti (Russian
journal), 226
Semiryechensk, 110, 160,
168, 225
Semites, 15, 120, 121 ;
Turkification of, 221
Semitic : languages, 14 ;
type, 213
Serbia, 131 ; ultimatum
to, 77 ; war declared
on, by Austria-Hun-
gary, 77
Serbs, 59, 60, 65, 67, 72
Seton- Watson, Racial Pro-
blems in Hungary, 78, 81
Seven, original limit of
counting among Finn o-
Ugrians, 26
Shabani Khan, 177
Shah, his army chiefly
consists of Turks, 208
Shahid-ullah, 168
Shahname or ' Book of
Kings', 12, 13, 22,208
Shahsevens,Turkish tribe
in Persia, 206, 209
Shaitan, evil spirit, 166
Shalmaneser II, Assyrian
king, 12
Shaman, derivation of, 23
Shamanism, 19, 20 ; a-
mong Altaic Turks, 138,
Black ForestTurks, 145,
Chuvashes, 193, Dau-
rians, 95, early Finns,
29, East Central Asian
Turks, 151, Goldi, 98,
Kazaks, 166, Kuman-
dins, 145, Lebed Turks,
146, Mongols, 101, 106,
Orochons, 93, Sagais,
147, Samoyeds, 83, Si-
berian Turks, 139,
Shors, 146, Solons, 95,
Teleuts, 146, Tungus,
92, Ugrian Ostyaks, 55,
Uigurs. 158, Uzbegs,
]77,Voguls. 58, Yakuts,
133, 135; Castren and
Radloff on, 23 ; drum
as ritual instrument
in, 18, 139; original
religion of Turanians,
15, 18, of Turks, 118;
ousted by Buddhism,
Christianity, Islam, 19 ;
Russian view of, 19 ;
state religion under
Mangu Khan, 104 ; sur-
vives among Buryats,
110
Shamanist rites com-
, bined with Christian,
56
Shamanistic practices,
survival of,among Chu-
vashes, 50, Zirians, 47
Shamans, or wizard
priests, 18, 19, 26, 86,
98,109, 139; attending
idols, 55
Shamkhal - Yangi - Yurt,
197
Sharkis (' love - songs '),
216
Sheep, fat-tailed, 108, 164,
209; of Central Asia,
218
Sheikhlu, Turkish tribe
in Persia, 209
Sheil, Glimpses of Life and
Manners in Persia, 227
She- wolf, mythical an-
cestress of Turks, 125
Shibargan. 177
Shiite (Mohammedan)
Sect, 190, 191, 197,200,
205, 211,' 215
Shiites in East Turkes-
tan, 157
Shilka R., 93
Shipping on the Elbe, 76
Shiraz, 207
Shors (Siberian Turkish
tribe), 139, 140, 145, 146
Shuchi (name of a Tun-
gus tribe), 96, 97
Siberia, 87, 115 ; furs
from, 44'; Russian, 106;
Western, 52, 56
Siberian : Railway, 132 ;
Turkish dynasty, 139
Siberians, Russian, 145
Sigismund. King of Hun-
gary (1387-1437), 68
Simbirsk, Government
of, 48, 132, 181
S i m on y i , Die ungarisdie
Sprache, 81 ; Hungarian
Grammar, 78
Sir Darya province, 170.
174. 176, 177, 230, 231
Sisola R., 45
Sivas, 212, 213, 218
'Six cities' of East Tur-
kestan, 152
Sizran, district of, 193
Ski : see Snow-shoes
INDEX
251
Skridefinnas or ' Run-
Finns ' (Lapps), 43
Skrine and Ross, Heart of
Asia, 168
Slav: aspirations in Hun-
gary, 72 ; influence on
Permians, 47 ; tribes
separate Western from
Eastern Finns, 27 ;
type, 213
Slavonia, 73
Slavophil movement in
Russia, 33
Slavs, 29, 122, 123, 213 ;
or semi-Slavs in Hun-
gary, 65 ; Western,
Teutonization of, 65
Slovaks, 59, 60, 72
Slovenes, 18, 59 ; in Hun-
gary, 81
Smyrna, 214
Snow-shoes, 25, 28, 43, 53
Sogdiana, 119, 123
Solatnitskiy, Chuvash-
Russian Dictionary, 50
Solon, Tungus tribe, 95 ;
mixed with Chinese, 95
Sosva R., 44, 57, 58
Soyones : see Soyotes
Soyotes, Samoyed tribe,
83, 84, 106, 221:
Squirrel, 83
Stadling, Through Siberia,
88
Stamboul, 183, 213
Stanovoi Mts., 90, 93
Stavropol, Government
of, 110, 194, 196
Stein, Sir Aurel, 119, 157,
158 ; Ancient Khotan,
160, 225 ; Note on tne
Routes from the Punjab to
Turkestan and China, 225 ;
Ruins of Desert Cathay,
160, 225; Sand-buried
Ruins of Khotan, 160
Stenin , Die neuen Forschun-
gen iiber die Baschkiren,
189
Stephen I, King of Hun-
gary, founder of Mag-
yar dominion, 65, 66
Stiirmer, Two War Years
in Cotistantinople, 227
Styria, 60
Suchow, 156
Suchiu : see Shuchi
Sudanese, 213
Sulak R., 197
Suleiman I (1520-66),
Turkish Sultan, 68. 69,
219
Sungari R., 90, 95-7
Sunnite (Mohammedan)
Sect, 166, 175, 191,197,
199, 200, 211
Sunnites of Badakshan,
157
Sunsha R., 197
Suomi, Finnish name of
Finland, 30, 84
Sura R., 48, 50
Sui^ut, 54
Svemniscans : see Chei-e-
misses
Sven Hedin : see Hodin,
Sven
Swan, sacred bird among
Ostyaks, 55
Sweden, 189 ; and Russia,
wars between, 33
Swedes, 33 ; in Finland,
30
Sykes, Sir Percy, Ten
Thousand Miles in Persia
or Eight Years in Iran,
211 ; History of Pa'sia,
211
Syria, 115, 130, 206, 211,
221 ; conquest of, 217 ;
Northern, 212, 220^
Syriac (Aramaic) writing,
102
Syrians, 323 ; persecu-
tion of, 121
Szatmar, Peace of (171 1 ),
70
Szekel counties of Hun-
gary, 59
Szinnyei, 58, 79, 80 ;
Finnisch-ugrische Sprach-
vnssenschaft, 79, 81
Tabriz, 207
Tacitus {Germania), on the
Finn, 28
Tadebi, the Shaman of the
Samoyeds, 86
Taimir Peninsula, 82
Taishas, the elders of the
Buryats, 109
Tajiks, Persian-speaking
Iranians. 151, 152, 169,
174, 175, 179, 181; Al-
pine, 225; Aryan, 226
Takla-makan Desert, 150
Talas, place-name, 126 ;
R., 168, 169
Talchi, Kazak soothsayer,
166
Tambov, Government of,
34, 43, 48, 181
Tang dynasty (a.d. 618-
905), 102
Tangra, chief god of Ya-
kuts, 135
Tara R., 57, 148, 149
Taranchis, a branch of
the Sarts, 159
Tarim basin, 158
Twrlyk, native name of
Tara Turks, 148
Tarn, destructive deity of
the Ostyaks, 55
Tamyn-ara, ^ song of the
Tarn *, national epic of
Ugrian Ostyaks, 54
Tartar, spelling of the
name, 23
Tashkent, 126, 159, 174
Tata, a Mongol tribe, 101
Tatar, application of the
term, 117; influence on
VolgaFinns,47; Khans,
50, 52 ; land, 44 ; lan-
guage, 47-9 ; mythical
ancestor of Turks, 123 ;
origin and use of the
term, 23, 101
Tatars : see Turks
Tatas, Black (Mongols),
103; White (Turks),
103
Taurida, Government of,
196
Taurus Mts., 214, 221
Tavasts (Western Finns),
30, 33. 34, 36
Tavda R., 57. 58
Tavernier, French tra-
veller, 197
Tavghis (Samoyed tribe),
82, 84. 85
I Taz R., 55, 83
Tea, favourite drink of
Central Siberian Turks,
137
Tehran, 205-9, 228
Tejend R., 218
Tekes R., 168, 169, 233,
234
Tekkes, Turkmen tribe,
173
Telenget (subdivision of
Teleuts), 113, 147
Telenget Kishi ('Telenget
men'), 147
Teletskoe, L., 144, 146,
146
Teleuts, Siberiiin Turkish
tribe, 111, 139, 146-7,
148
Temes Banat, 73
Temesvar, 131
252
INDEX
Tengere Khan, ' Lord of
Heaven', supreme.deity
of Siberian Turks, 139
Tepters, 193, 194
Terek R., 196-8
Terry - Ayscough and
Otter Barry, With the
Russians in Mongolia,
113
Tollmen, Hiung-nu chief
(214 B.C.), 124
Theiss (Tisza) R., 59, 64
TJieophanes, Byzantine
writer, 119
Thomas, missionary
bishop to Finland, 32
Thomson, Ueher den Ein-
Jluss der germanischen
Sprachen auf die Fin-
nisch-lappischen, 79
Thraetaona, 12, 13
Tibet, 97, 115, 157
Tibetans, 110, 127
T'ien Shan range, 110,
122, 123, 135, 149, 150.
153, 158-60, 168-70.
215, 220
Titlis, 200
Times, The, 170
Timur (1333-1404), 101,
105, 130, 132, 158, 166.
182, 206
TimurLenk ('Tamerlane'):
see Timur
Tisza, Count Istvan, 75 ;
his policy of Magyar-
ization (1872-90), "74 ;
R., see Theiss R.
Dbol
148, 165
Tobolsk, 137, 148, 149 ;
Government of, 52, 57,
83, 132
Tokat, 215, 218
Tokmak, 120, 127
Tom R., 145, 146
Tomsk, Government of,
52, 83, 110, 111, 136,
138, 144, 147
Torgod, kalmuk tribe,
111, 112, 113
Trade : route from the
Volga to Eastern Asia,
139 ; routes, 225
Trans-Baikal district, 91
Trans-Dravian provinces.
66
Trans-Siberian Railway,
122, 136, 148
Transcaspia, 171, 173
Transcaucasia, 197, 198,
204-6, 209-11, 215
Transcaucasian regions,
222
Transoxiana, 105, 117,
126, 127, 130, 151, 152,
177
Transylvania, 59, 60, 66,
69, 70, 73
Tribal system abolished
in Hungary, 66
Tromso, 39
Tsena : see Assena
Truchmen, a Turkmen
tribe, 200
Tuba, 88 ; Kishi, native
name of Black Forest
Turks, 44
Tubins, Samoyed tribe,
87
Tuirya : see Turanian
Tu-kiu (T'u-chiieh),Ghmese
for Tiirk, 125 ; in High
Asia, 117, 125
Tuli (or Tului), son of
Jenghiz Khan, 104
Tumen, Turkish leader,
125
Tundra, a treeless,
swampy Arctic coun-
try, 40, 82, 83, 86, 88,
89, 163
Tungus, 16, 17, 21, 90,
101, 133, 135, 222 ; art,
92 ; burial among, 92 ;
Chinese, information
about, 92 ; division,
90 ; in conflict with
Yakuts, 92 ; Manchu-
rian, 92 ; Mongol type
among, 91 ; Siberian,
92 ; division, 93 ; their
characteristics, cus-
toms, 91, habitat, 90,
history, 92, mode of
life, 91, number^ 90,
religion, 19, 92, total
number, 23, trade with
Russians and Yakuts,
91
'fungus, Russian form of
the Chinese Tunghu, 90
Tungusic : branch of Tu-
ranians, 16 ; language,
63,87
Tunguska R., 92, 93 ;
tribes, 91
Tur : see Tura, son of
Thraetaona
Tura, son of Thraetaona,
12, 13
Tura, Avestan name of
Turania, 12
Turan, Persian name of
Turania, 12, 13, 14 ;
religious war with
Turks in, 13
Turania, 11, 12, 13; defi-
nition of, 14
Turanian, civilization,20;
elements, Hungarian
and Turkish. 61 ; fam-
ily, 63, 140, Turks and
Hungarians, 77; group,
intermixture with the,
83; heroism, 211 ; lan-
guages, agglutinative,
progressive vowel har-
mony in, 15, 63, their
degree of affinity, 22 ;
linguistic unity, 15 ;
origin of the term,
12, 14 ; population in
Europe, Asia, 17 ; race,
1 23 ; religion, traces of
old, among Magyars,
81 ; remnants, 136 ;
studies, 78 ; tribe con-
verted to Zoroastrian-
ism,12; type, 136,213;
virtues, 219
Turanianism, 11
Turanians, 13, 116, 133 ;
absorbed in Russian
population, 18 ; an-
cestor worship of, 18 ;
and Aryans, struggle
between, 20 ; cause
of their nomadism,
20, cause of unrest,
20 ; intermixture a-
mong, 17, of three
branches — Ugrian, Sa-
moyed, Turkish, 57,
with Slavs, 18; non-
Turkisli,222 ; perpetual
feuds among, 21 ; their
common character-
istics, 14, five main
branches, 16, general
distribution, 14, ori-
ginal religion, 18, pa-
triarchal system of go-
vernment, 20, physical
characteristics, 17, pre-
sent geographical dis-
tribution, 14, successive
migrations, 16, total
number, 17
Turco-Mongol invaders,
226
' Turco-Tatar,' applica-
tion of the term, 117
Turco-Tatars, 17, 82, 200
Turcoman : see Turk-
INDEX
253
Turfan, 120, 12G, 152,
156, 224, 225
Turgai R., 165
Turgash, Turkish tribe,
127
Turk, mythical son of
Japhet, 123
'Turk' (and 'Turkish'),
as derogatory terms,
218 ; application of the
term, 117 ; political
meaning of, 223
Tiirk, 213, 214
Turkdili, 'the tongue of
the Turks ', 225
Turkestan, 13, 100, 119,
169, 206, 223, 225, 228 ;
conquered by Hiung-
nu, 124 ; declared auto-
nomous, 227 ; (Turkis-
tan in Ritter's Urd-
Jcunde) equivalent to
Turan, 22 ; Chinese
13, 150, 168, 182
Turkestan, East, 110, 149,
150, 151, 165, 180, 191 ;
Chinese administra-
tion in, 155 ; intel-
lectual life in, 154 ;
Islam introduced Into
(c. 941), 128 ; its his-
toi-y, 158 ; trade routes,
156 ; Mohammedan
learning in, 155 ; posi-
tion of women in, 154 ;
products and trade
of, 156 ; Tibetan occu-
pation of 158
Turkestan, Russian, 14,
170, 176, 177, 205: an
autonomous republic,
222 ; declared a re-
public, 168 ; develop-
ment of Islam in, 155,
159 ; West, 1 50, 159
Turkey, 155, 171, 183,
189 ; in Asia, 130,
population of, 223 ; in
Europe, 213
TurkI language, 151, 157
Turkic branch of Tura-
nians, 16, 20
Turkish, 63, 87, 175;
dialects, 117, of Asia
Minor, 216; division,
115 ; Empire, 17,
Asiatic, 208 ; influence
on Samoj'eds, 83 ; in-
scriptions, 118. (Uigur)
inscriptions, 117 ; in-
vasions of Hungary
(1241-2), 67, (sixteenth
century), 69 ; lan-
guages, 117 ; move-
ments into Europe,
122 ; national cha-
racter, 152, 207, 208,
211, 219 ; northern
Khanate destroyed
(744), 127 ; Osmanli,
15 ; poets of Transcau-
casia, 211 ; popular
spirit, 215 ; race, five
groups, 131 ; followers
of Islam, 119 ; racial
type, 118 ; Seljukpoem,
210 ; superstitions, 199,
tribes in Transcau-
casia, 200 ; type, 196,
198, 207, 213 ; wars
against Magyars (eigh-
teenth century), 71 ;
westward migration,
two lines of, 122
Turkistan (more correct
form of Turkestan), 225
(note 39)
Turkistan, Afghan, 171,
176, 180
'Turkmen,' 214; as a
collective name, 212 ;
steppes, 197
Turkmenia, 212
Turkmens, 123, 129, 170,
171, 177, 178, 181, 196,
197,200.205-7,209-11,
214, 215, 218, 220; of
Afghanistan, 171, Ana-
tolia, 214, Khiva, 216,
Persia, Turkey, 171 ;
their characteristics,
habitat, name, num-
ber, 171. tribes, 172
Turks. 14, 16, 17, 19, 21,
22. '47, 49, 51, 53, 56,
111, 128, 136, 157, 176,
185, 186, 191; and Ary-
ans, conflict between,
120; and Iranians, eth-
nic frontier between,
198; andMongolSjboun-
dary between, 122, their
close affinity, 115, 124 ;
assist Heracliusagainst
Persia, 126 ; become a
European power, 131,
the sword of Islam, 121 ;
called Turkmen, 171 ;
described by Arabs, 1 20,
129, B.yzan tines, Chi-
nese, Persians, 120 ;
early conflict with Ira-
nians, 211 ; first men-
tion of, 117 ; in Afghan-
istan, China, Chinese
Turkestan, 116; in Eu-
rope,103; intheOttoman
Empire, Persia, Russia,
116 ; in Russian terri-
tory called Tatars, 181 ;
in Russian Turkestan,
223 ; in Siberia, 223 ;
introduce Mohamme-
danism intoEuropeand
India, 116; 'man-steal-
ing ' : see Turkmens ;
occupy Transylvania
(1657), 70 ; par excellence,
171 ; routed by Prince
Eugene at Zenta (1697),
70 ; split into two Kha-
nates, 126 ; tending to
reject European cul-
ture, 78 ; their cha-
racter and civilization,
120, conquest of the
Balkans, 21, ethnic af-
finities, 118, future, 222,
habitat, 115, history,
123, invasions of Eu-
rope, 21, losses of terri-
tory, 121, migrations,
121, possible future,
121, total numbers, 23,
116, two national cha-
racteristics, 128
Afghan, 223; Altaian,
136, 140, 162, their re .
ligion, 138 ; Anatolian,
223 ; Astrakhan, 180,
185, 189 ; Azarbaijan,
218 ;Baraba, 148; Black
Forest (Siberian), 88,
139, 144 ; Black Sea,
132,191,194,199; Cau-
casian, 197, 198, 223 ;
Central Asian, 132
Central Siberian,
their characteristics,
136, dress, 138, dwell-
ings, 137, family cus-
toms, 138, food, 137,
funeral rites, 138, habi-
tat, 135, history, 140,
language, 140, litera-
ture, 140, mode of life,
136, name 136, num-
bers, 136, tribes, 141
Christian : see Keresh,
of Siberia, 141
Chulim, 148
Crimean, 140, 141,
185, 190, 197, 201, 223.
227 ; emigrate into
Turkey, 204; their cha-
racteristics, 201, dress,
254
INDEX
dwellings, food and
drink, 202, habitat, 201,
history, 204, marriage
customs, 203,name,201 ,
national dance, 203,
number, 201, occupa-
tions, 202, religion, 204
East Central Asian,
their birth ceremonies,
154,characteristics,152,
dress, 153, dwellings,
153, habitat, 149, mar-
riage customs,153,num-
bers, 151, religion, 151
Forest (Siberian), 137
Iranian, 204, 208, 223;
compared with Per-
sians, 207 ; in Trans-
caucasia. 227 ; mixed
with Aryans, 207; their
affinities, 205, cha-
racteristics, 207, habi-
tat, 204, language, 210,
literature, 210, manner
of life, 208, numbers,
206, tribal names, 227
Irtish, 148
Kazan, 137, 180, 182,
185, 186, 197, 204. 223,
228 ; and Ufa, still
called Nogaians, 226 ;
education among, 184
Lebed, 145 ; Lithua-
nian, 181, 227 ; Minu-
sinsk, 84; Moslem Si-
berian, 141 ; Mountain :
see Turks, Black Forest
Osmanii, 17, 18, 103,
123, 153, 171, 184, 199,
202, 203, 205, 211, 212,
223 ; a mixture of many
races, 213 ; and Hun-
garians, parallelism
between, 77 ; conquer
Serbia (1371), 67, S.
Bulgaria (1365), 67 ;
defeated by Timur at
Angora (1402), 105, 130;
in Asia Minor, 132 ;
of the Bosphorus, 213 ;
their characteristics,
218, habitat, 212, his-
tory, 220, language, 215,
name,212, political suc-
cess, 219, social history,
217, total number, 23,
212
Ottoman : see Turks,
Osmanii ; Persian : see
Turks, Iranian
Seljuk, 117, 212, 220,
221 ; rise of the, 129
Shamanist, of Sibe-
ria, 141
Siberian, 117, 131,
132, their number, 149,
225; Central, Western,
and Far Eastern, 149
Tara,148; Tobol,149;
Transcaucasian, 200,
207 ; of Transoxiana,
177; Tuba, 84; Tur-
kish - speaking, 116 ;
Tyumen, 149
Volga, 117, 119, 132,
141, 149, 155, 181, 184,
191, 196, 197, 223; their
cliaracteristics, 182, ha-
bitat, 181, language,
182, literature, 183,
name, 181, numbers,
181, occupations, 182.
religion, 183
West Central Asian,
160; West Siberian,148;
Western, 132, 204, de-
feated in 658, 158
Tver, Government of, 30,
34
Tyumen, 137, 149
U
Uch-Turfan, 233
Uda R., 108
Udyana, 126
Ufa, Government of, 46,
49, 50, 132, 185, 193,
194
Ugra (country), 24 ;
(tribe) : see Ostyaks
Ugria, 59
Ugrian : language, 188 ;
names in Central Rus-
sia, 52 ; tribes, 122
Ugrians, 24, 50, 89, 118,
123, 182, 185, 193, 222 ;
and Eastern Finns in
contact with Turks or
Tatars, 27 ; their his-
tory, 51, home in the
Asiatic Highlands, 51,
migrations, 51, three
branches, 50, total
number, 23
Ugro-Samoyeds, 89
Ugurs : see Hungarians
Uhagan R., 165
Uhland, Schrifien, 79
Uigur, collective name of
Yakuts, 135 ; dialect,
151 ; kingdom, 224 ;
I language, 140, 180 ;
I 225
I Uiguristan, 158
Uigurs, 102, 122, 125, 127,
128, 152, 158, 159;
(Hungarians), 51; Ara-
bic and Moslem Turk-
ish influence on, 128 ;
as Turks par excellence^
158 ; borrow Syriac let-
ters, 118
Ukko, Finnish god of the
air, 32
Ujfalvy, 178, 189; Lcs
Baskirs, 189
Uleaborg, 39
yiemas (priests), 217
Ulgon, a Tatar god, 145
Umlauft, Die Lander Os-
terreich-Ungarns, vol. 12 ;
Die Osterreichische Monar-
chie, 78
Ungarn, 59
Ungars : see Hungarians
United States, 60
Unna R., 59, 60
Unogurs : see Hungarians
Ur : see Tor
Ural: range, 22, 27-9,44,
45, 51, 52, 56, 57, 59,
64, 82, 84, 87. 185, 189,
215; R., 105,110-13,126,
129,177, 188, 189; -Al-
taic linguistic family,
14
Urianghai territory
(Mongolia), 106
Urmi R., 94
Urmia, 205
Urt : see Yor
Urumchi, 123, 126
Usanlu, Turkish tribe in
Persia, 209
Ussuri R., 90, 97, 98
Ust-Ishma, 45
Ust-Sisolsk, 45
Ust-Yurt plateau, 173
Uya R., 165
Uz, 132, 172; tribe, 129;
Turkish tribal name,
128
Uzbeg, 195 ; once meant
Moslem Turks, 177 ;
clans, 178 ; dialect, 151 ;
Khan, 177
Uzbegs, 123, 150, 152-4,
161, 167, 173-6, 184,
186, 187 ; a mixed race,
177 ; in Afghanistan.
177 ; of Khiva, 216 ;
their characteristics,
178, civilization, 180,
INDEX
255
habitat, 176, language,
literature, 180, mode
of life, 179, name, 177,
number, 176, 226 (note
78), in Afghan Turkis-
tan, 226, race, 177
Vambery, 118, 144, 146,
147, 161, 174, 176-8,
185, 191, 193, 199, 207,
212, 226, 227 ; Das Tiir-
kenvolk, 50, 135, 160,
168, 170, 171, 174-6,
181, 185, 189, 191, 193,
197, 204, 211, 223,224,
226, 227; Die primitive
Cultur lies Turko-Tatari-
Hchen Volkes, 168 ; Hun-
gary in Ancient and Mo-
dern Times, 78 ; On the
Chuiashes, 50; Tschaga-
taische Sprachstudien, 181 ;
Ungarn, 80 ; Ursj^rung der
Magyaren, 78, 223 ; re-
gards Magyars as fun-
damentally Turks, 81
Varna,68; Christian army
defeated by Murad at
(1444), 131
Vasa, Gustavus, King of
Sweden, 32, 33
Vasterbotten, 39
Vasvar, Treaty of (1664 ,
70
Vasyugan K., 52
Venice, 64
Vepsas (Northern
Chudes\ 37
Verecze Pass (into Hun-
gary), 64
Verkhoyansk district, 93
Ves, a tribe, 37
Viborg, province of, ceded
to Kussia, 33
Vienna, 68 ; besieged by
Turks (1683), 70; Peace
of (1606), 69
Vilna, J 81, 227
Vilyui R., 132, 134
Viro, name of Esthonia,
38
Vistula R., 28
Vitebsk, Government of,
38
Vlachs : see Rumanians
Vladimir, Government
of, 34, 43
Vodka, 36, 47, 53, 86, 187'
Vogul accent, 63
Vogulka R., 44
Voguls, 51, 52, 56, 57, 89,
140, 185 ; their charac-
teristics, 57, language,
58, mode of life, 58,
numbers, 57, religion,
26, 58, trade, 58, Tura-
nian type among, 58
Volchov R., 37
Volga R., 27. 29, 34, 44,
47, 49-51, 64, 100, 105,
110-13, 122, 126, 129,
132, 161, 171, 181,185,
188-90, 195, 196, 198,
221 ; region, 202
Vologda, 37, 45
Vorkho : see Orghoy
Votes (Southern Chudes"^^ ,
37
Votyaks, 46, 182,184,194;
their habitat, 46, lan-
guage, 28, 47, number,
religion, 47
Vowel harmony, Tura-
nian, 96 ; in Kalmuk
language. 111, Mogul
language, 102
Vuglak R., 58
Vyatka. Government of,
45, 46, 48, 49, 181, 185,
194 ; R., 46, 47, 49, 50
W
Wackernagel, Zeitschrift
fur deutsches Alterihum,
79
Wakhan, 126
VVatters, On Yuan Chwang.
160
Weinhold, Altnordisches
Leben, 79
Wends : see Slovenes
Wenjukow, Die riissisch-
asiatischen Gremlande,
113
White Sea, 82
Whitney, Prof., 14
Wiedemann, Aus dem in-
neren iind dusseren Leben
der Esthen, 38
Winkler, Uralaltaische Vol-
ker, 22'
Witchcraft, 19
Wocikoff, Le Turkestan
russe. 168
Wolf, Blue, 103 ; White,
idol, 224
Wolf's head as banner,
125
Women, position of, a-
mong Finno-Ugrians,
25
Yablonai Range, 100
I Yadikar, prince of Sibe-
j rian Turks, 140
i Yaik R. : see Ural R.
I Yakub Bey, 159
i Yakut is Russian form of
the name, 133
Yakuts, 90, 128, 131, 132,
i 141,222; Siberian, 223;
their dwellings, food,
i 134, history, 185, lan-
guage, 133, 148, man-
ner of life, 134, num-
ber, 133, 149, religion,
135, social institutions,
134
Yakutsk, 92, 93
I Yalutrovsk, 149
I Yamal Peninsula, 83, 85
I Yamut, Turkmen tribe,
i 172
Yana R., 90, 134
Yanus Khan of Fer-
ghana, 167
Yara, 52
Yaran or Yargai, Samoyed
name for Ostyaks, 52
Yarensk, 45
Yarkand, 130, 152, 155,
157, 168, 225
Yaroslav Prince, 36
Yaroslavl, Government
of, 30, 34
Yaxartes R. (Sir Darya),
126, 129, 165, 166, 169,
171, 174, 175, 177, 218
Yeko, Tungus form of
Yakut, 133
Yekot : see Yeko
Yem, Russian name of
Finns, 36
Yemba R., 195
Yemikent, 197
Vend, 221
Yenghi-Hissar, 225
Yenisei : inscriptions,
127 ; R.,52, 82, 83, 87,
89, 90, 118, 122, 126,
131, 136; steppe, 147
Yeniseisk, Government
of, 83, 136, 144
Yerlik, people of Kumul,
150
Yormak, Russian Cossack
adventurer, 51, 140
Yinia,the Avestan Noah,
12
Yograyas, Zirian name of
Ostyaks and Voguls, 57
Yolatan, 173
256
INDEX
Yor, ' chief of the Ugrian
Ostyaks, 54
Younghusband, The Heart
of a Continent, 98
Yuchiu : see Shuclii
Yiieh-chi invade India,
124
Yuen dynasty, 104
Yugra : see Ostyaks
Yugria, 44, 51, 52
Yukhaghirs, 134
Yule, Cathay, 225
Yumala, name of Finnish
sky-god, 26
Yuraks,Samoyedtribe,82,
84, 85 ; taxation of, 88
Yurtas (nomad huts\ 83.
107, 109, 143, 144, 153,
Yiiriiks, nomad Turkish
tribe in Anatolia, 186,
212,214, 215; their clan
names, tents, Turkmen
oi-igin, 214 ; Turkish
melodies among. 216
Yusuf Khass Hajil, 154
Yiis steppe, 148
Zal, Iranian hero, 13
Zarafshan, district, 171 ;
R., 179
Zemarchos, Byzantine
ambassador, 117, 126.
166, 169
Zenta, 70
Zeya K., 93
Zinjan, 206
Zirian Grammars, 80
Zirians, 44, 45, 52 ; the
Jews of the Tundra, 85 ;
their characteristics,
habitat, 45, language,
manner of life, 46,num-
bers, occupations, 45,
religion, 46, trade, 45
Ziya Gok Alp, Turkish
poet, 11
Zoroaster, 12, 13, 20, 208
Zoroastrian texts, 13
Zoroastrianism among
Turks, 119, Uigurs, 127;
in East Turkestan, 151
Zsitvatorok, truce of, 69
HOME USE
CIRCULATION DEPARTMENT
MAIN LIBRARY
This book is due on tlie last date stamped below.
1-month loans may be renewed by calling 642-3405.
6-month loans may be recharged by bringing books
to Circulation Desk.
Renewals and recharges may be made 4 days prior
to due date.
ALL BOOKS ARE SUBJECT TO RECALL 7 DAYS
AFTER DATE CHECKED OUT.
JR^ a^c
TREFT
SEP
^hoWS
1 «74
RECEIVED
OCT : 7 1996
CIRCULATION DEPT.
X)
LD21 — A-40m-5,'74
(R8191L)
(B9311sl0)476
General Library
University of California
Berkeley
university or i^aiuurma
Berkeley
M
CDS7^5S1t3
493781
^
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY
Live Music Archive
Librivox Free Audio
Metropolitan Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Internet Arcade
Console Living Room
Books to Borrow
Open Library
TV News
Understanding 9/11