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May 22, 2013, 1:01am

Steppe History Forum :: Cultural History of the Steppes :: Ethnic History :: Uriankhai

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Topic: Uriankhai (Read 1,450 times)

hjernespiser
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Uriankhai
« Thread Started on Mar 13, 2009, 8:32pm »

I'm copying what was written on the English Wikipedia about the Uriankhai because most of the information was originally written by me. Some other info came from some Mongolian and wasn't sourced.

There is no clear ethnic delineation for the application of the name "Uriankhai". The name is mentioned several times in the Secret History of the Mongols. It has also historically been applied to Tuvans and Tuva proper as Tannu Uriankhai. Tuvans in Mongolia are called Monchoogo Uriankhai (cf. Tuvan Monchak). Another group of Uriankhai in Mongolia (in Bayan-Ölgii and Khovd aimags) are called Altai-iin Uriankhai. These were apparently attached to the Oirats. A third group of Mongolian Uriankhai were one of the 6 tumens of Dayan Khan in Eastern Mongolia. These last two Uriankhai groups are said to be descendants of the Uriankhan tribe from which came Jelme and his more famous cousin Subutai.
A variation of the name, Uraŋxai, was an old name for the Sakha.[1] Russian Pavel Nebolsin documented the Urankhu clan of Volga Kalmyks in the 1850s.[2] Another variant of the name, Orangkae (오랑캐), was traditionally used by the Koreans to refer indiscriminately to "barbarians" that inhabited the lands to their north.[citation needed]

There's a quote from Otto Maenchen-Helfman about how all Tuvans are Uriankhai but not all Uriankhai are Tuvans.

So who is Uriankhai?

- Monchoogo Uriankhai (Tuvans)
- Altai-iin Uriankhai (Turkic or Mongolian Oirats?)
- Dayan Khan's Uriankhai
- Sakha Uriankhai
- Kalmyk Uriankhai

Subetai was which Uriankhai?

The unsourced claim from the Mongolian writer suggested that the Altai-iin and Dayan Khan's tumen of Uriankhai are the descendants of the same Uriankhai from which Subetai came from.

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hjernespiser
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Re: Uriankhai
« Reply #1 on Mar 13, 2009, 8:35pm »

I want to add that ethnic identity is pretty loose here. Consider that a certain set of Western Tuvans are descended from Mongolians (Tumat, Mingat, Mongush, and Salchak). Also consider the similar issue with both Mongols and Altai Turks being called Oirat. (Lastly, the name Tuva is also somewhat of a multi-ethnic self-appellation used by both Turkics and Samoyeds.) What I'm interested in is understanding what was possibly the ethnic makeup at the time of Subetai since it seems that things have changed since then.

« Last Edit: Mar 13, 2009, 8:39pm by hjernespiser »

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Subu'atai
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Re: Uriankhai
« Reply #2 on Mar 19, 2009, 3:33am »

Quote:

Subetai was which Uriankhai?

-> Altai-iin Uriankhai (Turkic or Mongolian Oirats?)

That's what I've been taught ne ways.

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H. Ihsan Erkoc
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Re: Uriankhai
« Reply #3 on Mar 19, 2009, 10:04pm »

I haven't seen any exact info on that, the sources just say he was Uriankhai (at least, the ones I saw).

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Re: Uriankhai
« Reply #4 on May 17, 2009, 7:05pm »

If I persist in this topic, I'm going to go "I am Turkic, I am Mongolic, I am Turkic, I am Mongolic... erm which one?" to the point of frustration and endless debates that come to ZERO conclusion.

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Re: Uriankhai
« Reply #5 on Jan 22, 2011, 4:10pm »

Were the Uriankhai or some of them reinder herders?

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snafu
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Re: Uriankhai
« Reply #6 on Jan 22, 2011, 10:43pm »

The Secret History doesn't mention Subedai's clan, but we can guess by his father's name--Jarchiudai. A Jarchiud Uriankhai clan is mentioned elsewhere in the SH, so that would make Subedai a Jarchiud Uriankhai. Not sure which modern group is descended from the Jarchiud though.

The SH often calls the Uriankhai the "Adangqa Uriankhai", which Urgunge Onon says means "Greater Uriankhai".

« Last Edit: Jan 22, 2011, 11:06pm by snafu »

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Re: Uriankhai
« Reply #7 on Oct 27, 2011, 2:11pm »

What's the statute of Tannu Tuva Uriankhai, Altai Uriankhai and Altainor Uriankhai during the Qing rule? It is referred as a kind of a proctetorate, a lost frontier, in the far western Mongolia

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aca
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Re: Uriankhai
« Reply #8 on Apr 17, 2012, 1:56pm »

Yakut people also consider them selves to be of Uriankhai origin. There are many old Yakut epic songs where they mention this ethnonym together with ethnonym Sakha. Here is the example of one of it (with russian translation)
[image]

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H. Ihsan Erkoc
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Re: Uriankhai
« Reply #9 on Apr 18, 2012, 9:52am »

Interesting.

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Re: Uriankhai
« Reply #10 on Apr 22, 2012, 2:53pm »

The original Uriankhai tribe also figures into one of the Mongol origins myths. According to legend two warriors named Kiyan and Negus were defeated in battle and forced to settle in the enclosed valley of Ergene Qun. Over time their descendants became too numerous for the valley to support, but no one could remember the way out. So they made their own escape passage by setting a huge fire and melting an iron vein in one of the surrounding mountains. Supposedly the tribes that traced their origin to Kiyan and Negus were the Onggirats, the Mongols, the Negus, and the Uriankhai.

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westscythian
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Re: Uriankhai
« Reply #11 on Jun 16, 2012, 6:58am »

Uriankhai are eastern Mongolians, I believe. Related to eastern Mongolians, Evenks, Evens.

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hjernespiser
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Re: Uriankhai
« Reply #12 on Jun 16, 2012, 7:31pm »

Several different peoples are called Uriankhai. I believe the name reflects an organized political unit rather than an ethnic group in our sense of ethnicity.

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