Tuvans
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Tuvans Тывалар |
|---|
 |
| Tsengel Tuvan child and grandmother |
| Total population |
|
over 220,000 ? |
| Regions with significant populations |
| Russia (200,000), Mongolia (20,000), China (2,400) |
| Languages |
| Russian, Tuvan, Mongolian |
| Religions |
| Tibetan Buddhism ("Lamaism"), Shamanism |
| Related ethnic groups |
| Tofalar, Soyots, Turkic peoples, Mongolians |
Tuvans or Tuvinians (Tuvan: Тывалар, Tyvalar) are a group of Turkic people who make up about two thirds of the population of Tuva, Russia. They are historically known as Uriankhai from the Mongolian Uriyangqai (transcribed into Chinese as 烏梁海 Wūliánghǎi).
Tuvans have historically been cattle-breeding nomads, tending to their herds of goats, sheep, camels, reindeer and yaks for the past thousands of years. They have traditionally lived in yurts covered by felt or chums covered with birch bark or hide that they relocate seasonally as the move to newer pastures.
Contents |
[edit] History
The Xiongnu ruled over the area of Tuva prior to 200 AD. At this time a people known to the Chinese as Dingling inhabited the region. The Chinese recorded the existence of a tribe of Dingling origin named Dubo in the eastern Sayans. This name is recognized as being associated with the Tuvan people and is the earliest written record of them. The Xianbei defeated the Xiongnu and they in turn were defeated by the Rouran. From around the end of the 6th century, the Gokturks held dominion over Tuva up until the 8th century when the Uyghurs took over.
Tuvans were subjects of the Uyghur Khanate during the 8th and 9th centuries. The Uyghurs established several fortifications within Tuva as a means of subduing the population. There are plans being discussed to restore the remains of one of these fortresses, Por-Bazhyn in lake Tere-Khol in the southeast of the country.[1] The memory of Uyghur occupation could still be seen up until the end of the 19th century due to the application of the name Ondar Uyghur for the Ondar Tuvans living near the Khemchik river in the southwest.[2] Uyghur dominance was broken by the Kyrgyz in 840 AD, who came from the upper reaches of the Yenisei. The Yeniseian Kyrgyz then established a small khanate that lasted until the coming of the Mongols in the 13th century.
In 1207, Turkic Oirat prince Kuduka-Beki led Mongol detachments under Jochi to a tributary of the Kaa-Khem river. They encountered the Tuvan Keshdims, Baits, and Teleks. This was the beginning of Mongol suzerainty over the Tuvans. One of Genghis Khan's greatest generals, Subutai, is said to have been a Tuvan.
Tuvans came to be ruled for most of the 17th century by Khalka Mongol leader Sholoi Ubashi's Altyn-Khan Khanate. It was at this time in 1615 that the first Russians, V. Tyumenets and I. Petrov, visited Tuva as emissaries to the Altyn-Khan.[3] Russian documents from this time record information about different tribal groups that contributed to the composition of modern Tuvans. Tyumenets and Petrov describe the Maads, who became Russian subjects in 1609, living in the Bii-Khem basin, a 14 day's ride from Tomsk. The Maads travelled to the area of the Khemchik and Ulug-Khem next to the lands of the Altyn-Khan near lake Ubsu-Nur. The ambassadors also described the Sayan raising reindeer with the Tochi (Todzhi) from the Sayan to the Altai mountain ranges. The descendants of the Ak-Sayan and Kara-Sayan live mostly around Tere-Khol rayon.
The state of the Altyn-Khan disappeared due to constant warring between the Oirats and the Khalka of Jasaghtu Khan Aimak. The Tuvans became part of the Dzungarian state ruled by the Oirats. The Dzungars ruled over all of the Sayano-Altay Plateau until 1755. It was during this time of Dzungarian rule that many tribes and clans broke up, moved around, and intermingled. Groups of Altayan Telengits settled in western Tuva on the Khemchik and Barlyk rivers and in the region of Bai-Taiga. Some Todzhans, Sayans, and Mingats ended up in the Altay. Other Tuvans migrated north across the Sayan range and became known as Beltirs (Dag-Kakpyn, Sug-Kakpyn, Ak-Chystar, Kara-Chystar). The languages of the Beltirs and Tuvans still contain common words not found in the language of the other Khakas (Kachins or Sagays).[4] Other Russian documents mention Yeniseian Kyrgyz (Saryglar and Kyrgyz), Orchaks (Oorzhaks) and Kuchugets (Kuzhugets) moving into Tuva from the north.
Besides the Turkic tribes mentioned above, there is indication that modern Tuvans are descended also from Mongolic, Samoyedic, and Kettic groups of peoples. Of the extinct Southern Samoyed groups: Mator, Koibal, Kamas, and Karagas were assimilated mostly into the eastern Tuvans such as the Todzhins, Tofalars, Soyots, and Dukha. The Irgit tribe is also suggested as being from Samoyedic ancestors.[5] The Tuvan name for the Yenisei river may stem from an ancient Samoyedic name.[6] Tribes such as Tumat, Mingat, Mongush, and Salchak are recognized as having a Mongolic origin.[7]
According to Ilya Zakharov of Moscow's Vavilov Institute of General Genetics, genetic evidence suggests that the modern Tuvan people are the closest genetic relatives to the native peoples of North and South America. [8]
[edit] The name Uriankhai
There doesn't seem to exist a clear ethnic delineation for the application of the name Uriankhai. This name has historically been applied to Tuvans and the land of Tuva. In Mongolia there are peoples also known by this name. A variation of the name, Uraŋxai, was an old name for the Sakha.[9] Another variant of the name, Orangkae (오랑캐), was traditionally used by the Koreans to refer indiscriminately to the various nomadic peoples that roamed over the lands to their north.
[edit] Geography
There are two major groups of Tuvans in Tuva: Western Tuvans and Tuvans-Todzhins (Тувинцы-тоджинцы). The latter ones live in Todzhinsky District, Tuva Republic and constitute about 5% of all Tuvans.
A people similar to Tuvans live in Okinsky District of Buryatia (self-naming: Soyots (сойоты), sometimes referred to as Okinsky Tuvans).
[edit] Mongolia
A noticeable proportion of Tuvans lives in Mongolia. The Dukha live in Khövsgöl Aimag. The largest population of Tuvans in Mongolia are the Tsengel Tuvans.[10] Around 1,500 live in Tsengel Sum of Bayan-Ölgii Aimag. Other Tuvans live in Khovd Aimag.
[edit] China
Tuvans in China, who live mostly in the Xinjiang Autonomous Region, are included under the Mongol nationality.[11]
[edit] Culture
[edit] Music
A unique form of music exists in Tuva commonly known as Throat Singing. A throat-singer produces multiple tones (a base tone and overtones). A documentary called Genghis Blueswas made in 1999 about an American blues musician, Paul Peña, who taught himself overtone singing and traveled to Tuva to compete in a throat-singing competition.
[edit] Religion
The traditional religion of Tuvans is animism (shamanism), which is still widely practiced alongside Tibetan Buddhism.
[edit] Language
The Tuvan language belongs to the Northern or Siberian branch of the Turkic language family. Four dialects are recognized: Central, Western, Southeastern and Northeastern (Todzhinian). The written language is based on the Cyrillic alphabet.
[edit] See also
[edit] Notes
- ^ "Ancient Uigur Fortress on a Tuvan Lake to Turn into a Recreation and Tourist Centre", by Dina Oyun
- ^ KRUEGER, John (1977). Tuvan Manual, 41.
which cites from POTAPOV, L.P. (1964). "The Tuvans", The Peoples of Siberia. - ^ KRUEGER, John (1977). Tuvan Manual, 25.
which cites from an English translation of Большая Советская Энциклопедия (The Great Soviet Encyclopedia) 43. (1956). by William H. Dougherty. - ^ KRUEGER, John (1977). Tuvan Manual, 42.
which cites from POTAPOV, L.P. (1964). "The Tuvans", The Peoples of Siberia. - ^ DERENKO, M.V.; et al (March 2002). "Polymorphism of the Y-Chromosome Diallelic Loci in Ethnic Groups of the Altai-Sayan Region". Russian Journal of Genetics 38 (3): 309-314. Retrieved on 2007-02-05.
Mentions that "some authors" suggest this idea. - ^ VÁSÁRY, I. (1971). "Käm: an Early Samoyed Name of Yenisei". Studia Turcica: 469-482.
- ^ DERENKO, M.V.; et al (March 2002). "Polymorphism of the Y-Chromosome Diallelic Loci in Ethnic Groups of the Altai-Sayan Region". Russian Journal of Genetics 38 (3): 309-314. Retrieved on 2007-02-05.
Mentions only Mongush and Salchak tribes. - ^ "Central Asian Origins of the Ancestor of First Americans", by I. Zakharov (Russian)
- ^ POPPE, Nicholas (1969). "Review of Menges "The Turkic Languages and Peoples"". Central Asiatic Journal 12 (4): 330.
- ^ Mongush, M. V. "Tuvans of Mongolia and China." International Journal of Central Asian Studies, 1 (1996), 225-243. Talat Tekin, ed. Seoul: Inst. of Asian Culture & Development.
- ^ Mongush, M. V. "Tuvans of Mongolia and China." International Journal of Central Asian Studies, 1 (1996), 225-243. Talat Tekin, ed. Seoul: Inst. of Asian Culture & Development.
[edit] References
- DERENKO, M.V.; et al (March 2002). "Polymorphism of the Y-Chromosome Diallelic Loci in Ethnic Groups of the Altai-Sayan Region". Russian Journal of Genetics 38 (3): 309-314. Retrieved on 2007-02-05.
- KRUEGER, John R. (1977). in John R. Krueger: Tuvan Manual, Editor Emeritus: Thomas A. Sebeok, Uralic and Altaic Series Volume 126, Indiana University Publications. ISBN 0877502145.
- MONGUSH, M.V. (1996). "Tuvans of Mongolia and China". International Journal of Central Asian Studies 1: 225-243.
- OYUN, Dina. "Ancient Uigur Fortress on a Tuvan Lake to Turn into a Recreation and Tourist Centre", Tuva Online, 2006-11-16. Retrieved on 2007-02-05.
- PAVLINSKAYA, Larisa R. (Spring 2003). "The Troubled Taiga: Survival on the Move for the Lost Nomadic Reindeer Herders of South Siberia, Mongolia, and China". Cultural Survival Quarterly 27 (1): 45-47. Retrieved on 2007-02-05.
- XIAOLEI, Jing. "The Winds of Change", Beijing Review No. 46, 2007-01-07. Retrieved on 2007-02-05.
- ZAKHAROV, I.A. (2003). Central Asian Origins of the Ancestor of First Americans (Центральноазиатское происхождение предков первых американцев) (Russian) (Первые американцы. № 11.). 2003 139-144. Retrieved on 2007-02-05.
