The Hongirat (Mongolian: Хонгирад), also known as Qongirat ( Kazakh: Қоңырат) is a Central Asian tribe, one of the major divisions of the Mongols. Variations on the name include Onggirat, Wangjila (王紀剌), Yongjilie (雍吉烈), and Guangjila (廣吉剌) in Chinese sources and Ongrat or Kungrat in Turkish.
The original pastures of the Hongirats were in eastern Mongolia, near Hulun Lake. Genghis Khan's wife, Borte was a member of this tribe, so it was held in high regard by the Mongol Empire. The wives of most rulers of the Yuan Dynasty and Golden Horde were also from the Hongirat. That is why, they held enormous powers behind the courts in both states. They forced the rulers of the Golden Horde to make peace with Kublai in 1280's and convinced Tokhta Khan to accept supremacy of the Great Khan in 1304. The Hongirat under queen Dagi and Temüder, the Minister of the Secretariat, reached their political peak in the Yuan Dynasty, the principal state of 4 khanates, during the reign of Gegeen Khan Shidebala (r.1321-1323). They built Yingchang city in modern Inner Mongolia in 1271.
After the death of the last Yuan emperor, Toghan Temur, who lost his imperial status in China and other Mongol khanates, a body of the Hongirat and Olkhunut (Borte's clan) surrendered to the Ming Dynasty in 1371. Meanwhile, the Hongirat, belonged to the southern Khalkha tumen in modern Inner Mongolia and Olkhunuts lived in modern Khovd Province.
In the 18th century the basins of the Amu Darya and Syr Darya passed under the control of three Uzbek khanates claiming legitimacy in their descent from Genghis Khan. These were, from west to east, the Qongirats based on Khiva in Khwārezm (1717–1920), the Mangits in Bukhara (1753–1920), and the Mings in Kokand (Qǔqon; c. 1710–1876). The Sufi Dynasty (1359–1388) which was founded by the Qongirat elites in Khwārezm ruled their own state under the Jochids and Timur. The Qongirat inaqs became de facto rulers of the Khiva Dynasty in 18th century and their descendants assumed the title of khan themselves in 1804. On 2 February 1920, Khiva's last khan, Sayyid Abdullah, abdicated before its territory was finally incorporated into the Soviet Union in 1924.
The descendants of Qongirat people are found among the Mongolians in western parts of Mongolia and the Yugurs in Gansu, China. Clan by this name are known at present within the Middle Juz of the Kazakh nation, the Karakalpaks and the Uzbegs.
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