The Khamnigan, Hamnigan Mongols, or the Tungus Evenki, are a Tungusic- Mongolic ethnic (sub)group of

Mongol The Mongols ( mn, Монголчууд, , , ; ; russian: Монголы) are an East Asian ethnic group native to Mongolia, Inner Mongolia in China and the Buryatia Republic of the Russian Federation. The Mongols are the principal member ...

ized

Evenks The Evenks (also spelled Ewenki or Evenki based on their endonym )Autonym: (); russian: Эвенки (); (); formerly known as Tungus or Tunguz; mn, Хамниган () or Aiwenji () are a Tungusic people of North Asia. In Russia, the Eve ...

. Khamnigan is the Buriat- Mongolian term for all Ewenkis. In the early 16th century, the Evenks of Transbaikalia or Khamnigans were tributary to the

Khalkha The Khalkha (Mongolian script, Mongolian: mn, Халх, Halh, , zh, 喀爾喀) have been the largest subgroup of Mongols, Mongol people in modern Mongolia since the 15th century. The Khalkha, together with Chahars, Ordos Mongols, Ordos and Tum ...

. They who lived around

Nerchinsk Nerchinsk ( rus, Не́рчинск; bua, Нэршүү, ''Nershüü''; mn, Нэрчүү, ''Nerchüü''; mnc, m=, v=Nibcu, a=Nibqu; zh, t=涅尔琴斯克（尼布楚）, p=Niè'ěrqínsīkè (Níbùchǔ)) is a town and the administrative ce ...

and the Aga steppe faced both Cossack demands for tribute and Khori-Buriats trying to occupy their pastures. Most of them came under the Cossack rule and enrolled the Cossack regiments in the Selenge valley. The Khori Buriats occupied most of the Aga steppe and forced the Ewenkis to flee to the

Qing Dynasty The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-spea ...

. After 1880 Russia's Khamnigan moved to semi nomadic herding of cattle, sheep, camels and horses. Some time after 1918 the Evenks, along with their Buriat neighbors, fled over the border into Mongolia and Hulun Buir, establishing the current Khamnigan communities there. The Khamnigan of Mongolia, numbering 300 households, are scattered among the Buriats and speak only the Khamnigan dialect of

Buriat language Buryat, or Buriat (; Buryat Cyrillic: , , ), known in foreign sources as the Bargu-Buryat dialect of Mongolian, and in pre-1956 Soviet sources as Buryat-Mongolian,In China, the Buryat language is classified as the Bargu-Buryat dialect of the Mon ...

. They live around the Yeruu Lake,

Dornod Dornod ( mn, Дорнод, ; "East") is the easternmost of the 21 aimags (provinces) of Mongolia. Its capital is Choibalsan. Population Halh are the ethnic majority of the Dornod aimag, but Buryat ethnic group is 22.8% of population total ...

and

Khentii province Khentii ( mn, Хэнтий) is one of the 21 aimags (provinces) of Mongolia, located in the east of the country. Its capital is Chinggis City. The aimag is named after the Khentii Mountains. It is best known as the birthplace and likely final ...

s as well as

Möngönmorit Möngönmorit ( mn, Мөнгөнморьт, ''silver horse''; also: Möngönmor't) is a sum of Töv Province in Mongolia. The settlement is located just to the west of the Kherlen River and on the north side of a wide valley. Mongonmorit (or Mungu ...

Töv Province Töv ( mn, Төв, , ; "central") is one of the 21 aimags (provinces) of Mongolia. The national capital Ulaanbaatar is located roughly at its center, but the city itself is administrated as an independent municipality. Geography The Aimag inc ...

. Another community migrated to

Inner Mongolia Inner Mongolia, officially the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China. Its border includes most of the length of China's border with the country of Mongolia. Inner Mongolia also accounts for a ...

in China. They still use a language heavily influenced by Russian and attach symbolic importance to bread. There are approximately 535 Hamnigans in Mongolia and approximately 3,000 Hamnigans in

Selenge Province Selenge ( mn, Сэлэнгэ) is one of the 21 aimags (provinces) of Mongolia Mongolia; Mongolian script: , , ; lit. "Mongol Nation" or "State of Mongolia" () is a landlocked country in East Asia, bordered by Russia to the north and C ...

, Mongolia. Not all Hamnigans are of Tungusic origin; there are some Mongols among the Hamnigans. In China, the Khamnigan (around 2,500) are classified as Evenks.

Notable Hamnigan

* Semyon Nomokonov (1900–1973), Soviet sniper during World War II

References

{{authority control Evenks Buryat people Ethnic groups in Mongolia Ethnic groups in Russia Indigenous peoples of North Asia Mongol peoples Mongols