The Khoton people are a
Turkic ethnic group in
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 China to the south. It covers an area of , with a population of just 3.3 million ...
. Most Khotons live in
Uvs Province
Uvs (; mn, Увс аймаг, Uws aimag, ; xal, Увс әәмг, Uws äämg, ), is one of the 21 aimags (provinces) of Mongolia. It is located in the west of the country, away from the national capital Ulaanbaatar. Its capital is Ulaangom whi ...
, especially in
Tarialan,
Naranbulag and
Ulaangom. While Khotons spoke a
Turkic language until the 19th century, the majority now speak the
Dörbet dialect of the
Oirat language
Oirat (Clear script: , , ; Kalmyk: , ; Khalkha Mongolian: , ) is a Mongolic language spoken by the descendants of Oirat Mongols, now forming parts of Mongols in China, Kalmyks in Russia and Mongolians. Largely mutually intelligible to other co ...
.
Khotons often avoid mainstream
Mongolian written culture.
There were officially about 6,100 Khotons in 1989.
[Christopher Atwood ''Encyclopedia of Mongolia and the Mongol Empire'', c. 2004](_blank)
''Khotong was originally the Mongol designation for Muslim oases dwellers and in Inner Mongolia designates the Hui or Chinese-speaking Muslims''. According to the
Great Russian Encyclopedia
The ''Great Russian Encyclopedia'' (GRE; russian: Большая российская энциклопедия, БРЭ, transliterated as ''Bolshaya rossiyskaya entsiklopediya'' or academically as ''Bolšaja rossijskaja enciklopedija'') is a ...
, modern Khoton people are part of the "
Mongols
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 ...
— a group of peoples who speak
Mongolian languages
The Mongolic languages are a language family spoken by the Mongolic peoples in Eastern Europe, Central Asia, North Asia and East Asia, mostly in Mongolia and surrounding areas and in Kalmykia and Buryatia. The best-known member of this language f ...
".
History and culture
''Khoton'' or ''Khotong'' was originally a Mongol term for
Muslim
Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...
Uyghur and
Hui people
The Hui people ( zh, c=, p=Huízú, w=Hui2-tsu2, Xiao'erjing: , dng, Хуэйзў, ) are an East Asian ethnoreligious group predominantly composed of Chinese-speaking adherents of Islam. They are distributed throughout China, mainly in the ...
, or
Chinese language
Chinese (, especially when referring to written Chinese) is a group of languages spoken natively by the ethnic Han Chinese majority and many minority ethnic groups in Greater China. About 1.3 billion people (or approximately 16% of the ...
-speaking Muslims.
The Khotons were settled in Mongolia by the Oirats when the latter conquered Xinjiang and took their city-dwelling ancestors to Mongolia. According to another version, they settled in Mongolia after 1753, when their leader, the
Dörbet Prince Tseren Ubashi, surrendered 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-speak ...
.
According to some scholars, the Khotons are Mongolized
Uyghurs
The Uyghurs; ; ; ; zh, s=, t=, p=Wéiwú'ěr, IPA: ( ), alternatively spelled Uighurs, Uygurs or Uigurs, are a Turkic peoples, Turkic ethnic group originating from and culturally affiliated with the general region of Central Asia, Cent ...
as a result.
Unlike most Mongolians, Khotons follow a syncretic form of
Islam
Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God (or '' Allah'') as it was revealed to Muhammad, the ...
that incorporates Buddhist and traditional elements (like
Tengrism
Tengrism (also known as Tengriism, Tengerism, or Tengrianism) is an ethnic and old state Turko- Mongolic religion originating in the Eurasian steppes, based on folk shamanism, animism and generally centered around the titular sky god Tengri. ...
).
They traditionally avoid intermarriage with other ethnic groups.
Language
Khotons originally spoke a
Turkic language
The Turkic languages are a language family of over 35 documented languages, spoken by the Turkic peoples of Eurasia from Eastern Europe and Southern Europe to Central Asia, East Asia, North Asia (Siberia), and Western Asia. The Turkic languag ...
. It was spoken up until the 19th century.
Once settled in Mongolia, the Khotons adopted the or northern dialect of
Oirat.
Bibliography
''The Khotons of Western Mongolia'', 1979.
See also
*
Khoton
The Khoton people are a Turkic ethnic group in Mongolia. Most Khotons live in Uvs Province, especially in Tarialan, Naranbulag and Ulaangom. While Khotons spoke a Turkic language until the 19th century, the majority now speak the Dörbet di ...
(redirect page)
*
Demographics of Mongolia
This is a demography of Mongolia including population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations and other aspects of the population.
Segments
Youth
Vital statistics
UN estimates
...
References
Ethnic groups in Mongolia
Oirats
Dzungar Khanate
Turkic Buddhists
Turkic peoples of Asia
{{Asia-ethno-group-stub