Kimek–Kipchak Confederation

The Kimek–Kipchak confederation was a medieval Turkic state formed by seven peoples, including the Yemeks and Kipchaks, in the area between the Ob and Irtysh rivers. From the end of the 9th century to 1050, it existed as a khaganate, and as a khanate until the Mongol conquest in the early 13th century.

Name

Minorsky, citing Marquart, Barthold, Semenov and other sources, proposes that the name ''Kīmāk'' (pronounced ''Kimäk'') is derived from ''Iki-Imäk'', "the two Imäk", probably referring to the first two clans (''Īmī'' and ''Īmāk'') of the federation.Minorsky, V. (1937) "Commentary" on "§18. The Kimäk" i
Ḥudūd al'Ālam
Translated and Explained by V. Minorsky. p. 304-305

On the other hand, Pritsak attempted to connect the Kimek with the Proto-Mongolic Kumo of the Kumo Xi confederation (庫莫奚; Middle Chinese: kʰuo^H-mɑk̚-ɦei; *''qu(o)mâġ-ġay'', from *''quo'' "yellowish" plus denominal suffix *''-mAk''); Golden judges Pritsak's reconstruction "highly problematic", as Pritsak did not explain how ''Quomâġ'' might have produced ''Kimek''; still, Golden considers the connection with the Proto-Mongolic world seriously.

Mahmud al-Kashgari does not mention any Kimek, but Yamāk; Kashgari further remarked that Kara-Khanids like him considered Yemeks to be "a tribe of the Kipchaks", though contemporary Kipchaks considered themselves a different party. The ethnonym ''Yemäk'' might have been transcribed in the mid 7th century by Chinese authors as 鹽莫 ''Yánmò'' < Middle Chinese *''jiäm-mâk'', referring a Tiele group who initially inhabited northwestern Mongolia before migrating to north of Altay Mountains and Irtysh zone.

Initially, Golden (1992:202, 227, 263) accepted the identification of Kimeks with Imeks/Yimeks/Yemeks, because the /k/ > ∅, resulting in ''Kimek'' > ''İmek'', was indeed attested in several Medieval Kipchak dialects; Golden also thought Yemeks unlikely to be 鹽莫 *''jiäm-mâk'' > ''Yánmò'' in Chinese source. However, Golden later changed his mind, reasoning that, as the Medieval Kipchak dialectal sound-change /k/ > ∅ had not yet happened in the mid-7th century Old Turkic, the identification of Yemeks with Kimeks is disputed. As a result, Golden (2002:660-665) later abandons the Kimeks > Yemeks identification and becomes more amenable to the identification of 鹽莫 Yánmò with Yemeks, by scholars such as Hambis, Zuev, and Kumekov, cited in Golden (1992:202). According to Tishin (2018), Yemeks were simply the most important of the seven constituent tribes whose representatives met at the Irtysh valley, where the diverse Kimek tribal union emerged, as related by Gardizi.

Origin

The Kimek confederation originated as a tribal union of seven tribes or clans. These tribes originated in the steppes of eastern Central Asia. The bulk of these migrated to present-day Kazakhstan after the destruction of the Uyghur Khaganate (840). The Kimek state was formed at the end of the 9th– and beginning of the 10th century composed out of tribal domains, ruled by a ''khagan'' who was the supreme among subject leaders.

Historical background

The 10-century geographical treaty Hudud al-Alam gave a description of the cultures and ways of life of Kimeks and Kipchaks. The Kimaks led a semi-settled life, as the Hudūd mentioned many wandering tribal grazers as well as a town named *''Yimäkiya'' (> ''Yamakkiyya'' > ms. ''Namakiyya''); while the Kipchaks, in some customs, resembled the contemporary Oghuzes, who were nomadic herders. The southern neighbors of Kimaks were Karluks, who preserved their independence for another 200 years. The Kimak Khakan's residence was in the city Imakia on the Irtysh.

In the middle of the 7th century, one of the future Kimek confederation's constituent tribe, the Yemaks, lived near the Irtysh, north of the Altai, as part of the Western Turkic Khaganate, and were possibly known to Chinese as 鹽莫 ''Yánmò'' (< Middle Chinese *''jiäm-mâk''). After the disintegration of the Western Türkic Kaganate in 743, a part of the Kimaks remained in its successor, the Uyghur Kaganate (740–840), and another part retained their independence. Lev Gumilyov connects the Kimek to Western Turk tribe Chumukun (處木昆): as Kimaks were known only to Arabs and Persians while Chumukun only known to Chinese.
During that period a nucleus of the Kimak confederation's tribes was consolidated. The head of the Kimak confederation had the title ''shad tutuk'', i.e., "Prince Governing, or Ruling”. The Yemek tribe became the head of the union, and later of the Kimak Kaganate. According to Pritsak (1982:331-33), Kimeks were known to Chinese as 庫莫 Kumo < MC ''kʰuoH-mɑk̚'' < *''qu(o)mâġ'' associated with the '' Xi'' < *''ɦei'' < *''Ġay'', a people whom Islamic writers knew as ''Qay'' and whose ethnonym is often linked to Mongolic *''mogaï'' "snake" (Khalkha могой ''mogoj''). Pletnyova proposed that "A snake has seven heads"/"A dragon with seven heads", recorded by Kashgari reflects the consolidation of the Kimek confederation. However, Golden (1992) found no textual evidence to link ''qay'' with Mongolic *''mogaï'',. Golden, following Klyashtorny, contended that the Qays' idenfication as the "People of the Snake", or rather "People of the Chieftain named Snake/Dragon", actually resulted from Qays' participattion in an anti-Karakhanid coaliation led by Yabaku chieftain Budrach, whose epithet Böke means "Great Dragon / Great Snake".

Before the middle of the 8th century, the Kimaks bordered the Karluks and Tokuz-Oguzes on the south, and the Yenisei Kyrgyz on the east. After dissolution of the Western Turkic Khaganate in 743, the main body of the Kimaks remained in the Irtysh area. In the late 8th or early 9th century, part of the Kimak tribes migrated in two directions, northwest to the Urals and southwest to the northern Zhetysu. The migration changed the ethnic composition of the Middle Volga and Lower Kama areas in the west. Spreading from the Irtysh area, Kimaks occupied territory between the rivers Yaik and Emba, and between the Aral and Caspian steppes, to the Zhetysu area.

Between the 9th– and 11th century the Kimek were concentrated in the middle Irtysh basin and northeastern Semirechye.

History

9th and 10th century

After the breakup of the Uyghur Kaganate in 840, the Central Asian tribes found themselves unattached. Portions of the Turkic Eymür, Bayandur, and Shiwei Tatar tribes joined the core of the Kimak tribes. The Tatar tribes already were members of the Kimak confederation—some had already participated in the initial formation of the Kimak Kaganate. The Kipchaks also had their Khanlyk, but politically they were dependent on the Kimaks. The dominating Kimak tribe mostly lived on the banks of Irtysh. The Kipchaks, described by Hudud al-Alam, occupied a separate territory located to the west, approximately in the southeastern part of the Southern Urals. Chinese chroniclers wrote about the mountains of the Kipchak land—in the chronicle Yuanshi these mountains are named Yùlǐbólǐ (玉里伯里), and the Kipchaks are called ''Qīnchá'' 欽察. North of Kipchaks and Kimaks lay endless forest.

Of all the numerous tribes, the Kimaks were ready to head a new political tribal union. They created a new Kimak Kaganate state, a federation of seven tribes, seven Khanlyks. Abu Said Gardezi (d. 1061) wrote that the Kimak state incorporated seven related tribes: Yemeks, Kipchaks, Eymür, Tatar