Sir-Kıvchak were a

Turkic people Turkic peoples are a collection of diverse ethnic groups of West Asia, West, Central Asia, Central, East Asia, East, and North Asia as well as parts of Europe, who speak Turkic languages.. "Turkic peoples, any of various peoples whose members ...

whose existence is controversial and who were proposed to be precursors to the

Kipchaks The Kipchaks, also spelled Qipchaqs, known as Polovtsians (''Polovtsy'') in Russian annals, were Turkic nomads and then a confederation that existed in the Middle Ages inhabiting parts of the Eurasian Steppe. First mentioned in the eighth cent ...

who settled in East Europe in the 10th century.

Name

The ''Sir'' appeared as ''Xinli'' 薪犁 ( OC: *''siŋ-ri(:)l'') in

Sima Qian Sima Qian () was a Chinese historian during the early Han dynasty. He is considered the father of Chinese historiography for the ''Shiji'' (sometimes translated into English as ''Records of the Grand Historian''), a general history of China cov ...

Records of the Grand Historian The ''Shiji'', also known as ''Records of the Grand Historian'' or ''The Grand Scribe's Records'', is a Chinese historical text that is the first of the Twenty-Four Histories of imperial China. It was written during the late 2nd and early 1st ce ...

but were not referred to again until the 7th century as '' Xue'' 薛 ( MC: *''siᴇt̚''). In the

Bain Tsokto inscriptions The Tonyukuk inscriptions (), also called the Bain Tsokto inscriptions are Turkic inscriptions of the 8th century located in Nalaikh, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. They are one of the oldest written attestations of the Turkic language family, predating ...

of 720s erected by

Tonyukuk Tonyukuk (, zh, , c=暾欲谷, p=Tunyugu, , born c. 646, died c. 726) was the baga-tarkhan (supreme commander) and adviser of four successive Göktürk khagans – Ilterish Qaghan, Qapaghan Qaghan, Inel Qaghan and Bilge Qaghan. He conducted v ...

, the name ''Türük'' " Turks" is mostly accompanied by the name ''(E)Sir'' (

Old Turkic script The Old Turkic script (also known variously as Göktürk script, Orkhon script, Orkhon-Yenisey script, Turkic runes) was the alphabet used by the Göktürks and other early Turkic peoples, Turkic khanates from the 8th to 10th centuries to recor ...

: 𐰾𐰃𐰼).Muharrem Ergin:''Orhun Abideleri'', Boğaziçi Yayınları, İstanbul, 1980, p.33, p.52 According to S.G.Klyashtorny and T.İ. Sultanov this shows the importance of Sir element in the

Second Turkic Khaganate The Second Turkic Khaganate was a khaganate in Central and Eastern Asia founded by the Ashina clan of the Göktürks that lasted between 682–744. It was preceded by the Eastern Turkic Khaganate (552–630) and the early Tang dynasty period ( ...

(681-744) S.G.Klyahtorny-T.İ.Sultanov:''Türkün Üçbin Yılı'', (translation by Ahsen Batur),Selenge Yayınları, İstanbul, p.127-129 This opinion is possibly supported by the fact that in the

Khöshöö Tsaidam Monuments ('Queteqin Monument') , image = Kultigin Monument of Orkhon Inscriptions.jpeg , alt = Kultigin Monument of Orkhon Inscriptions – Orkhun Museum, Kharkhorin, Mongolia , image_caption = The Kul Tigin stele. Orkhon M ...

erected in 735 for

Bilge Khagan Bilge Qaghan (; ; 683 – 25 November 734) was the fourth khagan, Qaghan of the Second Turkic Khaganate. His accomplishments were described in the Orkhon inscriptions. Names As was the custom, his personal name and the name after assuming the t ...

, the name ''Sir'' follows the name ''Türük'' and precedes other tribal names.

Origin

After the defeat of the short lived

Xueyantuo The Xueyantuo or Sir Tardush were an ancient Tiele people, Tiele tribe and khaganate in Northeast Asia who were at one point vassals of the Göktürks, later aligning with the Tang dynasty against the Eastern Turkic Khaganate, Eastern Göktürk ...

khanate in 646, Sir people escaped to west. In 679-681 term they supported Turkic revolt against the

Tang Empire The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, c=唐朝), or the Tang Empire, was an imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907, with an interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dynasty and followed by the Five Dynasties and T ...

in China. After the Turkic Empire was restored they took part in the formation of the new empire.

Uyghur Khaganate

Uyghurs The Uyghurs,. 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 and East Asia. The Uyghurs are recognized as the ti ...

, who replaced the

possibly mentioned the Kïvchak, instead of Sir, as the tribe who accompanied the Turks in their Moyun Chur monument. Thus it seems that the names Sir and Kïvchak were used interchangeably and Kïvchak was the name Sir people assumed after the collapse of the Turkic Empire. Klyashtorny proposed that the new name Kïvchak means "unfortunate" in

Old Turkic language Old Siberian Turkic, generally known as East Old Turkic and often shortened to Old Turkic, was a Siberian Turkic languages, Siberian Turkic language spoken around East Turkistan and Mongolia. It was first discovered in inscriptions originating f ...

, probably referring to the problems they encountered after the collapse of the empire. Kïvchak remnants escaped to west to Kimek territory. The

Kipchak people The Kipchaks, also spelled Qipchaqs, known as Polovtsians (''Polovtsy'') in Russian annals, were Turkic nomads and then a confederation that existed in the Middle Ages inhabiting parts of the Eurasian Steppe. First mentioned in the eighth cent ...

of the later era likely descended from the Kïvchak of the 8th century. However, this early attestation of the ethnonym Kipchak is uncertain as damages on the inscription leave only ''-čq'' (𐰲𐰴) (*''-čaq'' or *''čiq'') readable. S.E.Malov, G.Aidarov and S.Karzhaubai have read this as ''Türük Qïbčaq'', however the group which took part in the Mongolian and Japanese expedition in 1996-1998, did read the relevant passage as ''türk qaγan čaq älig yïl olurmïš'' ("I heard that the Turuk qayans sat on the throne exactly for fifty years").

Other views

According to ''The Cambridge History of Inner Asia'', however, the identification of Sir people with the Kipchak is not well established.Denis Sinor: ''The Cambridge History of Inner Asia'', Cambridge University, 1990, p.278

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sir-Kivchak Xueyantuo Kipchaks Central Asia 8th century in Asia Tribes of the Göktürks