Naimans

Eurasia shortly before Genghis Khan's conquests, 13th century

The Naimans, also Naiman Turks^[1][2] or Naiman Mongols,^[3] (Mongolian: Найман ханлиг, Naiman hanlig, plurally "eights"^[4] (naim), Uzbek: Naymanlar, Kazakh: Найман) was a Mongolian name given to a group of people dwelling on the steppe of Central Asia, having diplomatic relations with the Kara-Khitan, and subservient to them until 1177. The Naimans are most often classified as a Turkic people from Sekiz Oghuz (means 'Eight Oghuz' in Turkic),^[5][6][7][8]

Like the Khitans and the Uyghurs, many of them were Nestorian Christians or Buddhists. When last Tayan Khan was killed after a battle with Genghis Khan in 1203, his son Kuchlug with his remaining Naiman troops fled to the Kara-Khitan. Kuchlug was well received there and the Khitan Khan gave him his daughter in marriage. Kuchlug soon began plotting against his new father-in-law, and after executing him and taking his place, he began to persecute Muslims in the Hami Oases. But his action was opposed by local people and he was later defeated by the Mongols under Jebe.

Although, the Naiman Khanlig was crushed by the Mongols, they were seen in every parts of Mongol "Empire." Ogedei's great khatun Töregene might be from this tribe. Hulegu had a Naiman general, Ketbuqa, who died in the battle of Ain Jalut in 1260.

More than 400,000 of the Kazakh population are Naimans (see Modern Kazakh tribes or Middle Juz). They originate from eastern Kazakhstan. Some Naimans dissimilated with the Kyrgyz and Uzbek ethnicities and are still found among them. There is a small population of Naimans in Afghanistan. They belong to the Hazara tribe and reside in Shaikh Ali valley. They are Sunni Muslims and Shiite Muslims. The clan Naiman is rarely found in Northern Mongolia.

Religion

Map from a 1903 Polish encyclopedia showing the Naiman people living north of Lake Balkhash in eastern Kazakhstan

By the time they were conquered by Genghis Khan most of the Naimans were Christians. They remained so after the Mongol conquest and were among the second wave of Christians to enter China with Kublai Khan.^[9] Meanwhile, the Naimans who settled in Western Khanates of Mongol "Empire" all eventually converted to Islam. There was a tradition that the Naimans and their Christian Kerait relatives were descended from the Biblical Magi. The commander of the Mongol army that invaded Syria in 1259, Kitbuqa, was a Naiman: he is recorded to have "loved and honoured the Christians, because he was of the lineage of the Three Kings of Orient who came to Bethlehem to adore the nativity of Our Lord".^[10]

See also

Other pre-Genghis Mongolian tribes include

• Kerait
• Merkit
• Jadran
• Jalair
• Onggirat
• Tayichiud
• Tatar

References

1. ^ Runciman, Steven (1987). A History of the Crusades. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-5213-4770-9. http://books.google.com/books?id=mrw8AAAAIAAJ&pg=RA1-PA240&dq=naiman+turks&hl=tr&sig=ErReB9eBmsY0JF5OvrnYWaN-pSI. Retrieved 2008-03-16. 
2. ^ Gibbon, Edward (1920). The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. Methuen Publishing. http://books.google.com/books?id=huMCAAAAMAAJ&q=%22naiman+turks%22&dq=%22naiman+turks%22&lr=&hl=tr&pgis=1. Retrieved 2008-03-16. 
3. ^ Mongolia
4. ^ Janhunen, Juha (2003). The Mongolic Languages. Routledge. ISBN 978-0-7007-1133-8. http://books.google.com/books?id=GMmjLzJhA2EC&pg=PA268&dq=naiman+means+eight+mongolian&lr=&hl=tr&sig=DT8sHUc_sXlBws9cTK43KSzNp9Y. Retrieved 2008-03-16. 
5. ^ Ratchnevsky, Paul. "Genghis Khan: His Life and Legacy". 2000, pp.1-4.
6. ^ Roemer, Hans Robert; Scharlipp, Wolfgang-Ekkehard (2000). History of the Turkic Peoples in the Pre-Islamic Period. Klaus Schwarz Verlag. ISBN 3879972834. http://books.google.com/books?id=86g2AAAAIAAJ&q=naimans+turkic&dq=naimans+turkic&hl=tr&pgis=1. Retrieved 2008-03-16. 
7. ^ Halsey, William Darrach; Friedman, Emanuel (1984). Collier's Encyclopedia: With Bibliography and Index. P. F. Collier. http://books.google.com/books?id=rL4JAAAAIAAJ&q=naimans+turkic&dq=naimans+turkic&hl=tr&pgis=1. Retrieved 2008-03-16. 
8. ^ Czaplicka, Marie Antoinette (2001). The Turks of Central Asia in History and at the Present Day. Adamant Media Corporation. ISBN 978-1402163326. http://books.google.com/books?id=SvsiRZIpUCQC&pg=RA1-PA72&dq=naiman+turks&hl=tr&sig=tTqSdiGC2wPXmgkpmVCJi_CLGUg. Retrieved 2008-03-16. 
9. ^ Cary-Elwes, Columba. China and the Cross. (New York: P. J. Kenedy and Sons, 1956) p. 37
10. ^ Hayton of Corycus, La flor des estoires de la terre d'Orient (1307), in Charles Kohler (ed.), Recueil des historiens des croisades, Document Arméniens, tome II, Paris, 1906; quoted in Ugo Monneret de Villard, Le Leggende orientali sui Magi evangelici, Citta del Vaticano, Biblioteca apostolica vaticana, 1952, p.162.