Yenisei Kyrgyz: Map & History
The Yenisei Kyrgyz were an ancient Turkic people who dwelled along the upper Yenisei in the southern portion of the Minusinsk Hollow from the 3rd century BCE to the 13th century CE.
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The Yenisei Kyrgyz were an ancient Turkic people who dwelled along the upper Yenisei in the southern portion of the Minusinsk Hollow from the 3rd century BCE to the 13th century CE. The heart of their homeland was the forested Tannu-Ola mountain range, in modern-day Tuva, just north of Mongolia. The Sayan Mountains were also included in their territory at different times.
Modern Countries Once Part of Yenisei Kyrgyz
At its mapped extent, Yenisei Kyrgyz covered territory in 1 present-day country. The period shown is when the mapped borders include that country, and the note says how much of it.
States and Provinces
Largest Present-Day Cities in Its Territory
Each opens on the live map inside Yenisei Kyrgyz's borders of that time.
Derived by testing mapped cities against this polity's dated territorial polygons, so the list is indicative and follows the borders in the source dataset.
Yenisei Kyrgyz in Depth
History
The Yenisei Kyrgyz correlated with the Čaatas culture and may perhaps be correlated to the Tashtyk culture. Their endonym was variously transcribed in Chinese historical texts as Jiegu (結骨), Hegu (紇骨), Hegusi (紇扢斯), Hejiasi (紇戛斯), Hugu (護骨), Qigu (契骨), Juwu (居勿), and Xiajiasi (黠戛斯), but first appeared as Gekun (or Ko-kun; Chinese: 鬲昆) or Jiankun (or Chien-kun; Chinese: 堅昆) in the Shiji and Book of Han, respectively. Peter Golden reconstructs underlying *Qïrğïz < *Qïrqïz< *Qïrqïŕ and suggests a derivation from Old Turkic qïr 'gray' (horse color) plus suffix -q(X)ŕ/ğ(X)ŕ ~ k(X)z/g(X)z.
Around 202 BCE, Xiongnu chanyu Modu conquered the Kyrgyz –then known to Chinese as Gekun (鬲昆), along with the Hunyu (渾庾), Qushe (屈射), Dingling (丁零), and Xinli (薪犁).
Origins
The Jiankun (堅昆) [Qirghiz] tribe, [unlike the Türks], is not of wolf descent. Their ancestors were born in a cave located to the north of the Quman Mountain. They themselves say that in the ancient times there was a god who mated with a cow in that cave. The people's hair is yellow, eyes are green, and beards are red.
In Chinese historical sources, the Kyrgyz are distinguished from the Uyghurs and other Tiele tribes. The Xin Tangshu, which contains detailed information about the Kyrgyz, describes their distinctive physical appearance: "The people are all tall and big and have red hair, white faces, and green eyes" (人皆長大，赤髮、皙面、綠瞳).
According to the Xin Tangshu, a neighboring tribe known as the Boma (駁馬) or Bila (弊剌) resembled the Kyrgyz, although their language was different.
Sections adapted from Wikipedia: Yenisei Kyrgyz (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Yenisei Kyrgyz: Key Facts
| Religion | Tengrism |
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Facts from Wikidata Q83142 (CC0).
Yenisei Kyrgyz Map Over Time
Dated world maps on which Yenisei Kyrgyz appears, with the other states of the time.
Yenisei Kyrgyz Timeline
Key historical inflections from foundation to peak territorial expansion
Expansion to peak recorded area of 424,096 km² in 1028 CE.
Yenisei Kyrgyz: Frequently Asked Questions
When did Yenisei Kyrgyz exist?
Yenisei Kyrgyz is dated to 555 CE – 1219 CE, in the Early Middle Ages era.
How large was Yenisei Kyrgyz at its peak?
At its peak in 1028 AD Yenisei Kyrgyz covered about 424,096 km².
How did the map of Yenisei Kyrgyz change over time?
Yenisei Kyrgyz appears on 6 dated world maps in the atlas, from 600 CE to 1200 CE. Each shows its borders in that year next to the other states of the time.
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