KAZAKH TRIBES IN THE GREAT STEPPE
Abstract
The first information about the Naimans was recorded in the 8th century data about them living in the south of Lake Baikal. By the middle of the 9th century, the Naiman tribes moved from Orkhon to the Tarim and Kara Irtys regions. By the 7th century, the conditions for the creation of a nation in the Naimans matured, and as a result, an independent state was created under the leadership of a khan. The newly formed confederation included the following eight tribes: Naiman, Tatar, Khatagin, Salzhiut, Mergit, Derbet, Ybrat, Taizhiut.
Lev Gumilev wrote that Naimans were Mongolian-speaking Turkic-speaking people (Gumilev, 2000: 208). In IX-XII centuries, Naiman Ulus is located on the Mongolian plateau, and the term «Naiman» itself is Mongolian, so it is attributed to Mongols. At that time, the nomadic people freely moved around the country, which was located in the distance from Altai to Yin Shan, because there were no borders. A part of the Turkic tribes moved from west to east long before our era, and back from east to west in the VII-VIII centuries of our era. At this time, many Turkic tribes remained on the Mongolian plateau. Among them there were merchants. If we look at it, the Naimans were among the Turkic groups in Altai before the Mongols and formed their own clan, so it is impossible to determine their nationality based on their geographical location, and at first they were not called «Naiman». Many tribes were called «basmyls» and lived in transethnic conditions.
The name «naiman» is mentioned in the «Liao-shi» record written during the Liao dynasty of Qidan. During the Yuan Dynasty of Mongolia, the history of Liao was completely compiled. At the end of the 10th century, when all the tribes in the territory of North China, Tangut, and Mongolia were subjugated to Qidan, the name «Naiman» appeared, and the historical records of the 10th century do not mention eight Ogyz. The name «Naiman» means «Eight» or «Country of Eight Rivers» because the Eight Rivers inhabited by the Oirats were formerly the home of the Naimans (Kinaiyatuly, 2001: 65).
