On the question of the presence of traces of pre-Mongol Kipchaks in Western Siberia (based on the analysis of the dastan “Ak Kubek”)

Abstract

Research objectives: To consider the problem of the Eastern Kipchak presence in the pre-Mongol period in Southern Siberia, Altai, and adjacent territories, including the identification of traces of specific Kipchak clan formations in this area. Research materials: Data from the Tatar dastan “Ak Kubek”, Arabic chronicles, and Russian chronicles containing information of an epic and historical nature were used. Previously published works, which in one way or another affect this issue but need a critical approach and addition, were also employed. Results and novelty of the research: This study of the content of the dastan “Ak Kubek” and the Arab chronicles of an-Nuwayri and Ibn Khaldun, in which epic information has been transmitted through the Mamluks from the Kipchaks, allows us to conclude that the Siberian-Tatar dastan recorded by V.V. Radlov contains important historical content dating back to the pre-Mongol period and related to the Durut (tert, durt) and Toksoba clans which had different ethnic origins and occupied different territories. It was possible to connect some epic heroes (Khan Kotyan / Kidana) with the leaders of specific Western Polovtsian groups, such as the Terterovichi Khan Kotyan who sought refuge in Hungary during the Mongol conquest. The second group, Toksoba (Toksobichi), which in the analyzed dastan is personified by its main character, the princely son Ak Kubek biy, belonged to the Eastern Kipchak clan formations that participated in the ethnogenesis of the Siberian Tatars, Bashkirs, Kazakhs, and Altaians. The time and reasons for the connection of the dastan “Ak Kubek” to the Altaians cannot be unambiguously resolved due to the migrations of Siberian Tatars to the region of the Northern Altai during the fall of the Siberian Khanate. However, the hypothesis of the pre-Mongol presence of eastern Kipchaks in Southern Siberia and Altai seems probable.