THE SOVIET HISTORIOGRAPHY AND THE QUESTION OF KAZAKHSTAN’S HISTORY

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THE SOVIET HISTORIOGRAPHY AND
Tatars’ ethnic background and the question of the word “Tatar”.
The Etymology of the Word “Tatar”
The word “Tatar” appeared firstly as the name of some nomadic tribal
units of the north of China between seventh and twelfth centuries.
Orkhon Inscriptions (eighth century) name “Otuz Tatar” and “Dokuz
Tatar” units. Chinese sources mention about a grand and strong tribal
confederation named “Ta-ta” (“Da-da”) with ninth century. Among
these units, it can be guessed that Kara Tatar (Otuz Tatar) referred to
the Mongols; whereas, Ak Tatar (Dokuz Tatar) meant the Turks. 347 In
the course of time, the name of these units who disturbed the Chinese
via frequent raids began to gain “barbarian” and “brutal” meanings
in China and turned into a common name encompassing all tribes
in the north of China. With this usage, the word “Tatar” was loaned
to the Arabs and Iranians by the Chinese. 348 The Islamic sources of
eleventh and tenth centuries refer to the nations of Eastern Turkestan
and Mongolia as “Tatars”. In the dictionary of Mahmud of Kashgar
(eleventh century), this region is called “Deşt-i Tatar” (Tatar Plain). 349
According to the rumours, Genghis Khan had a profound hatred
against the Tatars who acted negatively against his tribe and he
defeated them on the eve of the establishment of Mongol Empire
(1202) via exterminating a big number of them and separating their
tribes. Subsequently, the remnants of Tatars lost their identities by
integrating into the society of Mongol union majority. 350 However,
we can as well observe that despite Tatar tribes’ disappearance, the
name “Tatar” continued to prevail and Mongols began to be known
as “Tatars”. It can be guessed that the European travellers and tradesmen
in Asia spread the name “Tatar” to Europe before the Mongol
invasions. The records reveal that Genghis Khan was irritated by the
reference to Mongols as Tatars and prohibited such calling. During
the visit of European traveller Wilhelm von Rubruk to the Mongolian
headquarters in 1254, the guest was warned of the prohibition of the
usage of “Tatar” word. 351
347 “Tatarlar”, Büyük Larousse Sözlük ve Ansiklopedisi, C. 22, Milliyet Yay., İstanbul
1986, p. 11300; “Tatarı”, Tatarskiy Entsiklopediçeskiy Slovar, Institut Tatarskoy Entsiklopedii
AN RT, Kazan 1999, p. 566.
348 Karimullin, A., Tatarı:Etnos i Etnonim, Tatarskoye Knijnoye izd-vo, Kazan 1989,
p. 18.
349 “Tatarı”, Tatarskiy entsiklopediçeskiy slovar, p. 566.
350 Karimullin, p. 18; Büyük Larousse Sözlük ve Ansiklopedisi, p. 11300.
351 Karimullin, pp. 18-19.