INFORMATION ABOUT THE “TATARS” IN MEDIEVAL CHINESE, MONGOLIAN AND ANCIENT TURKISH SOURCES (5th – 14th CENTURIES)

• Published in: Золотоордынское обозрение
• Main Authors: Ganiev R.T., Butsyk P.I., Khamzin I.R.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Tatarstan Academy of Sciences, Marjani Institute of History 2025-06-01
• Subjects: tatars; turks; shatuo turks; eastern turks; tujue; mongols; mongol-tatars; mohe; central asia; genghis khan
• Online Access: https://goldhorde.ru/en/stati2025-2-5/

The article studies the ethnonym “Tatar” in the dynastic histories “Wei shu”, “Song shu”, “Sui shu”, “Jiu Tang shu”, “Xin Tang shu”, “Jiu Wu dai shi”, “Xin Wu dai shi”, “Liao shi”, “Song shi”, “Letters to the Uyghurs” by Li Deyu, “History of the Khitan State” by Ye Longli, “Various Official and Unofficial Records of the [Events] of the Reign of Jianyang” by Li Xinchuan, the dynastic histories “Yuan shi”, “Xin Yuan shi” and “Ming shi”, the works “Hei da shi lue”, “Meng da bei lu”, and the only Mongolian (Tatar) source “Yuan chao bi shi”. Materials from the ancient Turkic Orkhon monuments of the 8th century are also used. The study establishes that the term “Tatar” first appeared in the dynastic chronicle “Wei Shu” among the Rouran tribe as the proper name of Khagan Mouhanheshengai (414–429). Later, the term “Tatar” in Chinese sources denoted the tribes living in the territory of eastern Mongolia and northeastern China. The hieroglyphic designation of the ethnonym “Tatar” changed repeatedly during the 5th – early 14th centuries, more than 10 hieroglyphic records of “Tatar” have been established. With the formation of the Mongol Empire, along with the ethnonym “Tatar”, the names “Mongol-Tatars” and “Mongols” appear in the sources, although in the dynastic chronicle “Ming Shi”, they are recognized as identical. Dynastic histories contain the official point of view of Chinese chroniclers on the Mongol period. The use of the terms “Tatars” and “Mongols” in them may reflect both real ethnic differences and the political situation. The account of the origin of “Tatars” from the Shatuo Turks, indicated in “Meng da bei lu”, contradicts earlier historical information. It has also been established that in the original version of the work, “Yuan chao bi shi”, the narration is on behalf of the “Mongols”, but in the Chinese translation “Tatars” are indicated. The issue of using the name “Mongol” instead of “Tatars” is a subject to debate in domestic and foreign historiography. Chinese scholars cite the derogatory connotation of the term “Tatar” (barbarian) as the reason for its use, while the authors of “Hei da shi lue” offer an alternative version.