The Kyrgyz people are a Turkic ethnic group native to Central Asia. They primarily reside in Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, China, Afghanistan, and Pakistan. A Kyrgyz diaspora is also found in Russia, Tajikistan, and Kazakhstan. They speak the Kyrgyz language, which is the official language of Kyrgyzstan.
The earliest people known as "Kyrgyz" were the descendants of several Central Asian tribes, first emerging in western Mongolia around 201 BC. Modern Kyrgyz people are descended in part from the Yenisei Kyrgyz that lived in the Yenisey river valley in Siberia. The Kyrgyz people later established Kyrgyz khanate in the 15th century. "Various Kyrgyz tribes began creating an independent khanate during the 15th century with a distinctive Kyrgyz language." "Chingis Khan and his Mongol descendants held sway over the area from the thirteenth century until the fifteenth century, when an autonomous Kyrgyz khanate was established." "In 1510, the Kyrgyz threw off Oirat rule and established a Kyrgyz khanate in 1514."
Etymology There are several theories on the origin of ethnonym Kyrgyz. It is often said to be derived from the Turkic word kyrk ("forty"), with -iz being an old plural suffix, so Kyrgyz literally means "a collection of forty tribes". It also means "imperishable", "inextinguishable", "immortal", "unconquerable" or "unbeatable", as well as its association with the epic hero Manas, who – according to a founding myth – unified the 40 tribes against the Khitans. A rival myth, recorded in 1370 in the History of Yuan, concerns 40 women born on a steppe motherland.Zuev, Yu.A., Horse Tamgas from Vassal Princedoms (Translation of Chinese composition "Tanghuyao" of 8–10th centuries), Kazakh SSR Academy of Sciences, Alma-Ata, 1960, p. 103
The earliest records of the ethnonym appear to have been the Chinese transcriptions Gekun (, LH *kek-kuən < Old Chinese: *krêk-kûn) and Jiankun (, LH *ken-kuən < OC: *kên-kûn). Those suggest that the original ethnonym was *kirkur ~ kirgur and/or *kirkün, and another transcription Jiegu (, EMC: *kέt-kwət) suggests *kirkut / kirgut. Yury Zuev proposed that the ethnonym possibly means 'field people, field Huns' (cf. Tiele tribal name 渾 Hún < MC *ɣuən).Zuev Yu.A., Horse Tamgas from Vassal Princedoms (translation of 8–10th century Chinese Tanghuiyao), Kazakh SSR Academy of Sciences, Alma-Ata, 1960, p. 103, 128 (in Russian) Peter Golden reconstructs *Qïrğïz < *Qïrqïz< *Qïrqïŕ and suggests a derivation from Old Turkic qır 'gray' (horse color) plus suffix -q(X)r/ğ(X)r ~ k(X)z/g(X)z.Golden, Peter B. (August 2018). "The Ethnogonic Tales of the Türks". The Medieval History Journal, 21(2): 302. Besides, Chinese scholars later used a number of different transcriptions for the Kyrgyz people: these include Gegu (紇骨), Jiegu (結骨), Hegu (紇骨), Hegusi (紇扢斯), Hejiasi (紇戛斯), Hugu (護骨), Qigu (契骨), or Juwu (居勿), and then, during the reign of Tang Emperor Wuzong, Xiajiasi (黠戛斯), said to mean "red face".Theobald, Ulrich (2012). "Xiajiasi 黠戛斯, Qirqiz" for ChinaKnowledge.de – An Encyclopaedia on Chinese History, Literature and Art Edwin G. Pulleyblank surmises that "red face" was possibly a folk etymology provided by an interpreter who explained the ethnonym based on Turkic qïzïl ~ qizqil, meaning 'red'. By the time of the Mongol Empire, the ethnonym's original meaning had apparently been forgotten – as was shown by variations in readings of it across different reductions of the History of Yuan. This may have led to the adoption of Kyrgyz and its mythical explanation.
During the 18th and 19th centuries, European writers used the early Romanized form Kirghiz – from the contemporary Russian – to refer not only to the modern Kyrgyz, but also to their more numerous northern relatives, the Kazakhs. When distinction had to be made, more specific terms were used: the Kyrgyz proper were known as the Kara-Kirghiz ("Black Kirghiz", from the colour of their tents), and the Kazakhs were named the or "Kirghiz-Kazak".
Origins
The Kyrgyz are a Turkic ethnic group. It has been suggested Turkic peoples either descended from pastoralist or farming populations in Altaic (re-labelled as Transeurasian) hypothesis, and the Altaic hypothesis has been widely rejected. Turkic urheimat has been suggested to be placed somewhere between Transcaspian Steppe and Manchuria; Amur or Northeast China also are amongst the suggestions along with South Siberia. By the early 1st millennium BC, these peoples had become equestrian nomads. In subsequent centuries, the steppe populations of Central Asia appear to have been progressively Turkified by an East Asian dominant minority moving out of Mongolia.. "These results suggest that Turkic cultural customs were imposed by an East Asian minority elite onto central steppe nomad populations... The wide distribution of the Turkic languages from Northwest China, Mongolia and Siberia in the east to Turkey and Bulgaria in the west implies large-scale migrations out of the homeland in Mongolia.. "Both Chinese histories and modern dna studies indicate that the early and medieval Turkic peoples were made up of heterogeneous populations. The Turkicisation of central and western Eurasia was not the product of migrations involving a homogeneous entity, but that of language diffusion."
The oldest notes about a definite mention of the Kyrgyz ethnonym originate from the 6th century. The Kyrgyz as an ethnic group are mentioned quite unambiguously during the time of Genghis Khan's rule (1162–1227), when their name replaces the former name Khakas.
18th-century Qing administrators referred to the Kyrgyz by the name Bulute.
Possible Yenisei Kyrgyz affiliation The Yenisei Kyrgyz, whose 9–10th century migration to the Tienshan area was of "particularly great importance for the formative process" of the modern Kyrgyz, have their origins in the western parts of modern-day Mongolia and first appear in written records in the Chinese annals of the Sima Qian's Records of the Grand Historian (compiled 109–91 BCE) as Gekun (, ) or Jiankun (). The Middle Age Chinese composition Tang Huiyao of the 8–10th century transcribed the name "Kyrgyz" as Jiegu (Kirgut), and their tamga was depicted as identical to the tamga of the present-day Kyrgyz tribes Azyk, Bugu, Cherik, Sary Bagysh and a few others.
The description of the Yenisei Kyrgyz as "large, with red hair, white faces, and green or blue eyes" in the New Book of Tang (11th century) have tempted a number of researchers to assume that the Kyrgyz may have originally been non-Turkic or at least an ethnically mixed people with a large non-Turkic element. The New Book of Tang did not consider the Yenisei Kyrgyz to be the same as the Tiele people, but states that they had the same language and script as the Uyghurs, who were part of the Tiele tribes. The Yenisei Kyrgyz were described to look similar to the neighboring "Boma tribe" (Basmyl), who did not share the same language, implying that the Yenisei Kyrgyz may have originally been a non-Turkic people. According to the You yang za zu by Duan Chengshi in the 9th century AD, the Yenisei Kyrgyz were not of wolf descent, unlike the Türks, but were born in a cave north of the Quman Mountain as the offspring of a god and a cow. Based on these historical descriptions, Lee & Kuang suggest that the Yenisei Kyrgyz were turcophone, but may have been of non-Turkic origin, and were Turkified through inter-tribal marriage. Contemporary Persian writer Gardizi recounted a legend that ascribed these traits to Saqaliba ancestry in the tribe.
In 840, a revolt led by the Yenisei Kyrgyz brought down the Uyghur Khaganate, and brought the Yenisei Kyrgyz to a dominating position in the former Second Turkic Khaganate. With the rise to power, the center of the Kyrgyz Khaganate moved to Jeti-su, and brought about a spread south of the Kyrgyz to Tian Shan and Xinjiang, bringing them into contact with the existing peoples of what is now Western China, especially the Tibetan Empire.
The Khagans of the Yenisei Kyrgyz Khaganate claimed descent from the Han Chinese general Li Ling, which was mentioned in the diplomatic correspondence between the Kyrgyz khagan and the Tang dynasty emperor, since the Tang imperial Li family claimed descent from Li Ling's grandfather, Li Guang.(黠戛斯已破回鹘，得太和公主；又自以李陵后，与唐同宗，故遣使者达干奉主来归。) Xin Tang Shu, vol.217, part 2. The Kyrgyz qaghan assisted the Tang dynasty in destroying the Uyghur Khaganate and rescuing the Princess Taihe from the Uyghurs. They also killed a Uyghur khagan in the process.
Then Kyrgyz quickly moved as far as the Tian Shan range and maintained their dominance over this territory for about 200 years. In the 12th century, however, Kyrgyz domination had shrunk to the Altai and Sayan Mountains as a result of Mongol expansion. With the rise of the Mongol Empire in the 13th century, the Kyrgyz migrated south. In 1207, after the establishment of Yekhe Mongol Ulus (Mongol empire), Genghis Khan's oldest son Jochi occupied Kyrgyzstan without resistance. The state remained a Mongol vassal until the late 14th century. Various Turkic peoples ruled them until 1685, when they came under the control of the Oirats (Dzungars), which lasted until 1757. Many Kyrgyz tribes that had fled the Dzungars returned to modern Kyrgyzstan at this time.
By the 16th century, the carriers of the ethnonym Kirgiz lived in South Siberia, Xinjiang, Tian Shan, Pamir-Alay, Middle Asia, Urals (among Bashkirs), and in Kazakhstan. In the Tian Shan and Xinjiang area, the term Kyrgyz retained its unifying political designation, and became a general ethnonym for the Yenisei Kirgiz and other Turkic tribes that presently constitute the Kyrgyz population. Though it is impossible to directly identify the Yenisei and Tien Shan Kyrgyz, a trace of their ethnogenetical connections is apparent in archaeology, history, language and ethnography. A majority of modern researchers came to the conclusion that the ancestors of Kyrgyz tribes had their origin in the most ancient tribal unions of Sakas/Scythians, Wusun/Issedones, Dingling, Mongols, and Huns.
Genetics
Haplogroups The genetic makeup of the Kyrgyz is consistent with their origin as a mix of tribes.Day, J. (2001). Indo-european origins: The anthropological evidence. Inst for the Study of Man. . For instance, 63% of modern Kyrgyz men of Jumgal DistrictFigure 7c in belong to the paternal haplogroup R1a1. Low diversity of Kyrgyz R1a1 indicates a founder effect within the historical period. Other groups of Kyrgyz especially Southwest Kyrgyz show a considerably lower frequency of haplogroup R.Deka, Papiha, Chakraborty, R. S. R. (2012). Genomic diversity: Applications in human population genetics. (1st ed.). Springer. The other main haplogroups of modern Kyrgyz are haplogroup C-M217 at 12–20%, haplogroup O-M175 at 0–15%, and haplogroup N-M231 at around 4.5%.
Depending on the geographical location of samples, West Eurasian mtDNA haplogroup lineages make up 27% to 42.6% in the Kyrgyz, with haplogroup mtDNA H being the most predominant West Eurasian mtDNA haplogroup at about 14.2% (range 8.3% Talas to 21.3% Sary-Tash) among the Kyrgyz. However, the majority of Kyrgyz belong to East Eurasian mtDNA haplogroups, with mtDNA haplogroup D (approx. 20.2%, range 14.6% Talas to 25.5% Sary-Tash) and D4 in particular (approx. 18.5%) being the most frequent Eastern Eurasian lineage among them.Table 2 in
Autosomal DNA