Kangar union

Kangar Odagy
Kangar Odagy
659–750
	The Kangar Union after the fall of the Western Turkic Khaganate, 659-750
Capital	located in Ulutau mountains
Common languages	Old Turkic
Religion	Tengriism
Khan (title)
Legislature	Kurultai (Qurultay)
History
• Established	659
• Disestablished	750
Preceded by	Succeeded by
	First Turkic Khaganate
Western Turkic Khaganate
Kimak Khanate
Western Kangar State
Oghuz Yabgu State

Kangar union was a Turkic state in the territory of the entire modern Kazakhstan without Zhetysu. The ethnic name Kangar is an early medieval name for the Kangly/Uyghur] people, who are now part of the Uyghur, Kazakh, Uzbek,^[1] and Karakalpak nations. The capital of the Kangar union was located in the Ulytau mountains. The Pechenegs, three of whose tribes were known as Kangar (Greek: Καγγαρ), after being defeated by the Uyghur's, Karluks, and Kimek-Kypchaks, attacked the Bulgars and established the Pecheneg state in Eastern Europe (890–990 CE).

Etymology

The Kengeres, mentioned in the Orkhon inscriptions, were possibly known in the Islamic world and in the west as Kangar, a collective name for three Pecheneg tribes (of eight).^[2] Byzantine emperor Constantine Porphyrogenitus stated that Kangar signified nobleness and bravery.^[3] Ukrainian historian Omeljan Pritsak suggested that Kangar originated from Tocharian A *kânk "stone" and Kengeres combined Kenger with the Iranian ethnonym As, supposedly from *ârs < *âvrs < *Aoruša (Greek: Αορσοι). However, Golden objected that *Aoruša would have yielded Ors/Urs and Pritsak's opinion on the Kengeres-Kangars' ethnonym and mixed Tocharian-Iranian origin remained "highly hypothetical".^[4] Other Orientalists, Marquart, Toltsov, Klyashtorny, attempted to connect the Kangar and Kengeres to the Qanglı, the eastern grouping of the Cuman-Kipchak confederation as well as the Indo-European Kangju in Chinese sources. Akhinžanov proposed that the Kipchaks simply assumed the name Qanglı (literally "wagon") after taking over the Kang region.^[5] András Róna-Tas (1996, 1999) proposes that the Pechenegs associated with their word kongor meaning "brown" (referring to their horses' coat color) with the ethnic name Kangar, which had been in existence in the Caucasus region as early as the 6th century CE before the Turkic peoples emerged; though he considers it a "case of an ethnic name established by means of a popular etymology".^[6]^[7] Nevertheless, all of these connections, if any, remain unclear.

Independence

After the capture of Zhetysu by the Chinese, Kangars become independent from the Turkic Kaganate. The Syr Darya cities retained their autonomy. The Oguzes in the southern Kazakhstan, Kimaks in the Irtysh River valley, Cumans in Mugodjar, and Kypchaks in the northern Kazakhstan became the vassals of the Kangar union.

At the end of the 7th century the Syr Darya cities rebelled and formed an alliance with the Sogdiana. The revolt was successful, but the Muslim Arab armies attacked Sogdiana from the south. The revolt has waned, and Kangars consented to the continued autonomy of the Syr Darya cities.

Fall of the Union

At the beginning of the 8th century the Oghuz confederation and the city of Tashkent seceded from the Kangar union. The Arabs continued raiding Sygnakh, Jend, and other rich Kangar cities. The Oguzes formed an alliance with the Kimaks and Karluks, and their joint assault defeated the Kangars, whose union dissolved.^[8] Three Kangar tribes and five allied Turkic tribes, under the collective name Pecheneg, later carved out a realm, which bordered both the Ouzes and the Khazars, in Eastern Europe.

Notes

^ Tolstoi V.P. Origin of the Karakalpak People//KSIE, Moscow, 1947. p.75
^ P.Golubovsky, Pechenegs, Torks, and Polovetses before Tatar invasion, SPb, 1884. p.55, in L.Gumilev, Ancient Türks, Ch.20 (In Russian)
^ Constantine Porphyrogenitus, De Administrando Imperio
^ Golden, Peter B. (1992). An Introduction to the History of the Turkic People. Otto Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden. pp. 264–265.
^ Golden 1992, p. 273.
^ Róna-Tas, András (1996). A honfoglaló magyar nép. Bevezetés a korai magyar történelem ismeretébe, p. 325-6. Cited in Güzel, Hasan; Oğuz, Cem; Karatay, Osman (2002). The Turks: Early ages. Yeni Türkiye. p. 621. ISBN 978-975-6782-56-9.
^ Róna-Tas, András (1999). Hungarians and Europe in the early Middle Ages. An introduction to early Hungarian history. Central European University Press. p. 420
^ Golden, Peter B. (1992). An Introduction to the History of the Turkic People. Otto Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden.

Kangar union

Etymology

Independence

Fall of the Union

See also

Notes

Further reading