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{{Short description|14th-century ethnocultural synthesis in Asia}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2022}}
The '''Turco-Mongol''' or '''Turko-Mongol tradition''' was an [[ethnocultural]] synthesis that arose in Asia during the 14th century among the ruling elites of the [[Golden Horde]] and the [[Chagatai Khanate]]. The ruling [[Mongolian nobility|Mongol elites]] of these khanates eventually assimilated into the [[Turkic peoples|Turkic]] populations that they conquered and ruled over, thus becoming known as '''Turco-Mongols'''. These elites gradually adopted [[Islam]], as well as [[Turkic languages]], while retaining Mongol political and legal institutions.<ref>{{cite book | title=The Rise and Rule of Tamerlane | url=https://archive.org/details/riseruletamerlan00manz | url-access=limited | publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] | author=Beatrice Forbes Manz | author-link=Beatrice Forbes Manz | year=1989 | pages=[https://archive.org/details/riseruletamerlan00manz/page/n68 6]–9 | isbn=978-0-521-34595-8}}</ref>

[[File:Asia in 1335.svg|thumb|Asia in 1335|alt=|400x400px]]

The Turco-Mongols founded many Islamic successor states after the collapse of the Mongol khanates, such as the [[Kazakh Khanate]], the [[Tatars|Tatar]] khanates that succeeded the Golden Horde (e.g., [[Crimean Khanate]], [[Astrakhan Khanate]], [[Khanate of Kazan]]), and the [[Timurid Empire]], which succeeded the [[Chagatai Khanate]] in [[Central Asia]]. [[Babur]] (1483–1530), a Turco-Mongol prince and a great-great-great-grandson of [[Timur]], founded the [[Mughal Empire]], which ruled majority of the [[Indian subcontinent]].<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |url=http://search.eb.com/eb/article-9072544 |title=Timur |encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica |edition=Online Academic |year=2007 |url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref name="EI">{{cite encyclopedia |title=Tīmūr Lang |encyclopedia=[[Encyclopaedia of Islam]] |publisher=[[Brill Publishers|Brill]] |access-date=24 April 2014 |author=Beatrice F. Manz |year=2000 |volume=10 |edition=2nd |url=http://referenceworks.brillonline.com/entries/encyclopaedia-of-islam-2/ti-mu-r-lang-COM_1223 }}</ref> The Turks and Tatars also ruled part of [[History of Egypt|Egypt]], exercising political and military authority during the [[Mamluk Sultanate]].<ref>"The Cambridge History of Egypt", Volume 1, (1998) P. 250</ref><ref name=":0">{{cite encyclopedia |title=Mamluk {{!}} Islamic dynasty |url=http://www.britannica.com/topic/Mamluk |encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica|date=30 November 2023 }}</ref><ref name=":1">{{cite web|title=Egypt – The Mamluks, 1250–1517|url=http://countrystudies.us/egypt/17.htm|website=Country Studies US|access-date=13 November 2015|archive-date=8 April 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160408124239/http://countrystudies.us/egypt/17.htm|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=":3">{{cite book |title=The Later Crusades, 1189–1311|author=Kenneth M. Setton|publisher=Univ of Wisconsin Press|location=Wisconsin|pages=757|year=1969|isbn=978-0-299-04844-0}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=A Turning Point in Mamluk History: The Third Reign of Al-Nāṣir Muḥammad Ibn Qalāwūn (1310–1341) |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YT_pUKZFdt4C&pg=PA17 |author=Amalia Levanoni |publisher=BRILL |page=17 |language=en |year=1995 |isbn=9004101829 |access-date=3 October 2020 |archive-date=26 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230726135122/https://books.google.com/books?id=YT_pUKZFdt4C&pg=PA17 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=":5">{{cite book |title=Turkish Myth and Muslim Symbol: The Battle of Manzikert|author=Carole Hillenbrand|publisher=Edinburgh University Press|location=Edimburgo|pages=164–165|year=2007|isbn=9780748625727}}</ref>

These Turco-Mongol elites became patrons of the [[Turco-Persian tradition]], which was the predominant culture amongst the Muslims of Central Asia at the time. In subsequent centuries, the Turco-Persian culture was carried on further by the conquering Turco-Mongols to neighbouring regions, eventually becoming the predominant culture of a good part of the ruling and elite classes of South Asia (Indian subcontinent), specifically North India ([[Mughal Empire]]), [[Central Asia]] and the [[Tarim Basin]] ([[Northwest China]]) and large parts of West Asia ([[Middle East]]).<ref>{{cite book|last=Canfield|first=Robert L.|title=Turko-Persia in Historical Perspective|year=1991|page=1 ("Origins")|publisher=Cambridge University Press|location=[[Cambridge]], United Kingdom<!--|isbn=0-521-39094-X-->|isbn=0-521-52291-9}}</ref>

==Antecedents==
{{see also|Altaic languages}}
Before the time of [[Genghis Khan]], Turkic and Mongolic peoples exchanged words with each other, with Turkic languages being more active than Mongolic.<ref name="Janhunen" />{{Clarification needed|date=April 2024|reason=Not clear what is meant by Turkic being more "active"}} Extensive lexical borrowings from [[Proto-Turkic]] into the [[Proto-Mongolic language]] occurred from at latest the first millennium BCE. Turkic and [[Mongolic languages]] share extensive borrowed similarities in their personal pronouns, among other lexical similarities, which seem to date to before this era and already existed before the breakup of the Turkic people around 500 BCE.<ref name="Janhunen">{{cite book|title=Shared Grammaticalization: With Special Focus on the Transeurasian Languages|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3J_6U8N2Wq8C&pg=PA221|first=Juha|last=Janhunen|author-link=Juha Janhunen|editor1=Martine Irma Robbeets|editor2=Hubert Cuyckens|page=221|chapter=Personal pronouns in Core Altaic|date=2013| publisher=John Benjamins |isbn=9789027205995|access-date=29 April 2017|archive-date=26 July 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230726135120/https://books.google.com/books?id=3J_6U8N2Wq8C&pg=PA221|url-status=live}}</ref> A still more ancient period of prolonged language contact between Turkic and Mongol languages is indicated by further and more fundamental phonotactic, grammatical, and typological similarities (e.g. synchronic [[vowel harmony]], lack of [[grammatical gender]], extensive [[agglutination]], highly similar [[phonotactic]] rules and [[phonology]]).<ref name="Janhunen"/>{{Original research inline|date=April 2024}} 

In the past, these similarities were attributed to a genetic relationship and led to the widespread acceptance of an [[Altaic language family]]. More recently, due to the lack of a definitive demonstration of a genetic relationship, these similarities have been divided into these three known periods of language contact. The similarities have led to the proposal of a [[Sprachbund#Northeast Asia|Northeast Asian sprachbund]] instead, which also includes the [[Tungusic languages|Tungusic]], [[Korean language|Korean]], and [[Japonic]] language families, although Turkic and Mongolic display the most extensive similarities. According to recent aggregation and research, there are [[doublet (linguistics)|doublet]]s, which are considered to be the same in terms of their roots, found in the vocabulary in Mongolian language and Turkic loanwords. Also, words of Turkic origin are the most common loanwords in Mongolian vocabulary.<ref>Nakashima, Y. (n.d.). 語彙借用に見るモンゴル語とチュルク語の言語接触: 特にカザフ語及びトゥヴァ語との比較を中心として(Rep.). Retrieved from [https://ir.library.osaka-u.ac.jp/repo/ouka/all/51188/gk00068_論文.pdf PDF] (ir.library.osaka-u.ac.jp). {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210205231805/https://ir.library.osaka-u.ac.jp/repo/ouka/all/51188/gk00068_%E8%AB%96%E6%96%87.pdf |date=5 February 2021 }}.</ref>

==Language==
Following the Mongol conquests, the ruling Mongol elites of the Mongol successor states began a process of assimilation with the non-Mongol populations that they ruled over. The population of the [[Golden Horde]] was largely a mixture of [[Turkic peoples|Turks]] and [[Mongols]] who adopted Islam later, as well as smaller numbers of [[Finno-Ugric peoples]], [[Alans]], [[Slavs]], and people from the [[Caucasus]], among others (whether Muslim or not).<ref>{{cite book|last=Halperin|first=Charles J.|title=Russia and the Golden Horde: The Mongol Impact on Medieval Russian History|url=https://archive.org/details/russiagoldenhord0000halp|url-access=registration|year=1987|publisher=Indiana University Press|isbn=978-0-253-20445-5|page=[https://archive.org/details/russiagoldenhord0000halp/page/111 111]}}</ref>{{Failed verification|date=April 2024}} 

Most of the Horde's population was Turkic: [[Kipchaks]], [[Cumans]], [[Volga Bulgars]], [[Khwarezm]]ians, and others. The Horde was gradually Turkified and lost its Mongol identity, while the descendants of [[Batu]]'s original Mongol warriors constituted the upper class.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://search.eb.com/eb/article-9037242 |title=''Encyclopædia Britannica'' |access-date=17 September 2019 |archive-date=9 March 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200309231900/http://search.eb.com/eb/article-9037242 |url-status=live }}</ref>{{Better source needed|reason=The current source is insufficiently reliable ([[WP:NOTRS]]).|date=April 2024}} They were commonly called [[Tatars]] by Russians and other Europeans. Russians preserved this common name for this group down to the 20th century. Whereas most members of this group identified themselves by their ethnic or tribal names, most also considered themselves to be Muslims. Most of the population, both sedentary and nomadic, adopted the [[Kipchak language|Kypchak language]], which developed into the regional languages of Kypchak groups after the Horde disintegrated.

In the [[Chagatai Khanate]], the Turkic language that was adopted by the Mongol elites became known as the [[Chagatai language]], a descendant of [[Karluk languages|Karluk]] Turkic. The Chagatai language was the native language of the [[Timurid dynasty]], a Turco-Mongol dynasty which gained power in Central Asia after the decline of the Chagatai khans. Chagatai is the predecessor of the modern Karluk branch of Turkic languages, which includes [[Uzbek language|Uzbek]] and [[Uyghur language|Uyghur]].<ref name="Grenoble2006">{{cite book|author=L.A. Grenoble|title=Language Policy in the Soviet Union|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WUeWBwAAQBAJ&pg=PA149|year= 2006|publisher=Springer Science & Business Media|isbn=978-0-306-48083-6|pages=149–}}</ref>

==Religion==
[[File:Shah-i-Zinda 03.jpg|thumb|The Turco-Mongol conqueror [[Timur]] made [[Samarkand]] the capital of his empire ]]
The Mongols during the period of the early Mongol conquests and the conquests of Genghis Khan largely followed [[Tengrism]]. However, the successor states of the Mongol Empire, the [[Ilkhanate]], Golden Horde and Chagatai Khanate ruled over large Muslim populations. The Ilkhanate and Chagatai Khanate in particular ruled over Muslim-majority populations in Iran and Central Asia, respectively.{{Citation needed|date=April 2024}}

In the Golden Horde, [[Uzbeg Khan|Uzbeg]] (Öz-Beg) assumed the throne in 1313 and adopted Islam as the [[state religion]]. He proscribed Buddhism and Shamanism among the Mongols in Russia, thus reversing the spread of the Yuan culture. By 1315, Uzbeg had successfully Islamicized the Horde, killing [[Jochids|Jochid]] princes and Buddhist [[lama]]s who opposed his religious policy and succession of the throne. Uzbeg Khan continued the alliance with the [[Mamluk]]s begun by [[Berke]] and his predecessors. He kept a friendly relationship with the Mamluk Sultan and his shadow Caliph in [[Cairo]]. After a long delay and much discussion, he married a princess from his family to [[Al-Nasir Muhammad]], [[Sultan]] of Egypt. Under Uzbeg and his successor [[Jani Beg]] (1342–1357), Islam, which among some of the Turks in Eurasia had deep roots going back into pre-Mongol times, gained general acceptance, though its adherents remained tolerant of other beliefs.{{Citation needed|date=April 2024}} 
[[File:Northern Yuan and Golden Horde.svg|thumb|The [[Northern Yuan dynasty]] and Turco-Mongol residual states and domains by the 15th century]]
In order to successfully expand Islam, the Mongols built mosques and other "elaborate places" requiring baths—an important element of Muslim culture. Sarai attracted merchants from other countries. The slave trade flourished due to strengthening ties with the [[Mamluk Sultanate (Cairo)|Mamluk Sultanate]]. Growth of wealth and increasing demand for products typically produce population growth, and so it was with Sarai. Housing in the region increased, which transformed the capital into the centre of a large Muslim Sultanate.{{Citation needed|date=April 2024}}

In the Chagatai Khanate, [[Mubarak Shah (Chagatai Khan)|Mubarak Shah]] converted to Islam, and over time, the Chagatai elite became entirely Islamized. The Chagatai Khanate was succeeded by the [[Timurid Empire]] in Central Asia, founded by the Turco-Mongol warrior Timur. According to [[John Joseph Saunders]], Timur was "the product of an Islamized and Iranized society", and not steppe nomadic.<ref name="Saunders2001">{{cite book |first=J. J. |last=Saunders |author-link=John Joseph Saunders |title=The History of the Mongol Conquests |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nFx3OlrBMpQC&pg=PA173 |year=2001 |publisher=University of Pennsylvania Press |isbn=978-0-8122-1766-7 |pages=173– |access-date=3 October 2020 |archive-date=26 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230726135126/https://books.google.com/books?id=nFx3OlrBMpQC&pg=PA173 |url-status=live }}</ref> To legitimize his conquests, Timur relied on Islamic symbols and language, referred to himself as the "Sword of Islam", and patronized educational and religious institutions. He converted nearly all the [[Borjigin]] leaders to Islam during his lifetime. Timur decisively defeated the Christian [[Knights Hospitaller]] at the [[Siege of Smyrna]], styling himself a ''[[ghazi (warrior)|ghazi]]''.<ref name="Marozzi-2004">{{cite book |title=Tamerlane: Sword of Islam, conqueror of the world |publisher=HarperCollins |last=Marozzi |first=Justin |year=2004 }}{{ISBN?}}</ref>

==See also==
{{columnslist|colwidth=30em|
*[[Ilkhanate]]
*[[Barlas]]
*[[Tatar confederation]]
*[[Hazaras]]
*[[Chagatai language]]
*[[Turco-Persian tradition]]
*[[Mongol invasions and conquests]]
*[[List of Mongol states]]
*[[Division of the Mongol Empire]]
}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{Turco-Mongol}}

[[Category:Turkic culture]]
[[Category:Mongol peoples]]
[[Category:14th century in Asia]]
[[Category:Ethnology]]