TRIBES

The nomadic tribes of the Eurasian steppe are often known collectively as Mongols. This is solely because of the dominance of Chinggis Klian's tribe over all other Turco-Mongol tribes. Tliey have also commonly been called Tatars, and before the rise of Chinggis Klaan, Tatars was the standard appellation for all Eurasian nomads. This was because the Tatars were the most powerful and dominant group within the Turco-Mongol world. Even though with the rise of Chinggis Khan the use of the term Mongol? spread, the label Tatar continued to be attached to the invaders. In Asia this was simply habit, but in Europe the word Tatar corresponded to the medieval Latin Tartarus, meaning "hell," and this tied in well with the prevalent belief in Europe at that time that the Mongols were denizens of the underworld, sent by the biblical demons Gog and Magog to punish the sinners of the world. Until recently, central Asia was known as either Turkistan or Tartary.

Ihough the major tribal confederations at this time are often divided into Mongols, Tatars, Naimans, Onggirats, Merkits, and Keraits, with

Pipes, Piohhut Museum, Inner Mongolia, Courtesy of Xinjiang Qinshan Culture Publishing

Numerous subdivisions, these groups were in no way either linguistically or ethnologically distinct. Mongols could be found in Naiman tribes, for example, and Turkish or a form of Turkish would be used as a first language in any number of these groupings. In the Scnrt History there is a reference to the peoples of the Eurasian steppes as "the peoples of the Nine Tongues," which points to their recognized linguistic diversiN.’ Mongols were found in all the other tribal confederations, and Turks were of course a major component of the Mongol confederation. This ethnic and linguistic blurring became far more pronounced with Chinggis Khan's rise to power. Chinggis made a point of breaking up the traditional tribal divisions and instilling a new loyalty based on hi. s reformatted decimal tribal structures. Religion w'as not a divisive factor among the tribes, and a variety of religious beliefs coexisted without rivalry and usually adapted themselves to each other. Shamani. sm’ was the most prevalent belief, but Nestorian Christianity* for example, was common among the Naiman, Ongut, and Merkits, and Buddhism was often professed, among the Uighur in particular. Religious tolerance was a defining trait among the tribes and among the Mongols under Chinggis Khan in particular. Loyalty and identity was often associated with individuals and tribal leaders or ancestors. The tribe was the basic unit of society, and, especially when linguistically or ethnically mixed, it was the tribe that promoted unity and the idea of a common identity. The practice of exogamy (marriage outside the tribe) and polygyny (multiple wives) can help to explain the linguistic and ethnic diversity of the tribes, but despite such diversity all members of the tribe still considered themselves descendants of a common ancestn', however tenuous and mythical that ancestry might be.