On the Uyghur Component in the Formation of the Kimäk Tribal Union

Abstract

The article examines the problem of participation in the formation of the Kimäk Qaghanate of nomadic groups that were previously part of the population of the Uyghur Qaghanate and migrated westward after its dissolution. We have made an attempt at a comprehensive analysis both of written sources and of archaeological materials. Data provided by written sources are mostly scant; however, comparing texts of various traditions makes it possible, with a certain degree of probability, to find the ethnonym Äymür in the tribal subdivisions both of the Uighurs and of the Kimäks. Another important point is the fixation of the ethnonym Yughur, as a modified form of *Uyghur, in connection with the mention of the Kimäks in one of the texts. An analysis of the recent archaeological excavation data on early medieval monuments of Mongolia, supposedly associated with the Uyghurs, showed the presence of a number of common features shared with the Kimäk complexes of East Kazakhstan. Undoubtedly, the future archaeological research on objects of the last quarter of Ist millennium A.D. will allow us to significantly expand and refine knowledge and ideas about the complex cultural processes that had taken place in Central Eurasia.