Khotons

The Khoton people are a Turkic ethnic group in Mongolia.[3] Most live in Uvs Province, especially in Tarialan, Naranbulag and Ulaangom. While the Khotons spoke a Turkic language until the 19th century, most now speak the Dörbet dialect of the Oirat people.[4] Khotons often avoid mainstream Mongolian written culture.[5] There were officially about 6,100 Khotons in 1989.[5] According to the Great Russian Encyclopedia, modern Khoton people are part of the "Mongols — a group of peoples who speak Mongolian languages".[6]

Khoton
Regions with significant populations
 Mongolia10,000 (2015)[1]
Languages
Oirat
Religion
Sunni Islam, including elements of Buddhism and Shamanism.[2]

History and culture

Khoton or Khotong was originally a Mongol term for Muslim Uyghur and Hui people, or Chinese language-speaking Muslims.[5]

The Khotons were settled in Mongolia by the Oirats when the latter conquered Xinjiang and took their city-dwelling ancestors to Mongolia. According to another version, they settled in Mongolia after 1753, when their leader, the Dörbet Prince Tseren Ubashi, surrendered to the Qing Dynasty.[5] Sanders states that the Khotons are Mongolized Uyghurs as a result.[7]

Unlike most Mongolians, Khotons follow a syncretic form of Islam that incorporates Buddhist and traditional elements (like Tengrism).[8][5] They traditionally avoid intermarriage with other ethnic groups.[5]

Language

The language the Khotons originally spoke was a Turkic language. It was spoken up until the nineteenth century.[4] Once settled in Mongolia, the Khotons adopted the Dörbet or northern dialect of Oirat.[9][8][5]

Bibliography

The Khotons of Western Mongolia, 1979.

See also

References
  1. "Монгол улсын ястангуудын тоо, байршилд гарч буй өөрчлөлтуудийн асуудалд" М.Баянтөр, Г.Нямдаваа, З.Баярмаа pp.57-709
  2. Донгак А. С. (2019). "Культ умерших предков в традиционной обрядности хотонов Западной Монголии" (in Russian) (Тенгрианство и эпическое наследие народов Евразии: истоки и современность ed.): 105–108. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)CS1 maint: date and year (link)
  3. James Stuart Olson, (1998), An Ethnohistorical Dictionary of China, p. 179
  4. Finke, Peter (1999). "The Kazaks of western Mongolia". In Svanberg, Ingvar (ed.). Contemporary Kazaks: Cultural and Social Perspectives. London: Curzon. p. 109. ISBN 0-7007-1115-5.
  5. Christopher Atwood Encyclopedia of Mongolia and the Mongol Empire, c. 2004 Khotong was originally the Mongol designation for Muslim oases dwellers and in Inner Mongolia designates the Hui or Chinese-speaking Muslims.
  6. "Монголы • Большая российская энциклопедия - электронная версия". bigenc.ru (in Russian). Retrieved 2021-02-02.
  7. Sanders, Alan J.K. (2010). Historical Dictionary of Mongolia (3rd ed.). Scarecrow Press. p. 386. ISBN 9780810874527.
  8. Cope, Tim (2013). On the Trail of Genghis Khan: An Epic Journey Through the Lands of the Nomads. Bloomsbury. p. 72. ISBN 9781608190720.
  9. Wurm, Stephen A.; Muhlhausler, Peter, eds. (2011). Atlas of Languages of Intercultural Communication in the Pacific, Asia, and the Americas. Walter de Gruyter. p. 910. ISBN 9783110819724.


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