Sir-Kıvchak

Sir-Kıvchak were a Turkic people whose existence is controversial and who were proposed to be precursors to the Kipchaks.

Name

The Sir appeared as Xinli 薪犁 (OC: *siŋ-ri(:)l) in Sima Qian's Records of the Grand Historian but were not referred to again until the 7th century as Xue 薛 (MC: *siᴇt̚).[1][2]

In the Bain Tsokto inscriptions of 720s erected by Tonyukuk, the name Türük "Turks" is mostly accompanied by the name (E)Sir (Old Turkic script: 𐰾𐰃𐰼).[3][4] According to S.G.Klyashtorny and T.İ. Sultanov this shows the importance of Sir element in the Second Turkic Khaganate (681-744) [5] This opinion is possibly supported by the fact that in the Khöshöö Tsaidam Monuments erected in 735 for Bilge Khagan, the name Sir follows the name Türük and precedes other tribal names.[3]

Origin

After the defeat of the short lived Xueyantuo khanate, Sir people escaped to west. In 679-681 term they supported Turkic revolt against the Tang Empire in China. After the Turkic Empire was restored they took part in the formation of the new empire.

Uyghur Khaganate

Uyghurs, who replaced the Second Turkic Khaganate possibly mentioned the Kïvchak, instead of Sir, as the tribe who accompanied the Turks[5] in their Moyun Chur monument. Thus it seems that the names Sir and Kïvchak were used interchangeably and Kïvchak was the name Sir people assumed after the collapse of the Turkic Empire. Klyashtorny proposed that the new name Kïvchak means "unfortunate" in Old Turkic language, probably referring to the problems they encountered after the collapse of the empire. Kïvchak remnants escaped to west to Kimek territory. The Kipchak people of the later era likely descended from the Kïvchak of the 8th century. However, this early attestation of the ethnonym Kipchak is uncertain as damages on the inscription leave only -čq (𐰲𐰴) (*-čaq or *čiq) readable.[6]

Other views

According to The Cambridge History of Inner Asia however, the identification of Sir people with the Kipchak is not well established.[7]

References
  1. Pulleyblank, "Central Asia and Non-Chinese Peoples of Ancient China", p. VII 21-26.
  2. Duan, "Dingling, Gaoju and Tiele", p. 370.
  3. Muharrem Ergin:Orhun Abideleri, Boğaziçi Yayınları, İstanbul, 1980, p.33, p.52
  4. Tonyukuk inscription at Türik Bitig
  5. S.G.Klyahtorny-T.İ.Sultanov:Türkün Üçbin Yılı, (translation by Ahsen Batur),Selenge Yayınları, İstanbul, ISBN 975-8839-03-9 p.127-129
  6. Moyun Chur inscriptions "Note 207" at Türik Bitig
  7. Denis Sinor: The Cambridge History of Inner Asia, Cambridge University, 1990, ISBN 0 521 24304 1 p.278
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