Tribal Confederation Research Articles

K voprosu sozdaniya Karlukskogo kaganata v Srednej Azii

The article examines the problems of statehood formation among the Karluks, their political history as part of the Turkic Khaganate, and relations with neighboring Central Asian states. The issues of expanding the limits of the Karluks in the region and their impact on the ethnopolitical situation in Central Asia are studied. The study focuses on the relationship of the Karluk tribal confederations with the Arab and Chinese conquerors.

Self-Destruction of Idols in Arab Muslim Historiography

Abstract The article deals with a potential source and the subsequent borrowing of the motif of the self-destruction of the pagan idols. This motif is common in Eastern Christian apocrypha and hagiographic tales and also in the Arab Islamic tradition. In Muslim historiography, among stories about the destiny of ancient Arabian images, such a motif is found only twice. Both legends are connected with pre-Islanic Ḥaḍramawt, the autonomous region in Yemen. One legend deals with the idol called al-Djalsad, an object of veneration mostly by a tribe of al-Sakūn. It was represented in the shape of a white anthropomorphic rock with a black head. The other tale narrates about the domestic statue made of cornelian that belonged to the local notable Wā’il b. Ḥudjr. The subject of the spontaneous fall of idols appears to reflect a rivalry, especially in the spiritual sphere, between the tribal confederation al-Sakūn and the descendants of the indigenous sedentary population of Ḥaḍramawt. Their struggle for power in the early Islamic empire manifested in the most apparent way in Egypt, where they could borrow the motif of idols’ self-destruction from the Copts. Thus, in Chapter LXXIX of the Chronicle by John of Nikiu compiled in the late 7th–early 8th century AD obviously in Greek a tale about the childhood of St Theophilus, the Coptic Patriarch in AD 385–412, is preserved. According to it, in his presence, the statues of Artemis and Apollo became overthrown in a shrine situated in the district of Memphis.

Çiçek, M. Talha. Negotiating Empire in the Middle East: Ottomans and Arab Nomads in the Modern Era, 1840-1914. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2021. 280 Page. ISBN 9781316518083.

M. Talha Çiçek's Negotiating Empire in the Middle East discusses the changing relationships between the Ottoman imperial administration and the Shammar and the Anizah tribal confederations, in the regions of today’s Iraq, Syria, Arabia, and Jordan, between the Tanzimat Era and the WWI. The book is an essential addition filling several scholarly gaps in the writing of the Ottoman Middle East's social history, the history of the Tanzimat Reforms across the Empire, and that of the Arab Tribal communities, commonly known today as the Bedouin communities.

Mediating between the Royal Court and the Periphery: The Zangana Family’s Brokerage in Safavid Iran (1501–1722)

ABSTRACT To control the unruly Kurdish tribal confederates on the western frontier of their kingdom, successive Safavid shahs of Iran tried strengthening their personal ties with the Kurdish emirs by various measures, such as educating young members of the Kurdish ruling families in the Safavid court and recruiting some into their royal guard. The formation and maintenance of such close lord–vassal relationships definitely necessitated various levels of negotiations and mediations. This paper highlights the importance of intermediaries in the political integration of peripheral areas, focusing on the brokering role of the Zangana family, an influential elite family of Kurdish origin, who mediated between the royal court and the Ardalan emirate, one of the largest Kurdish tribal confederations that accepted Safavid rule.

A tribal confederation at the intersection of the Ottoman, Russian and Qajar empires: the Zilan Confederation and the empires (1810–1860)

Focusing on the pastoral nomadic tribe of Zilan, located at the intersection of the Ottoman, the Qajar and the Russian imperial borders, this article discusses the political and military relations between imperial states and nomadic tribes during the nineteenth century. It analyzes how the war-making, boundary-making and state-making attempts of these three rival empires on a tribal and frontier space shaped the social, political and economic organization of a nomadic tribe, its loyalties, alliances and allegiances. It argues that imperial states and tribes in this military frontier, rather than acting as two hostile camps, depended and needed each other in military, political and economic spheres. Such a long-lasting mutual interdependence not only transformed political and administrative structure of the tribal groups, but also forced empires to redraw their plans and projects according to tribal and frontier settings.

The genetic origin of Huns, Avars, and conquering Hungarians

Huns, Avars, and conquering Hungarians were migration-period nomadic tribal confederations that arrived in three successive waves in the Carpathian Basin between the 5th and 9th centuries. Based on the historical data, each of these groups are thought to have arrived from Asia, although their exact origin and relation to other ancient and modern populations have been debated. Recently, hundreds of ancient genomes were analyzed from Central Asia, Mongolia, and China, from which we aimed to identify putative source populations for the above-mentioned groups. In this study, we have sequenced 9 Hun, 143 Avar, and 113 Hungarian conquest period samples and identified three core populations, representing immigrants from each period with no recent European ancestry. Our results reveal that this "immigrant core" of both Huns and Avars likely originated in present day Mongolia, and their origin can be traced back to Xiongnus (Asian Huns), as suggested by several historians. On the other hand, the "immigrant core" of the conquering Hungarians derived from an earlier admixture of Mansis, early Sarmatians, and descendants of late Xiongnus. We have also shown that a common "proto-Ugric" gene pool appeared in the Bronze Age from the admixture of Mezhovskaya and Nganasan people, supporting genetic and linguistic data. In addition, we detected shared Hun-related ancestry in numerous Avar and Hungarian conquest period genetic outliers, indicating a genetic link between these successive nomadic groups. Aside from the immigrant core groups, we identified that the majority of the individuals from each period were local residents harboring "native European" ancestry.

Origin and Background of the Mamasani Tribal Confederation (Presenting new hypotheses)

ایل ممسنی به­عنوان یکی از ایلات لُرتبار واقع در شمال غربی استان فارس و دامنه­های زاگرس، در تحولات اجتماعی و سیاسی نقش بسزایی داشته است. دربارۀ مبدأ و منشأ این ایل دیدگاه­ها و ­نظرات متفاوتی وجود دارد. بنیان پژوهش کنونی بر این پرسش استوار است که تبار و خاستگاه تاریخی و جغرافیایی ایل ممسنی چه بود و ساختار سیاسی این ایل و استقرار طوایف آن در قلمروهای مختلف چگونه شکل گرفت؟ پژوهش حاضر که با رویکردی توصیفی ـ تحلیلی و از طریق گردآوری داده­ها به روش اسنادی (منابع دست ­اول، تاریخ­های محلی و متون تاریخی معتبر) و میدانی (مصاحبه و مشاهده) انجام شده است، نشان می­دهد که ایل ممسنی ضمن برخورداری از تبار و خاستگاه تاریخی ـ جغرافیایی دیرپا و کُهن، در اواخر دورۀ صفویه به سرزمین شولستان مهاجرت کرد. براساس فرضیات هشت­گانۀ نویسندگان، طوایف ممسنی (بکش، جاوید، رستم و دشمن­زیاری) به صورت تدریجی و مبتنی بر جهت جغرافیایی وارد سرزمین شولستان شدند و پس از همزیستی مسالمت­آمیز اولیه در مجاورت شول­ها، بر آنها چیرگی یافتند و قلمرو جغرافیایی مختص به خود را تحت حکمرانی خوانین مجزا برگزیدند. بنابراین، ساختار جدید ایل ممسنی به صورت چهار طایفۀ لرتبار ممسنی، یک طایفۀ لرتبار شول­ و سپس یک طایفۀ ترک­تبار قشقایی شکل گرفت، ولی به دلیل نبود منصب ایلخانی واحد، رفته­رفته تعارضات درون­ایلی و برون­ایلی (با دولت مرکزی و سایر ایلات) شدت یافت و ایل ممسنی از نظر اجتماعی ـ سیاسی دچار ازهم­گسیختگی شد.

Sources on the History of the Berber Tribal Confederation of Ṣanhāja in the Middle Ages: The Issue of Reliability

The indigenous population of North Africa was represented by various Berber tribes, most of which belonged to three large genealogical confederations - Ṣanhāja, Zenāta and Maṣmūda. The question, which the author of the present research examines, is the origin of the Ṣanhāja tribe, its ethnicity and possible ties with Arab tribes that migrated from territories of modern Yemen in the early Islamic period. This work reveals a range of problems associated with the authenticity of sources, the availability of copies, authors, translations. The medieval history of the Maghreb and Berber tribes is a promising, however, still insufficiently studied field for research. Understanding a recon- struction of the historical process, its features, ambiguity, and methodology in the light of the undertaken research appears to provide a necessary basis for formation of a correct approach to the study of sources. This article discusses the issue of historical authenticity and the genealogy of Ṣanhāja confederation as well as the origin of this ethnonym.

Nikolaus Overtoom. “Considering the Failures of the Parthians against the Invasions of the Central Asian Tribal Confederations in the 120s BC”

Nikolaus Overtoom. “Considering the Failures of the Parthians against the Invasions of the Central Asian Tribal Confederations in the 120s BC”

Madian revealed? Assessing the history and archaeology of the oasis of al-Badʿ in northwestern Arabia

The location of Madian (or Midian), a toponym or ethnonym mentioned many times in the Old Testament and the Qurʾān, has been the subject of intense scientific debate since the 19th century. In this article, we provide an overview of textual sources and field data leading many researchers to identify Madian with the oasis of al-Badʿ in Northwest Arabia. The extent and variety of remains on this archaeological site-explored for the first time by a Franco-Saudi mission (2017-2021)-confirm a long and rich history that remained forgotten until today. The reassessment of scientific arguments tends to show, without much doubt, that the oasis of al-Badʿ was indeed Madyan in Islamic times, and most likely Madiama at the turn of the first millennium ce. The oasis was likely part of a large Midianite tribal confederation in the first millennium bce and possibly even earlier, at the end of the second millennium bce. The oldest traces of the occupation of the oasis date back to the seventh millennium bce.

ETHNOSOCIAL SYSTEM AND POLITOGENESIS OF ALTAI POPULATION IN II CENTURY BC – V CENTURY AD (BASED ON MATERIALS OF ARCHAEOLOGICAL COMPLEXES)

The article concerns the reconstructing the features of the formation and evolution of the ethnosocial system, as well as the processes of political genesis of the Altai population at the Xiongnu-Xianbei-Rouran period. The key approach of the research is a comprehensive analysis of materials from excavations of sites of the Bulan-Koby archaeological culture (II century BC – V century AD). More than 800 burials studied in different parts of Altai form the basis of the source base. It has been established that the genesis of the social organization of the population of the region during this period was determined by complex forms of interaction between different clans. The study shows their unequal status at certain stages of the existence of the Bulan-Koby archaeological culture in different regions of Altai, which probably reflects the hierarchy of tribes. The key factor in the political genesis of the region's population was its inclusion in the Xiongnu, Xianbei and Rouran empires. The most probable form of political unification of the Altai nomads in the II century BC – V century AD is a «tribal confederation» without an independent governing center in the person of a common leader and his apparatus.

Koroští Balúčové a jejich jazyk / The Koroš Baloch and their language

The Korosh is an outlying Baloch group associated with the Qashqai tribal confederation of the Fārs province in southwestern Iran. Entirely isolated from Balochistan, the dialect of the Korosh, Koroshi, distinguishes itself in grammar and lexicon among Balochi language varieties. The phonology of Koroshi demonstrates a solid Balochi pedigree but not without major mu¬tations. Likewise, the nominal case-number system of Koroshi shows significant deviation from most other Balochi dialects. In verb morphosyntax a salient peculiarity is the coexist¬ence of two parallel systems of the imperfective, which appear to be stabilizing in an evolu¬tionary process of Koroshi aspect system. Borrowing from the neighboring languages is salient in the lexical domain, where Persian, the Fārs dialects, and Qashqai Turkic each play a part as the source language.

Ali Bahadori. “Achaemenid Empire, Tribal Confederations of Southwestern Persia and Seven Families”

Based on the Achaemenid sources (royal inscriptions and the Persepolis Fortification tablets) and Greek documentation, this article analyses the interrelation of the tribes in southwestern Persia and the Achaemenid kings. According to the author, the Achaemenid policy to control these tribal regions and to gain their support (e.g., in military alliances or for securing the royal road) was to establish tribal confederations headed by men loyal to the king such as Madates and Gobryas. The Great...

The Representation of Military Troops in Pingcheng Tombs and the Private Household Institution of Buqu in Practice

In Northern Wei tombs of the Pingcheng period (398–494 CE), we notice a recurrence of the depiction of armed men in both mural paintings and tomb figurines, not in combat but positioned in formation. Consisting of infantry soldiers alongside light and heavy cavalry accompanied by flag bearers, such a military scene presents itself as a point of interest amidst the rest of the funerary setting. Is this supposed to be an indication that the tomb occupant had indeed commanded such an impressive set of troops in life? Or had the families commissioned this theme as part of the tomb repertoire simply in hopes of providing protection over the deceased in their life after death? If we set the examination of this type of image against textual history, the household institution of buqu retainers that began as early as the Xin (“New”) Dynasty (9–23 CE) and was codified in the Tang Dynasty (618–907 CE), serving as private retainer corps of armed men to powerful families, appears to be the type of social institution reified in the archaeological materials mentioned above. The large-scale appearance of these military troops inside Pingcheng period tombs might even suggest that with the “tribal policy” in place, the Han Chinese practice of keeping buqu retainers became a convenient method for the Tuoba to manage recently conquered tribal confederations, shifting clan loyalty based on bloodline to household loyalty based on the buqu institution, one with a long social tradition in Chinese history. 

Religious communities and tribal culture in Ottoman. The overlap of two different cultural horizons

The prolonged absence ofa central authority, combined with the particular topography of the land of Transjordan, which is characterized by important differences in term of climate conditions and the distribution of natural resources, produced over the centuries distinct political-social spaces and a religious sense far from the orthodoxy of the great cities of the Ottoman Empire (Rogan 2002: 23, 24). The preponderance of the desert isolated Transjordan, encouraging the consolidation of a common popular culture rooted in the institution of the tribe, its customs and habits (Médebielle 1987: 176, Chatelard 2001: 14, Rogan 2002: 36). Transjordan was part of those territories within the Near East which were only nominally subjected to the Ottoman authority, dominated by powerful tribal confederations that clashed repeatedly to impose their power (Norman 1988:3-8, Ze'evi 1996: 105-108). Far from the main trade routes and with no permanent settlement of any importance, Istanbul accepted this situation, delegating to the most powerful tribes the control of this land and the guarantee of the Hajj throughout Transjordan (Abujaber 1998:28).

Az apai vonalú N haplocsoport szerepe a mai baskírok, tatárok és magyarok genetikai kapcsolatrendszerében

A specific genetic relationship under paternal haplogroup N among Hungarians, Bashkirs and Tatars is presented. The study identified two, approximately 2700–2800 years old paternal ancestor under subhapolgroup N-B539, whose descendants have so far been identified only among Hungarians, Bashkirs and Tatars. The descendants of one forefather form a specific subgroup under haplogroup N-B540, those of the other under N-B545. N-B540 is relatively rare in Europe, but it is relatively frequent among contemporary Ob-Ugric populations. The presently known geographic spread of N-B545 is even more limited than that of N-B540. The marker N-B545 was only identified in the Carpathian Basin and among Bashkirs and Tatars.
 Another important observation from our perspective is that a third subgroup of haplogroup N, N3a2-M2118 is practically absent from Europe except for North-Western Bashkortostan, but it is sporadically present among Hungarian conquerors and contemporary Hungarians. It is remarkable that the subgroup N3a2-M2118 in Europe only appears in North-Western Bashkortostan, and even there only among the Yenei tribe, but there with a relatively high frequency.
 We have also added anthropologic, historic, archaeologic and linguistic results to the population genetic results in order to put the latter into historical context. Based on the conclusions, it is likely that part of the ancestors of the Hungarian conquerors migrated to the West from North-Western Bashkortostan and possibly from neighbouring border regions of Eastern Tatarstan. In our opinion, more Magyars could have stayed in the Volga-Ural region than researchers traditionally assumed, and Onogur-Bulgar groups could have had an important role in the tribal confederation of Hungarian conquerors.

Changing Perceptions of Türk Identity Among the Medieval Nomads of Central Eurasia

The Türk Khaganate and the ethnonym Türk have been used in modern nation-building processes among the Turkic-speaking peoples of Eurasia since the end of the nineteenth century. The historical importance of the name is exemplified by the country of Turkey today, the plan for a Turkic Republic in Central Asia in the 1920s, and the latest Kazak (Tatar) historiography after the fall of the Soviet Union. The study focuses on the meanings of Türk in the period of the Türk Khaganate (6th–8th centuries). Its first denotation is for an ethnic community or nationality, that is, a nomadic tribal confederation defined by use of the model of gens, including a common origin, language, and traditions with centuries of a stable political framework and the majority of society sharing common law. The second aspect of the usage of the term Türk, being political, referred to all peoples subject to the power of the Türk Khagan. After the fall of the Türk Khaganate, both meanings faded away due to the lack of political stability in the history of the Eurasian steppe, revealing an absence of ethnic continuity from the Middle Ages. However, fragments of Türk identity may have survived in the forms of language community, the Islamic legend of descent from an eponymos hero, and a nomadic way of life opposed to the territorial principles of settled civilisations.

Beyond the Arab Cold War: The International History of the Yemen Civil War, 1962–68

Beyond the Arab Cold War: The International History of the Yemen Civil War, 1962–68

Arabic Linguistic Identity and the Tribal Confederacy of the Ghassan on the Eve of the Islamic Conquests

In 528/9 AD, al-Harith, the leader of a tribal confederation known as the Ghassan, was recognized as Rome’s ally on the eastern frontier. This alliance established the Ghassan, despite following a heretical Christian sect, as the principal authority in what is modern-day Syria and Jordan. This alliance also secured the Ghassan’s right to collect taxes independently and to mobilize against the Empire’s enemies. Moreover, Ghassanid leaders received distinguished epithets which had previously been reserved largely for the Roman aristocracy. A recently discovered mosaic in northern Jordan suggests that these titles were being used by the Ghassan not in isolation but as stratified ranks for their ruling class. Furthermore, this mosaic, along with significant epigraphic evidence, suggests that the Ghassan spoke Arabic well before the Islamic conquests, despite many scholars’ belief that the Ghassan spoke Christian Palestinian Aramaic. Although it is difficult to define an Arab identity prior to the Islamic conquests, the Arabs of South Arabia would have shared at least a common language with the Ghassan to the North. Additionally, it cannot be doubted that the Ghassan would have had direct contact with Muhammad’s ancestors through trade routes such as Wadi Sirhan. Early adherents to Islam may have seen this Arab group in the North, which had been able to achieve a semi-autonomous existence on the Roman frontier, despite neither following the orthodox faith nor being native speakers of Greek or Latin, as a potential model for a new Arab polity.

The Indian Hunas From The Beginning to Last Periods of Mihiragula Era

At the end of the 1st Century AD, as a result of the bloody Han-Northern Hun Wars, which took place in the Southern skirts of the Altai Mountains and Western Mongolia, the defeated Hunnic tribes had migrated to the Ili Valley and Jeti-su areas. Between 120 and 160 AD, after attempting a few unsuccessful assaults against the Tun-huang and Hsien-pi armies, the Northern Hun tribes completely lost their military and political authorities, and were forced to migrate beyond the Tarbagatai region. Toward the middle of the 4th Century AD, Hunnic tribal confederations entered into a new westward migration movement because of unstable circumstances in Central Asia and the rapidly growing power of the savage group, Juan-Juan/Ju-Ju horde. It is most likely that these confederations were divided into two main branches. One of these penetrated Europe through the Northern Black Sea steppe region, while the other penetrated Bactria, Transoxiana, Persia, and India through the south-west route. Around 455 AD, during the rule of the brave Gupta ruler Skandagupta, these mounted archers entered into the north-western borders of India, and prepared for the wars that would lead to the fall of the Gupta Empire. Despite their short-term sovereignity period, their two glorious chieftains, Toramana and his son Mihirakula, left deep marks in the history of India.