The Shaping of the Cuman-Qïpchaqs and their World

The Cuman-Qïpchaqs constituted an acephalous, loosely held tribal union that dominated an area extending from the Pontic Steppes to Western Siberia and Uzbekistan, a region termed the Qïpchaq Steppe (cf. Pers. Dasht-i Qipchâq). The Cuman-Qïpchaqs integrated themselves into the regional political systems, serving as difficult, occasionally predatory neighbors and sometimes allies (cemented by marital ties) of the Rus’, Byzantium, Georgia, Khwârazm and Hungary. Cuman-Qïpchaq origins remain an ongoing question of Turkic Studies. They are known by a variety of names in a wide range of Turkic, Mongol, European, Transcaucasian, Islamic and Chinese sources. The Cuman-Qïpchaqs derived from elements of the Kimek confederation in Western Siberia (which contained Turkic and Mongolic elements) that was broken up (first half of the 11th century) by a series of migrations that began in the steppe borderlands of China. The contours of these events are preserved in the 12^th century authors, al-Marwazî (repeated by Aufî – early 13^th century) and Matthew of Edessa. This lecture suggests some new identifications of the peoples mentioned in these accounts. It concludes with a brief overview of the Cuman-Qïpchaq religious system.