TARTARS. 



from Turk, the oldea fon of Japhet : and althou^ from 

 hich .londiis Khan fubducd all Tartary 



the time m whicli 



njr, 



and a great part of Alia, and made irruptions even into 

 Europe, tliey have been known by tlie name of Tartars, to 

 which that of Monguls or Moguls, of whom he was pro- 

 perly the prince, appeared inferior ; neverthelefs the Tartars 

 prcferve among themfelves the name of Turks. See Mon- 

 ocles. ,. , m , rr> 



The firft knowni mother-countrj- of the Turks or 1 artare 

 lies fomewhcrc in the countries on the eallern and northern 

 fides of the Cafpiar., where their defcendants arc ftill fituated. 

 In ancient times they were fpread from the Oxus or Gihon 

 into the Mongoley and the Orenburp; territory ; that is, in 

 regions wliere they had conftantly ambitious and domineer- 

 ing nations for their neighbours and enemies : on the E. 

 the Chinefe ; on the S.W. the Perfians, Macedonians, 

 Romans, Partho-Perfians, and Arabians ; and towards the 

 N.E. the Mongoles. Here they ferved from time imme- 

 morial as a mound againll the inciirfions of the nations which 

 could penetrate from the E. to the W., or contrariwife, till 

 at length the Mongoles, like a ruthing ftream that has burft 

 its banks, fwept away all oppofition. 



The Tartars, fays baron de Tott, in his "Memoirs," 

 (vol. i.) have the beil title to the higheft antiquity. To 

 this purpofe h" obferves, that the flat high land of Tartary, 

 which extends to the north, and the chain of the mountains 

 of Caucafus and Thibet, continued almoft as far as the penin- 

 fula of Cona, (if we may judge by the courfe of the water, 

 which, from the centre of Afia, fpreads to the S. and to the 

 N. of that part of the globe,) prefent the higheft portion of 

 land which feparates the Indian feas from thofe of Kamt- 

 fchatka. This obfervation, it is alleged, feems to prove, 

 that the country at prefent occupied by the Tartars, muft 

 have been the firft land difcovered in Afia, the firft in- 

 habited, the firft fource of population, and the origin of 

 thofe emigrations, which, conftantly repelled by the Chinefe 

 wall, and the defiles of Thibet and Caucafus, have paffed 

 from the north of Afia into Europe. (See Huns.) How- 

 ever, the annals of the Tartars are involved in confiderable 

 uncertainly before the time of Jenghis Khan, who was elefted 

 grand cham (khan) by the chams of the different tribes, and 

 was only chofen to be the king of kings, becaufe he was the 

 moft powerful among them. It is well known, that Jenghis 

 Khan conceived and executed projefts of ufurpation, by 

 which he formed the moft extenfive empire known in hiftory. 

 The Tartars began to acquire fome importance in hiftory, 

 after the time of their fubjugation by the Mongoles ; but 

 from the moment that their hiftory excites attention, it ceafes 

 to be the hiftory of a pecuhar nation. Diftributed under 

 the banners and commanders of the Mongoles, thefe enjoy 

 with pofterity the glory of their conquefts, while the 

 Tartars are conftrained to lend their name to the devaft- 

 ations with which both nations every where marked the 

 bloody progrefs of their armies. ( See Mongoles. ) Subju- 

 gated in their conquered countries, and even forced from a 

 great part of their old habitations, fome few of the Tartar 

 hordes (few in reference to the whole Tartarian tribes,) 

 have preferved their independence : ;'. e. thofe who inhabit the 

 fouth-weftem part of the former Great Tartary, towards the 

 Perfian, Indian, and Soongarian borders. Here we find the 

 great Kirghifian horde, the Bukharians, the Khivans or 

 Khivlnfcs, the Karakalpalis, Truchmenes, Tafchkantians, 

 Turkeftans, Arabians, and fome other races, which ftill 

 form diftinft ftates, and retain a kind of national liberty ; 

 but they exift in fo feeble a ftate, that they are obliged to 

 feek protcftion fometimes from one power, and fometimes 

 ifrom another. The whole remnant of this nation, once fo 



great, fubfifts under foreign fovereignty. Many hordesbefong, 

 either as fubjefts or as dependent wards of the RulTian em- 

 pire ; others are, in like manner, appanages to the Ottoman 

 Turks, or fubjeft to the Great Mogul, to China, and ta 

 Perfia. 



Mr. Strahlenburg, a Swedifti officer, who refided fome 

 years in Siberia, places them in fix clafles : the firft, con- 

 taining feven diff^erent nations, all in the dominions of Ruffia, 

 viz. the Mordvines, who dwell in the government of Nize- 

 gorod ; the Tfcheremifies, or CzeremifTes, in the govern- 

 ment of Kazan ; the Permians, in the government of Perm ; 

 the Votiaks, in the government of Viatka ; the Vogouls, vvho 

 dwell on both fides of the mountains, which formed a fepa- 

 ration between Ruffia and Siberia ; the Oftiaks, who dwell 

 on the coafts of the river Oby ; and the Barabintzi, who 

 inhabit the country between Tara and Tomflc. The fecond 

 clafs of people, called Tartars, includes the Budziaks, 

 which dwell on the coafts of the Black fea ; the Crim 

 Tartars, who inhabit the province of Taurida ; the Kuban 

 Tartars, on the borders of the Kuban river ; and the Tartars 

 of Dagheftan ; the Nogais, or Tartars of Aftrachan, of 

 Kazan, and Upha ; the Bafchkirs and the Tartars about the 

 towns of Tiumen, Tara, Tobolfl<, and Tomfk ; the Ulbeck 

 Tartars, the Turcomans, the Kurguis, the Karakalpas, the 

 Sayantzi, who dwell near the head of the Yenifley ; the Kir- 

 ghifes, who occupy the mountains fouth of lake Baikal ; the 

 Burats ; the Ariiitzi, who alfo inhabit near the fame moun- 

 tain ; and the Yaktai, more to the north, on the fides of the 

 Lena. The third clafs includes the Samoiedes, on the coaft 

 of the Frozen fea, from Archangel to the Lena. The 

 fourth clafs includes the Kalmucks and Monguls, who were 

 formerly but one people. The fifth clafs includes the Mant- 

 cheux and the Tungufes. The fixth clafs contains the 

 favage nations on the north-eaft coaft of Afia, as the 

 Tfchutki, &c. with the inhabitants of Kamtfchatka, and the 

 Kurile idands. Of thefe, the firft, third, and fixth clafs 

 are fubjeft to Ruffia, except that a fmall part of the fecond 

 is independent. The fourth is partly independent, and 

 partly fubjeft to China. The fifth clafs is wholly fubjeft to 

 China. 



Abulgafi, in his account of the Turkifli ftems, mentions 

 among them the Tartarian as one of the moft ancient and 

 famous, and derives its origin from a khan of the name of 

 Tatar. This ftem, which in procefs of time increafed to 

 70,000 families, was at firft governed by its own commander, 

 and afterwards divided into various branches, difperfed into 

 feveral and very diftant regions, by which difperfion their 

 power was weakened. The moft confiderable branch fet- 

 tled on the borders of Kitay (China), and fell under the 

 fovereignty of that empire, againft which it frequently re- 

 belled, and thereby gave occafion to ruinous wars. At the 

 time of Jenghis Khan, fome Tartars dwelt on the Oxus or 

 Amur, who were tributary to the emperor of Kin, reigning 

 in Kitay. 



The Tartars who belong to the Ruffian empire inhabit 

 the northern coafts of the Euxine and the Cafpian, the 

 north fide of the mountains of Caucafus, the exte.nfive fteppes 

 from the river Ural to the Soongarey, the fouthern Ural, in 

 Siberia the fouthern frontier mountains and fteppes from the 

 Tobol quite over the Yenifley, and the deferts in the middle 

 region of the Lena ; and fome few Tartar colonies are dif- 

 perfed among the Ruffian habitations, particularly in the 

 governments of Upha, Kazan, and Tobolfk. Frequent me- 

 morials are found in various regions of their ancient gran- 

 deur, magnificence, and culture, fome of which are demon- 

 ftrably of 1000 years' antiquity. The branches of this na- 

 tion which belong to Ruffia are the proper Tartars, or the 



8 dekendautt 



