Merkit
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The Merkit were an Asian tribe inhabiting southeastern Siberia during the Middle Ages, regarded by their neighbours as being particularly ferocious.
The people
Their ethnicity is somewhat obscure; the balance of the evidence suggests that they were Mongolic-speaking (related to Mongols, Naimans, Keraits, and Khitan), but it has also been postulated that they are more closely related to Paleo-Asians such as the Chukchi, or to Tungusic (like Manchu and Evenk).Other Pre-Genghis Mongolian tribes include:
- Kerait
- Ongirad
- Jurkid
- Tayichiud
- Tatar or Tatar (pre-Genghis Mongols)
- Naiman
- Jadran
- Jalair or Jalair (pre-Genghis Mongols)
History
The Mongol world conqueror Temujin (Genghis Khan) had Merkit ties: his mother, Hoelun, was the wife of Chiledu, abducted from him by Temujin's father Yesugei. The abduction, described in detail in The Secret History of the Mongols, sparking a long-running feud. Later, Temujin's wife Börte was kidnapped by Merkit raiders and given to one of their warriors. Temujin, supported by his blood brother Jamuka and his foster-father Toghril, the Khan of the Keraits, attacked the Merkit and rescued Borte. Shortly thereafter she gave birth to a son; Temujin accepted paternity of the boy but named him Jochi ("the Guest") and there was always tension between the two.
During Temujin's conquest of Mongolia the Merkit were subdued; they subsequently disappear as a separate ethnic group. Those who survived the initial conquest were probably dispersed among other Mongol tribes.
Sources
[Merkits on Regnal Chronologies]
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