Some Aspects of the Study of the Ethnogenesis of the Tuvan People

Abstract

The article is devoted to the problem of the ethnogenesis of the Tuvinian people. The ancestors of the Tuvans are considered to be the ancient ethnos who called themselves the Dubo-Tumat and Uryanhai-Uranhai. Therefore, first of all, a search was carried out for ethnic connections with the carriers of these ethnonyms. Indeed, the basis for the formation of the Tuvinian people was the medieval tribe of Samoyed origin Dubo. The presence of the ancient Türkic, Uygur and Kyrgyz components in the processes of ethnogenesis is also traced. Traces of ethnocultural contacts with the ancestors of the Sakha people are noted. They are the carriers of the ethnonym Uranhai. If the Tuvinians use this name through descendants of the Dubo - mountain-taiga (inhabitants of the forest), Oin-Uryankhats, then the name Sakha as Uranghayans is a reminder of the Türkic-speaking Tumats as the main ancestors of the Yakut-Sakha. The article emphasizes ethnic differences between the Mongolian steppe Uryanghai and the forest - the ancestors of the Tuvans. However in the Mongol-Oirat period there was a rapprochement between these two groups of Uryankhai people, as a result of which the Altai Uryankhai people, the probable descendants of the steppe, can be attributed to the ethnic group of the Tuvan people, as well as the Darchats. In general, the Tuvinians can be called direct descendants of the ancient Turks, Uigurs, Yenisei Kyrgyz and Kereits, as well as forest Oin-Uryankhats. In the history of their ethnogenesis, the Scythian-Siberian, Old Samodian, Ancient Turkic, Uygur, Kypchak, Kereit and Mongolian periods stand out.