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Prehistoric period Afanasievo culture 3300–2500 BC Chemurchek culture 2750–1900 BC Munkhkhairkhan culture 1800–1600 BC Sagsai culture 1500–1000 BC Ulaanzuukh culture 1450–1150 BC Deer stones culture 1400–700 BC Slab-grave culture 1100–300 BC Chandman culture 700–300 BC Pazyryk culture 600–300 BC
Ancient period Xiongnu 209 BC–93 AD Xianbei state 93–234 Dai 310–376 Rouran Khaganate 330–555 Northern Wei 386–535 Northern Zhou 557–581 Göktürks (First,Eastern,andSecond Turkic Khaganates) 555–630 682–744 Xueyantuo 628–646 Tang protectorate 647–682 Uyghur Khaganate 744–840 Liao dynasty 907–1125
Medieval period Mongol khanates 9th–12th century Khamag Mongol 1130–1206 Mongol Empire 1206–1368 Yuan dynasty 1271–1368 Northern Yuan 1368–1635 Oirat Confederation 1399–1634 Dzungar Khanate 1634–1757 Qing dynasty 1691–1911
Modern period National Liberation Revolution 1911 Bogd Khaganate 1911–1919 Chinese occupation 1919–1921 People's Revolution (Soviet intervention in Bogd Khanate) 1921 1921–1924 People's Republic 1924–1992 Democratic Revolution 1990 Modern Mongolia 1990–present
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TheKhongirad^[a] (/ˈkɒŋɡɪræd/;Mongolian:ᠬᠣᠩᠭᠢᠷᠠᠳ Хонгирад;Kazakh:Қоңырат,romanized: Qoñyrat;Chinese:弘吉剌;pinyin:Hóngjílá) was one of the major divisions of the Mongol tribes. Their homeland was located in the vicinity ofLake Hulun inInner Mongolia andKhalkha River in Mongolia,^[3][4] where they maintained close ties with the ruling dynasties of northern China. Because the various Hongirad clans never united under a single leader, the tribe never rose to great military glory. Their greatest fame comes from being the primary consort clan of the ruling house ofGenghis Khan'sMongol Empire. Genghis Khan's mother (Hoelun), great grandmother, and first wife were all Khongirads, as were many subsequent Mongol Empress and princesses.

During theYuan dynasty they were given the title Lu Wang ("Prince of Lu";Chinese:鲁王), and a few Khongirads migrated west into the territory of modernUzbekistan andTurkistan Region where they became governors ofKhwarazm and were known as theSufi dynasty. After a brief period as independent rulers, they were subjected byTimur.

The Khongirads are often identified as the descendants of the ancient Wuku/Wugu tribe inTang Dynasty records. The tribe's own origin myth claims that they were descended from three brothers born of a golden vessel—Jurluq Mergen, Quba Shira, and Tusbu Da'u. The descendants of these brothers formed the Hongirad tribe, but feuds quickly splintered the tribe and gave rise to the offshoot tribes of the Ikires,Olkhonud, Karanut,Gorlos, and Qongliyuts. Only the descendants of Jurluq Mergen retained the tribal name of Hongirad. One of the most famous Hongirad ancestors was Miser Ulug, an Onggirat Hercules who was super-humanly strong and often slept for days at a time.

Many names of the 12th century's Hongirads and their subtribes have Mongol origin:^[4][5]

• Dei Setsen — tsetsen (wise)
• Jurluq Mergen — zörlög (path) mergen (wise). (SeeMerkit)
• Quba Shira — goo (beautiful) shar (yellow). In the 1680sZasagt Khan of theKhalkha Mongolia wasShar (Shira). (SeeAlan Gua).

• Hongirad — khun (swan), khungiin (swan's), ard (person); swan person. Swan is one of Mongol totems. (SeeOirats).
• Qongliyuts — Khonkhluud; khonkh (bell), "iud" or "uud" is plural suffix.
• Gorlos — ModernSouthern Mongol subgroup
• Ikires — Ikhires: ikh (great), ikhes (chief, noble)
• Karanut — Kharnuud: khar (black), "iud" or "uud" is plural suffix
• Olkhunut — Olkhunuud, "uud" is plural suffix. They have three subgroups:
  • Alag aduutan: alag (piebald), aduutan (horse herder); piebald horse herder.
  • Shar khonit: shar (yellow), khoni (sheep); yellow sheep breeder.
  • Ulaan zalaat: ulaan (red), zalaa (tassel); person who wears hat with red tassel.^{[citation needed]} Today, Mongols call themselves "red-tasseled Mongols" because Mongols wear hat with red tassel and they adore fire.^{[citation needed]} Fire is a general symbol of eternal growth, wealth, and success and a figure of fire is used in Mongolianflag,coat of arms andSoyombo symbol. The three tongues of the flame represent the past, present, and future.^{[citation needed]}

Shamanic practices continue in present-dayMongol culture.^[6][7]

According to Mongol legend, two warriors named Kiyan (Khiyad) and Negus (Mongolian: Nokhos, dog or wolf) were defeated in battle and forced to seek shelter in an enclosed valley calledErgune khun ("steep cliffs"). After several generations the descendants of these heroes became too numerous for the valley to support, but no one remembered the way out. Ablacksmith came up with a solution—they would create their own way out by melting an exposed iron vein that existed in one of the encircling mountains. Building a massive fire and stoking it with 70 large bellows, the trapped clan did just that and succeeded in creating a passage to the outside world. Once free, the people of Kiyan and Negus went on to create several tribes, including the Mongols and the Hongirads (whose susceptibility togout was explained by the "fact" that their ancestors were the first to flee Ergene Qun, so they burned their feet on the hot iron).

In addition to having a shared ancestry with the Mongols in general, the Hongirads also shared ancestors with the Mongol royal line, whose originator, Alan Qo'a, was a woman of the Kharlas clan, an offshoot of the Khongirads founded by the legendary Miser Ulug. Down to the 12th century, Mongol rulers such asKhabul Khan and his great-grandsonGenghis Khan were still taking Khongirad wives.Yesugei Ba'atur, the father of Genghis Khan, was not a high ranking Mongol leader, but even he secured himself an Onggirat wife by stealing one from another man. The wives of most rulers of theYuan Dynasty andGolden Horde were also from the Hongirad. That is why they held enormous powers behind the courts in both states. They forced the rulers of theGolden Horde to make peace withKublai in 1280s and convincedTokhta Khan to accept supremacy of theGreat Khan in 1304. The Hongirad under queen Dagi and Temüder, the Minister of the Secretariat, reached their political peak in the Yuan Dynasty, the principal state of 4 khanates, during the reign ofGegeen Khan Shidebala (r.1321-1323). They builtYingchang city in modernInner Mongolia in 1271.

After the death of the last Yuan emperor,Toghan Temur, who lost his imperial status inChina and other Mongol khanates, a body of the Khongirat andOlkhunut (Borte's clan) surrendered to theMing Dynasty in 1371. Meanwhile, the Khongirad, belonged to the southernKhalkhatumen in modernInner Mongolia and Olkhunuts lived in modernKhovd Province.

During the 18th century, the basins of theAmu Darya andSyr Darya passed under the control of threeUzbek khanates claiming legitimacy in their descent from Genghis Khan. These were, from west to east, the Khongirads based on Khiva inKhwārezm (1717–1920), theManghud inBukhara (1753–1920), and the Mings inKokand (Qǔqon; c. 1710–1876). TheSufi Dynasty (1359–1388) which was founded by the Qongirat elites in Khwārezm ruled their own state under theJochids andTimur. The Qongirat Inaks became de facto rulers of theKhanate of Khiva in 18th century and their descendants assumed the title of khan themselves in 1804. On 2 February 1920,Khiva's last khan,Sayid Abdullah, abdicated before its territory was finally incorporated into theSoviet Union in 1924.

Descendants are found among the people inMongolia and theYugurs inGansu,China, and little bit in theKarakalpaks and theUzbegs.^{[citation needed]}

Currently aKazakhtribe of the Middle Juz named Qoñyrat (or less commonly Qoñğyrat) are considered descendants of Khongirads (Ongrat, Kungrat in (Gumilev, n.d). Around the beginning of the 20th century CE, the Kazakh Qongyrats lived mainly in what is nowTurkistan Region (formerly South Kazakhstan Region), especially in the vicinity ofthe city of Turkistan.^[8] This region borders Uzbekistan, and a majority of the local population has at times been recorded asUzbek; the part of the region in which the Kazakh Qongırats were concentrated was located between theSır River and the lower reaches of theChu River where it disappears in the steppe. The Qongyrat tribe of Kazakhs are notable for the extremely high frequency among them (64/95 = 67.37%^[9]) of Y-DNA that belongs tohaplogroup C-M407, a clade that otherwise has been observed with greatest frequency amongBuryats (117/217 = 53.9%,^[10] 40/80 = 50.0%,^[11] 86/298 = 28.9% (mostly northern and western)^[12]) and other indigenous peoples ofBuryatia (15/28 = 53.6%Sojots,^[10] 27/51 = 52.9%Hamnigans^[10]). Members of C-M407 also have been found with lower frequency amongMongols in Mongolia,^[11][13]Kalmyks (especiallyDörwöds),^[14][13]Manchus in China,^[11] andYakuts inSakha Republic.^[11]

Theyruled theKhiva khanate from 1763 to 1920.

• Onggirats at Chinaknowledge
• Hongirad tribe of Kazakh people - from Wikipedia Hongirad introduction in Kazakh language

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