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Akurultai (/kʊrʊlˈtaɪ/,lit. 'gathering'),[dn 1] also called aqurultai, was a political and military council of ancientMongol andTurkic chiefs andkhans.
The root of the term is from the hypotheticalProto-Mongolic verb *kura-, *kurija- 'to collect, to gather'[1] whencekhural 'meeting, assembly' inMongolic languages. From this same root arises theMongolian wordхуримkhurim 'feast', which originally referred to large festive gatherings on the steppe, but it is now used mainly in the sense of 'wedding'. However, according to theOld Turkic–Russian dictionary [ru], the oldest recorded pre-Ghengizid mention of the root word "Qur" is found inDīwān Lughāt al-Turk, where it was used as a verb meaning 'to assemble, to assemble into a formation, to build'.[2]
All Great Khans of theMongol Empire, for exampleGenghis Khan andÖgedei Khan, were formally elected in aKurultai; khans of subordinate Mongol states, such as theGolden Horde, were elected by a similar regional Kurultai.
During the Kurultai, Mongol Chiefs would convene to choose the next Great Khan. The Kurultai was often, but not always, held in the capital of the Mongolian empire. They were also a time to assign all critical positions of leadership, as well as an opportunity to decide the militaristic direction to be implemented under the new Khan and aforementioned new leadership.[3]
After the new khan has been elected, an elaborate enthronement procedure followed.Johann Schiltberger, a 15th-century German traveler, described the installation of a new Golden Horde khan as follows[4](quoted in):[5]
When they choose a king, they take him and seat him on whitefelt, and raise him in it three times. Then they lift him up and carry him round the tent, and seat him on a throne, and put a golden sword in his hand. Then he must be sworn as is the custom.
Kurultai were imperial and tribal assemblies convened to determine, strategize and analyze military campaigns and assign individuals to leadership positions and titles.Genghis Khan was declaredKhan in the Kurultai of 1206 CE. Most of the major military campaigns were first planned out at assemblies such as this and there were minor and less significant Kurultai under the Mongol Empire under political subordinate leaders and generals.
The Kurultai, however, required the presence of the senior members of the tribes participating, who were also military leaders. Thus, the deaths ofÖgedei andMöngke in 1241 CE and 1259 CE, respectively, necessitated the withdrawal of Mongol leaders (and troops) from the outskirts ofVienna andVenice (in 1241) and fromSyria (in 1259), hamstringing military operations against the Austrians andMamluks that might otherwise have continued.
Although the Kurultai was a serious political event in the Mongol world, it was also a festival of sorts including great feasting and various traditional games. Many of these traditions have been carried on in the modern-day Mongolian eventNaadam, which includesMongolian wrestling, horse racing and archery competitions.[6]
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Various modernMongol andTurkic peoples use it in the political or administrative sense, as a synonym forparliament,congress,conference,council,assembly,convention, gathering. Examples are:Kese Qoroltay [ru] (lit. 'Lesser Kurultai'), theWorld Qoroltai of the Bashkirs,Qurultay of the Crimean Tatar People, theNational Kurultai of Kazakhstan,[7][8] thePeople's Kurultai of Kyrgyzstan,[9] theState Great Khural of Mongolia, theState Assembly — Kurultai of Bashkortostan, thePeople's Khural of Buryatia,El Kurultai of Altai Republic andKurultáj held today in Hungary.
In Mongolian, the following forms of the word are still in use today:khuraldai,khuraldaan andkhural.Ulsin Deed Shuukhiin Khuraldaan means "session of theNational Supreme Court".
Other spellings include:kurultay,qurultay,qurıltai,qorıltay, andqoroltay.
The word has several modern usages in the modernTurkish language as well, e.g.Yükseköğretim Kurulu "Higher Education Council",genel kurul toplantısı "general board meeting".Kurultay is also a commonly-used word in modern Turkish meaning "general assembly", such as for organisations, committees etc.Kurmak[10] is also a verb in Turkish meaning "to set up, assemble, put together". It is also used for "extraordinary conventions" (Turkish:Olağanüstü Kurultay) of political parties.
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