Alat (a.k.a.Ala-at,Ala,Alachin,Alagchin,Alchin,Alchi,Alayontli,Ulayundluğ (اُوﻻيُنْدْلُغْ) ("piebald horse", pinto);Boma 駁馬 or 駮馬 "piebald horse",Helai 賀賴,Helan 賀蘭,Hela 曷剌,Bila 弊剌;[a]dru-gu ha-la-yun-log[3] "Ha la yun log Turks"[4]) were one salientTurkic tribe known from Chinese annals.
Alats were possibly identical toLuandi[5] orXueyantuo;[6] orKhalajes,[7][8] a Central Asian people known to medieval Arab and Persian Muslim geographers and in Bactrian inscriptions,[9]
Literature on Alats is very rich; Alats were a subject of study byTangshu,Jiu Tangshu,Tang Huiyao, N.Ya. Bichurin, S.E. Malov, N.A. Aristov,Grigory Grum-Grshimailo, Yu. Nemeth, G. Hоworth, P. Pelliot, L. Hambis, and others.
In ancient Turkic lexicon, the meaning of "skewbald" (horse) is expressed with the terms "ala" or "alagchin" still active now in composite expressions. Tang Huiyao mentioned, right after theAshina tribe, a tribe namedGeluozhi[ya] (葛羅枝[牙]) (Middle ChineseZS: *kɑt̚-lɑ-t͡ɕiᴇ[-ŋˠa]), whosetamga is depicted as
.[10]Zuev took this as a variant of 遏羅支Eluozhi[11] (supposedly from MC *a-la-tsie) and asserted that this is the earliest transmission and certainly ascends to Alagchin (Alachin, Alchin, Alchi). During the Tang period, Chinese chroniclers calqued the ethonym Alat asBoma "skewbald horses".[12] Elsewhere, Zuev stated that "Sometimes the tribal name 曷剌Hela (<ɣа-lât < *alat < *ala-at "skewbald horse") is written down with hieroglyphs 賀賴Helai (ɣâ-lâi <alai), which is equivalent to 賀蘭Helan (<alan ~ala "skewbald, motley, mixed").[13] SinceOghuz (Turkmen) tribe ofAlayontli has the same tamga asBoma (Alat) tribe and whose name also translates as "skewbald horse", Zuev is certain that Alayontli is the same tribe as alat.[12]
Chinese transcribers also preserved many similar titles, individual and tribal names inXianbei society, where horses were held in high esteem:
According toPeter A. Boodberg the title Helazhen transcribes "undoubtedly *atlačin 'horseman' from Tk.atla 'to mount a horse'", thus "a purely Turkish form inT'o-pa". All of those foresaid names & titles are traceable back to Turkic orTurco-Mongol *atlan "to ride" < *at- "horse", whereas *ala- *alaɣ-, or *alutu means "variegated", "dappled", or "piebald", thus describing the preferred coat-color(s) of nomadic northerners' warhorses.[14]
The ethnonymAlat might have been transcribed asKhalaj orQalaj in Persian, Arabic and Bactrian sources, corresponding to 訶(達)羅支He(da)luozhi (< *ha-(dat-)la-tɕĭe) or 葛(達)羅支Ge(da)luozhi (< *kat-(dat-)la-tɕĭe), which in turn are variants of 葛羅支Geluozhi.[8] According toNew Book of Tang (vol. 217),Boma 駁馬 ~Bila 弊剌 ~Eluozhi 遏羅支 neighboured theJiegu 結骨 (i.e.Yenisei Kyrgyz). Arab geographeral-Idrisi recorded that the Khalajes'winter quarter and castle were situated near theKimeks, who in turn dwelt in theIrtysh basin, to the north and/or west of the Kirghizes. Thus, based on geographic arrangements, theBoma ~ Bila ~ Eluozhi (i.e. Alats) might be the same as Khalajes.[7]
Tongdian glossedHelan as simply "horse" inOld Turkic[15] andYuanhe Maps and Records of Prefectures and Counties glossed Helan as "piebald horse",[16]
TheNew Book of Tang described the facial appearance of Alats, calledBoma ~Bila ~Elouzhi, as resemblingKyrghyzes'.[17] 9th-century authorDuan Chengshi described the Kyrgyz tribe (Jiankun buluo 堅昆部落) as "yellow-haired, green-eyed, red-mustached [and red-]bearded".[18] New Book of Tang also described the Kyrghyzes (whose name was transcribed as 堅昆Jiankun in ancient days, 黠戛斯Xiajiasi, 居勿Juwu, 結骨Hegu) "all tall, red-haired, pale-faced, green-irised";[19] Kyrgyzes regarded as black hair as "infelicitous" (bù xiáng 不祥) and insisted that black-eyed individuals were descendants of Han generalLi Ling (李陵).[20]
Fang Xuanling, inJinshu, (Ch. 110) states that around 349-370 CE the Xiongnu leader, titled Chanyu, Hèlàitóu (賀賴頭) (lit. "Alat head", "leader of the Alat tribe") brought his tribe of 35 thousand to theXianbeiFormer Yan state and submitted to its emperorMurong Jun. Helaitou was bestowed a title of General Pacifying the West, and settled in the Daizong district. The Helai was listed as the 14th of 19 tribes of the Southern Xiongnu Shanyu.[21]
According to the Chinese annals, the home of the Southern Xiongnu tribe Alat was eitherAlashan Mountains[22][23] or the basin of theNarym River.
Alats integrated themselves into theXianbei confederation.[24] The Tuoba-Xianbei-foundedNorthern Wei dynasty's Eight Great Noble Clans (八大貴族) wereBuliugu 步六孤,Helai 賀賴,Dugu 獨孤,Helou 賀樓,Huniu 忽忸,Qiumu 丘穆,Gexi 紇奚, andYuchi 尉遲. From the 3rd century,Helan tribe also offered marriage alliances with the imperialTuoba 拓拔 clan.[14]
Al-Khwarizmi asserted that Khalajes were one of the two remnant tribes of theHephthalites.[25][26] Even so, modern Khalaj have no idea about their origins, and Sims-Williams cited Bactrian documents which dated from the years 678 and 710 and named a Khalaj people, thus these new archaeological documents do not support the suggestion that Khalajes were the Hephthalites' successors.[27] According toMinorsky, Khalajes were "perhaps only politically associated with the Hephthalites."[28]
Jiu Tangshu &Tongdian mentioned a tribe of "skewbald horses"Boma, besidesBasmyls,Kyrghyzes,Khwarazmians etc., who in 638, submitted to the Western TurkicDuolu Qaghan.Tongdian cites as a comment a fragment from an unknown composition that "Tujue call the skewbald horses Hélà (曷剌) (MC: *ɦɑt̚-lɑt̚), and the state is also called Hela (曷剌國)".[12][29][30][31][32]
"They are north from theTujue, 14,000 li from the Chinese capital. They follow grass and water, but mostly live in the mountains. Their standing army is 30,000 men. There is always snow, and foliage does not fall down. They plough fields with horses. All horses are skewbald colors, therefore the state is also given the same name. They live in the north near a sea. Though they have horses, they do not ride them, but use their milk for food. They are frequently at war with Kirgizes".
Jin Tangshu also noted that Alats and Kyrgyzes spoke mutually unintelligible languages.[33]
From the story ofAbulgazi and description of twoMongolian embassies (in 1233 and 1254) to Alachins, they lived along Yenisei, the sources of Angara, and the east coast of lake Baikal, called by the Chinese chroniclers "Northern sea". Based on annalistic traditions, the author of the "Family tree of Türks" Abulgazi described the country of skewbald horses:
The Khaljī tribe had long been settled inAfghanistan.[34] AKhalji dynasty of Turkic Khalaj origin ruled large parts of South Asia from 1290 to 1320, they were the second Muslim dynasty to rule theDelhi Sultanate ofIndia, they are noted in history for repeatedly defeating the warringMongols and thereby saving India from plundering raids and attacks.[35]
After the Russian revolution in 1917, Alats (Kazakh: Alaş), named after a legendary founder of the Kazakh people, headed a movement of the Turkestan peoples for independence, and created a functioning state of the Kazakh people known asAlash Autonomy that operated between December 13, 1917, and August 26, 1920, controlling roughly the territory of the present-day Republic of Kazakhstan, with a capital in Alash-qala (modernSemey). The Alash leaders in December 1917 proclaimed establishment of Alash Orda, a Kazakh government, aligned with the Russian White Army and fought against theBolsheviks.
In 1919, when the White forces were losing, Alash Autonomous government began negotiations with the Bolsheviks. In 1919–20 Bolsheviks defeated the White Russian forces in the region and occupied Kazakhstan. On August 26, 1920, the new Soviet government disbanded the Alash Autonomy, and established the "Kyrgyz Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic", later the name was changed in 1925 to "Kazak Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic" and changed again in 1936 to "Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic". However, the movement for independence continued, and it continued until 1925, when the war for independence was finally extinguished
The historical Alats' descendants now live in China,Russia in theAltai,Kazakhstan,Uzbekistan,Kyrgyzstan,Turkey, theCaucasus, eastern section of the Iranian plateau; as well as possibly Turkmenistan, India, and Afghanistan, if Alats were indeed the Khalajes known in Bactrian inscriptions and to medieval Arab and Persians geographers.
Alat tribe members who migrated to China changed their surname toHè (trad. 賀; simp. 贺)[36] and would eventually become assimilated intoHan Chinese.
Alats are also the main ethnic component in the Kazakh Junior-KishiZhuz and constitute parts ofUzbeks. Further west, Alats constitute oneOghuz Turkish tribe,Alayuntlu inTurkish andAlayuntluq inAzeri, which means "with spotted horses". Alanyuntlu's descendants live in Central Turkey.[citation needed] Alayundluq participated in the ethnogenesis ofAzeris, as Alayuntluqtamgas have been found in historical residences of Azeris inGeorgia,Armenia, and the modernRepublic of Azerbaijan. In 1625, during the war betweenEshim Khan andTursun Khan, the аlats joined thekyrgyzsaruu tribe under the name"alakchyn".
