TheKangly (康曷利;[1]pinyin: Kānghélì;Middle Chinese (ZS): /kʰɑŋ-ɦɑt̚-liɪH/ or 康里 pinyin:Kānglĭ < MC-ZS: /kʰɑŋ-lɨX/;[2]Karakhanid:قنكلى,romanized: Kaɣnï or قنكلىromanised:Kaŋlï, also spelledQaŋlï,[3]Qanglı,Kanly,Kangly,Qangli,Kangli orKankali) were aTurkic people ofEurasia who were active from theTang dynasty up to theMongol Empire andYuan dynasty.
They may be related to the Kipchaks or Pechenegs, or they may have been a branch of theKök Turks who were conquered by theTang dynasty of China.[citation needed]
Erkoç (2023) proposes that the Qaŋlï originated from amongTiele tribes (*Tägräk).[3]
Kara-Khanid lexicographerMahmud al-Kashgari mentioned aKipchak chief surnamedQanglı and simply glossedQanglı as "a wagon for carrying load".[5] Supposedly, they might be identified as[6] or closely related toKipchaks;[7] or formed part of thePechenegs,[8] or were ofTiele origin.[3]
Byzantine EmperorConstantine VII mentions three Pecheneg tribes collectively known as theKangar in hisDe Administrando Imperio.Kangar is associated withKang territory and probably with the Kangaris people and the city of Kangu Tarban, mentioned in the Kul Tigin inscription of the Orkhon Turkic peoples.[9]
Still, the relationship between the Kanglys, the Kangars, and the Kangaris / Kengeres (allies of theEastern Turkic Khaganate against theWestern Turkic Khaganate), is still unclear.
They may have even been a branch of theGöktürks, who were conquered by theTang dynasty of China.[citation needed].
Peter Golden and Istvan Vásáry propose their name derives from the regionKang (ha) (=K'ang-chü of the Chinese sources =Syr Darya region).[10] However, the Tang dynasty historical textTang Huiyao apparently distinguished theKangheli (= Kangly) from theKang nation, another name of the Kangju nation, by distinguishing the Kangheli's horses from the Kang nation's horses, identified with theDayuan horses.[11]
After the fall of thePecheneg Khanate in the early 10th century, the role of the Kanglys became prominent. Different Pontic Steppe's Turkic nomadic peoples, who might have been separate and distinct earlier, would eventually become assimilated into each other by the 13th century. The eastern grouping ofCumania was indeed known asQanglı (Latin:Cangle).[12]
Many Kangly warriors joined theKhwarezmid Empire in the 11th century. In 1175 some of them lived north ofLake Balkhash and transferred their allegiance from theQara Khitai (Western Liao dynasty) to theJin dynasty.[13]
They were conquered byGenghis Khan's armies during theMongol conquest of Central Asia in 1219–1223. All Kanglys inBukhara who were taller than a wheel, were slain by the Mongols. Jochi subdued remnants who still lived in the land of theKyrghyz and Kipchak steppes in 1225. Khwarizmi Kangly remnants submitted toGreat KhanÖgedei after a long resistance underJalal ad-Din Mingburnu against his generalChormaqan and governor Chin-temur. After the Mongol conquest, the remaining Kanglys were absorbed into otherTurks andMongols. Some of them who served in theYuan dynasty becameKharchins.
There are Kangly clans among theKazakhs,Uzbeks,Kyrgyz,Bashkirs,Nogais,Karakalpaks andYakuts (Sakha).
