Tumen, ortümen ("unit of ten thousand";[1]Old Turkic:tümän;[2]Mongolian:Түмэн,tümen;[3][4]Turkish:tumën), was adecimalunit of measurement used by theTurkic andMongol peoples to quantify and organize their societies in groups of10,000. Atumen denotes an administrative unit of 10,000 households, or amilitary unit of 10,000 soldiers.
EnglishOrientalistSir Gerard Clauson (1891-1974) definedtümän as immediatelyborrowed fromTochariantmān, which according toEdwin G. Pulleyblank might have beenetymologically inherited fromOld Chinesetman or萬.[5]
It was thought that the same kind of military organization was used by theMagyars during theconquest of Hungary. According toAhmad ibn Rustah (c. 930), a Persian explorer and geographer relying on second-hand information, the "Magyars are a race of Turks and their king rides out with horsemen to the number of 10,000 and this king is calledKanda".[6]
InGenghis Khan's military system, a tumen was recursively built from units of 10 (aravt), 100 (zuut) and 1000 (mingghan), each with a leader reporting to the next higher level. Tumens were considered a practical size, neither too small for an effective campaign nor too big for efficient transport and supply. The military strategy was based on using tumens as a useful building block for shock assaults.[7] A Mongol army usually consisted of three tumen, butarmies consisting of only one tumen were also deployed. Regardless, tumen would often be understrength and the number of tumen deployed doesn't provide an accurate number of combatants.[8]
The commander of a tumen was atümen-ü noyan, a term sometimes translated as "myriarch" (cf.myriad), meaning commander of 10,000.[9]
Tümen is a military unit still used in theTurkish Land Forces, comprising 6000 to 10000 soldiers.[10] Its commander is atümgeneral "major general" there and in theAir Force and atümamiral "rear admiral" in theNaval Forces. It is the equivalent of a moderndivision.
