Kurultai

Timur's great 'kurultai', from a 16th century copy of Sharaf al-Din Ali Yazdi's Zafarnama

A kurultai (Template:IPAc-en, Template:Lit),<ref group="dn">Derived from Russian Template:Lang Template:IPA, ultimately from Middle Mongol Template:Lang Template:Translit Template:IPA (Template:Small Template:IPA), whence Chinese 忽里勒台 Hūlǐlēitái (Template:Langx); Template:Langx; Template:Langx; Template:Langx; Template:Langx; Template:Langx; Template:Langx; Template:Langx; Template:Langx; Template:Langx (Template:Langx).</ref> also called a qurultai, was a political and military council of ancient Mongol and Turkic chiefs and khans.

Etymology

According to the Template:Ill, the oldest recorded pre-Genghis Khan mention of the root word "Qur" is found in Dīwān Lughāt al-Turk (11th century), where it was used as a verb meaning 'to assemble, to assemble into a formation, to build'.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> The root word and the word kurultai are currently in use in numerous Turkic languages. According to another hypothesis, the root of the term is from the hypothetical Proto-Mongolic verb *kura-, *kurija- 'to collect, to gather'<ref>Starostin, Dybo, & Mudrak. (2003) Etymological Dictionary of the Altaic Languages "Proto-Mongolian root *kura-, *kurija-"</ref> whence khural 'meeting, assembly' in Mongolic languages. From this same root arises the Mongolian word Template:Lang Template:Lang 'feast', which originally referred to large festive gatherings on the steppe, but it is now used mainly in the sense of 'wedding'.

Mongol Empire

Enthronement of a Mongol khan, 14th century

All Great Khans of the Mongol Empire, were formally elected in a kurultai; khans of subordinate Mongol states, such as the Golden 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 Mongol Empire. They were also a time to assign all critical positions of leadership, as well as an opportunity to decide the military direction to be implemented under the new khan and leadership.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

After the new khan was elected, an elaborate enthronement procedure followed. Johann Schiltberger, a 15th-century German traveler, described the installation of a new Golden Horde khan as follows:<ref name="Schiltberger">Commander J. Buchan Telfer, "The Bondage and Travels of Johann Schiltberger". (London, Hakluyt Society, 1879Template:Page needed)</ref><ref name="Vernadsky">George Vernadsky, "The Mongols and Russia". (Yale University Press, 1953)Template:Page needed</ref> Template:Cquote

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 declared khan in the kurultai of 1206. 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 of Ögedei and Möngke in 1241 and 1259, respectively, necessitated the withdrawal of Mongol leaders (and troops) from the outskirts of Vienna and Venice (in 1241) and from Syria (in 1259), hamstringing military operations against the Austrians and Mamluks 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 event Naadam, which includes Mongolian wrestling, horse racing and archery competitions.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

Modern usage

Politics

Kurultai in Hungary

Various modern Mongol and Turkic peoples use it in the political or administrative sense, as a synonym for parliament, congress, conference, council, assembly, convention, gathering. Examples include the Template:Ill (Template:Literal translation), the World Qoroltai of the Bashkirs, the Qurultay of the Crimean Tatar People, the National Kurultai of Kazakhstan,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> the People's Kurultai of Kyrgyzstan,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> the State Great Khural of Mongolia, the State Assembly — Kurultai of Bashkortostan, the People's Khural of Buryatia, El Kurultai of Altai Republic and Kurultáj held today in Hungary.

Language

In Mongolian, the following forms of the word are still in use today: khuraldai, khuraldaan and khural. Ulsin Deed Shuukhiin Khuraldaan means "session of the National Supreme Court".

Other spellings include: kurultay, qurultay, qurıltai, qorıltay, and qoroltay.

The word has several modern usages in the modern Turkish 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<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> is also a verb in Turkish meaning "to set up, assemble, put together". It is also used for "extraordinary conventions" (Template:Langx) of political parties.

See also

• Great Kurultáj
• Legislature
• Loya Jirga
• State Great Khural
• Thing (assembly)
• Veche
• Witenagemot
• World Nomad Games
• World Turks Qurultai

External links

• Qurultay of the Crimean Tatar people
• A video (in the Bashkir language) about the Second World Qoroltay of the Bashkirs Template:Webarchive