The Khakas or Khakass, are a Turkic people, who live in Russia, in the republic of Khakassia in Southern Siberia. They speak the Khakas language. The origin of the Khakas people is disputed. Some scholars see them as descendants of the Yenisei Kirghiz, while others believe that, at the behest of the medieval Mongol Khans, the Yenisei Kirghiz migrated to Central Asia. It is believed that the Khakas people and Fuyu Kyrgyz are closer to the ancient Yenisei Kirghiz, who are both Siberian Turkic peoples, rather than the Kyrgyz people of modern Kyrgyzstan, who are Kipchak Turkic people.
History
The Yenisei Kirghiz were made to pay tribute in a treaty concluded between the Dzungars and Russians in 1635. The Dzungar Oirat Kalmyks coerced the Yenisei Kirghiz into submission. Some of the Yenisei Kirghiz were relocated into the Dzungar Khanate by the Dzungars, and then the Qing moved them from Dzungaria to northeastern China in 1761, where they became known as the Fuyu Kyrgyz. Sibe Bannermen were stationed in Dzungaria while Northeastern China was where some of the remaining Öelet Oirats were deported to. The Nonni basin was where Oirat Öelet deportees were settled. The Yenisei Kirghiz were deported along with the Öelet. Chinese and Oirat replaced Oirat and Kirghiz during Manchukuo as the dual languages of the Nonni-based Yenisei Kirghiz. In the 17th century, the Khakas formed Khakassia in the middle of the lands of Yenisei Kirghiz, who at the time were vassals of a Mongolian ruler. The Russians arrived shortly after the Kirghiz left, and an inflow of Russian agragian settlers began. In the 1820s, gold mines started to be developed around Minusinsk, which became a regional industrial center. The names Khongorai and Khoorai were applied to the Khakas before they became known as the Khakas. The Russian use of the name Tatar to call all its Turkic peoples during the Tsarist era is what led to the modern Khakas people refer to themselves as Tadar, which is not a historical name. Khoorai has also been in use to refer to them. Now the Khakas call themselves Tadar and do not use Khakas to call themselves in their own language. They are also called Abaka Tatars. During the 19th century, many Khakas accepted the Russian ways of life, and most were converted en masse to Russian Orthodox Christianity. Shamanism with Buddhist influences, however, is still common, and many Christians practice Shamanism with Christianity. In Imperial Russia, the Khakas used to be known under other names, used mostly in historic contexts: Minusinsk Tatars, Abakan Tatars, and Yenisei Turks. During the Revolution of 1905, a movement towards autonomy developed. When Soviets came to power in 1923, the Khakas National District was established, and various ethnic groups were artificially "combined" into one—the Khakas. The National District was reorganized into Khakas Autonomous Oblast, a part of Krasnoyarsk Krai, in 1930. The Republic of Khakassia in its present form was established in 1992. The Khakas people account for only about 12% of the total population of the republic. The Khakas people traditionally practiced nomadic herding, agriculture, hunting, and fishing. The Beltir people specialized in handicraft as well. Herding sheep and cattle is still common, although the republic became more industrialized over time.
