Qarai (tribe)

The Qarai, Karai or Qara Tatars (lit. Black Tatars) are a Turkic tribe found in Khorasan, Azerbaijan, Kerman, and Fars.

Etymology

According to Encyclopedia Iranica, the Qara'i or Qara Tatars are "a Turkic-speaking tribe of Azerbaijan, Khorasan, Kermān, and Fārs." According to Vladimir Minorsky, the name Karāʾi may have been rooted in the Keraites, a Turco-Mongol people, while according to Gyula Németh, the tribe's name might have originated from other ethnic groups in Central Asia.

Since qara "black" is a designation for "north" in Turkic languages it was a frequently used tribal identifier among the early Turkic peoples, and there are numerous Kipchak groups known by this adjective. The earliest mention of these, not necessarily related, are the "Black Tatars" (Chinese: 黑韃靼), a subdivision of the Rouran Khaganate in Tang sources. Meanwhile, at the western end of the steppe, more "black Tatars" were troops serving the First Bulgarian Empire.

History

The Qara Tatars were recorded as a Mongol tribe of 30–40,000 nomad families dwelling near Amasya and Kayseri in Anatolia at the time of Timur's conquests. Upon a suggestion by the Ottoman Sultan Bayezid I and to refill the depopulated extremities of his empire, Timur deported these tribes back to Central Asia, specifically Khwarazm and an island in Issyk-Kul that later ceased to exist. Many of the tribesmen tried to escape from the forced migration, and although many were captured, some tribesmen remained in Anatolia. A portion of the tribe that was previously deported managed to escape to the Golden Horde, and some additionally returned to Anatolia following Timur's demise.