A forest people of the Sayan foothills and the valleys of the Oka and the Irkut (the Tunka valley), hunters and small-herd keepers who live between the Baikal peoples and the Yenisei Kyrgyz.
They are the Tumat of the Secret History, linked with the Khori in the name Khori-Tumed. No chief is named for 1200.
Who holds it
- Title
- Chiefs not named for 1200
- Since
- not known
- Born
- not known
- Family
- not known
- Confidence
- low
The Tumat are named in the Secret History (§§ 8 and 239 to 241, from memory) and by Rashid among the forest peoples. Their place is usually given as the Sayan foothills and the Oka and Irkut valleys between the Baikal and the Kyrgyz country; the sources do not fix it.
Overlord
None attested.
What it holds
- Hunting grounds in the Sayan foothills
- The Tunka valley's pastures and the Irkut and Oka valleys
How it was acquired
By long use.
Allies and rivals
Neighbours of the Buryat ancestors on the east, the Kyrgyz and Oirat on the west, the Darkhad forest people on the south.
How things stand that morning
In winter camp in the valley bottoms; no overlord attested.
Wealth
Furs, game; no figures.
Military
Hunters and archers; no numbers.
Threats
- Dzud
- Raids from the Kyrgyz or Oirat side
Places of note
- Tunka valley winter camps (approximate): Approximate.
Where the sources disagree
Evidence: Name and a broad placing only.
On the map: A broad placing from later sources.
Sources and studies
- Wikipedia, Mongol campaigns in Siberia
- Wikipedia, Botohui-Tarhun
- Igor de Rachewiltz, The Secret History of the Mongols (Brill 2004; abridged ed. ANU/CEDAR 2015). Section numbers quoted from memory of the text; not re-read this session
- Rashid al-Din, Jami al-tawarikh (Thackston translation, 1998-99), Keraites and Merkits chapters. Quoted from memory; not re-read this session
- D. B. Batoeva, Migrations of Mongolian-Speaking Tribes from Transbaikalia to Manchuria, Oriental Studies 10:6 (2017)
Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.