Balkar people
| Total population | |
|---|---|
| (130,000) | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
| Russia: 108,426 (2002) (in Kabardino-Balkaria only: 104,951),Kazakhstan: 1,798 (2009) | |
| Languages | |
| Karachay-Balkar (Balkar dialect), Russian | |
| Religion | |
| Sunni Islam, Nondenominational Muslims, Muwahhid Muslims | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Karachays |
The Balkars (Karachay-Balkar: sg. таулу - tawlu, pl. таулула - tawlula) are a Turkic people of the Caucasus region, one of the titular populations of Kabardino-Balkaria. Their Karachay-Balkar language is of the Ponto-Caspian subgroup of the Northwestern (Kipchak) group of Turkic languages.
The modern Balkars identify as a Turkic people, who share their language with the Karachays from Karachay-Cherkessia and Kumyks from Dagestan.
There is genetic evidence linking the Balkars to the Alans, of the kingdom of Alania (located in present-day Karachay-Balkar and neighbouring states). The ethnogenesis of the Balkars resulted, in part, from an invasion of Alania during the 11th century, by Kipchak Turks and their Cuman allies. Alania had its capital in Maghas, which some authors locate at Arkhyz, in the mountains currently inhabited by the Karachay-Balkar, while others place it in either what is now modern Ingushetia or North Ossetia.
During the 14th century, Alania was destroyed by Timur. Many of the Alans, Cumans, and Kipchaks migrated westward into Europe. Timur's incursion into the North Caucasus introduced the remainder to Islam.
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Wikipedia