*** Welcome to piglix ***

Khongirad


The Khongirad (Mongolian: Хонгирад/Khonghirad), also known as Qongirat was one of the major divisions of the Mongol tribes. Variations on the name include Onggirat, Ongirat, Qongrat, Khungirat, Kungrad, Qunghrãt, Wangjila (王紀剌), Yongjilie (雍吉烈), Qungrat, and Guangjila (廣吉剌) in Chinese sources. Their homeland was located in the vicinity of Lake Hulun in Inner Mongolia and Khalkha River in Mongolia, where they maintained close ties with the ruling dynasties of northern China. Because the various Hongirad clans never united under a single leader, the tribe never rose to great military glory. Their greatest fame comes from being the primary consort clan of the ruling house of Genghis Khan's Mongol empire. Genghis Khan's mother, great grandmother, and first wife were all Khongirads, as were many subsequent Mongol queens and princesses. During the Yuan dynasty they were given the title Lu Wang ("Prince of Lu"), and a few Khongirads may have migrated west into the territory of modern Uzbekistan and South Kazakhstan Province.

The Hongirads are often identified as the descendants of the ancient Wuku/Wugu tribe of Tang Dynasty records. The tribe's own origin myth claims that they were descended from three brothers born of a golden vessel—Jurluq Mergen, Quba Shira, and Tusbu Da'u. The descendants of these brothers formed the Hongirad tribe, but feuds quickly splintered the tribe and gave rise to the offshoot tribes of the Ikires, Olkhunut, Karanut, Gorlos, and Qongliyuts. Only the descendants of Jurluq Mergen retained the tribal name of Hongirad. One of the most famous Hongirad ancestors was Miser Ulug, an Onggirat Hercules who was super-humanly strong and often slept for days at a time.

Many names of the 12th century's Hongirads and their subtribes have Mongol origin:

Shamanic practices continue in present-day Mongol culture.


...
Wikipedia

...