tribal confederation · China, Tibet and Mongolia

Tatar confederation

900 CE – 1202 CE (approx.)

A powerful group of tribes in eastern Mongolia, enemies of Genghis Khan's family, whose name Europeans later applied to all the Mongol peoples.

Origins

Tatars appear in Old Turkic inscriptions of the 8th century as the Otuz Tatar and Toquz Tatar. By the 10th century tribes under this name occupied the grasslands of eastern Mongolia around Lakes Hulun and Buir, a numerous and wealthy people organised in several clans under their own chiefs.

Rule and society

They lived by pastoral nomadism, herding horses, cattle and sheep, and traded and fought with their settled neighbours. The Jin dynasty (1115-1234) used them as allies against other steppe peoples; according to the Secret History of the Mongols they handed the Mongol leader Ambaghai to the Jin for execution and poisoned Temüjin's father Yesügei. There was no lasting central government.

Decline and legacy

In 1196 the Jin, with Temüjin and the Keraite ruler Toghrul, defeated the Tatar chief Megüjin Seultü. In 1202 Temüjin crushed the remaining Tatars and had most of their men killed, absorbing the survivors into the future Mongol Empire.

Connections (2)

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Cite this page
APA
The Epoch Institute. (2026). Tatar confederation. In The Epoch Institute States Register. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/tatar-confederation
MLA
“Tatar confederation.” The Epoch Institute States Register, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/tatar-confederation. Accessed .
Chicago
The Epoch Institute. “Tatar confederation.” The Epoch Institute States Register. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/tatar-confederation.
Harvard
The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Tatar confederation’, The Epoch Institute States Register. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/tatar-confederation (Accessed: ).

Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻