Did it Mean “Son-in-Law of a Khan” or “Five”? Tabanguts and Tabunuts in the History and Historiography

The article presents an experience an experience to research the origin of the ethnic name Tabunut, also known in the form Tabangut and a number of other forms that became widespread among Buryat and Mongolian people after the end of the 17th century. The question of the origin of this community and the interpretation of its name is one of the most controversial in the history of the Buryats and Buryatia. There is no general point of view on the origin and ethnic identity of the Tabanguts among scholars. The problem is not analysed in this article due to the lack of source data. It was established in the oral tradition and, then, in research literature, a point of view that the name Tabangut should to be compared with the Mongolic title tabunang ‘son-in-law of a khan’. We reject this hypothesis and show that is a false etymology based on a popular reinterpretation of the word. The creation of this etymology by the bearers of the ethnonym and the legendary motif supporting it should have occurred at the end of the 17th century. Mention of various forms of the name of this community in written sources suggests that the correct and original form of its name that justified linguistically is tabunuγud > tabunūd derived from the numeral tabun ‘five’ with the plural affix +nUGUd. This name tabun is known in Chinese sources describing Mongolian tribes in the 15th century. It was also recorded the name tabïn of Mongolic in its origin in the registers of Turkic tribes in Central Asia in the late 16th century. Various forms of this ethnonym can be found widespread among Turkic peoples, such as the Kazakhs (tabïn), Bashkirs (tabïn), Khakassians (taban), Tuvans (tawu). As a result of a critical examination of this case in history, it can be argued that it clearly shows the process of rethinking the ethnonym among the people who bore it. It also demonstrates that the bearers of historical ethnonyms were often unaware of the true origin of the names of their own communities

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