Bayandur

Bayandur is one of Turkic tribes known from Arab and Persian Middle Age geographers and writers as being one of the seven tribes in the Kimak Kaganate in the period of 743-1050 AD. The other six constituent tribes per Abu Said Gardizi (died 1061) were Kimaks, Yamaks, Kipchaks, Tatars, Lanikaz, and Ajlad. The Arabian sources list Bayandurs as a constituent clan of Oguzes, and other eastern sources list Bayandur as a Kipchak clan. As a N.Pontic Kipchak clan, Bayandurs entered the early Rus annals that describe events of the 11th c. [Pletneva S.A., "Kipchaks", Moscow, "Science", 1990, p. 74, ISBN 5-02-009542-7] .

Chinese chronicler Sima Qian in 'Shiji' Chapter 110 places the Bayan tribe in Ordos at the time of Mode (*Batur) Chanuy (ca. 200 BC) [ http://depts.washington.edu/uwch/silkroad/texts/hantxt1.html] . In the Chinese chronicles the personal name 'Bayan' is written as 'P'o-jun' (Uiguristan ruler Bayan (P'o-jun) in the 648-661, Kagan Bayanchur of Uigur dynasty in the 747-759). The personal name 'Bayan' is widely represented in the historical records, mostly associated with rulers of various states: Avar Khan/Kagan Boyan (565-602), Great Bulgaria Khan Kubrat's eldest son Bayan (Batbayan, 660-690), Danube Bulgaria Khan Bayan (763-765), Alanian general Bayan in Mongol service in Chinese city Zhenchao in the 1275 [Agustí Alemany, "Sources on the Alans: A Critical Compilation." Brill Academic Publishers, 2000, p.165, ISBN 90-04-11442-4] . The personal name 'Bayan' entered primaeval eastern Slavic folklore as a legendary poet-singer Bayan, and gave a name to a 'Bayan' brand name of Russian harmonica. The portion 'dur' is an ancient dialectal form of 'guz, gur', designating a tribe. The name Bayan is also a popular E.European and W.Asian toponym, like "Bayan-aul".

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