Chernye Klobuki

Chernye Klobuki or Chorni Klobuky (Russian for "Black Hats"; Ukrainian "Чорні Клобуки" - Chorni Klobuky; Turkic "Karakalpak" or "Qarakalpak") were a group of semi-nomadic Turkic tribes that settled on the frontier between the Rus states and the Pechenegs (and later the Cumans) during the 1000s and 1100s CE. They fought as mercenaries for various Rus princes, forming most of the cavalry for the fledgling Rus armies. Several tribes are named as probable Chernye Klobuki, including the Berendei and Torkils. Their name means "Black Hats" or "Black Hoods", and in Turkic languages it is "Karakalpak"; presumably this refers to their national costume.

The name Chernye Klobuki appears in the chronicles of Kievan Rus’ at the end of the 11th century, when they settled primarily south of Kiev and Pereiaslav. In the 12th century many of these tribes became sedentary and town-based. Many of the Chernye Klobuki settled just southwest of Kievv; eventually these were assimilated into the population of what would become Ukraine, leaving behind Turkic village names (as i.e. Karabachyn in Zhytomyr oblast) and some Turkic anthropological features among some Ukrainians from these areas.

It is unclear whether the Chernye Klobuki are related to the Karakalpaks of today. [citation|title=Armies of Medieval Russia |author= David Nicolle, Angus McBride|year=2001|publisher=Osprey Publishing|url= http://books.google.com/books?vid=ISBN1855328488&id=FyfXPN4nhNQC&pg=PA21&lpg=PA21&ots=5T5W6kr6vQ&dq=%22Chernye+Klobuki%22&ie=ISO-8859-1&output=html&sig=6IFgnz1N3yYBxXKl_xQUjhVD3IU|id=ISBN 1855328488]

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