12 Facts About Kipchaks

Kipchaks were first unambiguously mentioned in Persian geographer ibn Khordadbeh's Book of Roads and Kingdoms as a northernly Turkic tribe, after Toquz Oghuz, Karluks, Kimeks, Oghuz, J f r, Pechenegs, Turgesh, Aðkis, and before Yenisei Kirghiz.

Kipchaks possibly appeared in the 8th-century Moyun Chur inscription as Turk-Qibchaq, mentioned as having been part of the Turkic Khaganate for fifty years; even so, this attestation is uncertain as damages on the inscription leave only -cq readable.

The Kimek confederation, probably spearheaded by the Kipchaks, moved into Oghuz lands, and Sighnaq in Syr Darya became the Kipchak urban centre.

Under khan Koten, Kipchaks fled to the Principality of Kiev, where the Kipchaks had several marriage relations, one of which was Koten's son-in-law Mstislav Mstislavich of Galicia.

The Ruthenians and Kipchaks forged an alliance against the Mongols, and met at the Dnieper to locate them.

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The Kipchaks, who were horse archers like the Mongols, served as the vanguard and scouts.

The fleeing Kipchaks were closely pursued, and the Ruthenian camp was massacred.

Nomadic Kipchaks were the main targets of the Mongols when they crossed the Volga in 1236.

The defeated Kipchaks mainly entered the Mongol ranks, while others fled westward.

Confederation or tribal union which Kipchaks entered in the 8th- or beginning of 9th century as one of seven original tribes is known in historiography as that of the Kimek .

An early description of the physical appearance of Kipchaks comes from the Great Ming Code, the supreme legal code of the Ming dynasty of China, which was finalized in the year 1397 AD.

The Kipchaks are described as having blond or red hair, blue or green eyes, and an overall appearance that was considered "vile" and just too foreign to be attractive to the Han Chinese.