Jalairs

Jalair (Жалайр; ; ), also Djalair, Yyalair, Jalayir, is one of the Darliqin Mongol tribes according to Rashid-al-Din Hamadani's Jami' al-tawarikh. They lived along the Shilka River in modern Zabaykalsky Krai of Russia. After the Mongol conquest in the 13th century many Jalairs spread over Central Asia and the Middle East. Jalairs are one of the founding tribes of Mongolia's largest ethnic group Khalkha. Smaller clans named Jalayir are also found in Inner Mongolia in China. The Jalayirs who stayed in Central Asia under the rules of Genghis Khan's older sons' descendants eventually adopted Turkic language. They are found among the Kazakhs of the Great jüz; also they are found among the Uzbeks (especially among Uzbeks of Southern Tajikistan and Afghanistan), Karakalpaks, and the Kyrgyz. The Jalairs who went to Iran and Iraq found the Jalairid Sultanate in 1330, and expanded into Turkey. The state was subjugated by the Kara Koyunlu in 1432. Yury Zuev proposed that the term Jalair (~ Yyalair) could be the Mongolian version of the Turkic name for the dynastic tribe of the Uyghur Khaganate (758-843): Yaglakar clan ~ yağla er ('anointed sovereign', Turkic ya:ğ il). Yaglakar (Ch. 藥羅葛/药罗葛 Yaoluoge) of the Tiele-Uyghur Toquz Oghuz confederacy. The Jalair might be the Chaladi who were recorded in Chinese sources of 910. The Jalairs revolted against the Khitan rule in 1014. Subsequently, they were suppressed by the Khitans in the next year. Then the Jalayirs turned to the Mongol tribe and defeated the Borjigins utterly. But Khaidu of the Borjigin conquered and dispersed them among Mongol tribes around 1060. The Jalair was one of the three core tribes in Khamag Mongol confederation in the 12th century. The Jalairs such as Mukhulai helped Genghis Khan to found his Empire. During the Mongol invasion of Khorazm in 1219–1223, Muqali campaigned in North China as the first prince of the state (guo-wang) and a viceroy. The Jalairs served under Great Khans as steward, chief judge, imperial tutor and advisor.