Why Were the Mongols Called Tartars?
Mongols and Tartars were bitter rivals, so why are the two synonymous?
In older literature, you’ll often see Genghis Khan and his Mongols called “Tartars” or “Tatars.” We no longer label the Mongols as Tatars. Today, Tartar refers to Turkic-speaking people of Eastern Europe, Russia, and Central Asia, such as the Crimean Tartars. They aren’t related to the Genghis and his descendants.
Though using Tartar for Mongols has fallen out of favor in academic circles, it persists in popular culture. Travel writer and journalist Justin Marozzi addresses Timur as a “Tartar” in his acclaimed work Tamerlane: Sword of Islam, Conqueror of the World.
Tartar felt odd while reading the book because I’ve never seen it used for Timur. Most historians identify him as a Turco-Mongol.
It made me wonder: why were the Mongols known as “Tartars” or “Tatars?”
Tatars were rivals of the Mongols. Genghis Khan destroyed them during the Mongol unification in the early 13th century. Several medieval sources worldwide identify Mongols with their vanquished enemies, which is puzzling. Investigating the accounts revealed a more complex reality.
The Mongols’ European and Asian adversaries weren’t the only ones who called them Tatars.
