Yomut

The nineteenth-century ethnographic accounts provide some of the earliest detailed descriptions of the Yomut internal divisions. According to Charles A. de Bode's On the Yomud and Goklan Tribes of Turkomania, published in the Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society in the mid-19th century, the Yomut of the Gorgan and Atrek regions were grouped into four principal tribal sections: • Sheref: consisting of six subdivisions • Chony: consisting of ten subdivisions • Bayram-Shali: consisting of five subdivisions • Kujfik-Tatar: consisting of eight subdivisions De Bode notes that these groups were regarded as descendants of four brothers, whose father, "Yamud", is looked upon as the founder of their race (ethnicity). In contemporary the tribal names have changed, and the Yomut are now represented as: • Jafarbay (Was Sheref-Jafarbay) • Ak-Atabay (Cony-Atabay) • Bayram-Shali (Remained the same) Early ethnographic works from the Russian Imperial period record several major patrilineal groupings (urug) within the Yomut. An ethnographic survey published in 1900 notes that, among the Yomut of the Transcaspian region, social and cultural distinctions were often framed around three prominent lineages: the Jafarbay, the Aq, and the Atabay. • Jafarbay (Cäfärbay) — identified as one of the largest and most influential Yomut branches; historically associated with territories between the Atrek River and the southeastern Caspian coast. • Atabay (Atabai) — another major Yomut lineage, noted for settlements in the Balkan region and northern Iran. Together with the Jafarbay, the Atabay formed one of the two primary rival groupings within Yomut society. • Aq (Ak) — listed in the same source as the third major lineage, forming the counterpart to the Jafarbay in traditional social rivalries. These lineages were described as playing a role similar to that of major segmentary divisions among other Turkmen tribes, such as the Otamış and Toktamış among the Teke. While modern Yomut tribal identity is less rigid, dialectal and minor cultural differences between these groups continue to be noted in regional ethnographic studies. Ethnographic research from the early 20th century, including the work of Karpov (1925), notes that the Aq (Ak) and Atabay (Atabai) lineages eventually merged into a single composite grouping known as the Ak-Atabay. Following this consolidation, the former tribal names continued to exist as sub-tribal divisions within the larger Ak-Atabay structure. ==Social divisions and the economic divisions ==

The Yomut Turkmen were traditionally organised not as a unified tribal confederation under a single centralised authority, but rather as a loose coalition of autonomous clans and lineages, each often led by its own local khan or chieftain. While all were identified under the broader Yomut name, these groups operated semi-independently, forming alliances as needed for mutual defense or political interest. Because of this decentralised structure, scholars such as Richard Tapper consider the Yomut not a formal confederation, but a "coalition"—a distinction used to differentiate tribal groups lacking centralised leadership. This flexible political organisation allowed the Yomut to remain resilient and independent in the face of external control, but also made them prone to internal rivalry unless unified by external threats or charismatic leadership. The Yomut are divided into two primary geographical categories: • Gurgan (; Also called Gorgan or Gutlytemir): The Gurgan Yomut live in the Gorgan Plain of Iran and the southern bank of the Caspian Sea in Turkmenistan. • Khiva (; Also called Bayramsly): The Khiva Yomut live to the immediate west of the city of Khiva, across the border in Turkmenistan. The nineteenth-century ethnographic sources describe the Yomut as being divided into two principal socio-economic groupings based on mode of life and occupation. According to Charles A. de Bode, writing on the Yomut in the mid-19th century, these categories were not hereditary but reflected differences in subsistence and settlement patterns. • Chomur (Çomur): The Chomur lived primarily along the banks of the Gorgan River, extending southwards toward the Karasu. They practised agriculture, cultivating wheat, barley, rice, and vegetables, and maintained gardens and fields in the river valleys. Bode notes that the Chomur had more frequent commercial contact with neighbouring Persian settlements, particularly Asterabad, where they traded felt, woven carpets, grain, butter, sheep, horses, and other products. • Charwa (Chorva): The Charwa lived to the north, along the Atrek River and the steppe approaching the desert. They were pastoral nomads whose economy centred on herding sheep, camels, and horses. Bode describes them as more independent and more distant from Persian authority due to their location farther from cultivated lands and administrative centres. Bode emphasises that the distinction between Chomur and Charwa was fluid: families could move from one category to the other depending on economic circumstances, such as acquiring or losing herds. == Culture ==

The Yomut culture is unique from other Turkmen tribes, especially in its traditions, rituals, and customs. The Kushtdepdi is a traditional rite of singing and dancing that combines improvised poetic verses with rhythmic group movement. In 2017, the practice was inscribed on the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity under the title “Kushtdepdi rite of singing and dancing.” According to official Turkmen cultural publications, Kushtdepdi represents one of the most distinctive forms of Turkmen folk performance. While the dance has been practised across various Turkmen communities, the coastal groups including some of the Yomut communities, are often noted in contemporary cultural accounts as contributing to its preservation and transmission. However, UNESCO and other major heritage sources do not attribute the tradition exclusively to any single Turkmen tribe. Among Gurgan Yomut who live on the shore of the Caspian Sea, fishing is an extremely significant part of life. Based on local estimates, there are at maximum 40 fishers in every village. Historically, the Eurasian carp was the most commonly caught fish, however due to environmental loss and overfishing, their population has significantly declined since 1992. Today, almost no Eurasian carp are caught. In recent years, Yomut have adopted modern fishing tools such as galvanized fishing nets and motorboats, though these have also been blamed by locals for a decline in the quantity and quality of fish. Galvanized nets are known locally as "Namardi nets", Narmardi literally meaning invisible, but colloquially used to refer to something considered unmanly. The khasava (also called khasaba) was a traditional Yomut Turkmen women's wedding headdress, reaching 30 cm or more in height. It was constructed on a widening frame, originally from wheat stalks and later cardboard, draped with fabric and covered with a purenjek (shawl) or don (robe). The headdress was richly decorated with gilded silver plaques, pendants, beads, and chains with bells, whose jingling was compared to the rattle of a snake. Similar in form to the Russian kokoshnik, but much taller, it was considered to preserve features of ancient ritual headgear associated with fertility cults. Traditionally, the khasava was worn by young brides on their wedding day, removed during the gaytarma period (the temporary return of the bride to her family's home after the wedding before fully settling into her husband's house), and then worn again until the birth of the first or second child. By the early 20th century, variants of the khasava were widespread among young and middle-aged women regardless of childbirth status, though the tall type became rare and was gradually replaced by a shorter form known as alym dany (or beruk, a style borrowed from Iranian women). Different Turkmen tribes used various local names for similar headdresses, including borik (Teke), topby/topba (Sarakhs), bagmak (Ersari), chanie (Nokhur), uramak (northern Yomut), aladaŋy (western Yomut), kars (Khatab and Mukry), dastar (Salyr and Geoklen), and pechek (Lebap). == History ==

Early history The Yomut are one of the major Turkmen tribes, traditionally divided into two groups: the western (Shagadam) Yomuts and the northern (Dashhowuz) Yomuts. A significant portion of the Yomut population lives in the Turkmen region of Iran (Turkmensahran, Etrek and Gurgen districts), while smaller subgroups can also be found in Afghanistan and Karakalpakstan. Although the name Yomut is very ancient, the tribe appears to have reached formal tribal status only in the late Middle Ages, after the Mongol invasions (12th century onwards). In earlier sources, such as Abylgazy's Genealogy of the Turkmens (16th century), the term "Yomut" is not used to refer to the tribe, but rather to a smaller lineage or clan. According to Abylgazy, the Yomuts descend from Ögürjik Alp, a grandson of Salyr Ghazan: Ögürjik Alp → Berdi → Gulmy → Yomut (Gulmy's second son, Gultak, is considered a sibling lineage). It is possible that the Yomuts consolidated into a full tribe by gathering people from different branches of the Salyr tribe in the Balkan and Mangyshlak regions, because: · Abylgazy counts the Yomut as direct descendants of Salyr. · In the 16th century, Yomuts, together with the Ersary, Saryk, and Teke tribes, belonged to the tribal union known as the outer Salyr. · The name Gultag, considered a sibling lineage to the Yomut, is preserved as a clan name among the Salyr and Ersary tribes. Other Yomut sub-clan names also correspond closely to ethnonyms found among these tribes. An alternative perspective on the origins of the Yomut comes from the research of T. P. Vasilyeva, as cited by Shokhrat Kadyrov. Vasilyeva argues that the ancestors of modern Turkmens were Iranian-speaking populations inhabiting the Aral–Caspian steppes and the oases of southern and northern Turkmenistan. She traces a cultural continuity from these ancient Iranian-speaking groups in western Central Asia, spanning the Hunnic and Parthian–Kangju periods, and emphasizes that the ancient Scythians formed a foundational element in Turkmen ethnogenesis. In her studies of female ornaments, G. P. Vasilyeva identified a distinctive Sarmatian–Alan group, showing similarities with jewelry from peoples of the Volga and North Caucasus regions. The presence of Alans on the Ustyurt Plateau is attested in the 11th century. Similarities are observed between Yomut jewelry and North Caucasian Alan ornaments from the 6th–8th centuries in Ossetia, as well as finds from medieval burial grounds in mountainous Ingushetia dating to the 15th–16th centuries. Genetic studies provide further insight into Turkmen origins. Despite speaking a Turko-Mongol language and sharing cultural practices with other Turko-Mongol ethnic groups, Turkmens are genetically closer to Indo-Iranian populations than to Turko-Mongols. This suggests a recent language and culture shift, possibly driven by elite dominance and linguistic replacement rather than large-scale population movement. ==Etymology==

According to Soltansha Atanyyazov in Şejere (Türkmeniň nesil daragty) (Ashgabat: Turan-1, 1994, p. 148, in Turkmen), several interpretations of the origin of the ethnonym Yomut have been proposed. The Turkmen scholar Nazar Yomudskii suggested that it derives from the name of a progenitor, Söýünhan, a descendant of Salyr Ghazan, whose son Ýomut is said to have lived at the end of the 12th and beginning of the 13th century. This social distinction aligns with the first folk legend recorded by Ata Jykyýew, in which the Yomut are said to descend from a child placed in a dog’s den, emphasizing noble or free ancestry. The Yomuts raided the Astrabad and Mazandaran provinces of Persia and Khorasan to kidnap local residents, whom they then sold into slavery, mainly to the Khiva Khanate. Russian conquest and rule During the middle of the 19th century, the Yomut had relatively amicable relations with the Russian Empire, though issues persisted. Russia used this relationship to build the port Krasnovodsk in Türkmenbaşy Gulf during the early 1870s, as part of a larger campaign to counter the United Kingdom in the Great Game. However, Russian troops would exploit the Yomut to further their military goals. Atabai Yomut were raided for their camels and livestock by Russian troops during a failed attack on Khiva, breaking a treaty. Several months later, Russians attempted to barter for Atabai Yomut camels for the Khivan campaign of 1873. When rejected, they once again raided the area. From 1880 to 1884 the Russian Empire began a land invasion of Turkmenistan, rapidly acquiring major towns and cities. Some Yomut tribes accepted Russian rule, such as those living in the Merv Oasis. However, Russian General Mikhail Skobelev used threats to gain the loyalty of several Yomut tribes, and carried out punitive military actions against dissenters. These actions, combined with significant Yomut casualties in the Battle of Geok Tepe, damaged Russian-Yomut relations. In the 1910s, the city of Khorezm was significantly weakened by ethnic tension between Turkmens and Uzbeks. The ruling dynasty and much of the urban population was Uzbek, while the rural population was primarily composed of nomadic Yomut. In 1913, a local Yomut leader named Junaid Khan exploited this weakness and attacked the city, though Russian artillery forces prevented him from succeeding. The outbreak of World War I drew Russian troops away from garrisoning the region, and so in 1915 Junaid Khan led a successful attack against Khorezm. He was eventually forced to retreat to the Persian border due to Russian counterattacks. The outbreak of the Russian Civil War in 1917 once again weakened local Russian forces, and Junaid Khan reoccupied Khorezm. The Khan of Khiva, Isfandiyar Khan was executed, and Sayid Abdullah was installed as a puppet ruler. In July 1918 the Transcaspian Government was established in Turkmenistan, a provisional government led by Mensheviks and Social Revolutionaries against Bolshevik forces. Local Turkmen, especially Yomut proved to be uncooperative with the Transcapsian government. In response, they were mobilized against the Red Army to prevent them from clashing with the government. By December most Turkmen had begun cooperating with the Transcaspian government and British forces in the region to stabilize the region, but Yomut Turkmen were revolting against the government. In response, the government began to militarily suppress the tribe. In January 1924 Junaid Khan regrouped his forces and led an unsuccessful three-week siege against the city of Khiva. In July he was driven into exile. == References ==