ON ISSUE TO THE COMPOSITION OF THE EARLIEST OIRATS

The article investigates the important historical problem that scientists are engaged in almost two centuries - the origin and composition of the Oirats. Recent discovered sources suggest the presence in the mid. XV - the mid. XVIII centuries of three Oirat groups, successively replaced one another. The author, basing on known and newly discovered sources, recent researches, studies the composition of the earliest Oirats and underlines their Turkic and Mongolian origin as essential for understanding of the subsequent history of this nation. In our opinion, the earliest Oirats had been a confederation of four groups of Mongol and Turkic tribes, approximately comparable to the four main nomadic groups pointed out by Rashid-al-Din. The unique political position and influence of Oirats during the Mongol period has allowed them to maintain their identity until XVIII century.

Oirats, Mongols, Turks, composition