ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 2932
http://www.s-gabriel.org/2932
************************************

18 May 2005
From: Ursula Whitcher (no address)

Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel!

You asked about a masculine name suitable for a Turkic nomad living in
Central Asia between 1200 and 1350.  You were especially interested in a
name appropriate for a non-Muslim man.

Before we begin, we'd like to apologize for the amount of time this
letter has taken.  We hope our research will still be useful to you.

During your period, many different tribes roamed central Asia.  Most of
these tribes did not have their own written language.  Thus, we must
gather information about nomadic peoples from their interaction with
more settled groups.  Nomads interacted with the settled peoples of the
Middle East in two main ways: warfare and trade.  One of the most
important types of trade was the slave trade: since Islam prohibits the
enslavement of Muslims, Turkic peoples who had not converted to Islam
were an important source of slaves for the Islamic world in your period. [1]

Turkic slaves played a particularly important role in the history of
Egypt.  In 1250, a group of slaves belonging to an elite military corps
rebelled against their masters and took control of the government of
Egypt.  These former slaves were called the Mamluks.  The Mamluks
maintained their dominance by importing new slaves to join their
military elite. [2]  After reaching a certain rank, these slaves would
be freed to take their place in the Mamluk government.

The Mamluks used given names which were not etymologically Arabic to
distinguish themselves from the population they ruled.  In particular,
many Mamluks used given names which came from Turkic languages. [3]  We
have compiled a list of etymologically Turkic masculine Mamluk given names.

The Mamluks wrote their names in Arabic.  We have transliterated our
list from Arabic script.  In the following list, a period <.> represents
a small dot under the preceding letter, which indicates an Arabic
emphatic consonant.  We've used double vowels, such as <aa>, to
represent Arabic long vowels.  Though we have largely followed English
alphabetization conventions, this list places short vowels before long
and distinguishes letters which are different in Arabic.  For instance,
<k> and <kh> are different letters, so <kh> follows <k> in our list. [4]

      Aghizluu
      Alaabughaa
      Altamur
      Alt.ibars
      Alt.unbughaa
      Anuuk
      Aqbughaa
      Aqtamur
      Aqt.uaq
      Aquush
      Arikmaas
      Ariqt.aay
      Asanbaay
      Asanbughaa
      Asandamur
      Aydughdii
      Aydughmish
      Aydakiin
      Aydamur
      Aytmish
      Baktamur
      Balabaan
      Baltaa
      Barsbughaa
      Baybujaa
      Baydamur
      Biiliik
      Duqmaaq
      Ishiqtamur
      Iyaas
      Iyaaz
      Jaqmaq
      Jaavlii
      Julbaan
      Jumaq
      Juubaan
      Kaykaldii
      Kaytamur
      Kubak
      Kujuk
      Kurjii
      Kuujabaa
      Kuujarii
      Khudaa Birdii
      Khushkaldii
      Makuurish
      Mankuutamur
      Mint.aash
      Qaraa Arslaan
      Qaraabughaa
      Qaraabulaat.
      Qaraakuz
      Qaraalaajiin
      Qaraaqaash
      Qaraaqujaa
      Qaraasunqur
      Qarat.aay
      Qarsaq
      Qaanim
      Qaantamur
      Qaashiq
      Qaaymaaz
      Qaazaan
      Qijmaas
      Qilij
      Qirmish
      Qujaq
      Qujaajaq
      Qulanjiq
      Qulaq Siiz
      Qurqmaas
      Qutluqtamur
      Qutluubughaa
      Qutuubak
      Saksan
      Sanjar
      Sarghitmish
      Savinjbughaa
      Sunkuu
      S.andal
      S.aqalsiz
      S.at.ilmish
      S.aarii Tamur
      S.uus.uun
      Taghrii Birdii
      Taghrii Birmish
      Tamur
      Tamurbughaa
      Tankizbughaa
      Tumaantamur
      T.ashbughaa
      T.ashtamur
      T.aybars
      T.aybughaa
      T.aanyariq
      T.ughjii
      T.uqtamur
      T.uqtamish
      T.uughaan
      T.uughaan Qiz
      T.uuluutamur
      Uqt.aay
      Urunbughaa
      Uzbak
      Uzdamur
      Yaghmuur
      Yakhshii Baay [5]
      Yakrak
      Yaaruuq

We may be able to give you more information about the pronunciation and
etymology of a particular name, if you're interested.

If you'd like to build a complete Mamluk name, you can find more
information about Mamluk name structures in Report 2901:

http://www.s-gabriel.org/2901

We hope this letter has been useful to you.  If any part of it is
unclear, or if you have further questions, please don't hesitate to
write to us again.  We'd be glad to give you more information about a
particular name.  Sion Andreas, Arval Benicoeur, Aryanhwy merch Catmael,
Talan Gwynek, Anahita al Qurtubiyya, Gunnvor Silfraharr, Giudo di
Niccolo Brunelleschi, Juliana de Luna, Katherine Throckmorton, and 
Juetta Copin assisted in researching and writing this letter.

For the Academy,

Ursula Georges
18 May 2005

References:

[1]  Bernard Lewis, _Race and Slavery in the Middle East_, (Oxford:
Oxford University Press, 1990), p. 9.

[2]  Marshall G.S. Hodgson, _The Venture of Islam_, Chicago: The
University of Chicago Press, 1974, vol. II, pp. 417-418.

[3]  David Ayalon, "Names, Titles, and 'nisbas' of the Mamluuks," in
_The Mamluuk Military Society_ (London: Variorum Reprints, 1979).

[4]  J. Sauvaget, "Noms et Surnoms de Mamelouks" in _Journal Asiatique_
238 (1950), 31-58.  Sion Andreas transliterated the names from Arabic.

[5]  <Baay> may be an Arabic rendering of the Turkish title <bey>.