The Rashīdī History 8.3.7

8.3.7

D'Ohsson became conscious, from the extensive use he had made of Asiatic historians, that these writers constantly employed the word Turk to signify the nomad and pastoral tribes, known in Europe as 'Tatars.' In one passage he writes: "The Mongols gave the name of Tajik, or Tazik, to the Muhammadans, and in the historical works of this period it will be found that they employed this word in opposition to that of 'Turk.' The first served to designate the Muhammadan inhabitants of towns and cultivated lands, whether they were of Turki, Persian, or Arab origin mattered not; while under the name of 'Turk' were comprised the nomad nations of Turki and Tatar race. It was in this general acceptation that Chingiz Khan and the Mongols styled themselves 'Turks'; they rejected, on the other hand, the name of 'Tatar.'" In another passage, when speaking of the Tatars proper, previous to the rise of the Mongols, D'Ohsson quotes Rashid-ud-Din as follows: "They made themselves so powerful and formidable, that other nations of Turks passed themselves off as Tatars, and regarded the name as an honour."