2026, vol. 14, no. 1. Margaryan G.

2026, vol. 14, no. 1, pp. 8-18

DOI: https://doi.org/10.22378/2313-6197.2026-14-1.8-18

EDN: https://elibrary.ru/BDHUPE

   THE ORIGIN OF THE TATARS IN ARMENIAN HISTORIOGRAPHY:
THE PEOPLE OF MAGOG OR THE CLAN OF ТORGOM?

G. Margaryan
Yerevan State University
Institute of Oriental Studies of NAS RA
Yerevan, Republic of Armenia
gor_margaryan@mail.ru

Abstract. This article analyzes the origins of the Tatars in Armenian historiography of the 13th–15th centuries. The aim of the study is to systematize and analyze known and previously unstudied references to the Tatars in Armenian written sources, as well as to identify the evolution of ideas about their ethnogenesis in the context of biblical and Christian historical thought. The research materials include medieval Armenian chronicles, colophons of manuscripts, poetic texts, as well as the works of Armenian historians of the Modern Era; Byzantine and Western European sources of the Christian tradition are used for comparative analysis.
The article examines the historical model of associating nomadic peoples – the Scythians, Huns, Seljuk Turks, Tatars, and Mongols – with the biblical peoples of Gog and Magog, which was widespread in medieval Christian historiography. It is shown that in the Armenian historiographical tradition, this scheme was transformed by identifying the Tatars with the descendants of the biblical Togarmah.
The results and scientific novelty of the study are the revelation of the specificity of the “Armenian” approach to explaining the origin of the Tatars, which differs from the apocalyptic interpretations dominant in European and Byzantine historiography. It has been established that the identification of the Tatars as “Torgomians” (Torgomazun Torgomac’in) served not only a biblical-genealogical function, but also a socio-political one. The article also shows that this interpretation of the origin of the Tatars remained relevant in Armenian historiographical thought until the end of the 19th century.

Keywords: biblical genealogy, Gog and Magog, Tatars, Torgom (Togarma), Armenian historiography, Christian historical tradition

For citation: Margaryan G. The origin of the Tatars in Armenian historiography: the People of Magog or the clan of Тorgom? Zolotoordynskoe obozrenie=Golden Horde Review. 2026, vol. 14, no. 1, pp. 8–18. https://doi.org/10.22378/2313-6197.2026-14-1.8-18 (In Russian)

Financial Support: This work was supported by the Higher Education and Science Committee of the Republic of Armenia (Research project № 1-29/24RL-6A032).

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Gor A. Margaryan – Cand. Sci. (History), Associate Professor of the Faculty of International Relations, Yerevan State University (1, Alek Manukyan Str., Yerevan 0025, Republic of Armenia); Senior Researcher, Institute of Oriental Studies of the National Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Armenia (24/4, Marshal Baghramyan Ave, Yerevan 0019, Republic of Armenia); ORCID: 0000-0002-4675-8963, Scopus AuthorID: 57205190264. E-mail: gor_margaryan@mail.ru

Received  01.12.2025
Revised  16.02.2026
Accepted  02.03.2026