"Chan-Chun and 'Yuan-Shi' on the Kyrgyz"

In 1123, the Chinese hermit Chan-Chun, while in the Altai region, "heard there that the country of Qian-Qian-zhu is located to the northwest, over 1000 li (about 500 versts) away."

It does not matter what the aforementioned territory was called; what is important is that it refers to the northwestern part of Altai as belonging to the Kyrgyz. This information confirms the assertion that the western part of the Kyrgyz country extended to the Priirtyshye (the Ob-Irtysh interfluve). As for its name, regardless of what it was called, "Central Asian" Kyrgyz could have inhabited that area. Perhaps these lands were called "Kem-Kemjiut," although it seems more likely that Chan-Chun confused its name with "Kem-Kemjiut." These regions could have been referred to as the land of the Kyrgyz and belonged to the area of "Kyrgyz."

Incidentally, in 1199, the Naymans, defeated by Genghis Khan "and his then ally Wang Khan of the Keraites (the Keraites were also a Mongolian people, eastern neighbors of the Naymans), fled to the land of Kem-Kemjiut." The fact that the Naymans fled specifically to "Kem-Kemjiut" confirms that it was located in Tuva, and the Nayman tribes were situated to the south of "Kem-Kemjiut" or in close proximity.

In the "Yuan-Shi," there is a report that "the leader of the Merkit, Tukhta-biki, in the spring (probably in 1207) reached the Kem River. He traveled along it (probably while the river was still covered with ice) for several days to the land of the Kyrgyz (Kiligisi) and "subdued all five of their clans." He could have been heading towards the eastern part of the Kyrgyz land and conquered the "Eastern" Kyrgyz.

According to the "Yuan-Shi," the Kyrgyz are described as a "very small people; there were supposedly only 9,000 families, which hardly corresponds to reality." In general, it seems that the information about the land of the Kyrgyz among the Chinese was partial, distorted, and sometimes erroneous. The figure mentioned above could have referred only to one group of tribes in that region, i.e., the land of the Kyrgyz. As noted earlier, according to Rashid ad-Din, there were many nomads, "towns, and villages" in the land of the Kyrgyz and in the adjacent areas. According to the "Yuan-Shi," the Kyrgyz "were not skilled farmers, but they did have wheat crops."

Chan-Chun speaks of the land "Qian-Qian-zhu," noting that "good iron is mined there, and many squirrels are found; wheat is also sown there; Chinese craftsmen live in abundance, engaged in weaving silk fabrics, furs, brocades, and colored materials." All of this could have been in Tuva or Minusinsk, but not in the areas of the Ob-Irtysh interfluve and Altai.