Editing Khanty (section)

== History ==
In the second millennium BC, the territories between the [[Kama River|Kama]] and the [[Irtysh River|Irtysh]] Rivers were the home of a [[Proto-Uralic]]-speaking population that had contacts with [[Proto-Indo-European]] speakers from the south.<ref name="Khanty">{{Cite book| last1 =Wiget| first1 =Andrew | last2= Balalaeva | first2= Olga | title = Khanty, People of the Taiga: Surviving the 20th Century | publisher = University of Alaska Press | year = 2011 | pages =3 | isbn = 978-16022-3125-2 }}</ref> The woodland population is the ancestor of the modern Ugrian inhabitants of Trans-Uralia.<ref name="Khanty"/> Other researchers say that the Khanty people originated in the south Ural steppe and moved northwards into their current location about 500 AD.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Khanty and Mansi {{!}} History, Culture & Language {{!}} Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Khanty |access-date=2024-11-17 |website=www.britannica.com |language=en}}</ref>

Khanty probably appear in Russian records under the name Yugra (ca. 11th century), when they had contact with [[Novgorod Republic|Novgorodian]] hunters and merchants.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":2">{{Cite journal |last=Balzer |first=Marjorie Mandelstam |date=1983 |title=Ethnicity Without Power: The Siberian Khanty in Soviet Society |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S0037677900084230/type/journal_article |journal=Slavic Review |language=en |volume=42 |issue=4 |pages=633–648 |doi=10.2307/2497372 |jstor=2497372 |s2cid=155219886 |issn=0037-6779}}</ref> The name of [[Yugra]] derives from [[Komi-Zyrian language|Komi-Zyrian]] word ''jögra'' ('Khanty'). The older Russian name [[Ostyak]] is from Khanty ''as-kho'' 'person from the Ob (''as'') River,' with -''yak'' after other ethnic terms like ''Permyak''.<ref name=":1">M. Vasmer, ''Etimologicheskii slovar russkogo yazyka'', Vol. III (Moscow, 1971), p. 167.</ref>

Some Khanty princedoms were partially included in the [[Siberia Khanate]] from the 1440s–1570s.

In the 11th century, Yugra was actually a term for numerous tribes, each having its own centre and its own chief. Every tribe had two [[exogamy|exogamic]] [[phratry|phratries]], termed ''mon't{{'}}'' and ''por'', and all members were considered to be blood relatives. This structure was later replaced with [[clan]]s, where each clan leader (''knyazets'') negotiated with the Russian realm. They also participated in Russian campaigns, and received the right to collect ''yasaq'' (tribute) from two Khanty ''volosts'' (districts) respectively. When this structure was no longer needed, Russia deprived them of their privileges.

After the [[Russian conquest of Siberia]], Russians attempted to Christianize the Khanty. Russian missionaries and officials instructed that idols be destroyed, mass baptisms be performed, and harsh punishment for those that disobeyed the church. Russian officials also took Khanty children as hostages and converted them to Christianity.<ref name=":2" /> Conversions were generally superficial in nature and motivated by economic incentives. As a consequence, the Khanty continued to incorporate native practices and beliefs into their spirituality.<ref name=":2" />

During the [[USSR|Soviet]] period the Khanty were one of the few indigenous minorities of Siberia to be granted an autonomy in the form of an [[okrug]] (autonomous district). The establishment of autonomy has played a considerable role in consolidation of the ethnos (the Western Khants called their eastern neighbours ''Kantõk'' [the Other People]). However, in the 1930s concerted efforts were made by the Soviet state to collectivise them.<ref name=":2" /> The initial stages of this meant the execution of tribal chiefs, who were labelled "[[kulak]]s", followed by the execution of [[shaman]]s. The abduction by the state of the children who were sent to Russian-speaking boarding schools provoked a national revolt in 1933 called the [[Kazym rebellion]].

After the end of the [[Joseph Stalin|Stalin]] period this process was relaxed and efforts were intensified in the 1980s and 1990s to protect their common territory from industrial expansion of various ministries and agencies. The autonomy has also played a major role in preserving the traditional culture and language.