MongolTatar

Mongol-Tatar is a term that emerged in medieval European chronicles to refer collectively to the various Turkic and Mongol peoples who formed the Golden Horde and other successor states of the Mongol Empire. The term "Tatar" was initially applied by Europeans to the Tatars of the northern steppes, a Turkic people who were among the first groups encountered by the Mongols during their conquests. As the Mongol Empire expanded, Europeans conflated all the diverse groups within the empire, particularly those of Turkic origin, under the single label "Tatar."

This term was often used with a sense of dread and mystery, reflecting the impact of the Mongol invasions on Eastern Europe. The Golden Horde, a Mongol state that controlled much of Russia, Ukraine, and Kazakhstan from the 13th to the 15th centuries, was largely composed of Turkic peoples such as Kipchaks and Cumans, alongside Mongol leadership. Over time, the distinction between "Mongol" and "Tatar" blurred in European usage, with "Tatar" becoming a generic descriptor for the peoples of the Mongol successor states, particularly those who adopted Islam and Turkic languages.

Modern scholarship generally prefers to use more specific ethnonyms for the various groups that constituted these states, such as Kipchak, Tatar, or Mongol, to avoid the historical ambiguity and generalization inherent in the term "Mongol-Tatar." The term itself is now considered an exonym, originating from external observers rather than self-identification.