Keraites

The Keraites (also Kerait, Kereit, Karait; Perso-Arabic كرايت) were one of the five dominant Turco-Mongol tribal confederations (khanates) in the Altai-Sayan region during the 12th century. They had converted to the Church of the East (Nestorianism) in the early 11th century and are one of the possible sources of the European Prester John legend.

Their original territory was no doubt expansive, corresponding to much of what is now Mongolia. Vasily Bartold (1913) located them along the upper Onon and Kerulen rivers and along the Tula. They were defeated by Genghis Khan in 1203 and became influential in the rise of the Mongol Empire, and were gradually absorbed into the succeeding Turco-Mongol khanates during the 13th century. Christianity among the Mongols was mostly extinct in the late 14th century due to the Islamization under Timur Lenk.

Name

The name is recorded in Perso-Arabic spelling as كرايت or كريت (kārayit, karayit). In English, the name is variously adopted as Keraites, Karaits, Karait, Kerait, Kereyit but in earlier texts also as Karaites.