The Tatars (Mongolic "Татар", Old Kipchak tatar; modern Volga Tatar: ; ) according to the popular theory are a Turkic people living in Asia and Europe. The name "Tatar" first appears in written form on the Kul Tigin monument as Otuz Tatar Bodun ('Thirty Tatar' tribe) CE. 732. Tatars formed one of the five major tribal confederations (khanlig) in the Mongolian plateau in the 12th century. They speak the Kipchak-Cuman language families.