The
Yenisei Kyrgyz, also known as the Khyagas or Khakas, were an ancient Turkic people that dwelled along the upper
Yenisei River in the southern portion of the
Minusinsk Depression from the 3rd century BCE to the 13th century CE. The heart of their homeland was the forested
Tannu-Ola mountain range (known in ancient times as the Lao or Kogmen mountains), in modern-day
Tuva, just north of Mongolia. The
Sayan mountains were also included in their territory at different times. The Kyrgyz Khaganate existed from 550 to 1219 CE; in 840, it took over the leadership of the Turkic Khaganate from the
Uigurs, expanding the state from the Yenisei territories into the Central Asia and Tarim basin. The Yenisei Kyrgyz mass migration to the
Jeti-su resulted in the formation of the modern
Kyrgyz Republic, land of the modern-day
Kyrgyz. However it is believed that the
Khakas people and
Fuyu Kyrgyz are closer to the ancient Yenisei Kirghiz, who are both Siberian Turkic peoples (Northeastern Turkic), rather than the Kyrgyz people of modern Kyrgyzstan, who are Kipchak Turkic people (Northwestern Turkic).