thumb|200px|right|Khanty family standing in front of a [[chum (tent)|chum, their traditional tent]]

thumb|200px|Most Khanty people live in the [[Khanty–Mansi Autonomous Okrug in western Siberia]]

The Khanty (), also known in older literature as Ostyaks (), are an Ob-Ugric indigenous people, living in Khanty–Mansi Autonomous Okrug, a region historically known as "Yugra" in Russia, together with the Mansi. In the autonomous okrug, the Khanty and Mansi languages are given co-official status with Russian. In the 2021 Census, 31,467 persons identified themselves as Khanty. Of those, 30,242 were resident in Tyumen Oblast, of whom 19,568 were living in Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug and 9,985&mdash;in Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug. 495 were residents of neighbouring Tomsk Oblast, and 109 lived in Sverdlovsk Oblast.<!-- [http://www.raipon.org/russian_site/people/people_perepis_2002_rus.htm] -->

Ethnonym

thumb|Khanty from the Ob river

Since the Khanty language has about 10 dialects which can be united in 3 main branches, there are several slightly different words used by these people to describe themselves:

  • Khanti, Khante (in North)
  • Khande (in South)
  • Kantek, Kantakh (in East)

All these words mean 'human'. They also call themselves As Khoyat which means 'Obian people' or 'people from Ob'.

History

In the second millennium BC, the territories between the Kama and the Irtysh Rivers were the home of a Proto-Uralic-speaking population that had contacts with Proto-Indo-European speakers from the south. The woodland population is the ancestor of the modern Ugrian inhabitants of Trans-Uralia.

Khanty probably appear in Russian records under the name Yugra (ca. 11th century), when they had contact with Novgorodian hunters and merchants. The name of Yugra derives from 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.

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 exogamic phratries, termed mon't and por, and all members were considered to be blood relatives. This structure was later replaced with clans, 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.

Economy and livelihood

The Khantys' traditional occupations were fishery, taiga hunting and reindeer herding. They lived as trappers, thus gathering was of major importance.

During the winter, the Khanty lived in stationary huts made out of dirt and branches at permanent villages. During the spring, the Khanty moved towards hunting and fishing grounds, where they constructed temporary rectangular-shaped shelters out of birch-bark and poles. is being celebrated in April, nowadays it is April 7, the same day as the Annunciation day. The Bear Celebration is being celebrated occasionally after a successful hunting of a bear. The Bear Celebration continues 5 or 6 days (the duration depends on the sex of the animal). Over 300 songs and performances occur during a Bear Celebration. The most important parts of the celebration are:

  • Nukh Kiltatty Ar (The Awakening Song)
  • Ily Vukhalty Ar (The Coming Down From The Sky Song) - The story about the son of Torum (the sky god). The son was sent by Torum to rule the Earth. He has forgotten father's advice, lost his immortality, turned into a beast and has been killed by the hunters.
  • Il Veltatty Ar (The Lullaby)

Oral and written literature

In addition to bear songs, fairy tales and other stories, Khanty folklore includes epic poetry. It shares similar themes with the mythical and heroic stories told by the Mansi people. Another Khanty-language newspaper is ', founded in 2001.

Language

The Khanty language is part of the Ugric branch of the Uralic languages, and thus most closely related to Mansi and Hungarian.

The Khanty language and people are studied through .

Genetics

[[File:Uralic populations PCA (Cropped).jpg|thumb|Khanty (Khn) and other Uralic populations in a PCA.

mtDNA

The most common mtDNA haplogroup among the Khantys is U (28.3 %). 16.5 percent of Khanty women belong to its subgroup U4, 5.7 percent to subgroup U7, 5.4 percent to subgroup U5, and the subclades U2 and U1 are found with frequencies of less than one percent. Other maternal haplogroups include H (17.3 %), J (13.1 %), D (11.6 %) and C (10.4 %).