The
Chigil (
Chihil, and also
Jigil,
Djikil,
Chiyal) were a
Turkic tribe known from the 7th century CE as living around
Issyk Kul lake area. They were considered to be descended from two of the "
Six Chuy tribes" of the
Chuban, the Chuyue and Chumi. They are known to have been speakers of the
Oghuz group of the
Turkic languages.
Sinologist Yu. A. Zuev suggests an etymology of the name Chigil from the Chinese transcriptions of the ethnonyms Chigil (Ch. ?? Chuyue "abode of the Moon [god]") and Chumul (Ch. ??(or ?) Chumi "abode of the Sun [god]"). However, he notes that neither Turkic-Buddhist texts, nor the Turkic-Manichaean literature and other sources containing information about Turkic Manichaeism, do not give a genealogical meaning in reference to the invocation of the Sun and Moon (Turk. kün ay) [1] [2].
The first reference to the Chigils comes from the "History of the Sui dynasty" (581-680, Chji-i < tši?k-i?t < chigil) [3].
According to medieval writers, the city of Chigil was at "a distance of a human voice" from Taraz[4][5]. A 11th century story by Mahmud Kashgari places the events in the time of the Zu-l-Karnein ("the "Bihorn", Alexander the Great) 4th century BCE
