Kurykans
The Kurykans were a Tiele tribe, that inhabited the Lake Baikal area near the Mongol border in the 6th century Early Kurykans migrated from Yenisey river.
Gumilyov and Okladnikov proposed that Kurykans were ancestors of Yakuts, though this is still uncertain. Peter B. Golden notes that the name Kurykan is etymologisable on the basis of Mongolic quriğan "lamb" yet no additional evidence exists that Kurykans also spoke a Mongolic language. Before their migration, Yakuts were subject to some Mongolic admixture in the 7th century. The Yakuts originally lived around Olkhon and the region of Lake Baikal. Beginning in the 13th century they migrated to the basins of the Middle Lena, the Aldan and Vilyuy rivers under the pressure of the rising Mongols. The northern Yakuts were largely hunters, fishermen and reindeer herders, while the southern Yakuts raised cattle and horses.Citations
