1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Kara-Kalpaks

KARA-KALPAKS (“Black Caps”), a Mongolo-Tatar people, originally dominant along the east coast of the Aral Sea, where they still number some thousands. They thus form geographically the transition between the northern Kirghiz and the southern Turkomans. Once a powerful nation, they are scattered for the most part in Astrakhan, Perm, Orenburg, in the Caucasian province of Kuban, and in Tobolsk, Siberia, numbering in all about 50,000. These emigrants have crossed much with the alien populations among whom they have settled; but the pure type on the Aral Sea are a tall powerful people, with broad flat faces, large eyes, short noses and heavy chins. Their women are the most beautiful in Turkestan. The name of “Black Caps” is given them in allusion to their high sheepskin hats. They are a peaceful agricultural folk, who have suffered much from their fierce nomad neighbours.