Turkic Khanganate, the Uyghur Empire, and the Yenisei Kyrgyz. During these time periods the area's local people became Turkicized culturally and linguistically. According to one study in 2016, the Altaians, precisely some southern Altaians, assimilated local Yeniseian people which were closely related to the Paleo-Eskimo groups. From the thirteenth to eighteenth century the Altai people were dominated politically and culturally by the Mongols. The origin of the southern Altaians can be traced during this period from the result of the mixing of Kipchak and Mongol tribes. Meanwhile, the Northern Altaians were a result of the fusion of Turkic tribes with Samoyeds, Kets and other Siberian groups. The Altaians were annexed by the Four Oirat of Western Mongols in the 16th century. The Mongols called them "Telengid" or "Telengid aimag" in the period of the Northern Yuan dynasty, with the region known as Telengid Province. After the fall of the Zunghar Khanate in the 18th century, the Altaians were subjugated by the Qing Dynasty, which referred to them as Altan Nuur Uriyangkhai. Altaians are genetically related to the Uriyangkhai, which is a common neighbouring Oirat Mongol ethnic group in Mongolia. The Altai came into contact with Russians in the 18th century. In the tsarist period, the Altai were known as oirot or oyrot (this name means oirat and would later be carried on for the Oyrot Autonomous Oblast). The Altai report that many of them became addicted to the Russians' vodka, which they called "fire water". With regard to religion, some of the Altai remained shamanists and others (in a trend beginning in the mid-19th century) have converted to the Russian Orthodox Church. The Altai mission was developed under Saint Makarii Glukharev († 1847), known as the 'Apostle to the Altai'. In 1904, a millenarian indigenist religious movement called Ak Jang or Burkhanism arose among these people. Prior to 1917 the Altai were considered to be made up of many different ethnic groups. With the rise of the 1917 revolution, the Altai attempted to make in 1918 their region a separate Burkhanist republic called the Confederated Republic of Altai (Karakorum-Altai Region).. Their support for the Mensheviks during the Civil War led to the venture's collapse after the Bolshevik victory and the later rise of Joseph Stalin. In the 1940s, during World War II and when he was directing numerous purges, his government accused the Altai of being pro-Japanese. The word "oyrot"