It is proposed that Manavs descend from Cumans and Kipchaks who settled in the Byzantine Empire.

[1][2][3][4] A group of Cuman-Kipchaks who headed to the Balkans as a result of the Mongol incursions into the Desht-i Qipchaq lands; it is known that he entered the service of the Latin and Nicaea Empires.

The Empire of Nicea used this Cuman group against the Seljuk and Mongol threats from the East and settled it in their lands.

This Cuman-Kipchak group, interbred with the Oghuz Turks and formed the people called Manav.

[1][2][3][5] Manavs speak Turkish with a dialects bear traces of Kipchak and Oghuric to varying degrees, in relation to their origins.