[9] All of these are derived from a word related to Turkish yaka (geographical edge, collar) referring to the Yakuts' remote position in Siberia.

An early work on the Yakut ethnogenesis was drafted by the Russian Collegiate Assessors I. Evers and S. Gornovsky in the late 18th century.

[12] Schukin is credited as introducing the concept of Yenisey Khakas as the ancestors of the Yakut into Russian historiography.

When the Khorolors arrived in the Middle Lena remains uncertain, with scholars estimating from the first millennium to the 16th century AD.

[18] Among scholars a commonly accepted hypothesis is that the Khoro Yakut originate from the Khori Buryat of Lake Baikal,[19][20] and therefore spoke a Turko-Mongolic language.

[26] After researching their origins, Gavriil Ksenofontov concluded that while the Khorolors were "formed from parts of some alien tribe that mixed with the Yakuts", there was no compelling evidence connecting them with the Khori Buryat.

This reverence arises from the Raven enabling a struggling human (either the first Khoro man or his mother) to survive by giving a flint and tinder box.

Many researchers have concluded that the Yakut ethnogenesis was an admixture of Turks migrating from Lake-Baikal and native Yukaghir and Tungusitic peoples residing around the Lena River.

[30][31][32][33] Okladnikov detailed this conceived admixture process as the following:"...the Turkic-speaking ancestors of the Yakuts not only pushed out the aborigines but also subjected them to their influence by peaceful means; they assimilated and absorbed them into their mass... With this, the local tribes lost the former ethnic name and a proper ethnic consciousness, no longer separating themselves from the mass of Yakuts, and [were] not opposed to them... Consequently, as a result of the mixing with Northern aborigines, the southern ancestors of the Yakuts supplemented their culture and language with new features distinguishing them from other steppe tribes.

From the subarctic Bulunsky and Verkhoyansky Districts, accounts state that the Black Yukaghir (Yakut: хара дъукаагырдар) descended from migrants pushed north from the Lena River.

[34] Related stories recorded in Ust'-Aldanskiy Ulus and Megino-Kangalassky District mention certain tribes leaving the region due to rising pressure from the incoming Yakuts.

[39] The Tumat stand out in Yakut tradition as a numerous and powerful society, with constant conflict once happening with them on the Vilyuy River.

Archeological work on Pazyryk culture sites have turned up both hats dyed red and tail-coats made of sables.

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.

[50][51] In the 1620s, the Tsardom of Muscovy began to move into their territory and annexed or settled down on it, imposed a fur tax and managed to suppress several Yakut rebellions between 1634 and 1642.

The tsarist brutality in collection of the pelt tax (yasak) sparked a rebellion and aggression among the Yakuts and also Tungusic-speaking tribes along the River Lena in 1642.

The voivode Peter Golovin, leader of the tsarist forces, responded with a reign of terror: native settlements were torched and hundreds of people were killed.

[citation needed] The discovery of gold and, later, the building of the Trans-Siberian Railway, brought ever-increasing numbers of Russians into the region.

[56][57] There is a widespread notion among other ethnic minorities in Russia based on their experience (for example, among geographically close Mongolic Buryats) that the Sakha (i.e. Yakuts) are the least russified ethnic group in Russia and that the knowledge of the native language is widespread, particularly (as is often said) due to the cold and freezing nature of their geographical habitat, and Russians’ general avoidance of colonizing those lands.

Certain rock formations named Kigilyakh, as well as places such as Ynnakh Mountain, are held in high esteem by Yakuts.

[58] The cuisine of Sakha prominently features the traditional drink kumis, dairy products of cow, mare, and reindeer milk, sliced frozen salted fish stroganina (строганина), loaf meat dishes (oyogos), venison, frozen fish, thick pancakes, and salamat—a millet porridge with butter and horse fat.

This genetic bottleneck has been dated approximately to 1300 CE ± 200 ybp and speculated to have been caused by high mortality rates in warfare and later relocation to the Middle Lena River.

According to the 1820 census,[65] five Sakha men lived in the fort with 260 people, working for the Russian-American Company, a fur-trading business.

The Sakha were part of the diverse workforce that supported the fort operations in areas, such as hunting, trapping, farming and construction.

By 1860, there were at least 20 Sakhas living at Fort Ross before the Russian-American Company ended its North American operations in the early 1880s."