Tartar

The Tartars were, according to the First Doctor and not disputed by the Mongol Mongke Khan, a tribe which were wiped out by the Mongols. Despite this, the peoples of Europe used the term to refer to Mongols, which Mongke described as "abuse". (PROSE: Bunker Soldiers) Even Ping-Cho called Noghai a great Tartar ruler who had been at war with Kublai Khan, with Barbara Wright noting that this was "Mongol fighting Mongol". Marco Polo referred to Tegana as a Tartar warlord. (PROSE: Marco Polo)

Behind the scenes

Historically, (from a Eurocentric perspective) Tartars were people from Tartary, which covered Central, North, and East Asia. In modern times, Tartars are a wide-ranging ethnic group, ranging from Crimea to Mongolia. The term is not synonymous, or even encompassed by, "Mongol", which reasons that John Lucarotti was likely using the archaic definition when calling Noghai a Tartar in his Marco Polo novelisation.