By the early 17th century the term Uriankhai was a general Mongolian term for all the dispersed bands to the north-west, whether Samoyed, Turkic, or Mongolian in origin.
I was wondering if there was any link or inspiration for the name Uruk-Hai to the name for the dispersed bands of peoples from Mongolia? The only other allusion is the siege on Helm's Deep to the great wall of China, and though tenuous that and the similarity in the name has my curiosity piqued.
Now, there is some etymology for the name Uruk-hai
The name "Uruk-hai" has the element Uruk, which is a Black Speech word related to Orc, related to the word "Urko" in Tolkien's invented language of Quenya. The element hai means "folk", so "Uruk-hai" is "Orc-folk".
But it's not to say that the idea of Uruk-Hai as being a group of 'barbarians' (orcs) storming a large fortification couldn't hgave been some basis for the use of the word Uruk-hai with meaning added on after wards.
Is there any fictional etymology to go with Uruk-Hai, a word or group that inspired the name or was it simply a consequence of Tolkien developing the Quenyan language and then assigning a name form that?