Ötüken ( otk, 𐰇𐱅𐰜𐰤:𐰖𐰃𐱁, Ötüken yïš, "Ötüken forest", 𐰵𐱅𐰜𐰤:𐰘𐰼, ''Ötüken jer'', "Land of Ötüken",
Old Uyghur
Old Uyghur () was a Turkic language which was spoken in Qocho from the 9th–14th centuries and in Gansu.
History
The Old Uyghur language evolved from Old Turkic after the Uyghur Khaganate broke up and remnants of it migrated to Turfan, Qomu ...
: 𐰵𐱅𐰜𐰤:𐰘𐰃𐱁 ''Ötüken yïš''; ) was the capital of the
First Turkic Khaganate
The First Turkic Khaganate, also referred to as the First Turkic Empire, the Turkic Khaganate or the Göktürk Khaganate, was a Turkic khaganate established by the Ashina clan of the Göktürks in medieval Inner Asia under the leadership of Bumin ...
and
Uyghur Khaganate. It has an important place in
Turkic mythology and
Tengrism. Otukan (Ötüken) is also one of the names given to
Mother Earth
Mother Earth may refer to:
*The Earth goddess in any of the world's mythologies
*Mother goddess
*Mother Nature, a common personification of the Earth and its biosphere as the giver and sustainer of life
Written media and literature
*Mother Earth ...
. Otuken is located in
Kharkhorin district in
Övörkhangai Province of present-day
Mongolia.
Ordu-Baliq was built on the ruins of the Göktürk imperial capital.
Otuken and nature
According to this ancient belief, the mood of the
Yer-sub
Yer-sub (Yar-Sub also Yer-Su or Yir-sub, otk, 𐰘𐰃𐰼:𐰽𐰆𐰉, Jer sub) are a category of nature spirits in the Tengriism. The name means "Earth–Water" in Turkic languages
The Turkic languages are a language family of over ...
and Ötüken could be seen in the trees' condition. If the trees are healthy and strong and are bearing a lot of
fruit, it is believed that Ötüken is satisfied with humans. A prayer dedicated to Ötüken was once directed to a grand tree.
Otugan existed in the middle of the Universe and her residence was in Central Asia on Khangan Plateau. This place was called "The Otuken (Ötüken) Homeland".
Mountain
The word was used to describe the sacred
mountain of the
ancient Turks. It was mentioned by
Bilge Khagan in the
Orkhon inscriptions
The Orkhon inscriptions (also known as the Orhon inscriptions, Orhun inscriptions, Khöshöö Tsaidam monuments (also spelled ''Khoshoo Tsaidam'', ''Koshu-Tsaidam'' or ''Höshöö Caidam''), or Kul Tigin steles ( zh, t=闕特勤碑, s=阙特勤 ...
as "the place from where the tribes can be controlled". A force called ''qut'' was believed to emanate from this mountain, granting the local potentate the divine right to rule all the Turkic tribes.
Although never identified precisely, Ötüken probably stretched "from the
Khangai Range of Central
Mongolia to the
Sayan Mountains of
Tuva, at the centre of which is the
Orkhon Valley", which for centuries was regarded as the seat of the imperial power of the
steppe
In physical geography, a steppe () is an ecoregion characterized by grassland plains without trees apart from those near rivers and lakes.
Steppe biomes may include:
* the montane grasslands and shrublands biome
* the temperate grasslands, ...
s.
Old records
; Dīwān Lughāt al-Turk
Dīwān Lughāt al-Turk, by
Mahmud al-Kashgari
Mahmud ibn Husayn ibn Muhammed al-Kashgari, ''Maḥmūd ibnu 'l-Ḥusayn ibn Muḥammad al-Kāšġarī'', , tr, Kaşgarlı Mahmûd, ug, مەھمۇد قەشقىرى, ''Mehmud Qeshqiri'' / Мәһмуд Қәшқири uz, Mahmud Qashg'ariy / М ...
; ''"Ötüken (''اتوكان'') is a name of a place in the deserts of
land of Tatars. It's close to
land of Uyghurs."''
TDK ''Divanü Lugati't-Türk Veri Tabanı''
/ref>
;Orkhon Inscriptions
The inscriptions clearly show the sacred importance of the region, as evidenced by the statement of Tonyukuk: ''"If you stay in the land of the Ötüken, and send caravans from there, you will have no trouble. If you stay at the Ötüken Mountains, you will live forever dominating the tribes!"''
See also
* Etugen Eke
References
Bibliography
* C. E. Bosworth: Artikel „ÖTÜKEN“ in: Encyclopaedia of Islam; Leiden. Digitale Edition
{{DEFAULTSORT:Otuken
History of Mongolia
Religion in Mongolia
Turkic mythology
Xueyantuo