Oghuz Turk
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The Oghuz or Ghuzz Turks ( Middle Turkic: ٱغُز, ''Oγuz'', ota, اوغوز, Oġuz) were a western
Turkic people The Turkic peoples are a collection of diverse ethnic groups of West Asia, West, Central Asia, Central, East Asia, East, and North Asia as well as parts of Europe, who speak Turkic languages.. "Turkic peoples, any of various peoples whose memb ...
that spoke the Oghuz branch of the
Turkic language family Turkic may refer to: * anything related to the country of Turkey * Turkic languages, a language family of at least thirty-five documented languages ** Turkic alphabets (disambiguation) ** Turkish language, the most widely spoken Turkic language * ...
. In the 8th century, they formed a tribal confederation conventionally named the Oghuz Yabgu State in Central Asia. The name ''Oghuz'' is a Common Turkic word for "tribe".
Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...
sources call the Oghuz the Uzes (Οὐ̑ζοι, ''Ouzoi''). By the 10th century, Islamic sources were calling them Muslim Turkmens, as opposed to Tengrist or Buddhist. By the 12th century, this term had passed into Byzantine usage and the Oghuzes were overwhelmingly Muslim. The term "Oghuz" was gradually supplanted among the Turks themselves by the terms ''Turkmen'' and '' Turcoman'', ( ota, تركمن, Türkmen or ''Türkmân'') from the mid-10th century on, a process which was completed by the beginning of the 13th century. The Oghuz confederation migrated westward from the Jeti-su area after a conflict with the Karluk allies of the
Uyghurs The Uyghurs; ; ; ; zh, s=, t=, p=Wéiwú'ěr, IPA: ( ), alternatively spelled Uighurs, Uygurs or Uigurs, are a Turkic ethnic group originating from and culturally affiliated with the general region of Central and East Asia. The Uyghur ...
. Today, much of the populations of
Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula in ...
,
Azerbaijan Azerbaijan (, ; az, Azərbaycan ), officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, , also sometimes officially called the Azerbaijan Republic is a transcontinental country located at the boundary of Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is a part of t ...
and
Turkmenistan Turkmenistan ( or ; tk, Türkmenistan / Түркменистан, ) is a country located in Central Asia, bordered by Kazakhstan to the northwest, Uzbekistan to the north, east and northeast, Afghanistan to the southeast, Iran to the sout ...
are descendants of Oghuz Turks and their language belongs to the Oghuz group of the
Turkic languages The Turkic languages are a language family of over 35 documented languages, spoken by the Turkic peoples of Eurasia from Eastern Europe and Southern Europe to Central Asia, East Asia, North Asia ( Siberia), and Western Asia. The Turkic l ...
family. Kara-Khanid scholar Mahmud al-Kashgari wrote that of all the Turkic languages, that of the Oghuz was the simplest. He also observed that the Oghuz had been separated for so long from the eastern Turks, that the language of the Turks in the east could be clearly distinguished from the language of the Oghuz and Kipchak further west. In the 9th century, the Oghuzes from the Aral steppes drove Bechens from the Emba and
Ural River The Ural (russian: Урал, ), known before 1775 as Yaik (russian: Яик, ba, Яйыҡ, translit=Yayıq, ; kk, Жайық, translit=Jaiyq, ), is a river flowing through Russia and Kazakhstan in the continental border between Europe and Asia ...
region toward the west. In the 10th century, they inhabited the steppe of the rivers Sari-su, Turgai and Emba to the north of Lake Balkhash of modern-day
Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country located mainly in Central Asia and partly in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the north and west, China to the east, Kyrgyzstan to the southeast, Uzbeki ...
. A clan of this nation, the
Seljuks The Seljuk dynasty, or Seljukids ( ; fa, سلجوقیان ''Saljuqian'', alternatively spelled as Seljuqs or Saljuqs), also known as Seljuk Turks, Seljuk Turkomans "The defeat in August 1071 of the Byzantine emperor Romanos Diogenes by the Turk ...
, embraced Islam and in the 11th century entered
Persia Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...
, where they founded the
Great Seljuk Empire The Great Seljuk Empire, or the Seljuk Empire was a high medieval, culturally Turko-Persian, Sunni Muslim empire, founded and ruled by the Qïnïq branch of Oghuz Turks. It spanned a total area of from Anatolia and the Levant in the west to t ...
. Similarly in the 11th century, a Tengriist Oghuz clan, referred to as Uzes or Torks in the chronicles of Rurikid
Kievan Rus' Kievan Rusʹ, also known as Kyivan Rusʹ ( orv, , Rusĭ, or , , ; Old Norse: ''Garðaríki''), was a state in Eastern and Northern Europe from the late 9th to the mid-13th century.John Channon & Robert Hudson, ''Penguin Historical Atlas of ...
, overthrew
Pecheneg The Pechenegs () or Patzinaks tr, Peçenek(ler), Middle Turkic: , ro, Pecenegi, russian: Печенег(и), uk, Печеніг(и), hu, Besenyő(k), gr, Πατζινάκοι, Πετσενέγοι, Πατζινακίται, ka, პაჭ ...
supremacy in the steppes of
Rus' Khaganate The Rusʹ Khaganate ( be, Рускі каганат, ''Ruski kahanat'', russian: Русский каганат, ''Russkiy kaganat'', uk, Руський каганат, ''Ruśkyj kahanat''), is the name applied by some modern historians to a ...
. Harried by another Turkic people, the Kipchaks, these Oghuz penetrated as far as the lower
Danube The Danube ( ; ) is a river that was once a long-standing frontier of the Roman Empire and today connects 10 European countries, running through their territories or being a border. Originating in Germany, the Danube flows southeast for , p ...
, crossed it and invaded the Balkans, where they were struck down by an outbreak of plague, causing the survivors either to flee or to join the
Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...
imperial forces as mercenaries (1065). The Oghuz seem to have been related to the
Pechenegs The Pechenegs () or Patzinaks tr, Peçenek(ler), Middle Turkic: , ro, Pecenegi, russian: Печенег(и), uk, Печеніг(и), hu, Besenyő(k), gr, Πατζινάκοι, Πετσενέγοι, Πατζινακίται, ka, პა ...
, some of whom were clean-shaven and others of whom had small '
goatee A goatee is a style of facial hair incorporating hair on one's chin but not the cheeks. The exact nature of the style has varied according to time and culture. Description Until the late 20th century, the term ''goatee'' was used to refer sol ...
' beards. According to the book on the leader of the
Huns The Huns were a nomadic people who lived in Central Asia, the Caucasus, and Eastern Europe between the 4th and 6th century AD. According to European tradition, they were first reported living east of the Volga River, in an area that was part ...
, '' Attila and the Nomad Hordes'', "Like the Kimaks they set up many carved wooden funerary statues surrounded by simple stone ''balbal'' monoliths." The authors of the book go on to note that "Those Uzes or Torks who settled along the Russian frontier were gradually Slavicized, though they also played a leading role as cavalry in 1100- and early 1200-era Russian armies, where they were known as ''Black Hats''... Oghuz warriors served in almost all Islamic armies of the Middle East from the 1000s onwards, in Byzantium from the 800s, and even in Spain and Morocco." In later centuries, they adapted and applied their own traditions and institutions to the ends of the Islamic world and emerged as empire-builders with a constructive sense of statecraft. Linguistically, the Oghuz belong to the Common Turkic speaking group, characterized by sound correspondences such as Common Turkic /-š/ versus Oghuric /-l/ and Common Turkic /-z/ versus Oghuric /-r/.Within the Common Turkic group, the Oghuz languages share these innovations: loss of
Proto-Turkic Proto-Turkic is the linguistic reconstruction of the common ancestor of the Turkic languages that was spoken by the Proto-Turks before their divergence into the various Turkic peoples. Proto-Turkic separated into Oghur (western) and Common Turk ...
guttural Guttural speech sounds are those with a primary place of articulation near the back of the oral cavity, especially where it's difficult to distinguish a sound's place of articulation and its phonation. In popular usage it is an imprecise term fo ...
s in suffix anlaut, loss of /ɣ/ except after /a/, /g/ becoming either /j/ or lost, voicing of /t/ to /d/ and of /k/ to /g/, and */ð/ becomes /j/. Apart from the Seljuks, dynasties of Khwarazmians, Qara Qoyunlu, Aq Qoyunlu, Ottomans and
Afsharids Afsharid Iran ( fa, ایران افشاری), also referred as the Afsharid Empire was an Iranian empire established by the Turkoman Afshar tribe in Iran's north-eastern province of Khorasan, ruling Iran (Persia). The state was ruled by the Af ...
are also believed to descend from the Oghuz-Turkmen tribes of Begdili, Yiva,
Bayandur The Bayandur (, tr, Bayındır, tk, Baýyndyr) or Bayundur, was one of the 24 Oghuz Turkic tribes. Originally one of the 7 original tribes that made up the Kimek–Kipchak confederation, they later joined the Oghuz Turks. The Bayandur origina ...
, Kayi and Afshar respectively. The Ottoman dynasty, who gradually took over Anatolia after the fall of the Seljuks, toward the end of the 13th century, led an army that was also predominantly Oghuz. The Ottomans proved to be superior to other local Oghuz Turkish states. Ahmed Bican Yazıcıoğlu, in early 15th century, traced Osman's genealogy to Oghuz Khagan, the legendary ancient ancestor of
Turkic people The Turkic peoples are a collection of diverse ethnic groups of West Asia, West, Central Asia, Central, East Asia, East, and North Asia as well as parts of Europe, who speak Turkic languages.. "Turkic peoples, any of various peoples whose memb ...
, through his eldest grandson of his eldest son, so giving the Ottoman sultans primacy among Turkish monarchs.


Origins

Turkologist Peter Benjamin Golden (2011) used Proto-Turkic lexical items about the climate, topography, flora, fauna, people's modes of subsistence in the Proto-Turkic Urheimat to locate it in the southern,
taiga Taiga (; rus, тайга́, p=tɐjˈɡa; relates to Mongolic and Turkic languages), generally referred to in North America as a boreal forest or snow forest, is a biome characterized by coniferous forests consisting mostly of pines, spruc ...
- steppe zone of the Sayan- Altay region. Recently, the early
Turkic peoples The Turkic peoples are a collection of diverse ethnic groups of West, Central, East, and North Asia as well as parts of Europe, who speak Turkic languages.. "Turkic peoples, any of various peoples whose members speak languages belonging t ...
are proposed to descend from agricultural communities in
Northeast Asia Northeast Asia or Northeastern Asia is a geographical subregion of Asia; its northeastern landmass and islands are bounded by the Pacific Ocean. The term Northeast Asia was popularized during the 1930s by American historian and political scient ...
who moved westwards into
Mongolia Mongolia; Mongolian script: , , ; lit. "Mongol Nation" or "State of Mongolia" () is a landlocked country in East Asia, bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south. It covers an area of , with a population of just 3.3 million, ...
in the late 3rd millennium BC, where they adopted a pastoral lifestyle. By the early 1st millennium BC, these peoples had become equestrian nomads. In subsequent centuries, the steppe populations of
Central Asia Central Asia, also known as Middle Asia, is a subregion, region of Asia that stretches from the Caspian Sea in the west to western China and Mongolia in the east, and from Afghanistan and Iran in the south to Russia in the north. It includes t ...
appear to have been progressively replaced and Turkified by East Asian nomadic Turks, moving out of Mongolia.. "These results suggest that Turkic cultural customs were imposed by an East Asian minority elite onto central steppe nomad populations... The wide distribution of the Turkic languages from Northwest China, Mongolia and Siberia in the east to Turkey and Bulgaria in the west implies large-scale migrations out of the homeland in Mongolia.. "Both Chinese histories and modern DNA studies indicate that the early and medieval Turkic peoples were made up of heterogeneous populations. The Turkicisation of central and western Eurasia was not the product of migrations involving a homogeneous entity, but that of language diffusion." During the 2nd century BC, according to ancient Chinese sources, a steppe tribal confederation known as the
Xiongnu The Xiongnu (, ) were a tribal confederation of nomadic peoples who, according to ancient Chinese sources, inhabited the eastern Eurasian Steppe from the 3rd century BC to the late 1st century AD. Modu Chanyu, the supreme leader after 20 ...
and their allies, the
Wusun The Wusun (; Eastern Han Chinese *''ʔɑ-suən'' < (140 BCE < 436 BCE): *''Ɂâ-sûn'') were an ancient semi-
(probably an Indo-European people) defeated the neighboring Indo-European-speaking
Yuezhi The Yuezhi (;) were an ancient people first described in Chinese histories as nomadic pastoralists living in an arid grassland area in the western part of the modern Chinese province of Gansu, during the 1st millennium BC. After a major defeat ...
and drove them out of western China and into Central Asia. Various scholarly theories link the Xiongnu to Turkic peoples and/or the
Huns The Huns were a nomadic people who lived in Central Asia, the Caucasus, and Eastern Europe between the 4th and 6th century AD. According to European tradition, they were first reported living east of the Volga River, in an area that was part ...
. Bichurin claimed that the first usage of the word ''Oghuz'' appears to have been the title of ''Oğuz Kağan'', whose biography shares similarities with the biography, recorded by Han Chinese, of Xiongnu leader
Modu Shanyu Modu, Maodun, Modun (, from Old Chinese (220 B.C.E.): *''mouᴴ-tuən'' or *''mək-tuən'', c. 234 – c. 174 BCE) was the son of Touman and the founder of the empire of the Xiongnu. He came to power by ordering his men to kill his father in 209 B ...
(or Mau-Tun), who founded the Xiongnu Empire. However, Oghuz Khan narratives were actually collected in Compendium of Chronicles by
Ilkhanid The Ilkhanate, also spelled Il-khanate ( fa, ایل خانان, ''Ilxānān''), known to the Mongols as ''Hülegü Ulus'' (, ''Qulug-un Ulus''), was a khanate established from the southwestern sector of the Mongol Empire. The Ilkhanid realm, ...
scholar Rashid-al-Din in the early 14th century. Sima Qian recorded the name ''Wūjiē'' 烏揭 ( LHC: *''ʔɔ-gɨat'') or ''Hūjiē'' 呼揭 ( LHC: *''xɔ-gɨat''), of a people hostile to the Xiongnu and living immediately west of them, in the area of the Irtysh River, near Lake Zaysan. Golden suggests that these might be Chinese renditions of ''*Ogur'' ~ ''*Oguz'', yet uncertainty remains. According to one theory, ''Hūjiē'' is just another transliteration of ''Yuezhi'' and may refer to the Turkic
Uyghurs The Uyghurs; ; ; ; zh, s=, t=, p=Wéiwú'ěr, IPA: ( ), alternatively spelled Uighurs, Uygurs or Uigurs, are a Turkic ethnic group originating from and culturally affiliated with the general region of Central and East Asia. The Uyghur ...
; however, this is controversial and has few scholarly adherents.
Yury Zuev Yuri Alexeyevich Zuev or Zuyev (russian: Юрий Алексеевич Зуев; 8 December 1932 – 5 December 2006) was a Russian-born Kazakh sinologist and turkologist. Biography Zuev was born in the Siberian city of Tümen in a whit ...
(1960) links the Oghuz to the Western Turkic tribe 姑蘇 ''Gūsū'' < ( MC *''kuo-suo'') in the 8th-century encyclopaedia
Tongdian The ''Tongdian'' () is a Chinese institutional history and encyclopedia text. It covers a panoply of topics from high antiquity through the year 756, whereas a quarter of the book focuses on the Tang Dynasty. The book was written by Du You from 766 ...
(or erroneously ''Shǐsū'' 始蘇 in the 11th century
Zizhi Tongjian ''Zizhi Tongjian'' () is a pioneering reference work in Chinese historiography, published in 1084 AD during the Northern Song (960–1127), Northern Song dynasty in the form of a chronicle recording Chinese history from 403 BC to 959&n ...
). Zuev also noted a parallel between two passages: *one from the 8th-century Taibo Yinjing (太白陰經) "Venus's Secret Classic" by Li Quan (李筌) which mentioned the 三窟 ~ 三屈 "Three ''Qu''" (< MC *''k(h)ɨut̚'') after the 十箭 ''Shí Jiàn'' "Ten Arrows" ( OTrk 𐰆𐰣:𐰸 ''On Oq'') and ''Jĭu Xìng'' "Nine Surnames" (OTrk 𐱃𐰸𐰆𐰔:𐰆𐰍𐰔 '' Toquz Oğuz''); and *another from al-Maṣudi's Meadows of Gold and Mines of Gems, which mentioned the three hordes of the Turkic ''Ġuz'' Based on those sources, Zuev proposes that in the 8th century the Oghuzes were located outsides of the Ten Arrows' jurisdiction, west of the Altai mountains, near lake
Issyk-Kul Issyk-Kul (also Ysyk-Köl, ky, Ысык-Көл, lit=warm lake, translit=Ysyk-Köl, , zh, 伊塞克湖) is an endorheic lake (i.e., without outflow) in the Northern Tian Shan mountains in Eastern Kyrgyzstan. It is the seventh-deepest lake i ...
, Talas river's basin and seemingly around the Syr Darya basin, and near the Chumul,
Karluks The Karluks (also Qarluqs, Qarluks, Karluqs, otk, 𐰴𐰺𐰞𐰸, Qarluq, Para-Mongol: Harluut, zh, s=葛逻禄, t=葛邏祿 ''Géluólù'' ; customary phonetic: ''Gelu, Khololo, Khorlo'', fa, خَلُّخ, ''Khallokh'', ar, قارلوق ...
,
Qays Qays ʿAylān ( ar, قيس عيلان), often referred to simply as Qays (''Kais'' or ''Ḳays'') were an Arab tribal confederation that branched from the Mudar group. The tribe does not appear to have functioned as a unit in the pre-Islamic e ...
, Quns, ''Śari'', etc. who were mentioned by al-Maṣudi and Sharaf al-Zaman al-Marwazi. According to Ahmad ibn Fadlan, the Oghuz were nomads, but also had cultivated crops, and the economy was based on a semi-pastoralist lifestyle. Byzantine emperor Constantine VII Porphyrogennetos mentioned the ''Uzi'' and '' Mazari'' (
Hungarians Hungarians, also known as Magyars ( ; hu, magyarok ), are a nation and  ethnic group native to Hungary () and historical Hungarian lands who share a common culture, history, ancestry, and language. The Hungarian language belongs to the Urali ...
) as neighbours of the
Pechenegs The Pechenegs () or Patzinaks tr, Peçenek(ler), Middle Turkic: , ro, Pecenegi, russian: Печенег(и), uk, Печеніг(и), hu, Besenyő(k), gr, Πατζινάκοι, Πετσενέγοι, Πατζινακίται, ka, პა ...
. By the time of the Orkhon inscriptions (8th century AD) "Oghuz" was being applied generically to all inhabitants of the Göktürk Khaganate. Within the khaganate, the Oghuz community gradually expanded, incorporating other tribes. A number of subsequent tribal confederations bore the name Oghuz, often affixed to a numeral indicating the number of united tribes. These include references to the simple ''Oguz'', ''Üch-Oghuz'' ("three Oghuz"), ''Altï Oghuz'' ("six Oghuz"), possibly the ''Otuz Oghuz'' ("thirty Oghuz"), ''Sekiz-Oghuz'' ("eight Oghuz"), and the ''Tokuz-Oghuz'' ("nine Oghuz"), who originally occupied different areas in the vicinity of the Altai Mountains. Golden (2011) states Transoxanian Oghuz Turks who founded the Oghuz Yabgu State were not the same tribal confederation as the
Toquz Oghuz The Toquz Oghuz ( otk, 𐱃𐰸𐰆𐰔:𐰆𐰍𐰔, Toquz Oγuz; ; "Turks of Nine Bones") was a political alliance of nine Turkic-speaking Tiele tribes in Inner Asia, during the early Middle Ages. The Toquz Oghuz was consolidated and subordina ...
from whom emerged the founders of
Uyghur Khaganate The Uyghur Khaganate (also Uyghur Empire or Uighur Khaganate, self defined as Toquz-Oghuz country; otk, 𐱃𐰆𐰴𐰕:𐰆𐰍𐰕:𐰉𐰆𐰑𐰣, Toquz Oγuz budun, Tang-era names, with modern Hanyu Pinyin: or ) was a Turkic empire that e ...
.
Istakhri Abu Ishaq Ibrahim ibn Muhammad al-Farisi al-Istakhri () (also ''Estakhri'', fa, استخری, i.e. from the Iranian city of Istakhr, b. - d. 346 AH/AD 957) was a 10th-century travel-author and geographer who wrote valuable accounts in Arab ...
and Muhammad ibn Muhmad al-Tusi kept the Toquz Oghuz and Oghuz distinct and Ibn al-Faqih mentioned: "the infidel Turk-Oghuz, the Toquz-Oghuz, and the Qarluq" Even so, Golden notes the confusion in Latter Göktürks' and
Uyghurs The Uyghurs; ; ; ; zh, s=, t=, p=Wéiwú'ěr, IPA: ( ), alternatively spelled Uighurs, Uygurs or Uigurs, are a Turkic ethnic group originating from and culturally affiliated with the general region of Central and East Asia. The Uyghur ...
' inscriptions, where Oghuz apparently referred to Toquz Oghuz or another tribal grouping, who were also named Oghuz without a prefixed numeral; this confusion is also reflected in Sharaf al-Zaman al-Marwazi, who listed 12 Oghuz tribes, who were ruled by a "Toquz Khaqan" and some of whom were Toquz-Oghuz, on the border of Transoxiana and Khwarazm. At most, the Oghuz were possibly led by a core group of Toquz Oghuz clans or tribes. Noting that the mid-8th-century Tariat inscriptions, in Uyghur khagan Bayanchur's honor, mentioned the rebellious Igdir tribe who had revolted against him, Klyashtorny considers this as one piece of "direct evidence in favour of the existence of kindred relations between the Tokuz Oguzs of Mongolia, The Guzs of the Aral region, and modern Turkmens", besides the facts that Kashgari mentioned the Igdir as the 14th of 22 Oghuz tribes; and that Igdirs constitute part of the Turkmen tribe Chowdur. The Shine Usu inscription, also in Bayanchur's honor, mentioned the Nine-Oghuzes as " ispeople" and that he defeated the Eight-Oghuzes and their allies, the Nine Tatars, three times in 749.; according to Klyashtorny and Czeglédy, eight tribes of the Nine-Oghuzes revolted against the leading Uyghur tribe and renamed themselves Eight-Oghuzes.
Ibn al-Athir Abū al-Ḥasan ʿAlī ibn Muḥammad ibn Muḥammad ash-Shaybānī, better known as ʿAlī ʿIzz ad-Dīn Ibn al-Athīr al-Jazarī ( ar, علي عز الدین بن الاثیر الجزري) lived 1160–1233) was an Arab or Kurdish historian a ...
, an
Arab The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Western Asia, ...
historian, claimed that the Oghuz Turks were settled mainly in
Transoxiana Transoxiana or Transoxania (Land beyond the Oxus) is the Latin name for a region and civilization located in lower Central Asia roughly corresponding to modern-day eastern Uzbekistan, western Tajikistan, parts of southern Kazakhstan, parts of Tu ...
, between the Caspian and Aral Seas, during the period of the
caliph A caliphate or khilāfah ( ar, خِلَافَة, ) is an institution or public office under the leadership of an Islamic steward with the title of caliph (; ar, خَلِيفَة , ), a person considered a political-religious successor to th ...
Al-Mahdi Abū ʿAbd Allāh Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd Allāh al-Manṣūr ( ar, أبو عبد الله محمد بن عبد الله المنصور; 744 or 745 – 785), better known by his regnal name Al-Mahdī (, "He who is guided by God"), was the third Abb ...
(after 775 AD). By 780, the eastern parts of the Syr Darya were ruled by the Karluk Turks and to their west were the Oghuz. Transoxiana, their main homeland in subsequent centuries became known as the "Oghuz Steppe". During the period of the
Abbasid The Abbasid Caliphate ( or ; ar, الْخِلَافَةُ الْعَبَّاسِيَّة, ') was the third caliphate to succeed the Islamic prophet Muhammad. It was founded by a dynasty descended from Muhammad's uncle, Abbas ibn Abdul-Muttalib ...
caliph Al-Ma'mun (813–833), the name Oghuz starts to appear in the works of Islamic writers. The '' Book of Dede Korkut'', a historical epic of the Oghuz, contains historical echoes of the 9th and 10th centuries but was likely written several centuries later.


Physical Appearance

Al-Masudi Al-Mas'udi ( ar, أَبُو ٱلْحَسَن عَلِيّ ٱبْن ٱلْحُسَيْن ٱبْن عَلِيّ ٱلْمَسْعُودِيّ, '; –956) was an Arab historian, geographer and traveler. He is sometimes referred to as the "Herodotus ...
described Yangikent's Oghuz Turks as "distinguished from other Turks by their valour, their slanted eyes, and the smallness of their stature". Stone heads of Seljuq elites kept at the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art displayed East Asian features. Over time, Oghuz Turks' physical appearance changed. Rashid al-Din Hamadani stated that "because of the climate their features gradually changed into those of Tajiks. Since they were not Tajiks, the Tajik peoples called them turkmān, i.e. Turk-like (Turk-mānand)" Ḥāfiẓ Tanīsh Mīr Muḥammad Bukhārī also related that the Oghuz' ‘Turkic face did not remain as it was’ after their migration into
Transoxiana Transoxiana or Transoxania (Land beyond the Oxus) is the Latin name for a region and civilization located in lower Central Asia roughly corresponding to modern-day eastern Uzbekistan, western Tajikistan, parts of southern Kazakhstan, parts of Tu ...
and
Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...
. Khiva khan Abu al-Ghazi Bahadur wrote in his Chagatai-language treatise
Genealogy of the Turkmens Genealogy () is the study of families, family history, and the tracing of their lineages. Genealogists use oral interviews, historical records, genetic analysis, and other records to obtain information about a family and to demonstrate kin ...
that "their chin started to become narrow, their eyes started to become large, their faces started to become small, and their noses started to become big’ after five or six generations". Ottoman historian
Mustafa Âlî Gelibolulu Mustafa Âlî bin Ahmed bin Abdülmevlâ Çelebi (b. 28 April 1541 – d. 1600) was an Ottoman historian, bureaucrat and major literary figure. Life and work Mustafa Ali was born on 28 April, 1541 in Gelibolu, a provincial town on the ...
commented in ''Künhüʾl-aḫbār'' that Anatolian Turks and Ottoman elites are ethnically mixed: "Most of the inhabitants of
Rûm Rūm ( ar, روم , collective; singulative: Rūmī ; plural: Arwām ; fa, روم Rum or Rumiyān, singular Rumi; tr, Rûm or , singular ), also romanized as ''Roum'', is a derivative of the Aramaic (''rhπmÈ'') and Parthian (''frwm'') ...
are of confused ethnic origin. Among its notables there are few whose lineage does not go back to a convert to Islam."


Social units

The
militarism Militarism is the belief or the desire of a government or a people that a state should maintain a strong military capability and to use it aggressively to expand national interests and/or values. It may also imply the glorification of the mili ...
that the Oghuz empires were very well known for was rooted in their centuries-long nomadic lifestyle. In general, they were a herding society which possessed certain military advantages that sedentary societies did not have, particularly mobility. Alliances by marriage and kinship, and systems of "social distance" based on family relationships were the connective tissues of their society. In Oghuz traditions, "society was simply the result of the growth of individual families". But such a society also grew by alliances and the expansion of different groups, normally through marriages. The shelter of the Oghuz tribes was a tent-like dwelling, erected on wooden poles and covered with skin, felt, or hand-woven textiles, which is called a ''
yurt A yurt (from the Turkic languages) or ger ( Mongolian) is a portable, round tent covered and insulated with skins or felt and traditionally used as a dwelling by several distinct nomadic groups in the steppes and mountains of Central Asia ...
''. Their cuisine included
yahni Yakhni ( fa, یخنی , ar, يخني, ur, یخنی, hi, यख़नी, el, γιαχνί), yahni ( Turkish), or yahniya ( bg, яхния, Serbian, mk, јанија) is a class of dishes prepared in a vast area from South Asia to the Balkans. ...
(stew),
kebabs Kebab (, ; ar, كباب, link=no, Latn, ar, kabāb, ; tr, kebap, link=no, ) or kabob (North American) is a type of cooked meat dish that originates from cuisines of the Middle East. Many variants of the category are popular around the wor ...
, Toyga soup (meaning "wedding soup"), Kımız (a traditional drink of the Turks, made from fermented horse milk),
Pekmez Pekmez ( tr, pekmez, az, bəkməz/doşab) is a molasses-like syrup obtained after condensing juices of fruit must, especially grape by boiling it with a coagulant agent like wood ashes or ground carob seeds. It is used as a syrup or mixed with ta ...
(a syrup made of boiled grape juice) and helva made with wheat starch or rice flour, tutmac (noodle soup), yufka (flattened bread), katmer (layered pastry), chorek (ring-shaped buns), bread, clotted cream, cheese, yogurt, milk and
ayran Ayran, doogh, dhallë, daw, xynogala or tan is a cold savory yogurt-based beverage popular across Western Asia, Central Asia, South Asia, Southeastern Europe, North Asia and Eastern Europe. The principal ingredients are yogurt, water and sa ...
(diluted yogurt beverage), as well as wine. Social order was maintained by emphasizing "correctness in conduct as well as ritual and ceremony". Ceremonies brought together the scattered members of the society to celebrate birth, puberty, marriage, and death. Such ceremonies had the effect of minimizing social dangers and also of adjusting persons to each other under controlled emotional conditions.
Patrilineal Patrilineality, also known as the male line, the spear side or agnatic kinship, is a common kinship system in which an individual's family membership derives from and is recorded through their father's lineage. It generally involves the inheritan ...
ly related men and their families were regarded as a group with rights over a particular territory and were distinguished from neighbours on a territorial basis. Marriages were often arranged among territorial groups so that neighbouring groups could become related, but this was the only organizing principle that extended territorial unity. Each community of the Oghuz Turks was thought of as part of a larger society composed of distant as well as close relatives. This signified "tribal allegiance". Wealth and materialistic objects were not commonly emphasized in Oghuz society and most remained herders, and when settled they would be active in agriculture. Status within the family was based on age, gender, relationships by blood, or marriageability. Males, as well as females, were active in society, yet men were the backbones of leadership and organization. According to the '' Book of Dede Korkut'', which demonstrates the culture of the Oghuz Turks, women were "expert horse riders, archers, and athletes". The elders were respected as repositories of both "secular and spiritual wisdom".


Homeland in Transoxiana

In the 700s, the Oghuz Turks made a new home and domain for themselves in the area between the Caspian and Aral seas, a region that is often referred to as
Transoxiana Transoxiana or Transoxania (Land beyond the Oxus) is the Latin name for a region and civilization located in lower Central Asia roughly corresponding to modern-day eastern Uzbekistan, western Tajikistan, parts of southern Kazakhstan, parts of Tu ...
, the western portion of Turkestan. They had moved westward from the Altay mountains passing through the Siberian steppes and settled in this region, and also penetrated into southern
Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...
and the
Volga The Volga (; russian: Во́лга, a=Ru-Волга.ogg, p=ˈvoɫɡə) is the longest river in Europe. Situated in Russia, it flows through Central Russia to Southern Russia and into the Caspian Sea. The Volga has a length of , and a catchm ...
from their bases in west China. In the 11th century, the Oghuz Turks adopted
Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walter ...
script, replacing the
Old Turkic alphabet The Old Turkic script (also known as variously Göktürk script, Orkhon script, Orkhon-Yenisey script, Turkic runes) was the alphabet used by the Göktürks and other early Turkic khanates from the 8th to 10th centuries to record the Old Tu ...
. In his accredited 11th-century treatise titled ''Diwan Lughat al-Turk'', Karakhanid scholar Mahmud al-Kashgari, Mahmud of Kashgar mentioned five Oghuz cities named ''Sabran'', ''Sitkün'', ''Qarnaq'', ''Suğnaq'', and ''Qaraçuq'' (the last of which was also known to Kashgari as Farab, now Otrar; situated near the Tian Shan, Karachuk mountains to its east). The extension from the Karachuk Mountains towards the Caspian Sea (Transoxiana) was called the "Oghuz Steppe Lands" from where the Oghuz Turks established trading, religious and cultural contacts with the Abbasid Arab caliphate who ruled to the south. This is around the same time that they first converted to Islam and renounced their Tengriism belief system. The Arab historians mentioned that the Oghuz Turks in their domain in Transoxiana were ruled by a number of kings and chieftains. It was in this area that they later founded the Seljuk Empire, and it was from this area that they spread west into western Asia and eastern Europe during Turkic migrations from the 9th until the 12th century. The founders of the Ottoman Empire were also Oghuz Turks.


Poetry and literature

Oghuz Turkish literature includes the famous '' Book of Dede Korkut'' which was UNESCO's 2000 literary work of the year, as well as the ''Oghuz Khagan#Legend, Oghuzname'', Battal Gazi, Battalname, Danishmend Gazi#Legend, Danishmendname, ''Epic of Köroğlu, Köroğlu'' epics which are part of the literary history of Azerbaijanis, Turks of Turkey and Turkmens. The modern and classical literature of Azerbaijani literature, Azerbaijan, Turkish literature, Turkey and
Turkmenistan Turkmenistan ( or ; tk, Türkmenistan / Түркменистан, ) is a country located in Central Asia, bordered by Kazakhstan to the northwest, Uzbekistan to the north, east and northeast, Afghanistan to the southeast, Iran to the sout ...
are also considered Oghuz literature since it was produced by their descendants. The Book of Dede Korkut is a valuable collection of epics and stories, bearing witness to the language, the way of life, religions, traditions, and social norms of the Oghuz Turks in Azerbaijan, Turkey, Iran (West Azerbaijan, Golestan) and parts of Central Asia including Turkmenistan.


Oghuz and Yörüks

Yörüks are an Oghuz ethnic group, some of whom are still semi-nomadic, primarily inhabiting the mountains of Anatolia and partly Balkan peninsula. Their name derives from the verb from Chagatai language, yörü- "yörümek" (to walk), but Western Turkic yürü- (yürümek in infinitive), which means "to walk", with the word Yörük or Yürük designating "those who walk, walkers". The Yörük to this day appear as a distinct segment of the population of Macedonia (region), Macedonia and Thrace where they settled as early as the 14th century. While today the Yörük are increasingly settled, many of them still maintain their nomadic lifestyle, breeding goats and sheep in the Taurus Mountains and further eastern parts of Geography of Turkey#Regions, mediterranean regions (in southern Anatolia), in the Pindus (Epirus (region), Epirus, Greece), the Šar Mountains (North Macedonia), the Pirin and Rhodope Mountains (Bulgaria) and Dobrudja. An earlier offshoot of the Yörüks, the Kailars or Kayılar Turks were amongst the first Turkish colonists in Europe, (''Kailar'' or ''Kayılar'' being the Turkish language, Turkish name for the Greek town of Ptolemaida which took its current name in 1928) formerly inhabiting parts of the Greek regions of Thessaly and Macedonia (Greece), Macedonia. Settled Yörüks could be found until 1923, especially near and in the town of Kozani.


List of Oghuz dynasties

* Oghuz Yabgu State *
Pechenegs The Pechenegs () or Patzinaks tr, Peçenek(ler), Middle Turkic: , ro, Pecenegi, russian: Печенег(и), uk, Печеніг(и), hu, Besenyő(k), gr, Πατζινάκοι, Πετσενέγοι, Πατζινακίται, ka, პა ...
*Seljuk Turks, Seljuks *Zengid dynasty *Anatolian beyliks *Khwarazmian dynasty *Ottoman dynasty, Ottomans * Aq Qoyunlu *Kara Koyunlu *Qutb Shahi dynasty *
Afsharids Afsharid Iran ( fa, ایران افشاری), also referred as the Afsharid Empire was an Iranian empire established by the Turkoman Afshar tribe in Iran's north-eastern province of Khorasan, ruling Iran (Persia). The state was ruled by the Af ...
*Qajar dynasty, Qajars *Azerbaijani khanates


Traditional tribal organization

Mahmud al-Kashgari listed 22 Oghuz tribes in Dīwān Lughāt al-Turk. Kashgari further wrote that "In origin they are 24 tribes, but the two Khalaj people, Khalajiyya tribes are distinguished from them [the twenty-two] in certain respects and so are not counted among them. This is the origin". Later, Charuklug from Kashgari's list would be omitted. Rashid-al-Din and Abu al-Ghazi Bahadur added three more: Kïzïk, Karkïn, and Yaparlï, to the list in Jami' al-tawarikh (Compendium of Chronicles) and :tr:Şecere-i Türkî, Shajare-i Türk (Genealogy of the Turks), respectively. According to Selçukname, Oghuz Khagan had 6 children (Sun – Gün, Moon – Ay, Star – Yıldız, Sky – Gök, Mountain – Dağ, Sea – Diŋiz), and all six would become Khans themselves, each leading four tribes.


Bozoks (Gray Arrows)

;Gün Han *Kayı tribe, Kayı (Ottoman Dynasty, Ottomans, Jandarids and Chobanids (beylik), Chobanids) *Bayat (name), Bayat (Qajar dynasty, Qajars, Dulkadirids, Fuzûlî) *Alkaevli *Karaevli ;Ay Han *Yazır (disambiguation) *Döğer (tribe), Döger (Artuqid dynasty, Artuqids) *Dodurga (tribe), Dodurga *Yaparlı ;Yıldız Han *Afshar tribe, Afshar (
Afsharids Afsharid Iran ( fa, ایران افشاری), also referred as the Afsharid Empire was an Iranian empire established by the Turkoman Afshar tribe in Iran's north-eastern province of Khorasan, ruling Iran (Persia). The state was ruled by the Af ...
and Zengid Dynasty, Zengids) *Qiziq (tribe), Qiziq * Begdili (Khwarazmian dynasty) *Kargın


Üçoks (Three Arrows)

;Gök Han *
Bayandur The Bayandur (, tr, Bayındır, tk, Baýyndyr) or Bayundur, was one of the 24 Oghuz Turkic tribes. Originally one of the 7 original tribes that made up the Kimek–Kipchak confederation, they later joined the Oghuz Turks. The Bayandur origina ...
(founders of the Ak Koyunlu) *Pecheneg *Chowdur, Çavuldur (Tzachas) *Chepni (tribe), Chepni (refer to Küresünni) ;Dağ Han *Salur tribe, Salur (Kadi Burhan al-Din, Salghurids and Karamanid dynasty, Karamanids; see also: Salar people, Salars) *Ayrums, Eymür *Alat tribe, Alayuntlu *Yüreğir (Ramadanids) ;Diŋiz Han *Iğdır (tribe), Iğdır *Büğdüz (tribe), Büğdüz *Yıva ( Qara Qoyunlu and Oghuz Yabgu State) *Kınık (tribe), Kınık (founders of the Seljuk Empire)Kafesoğlu, İbrahim. ''Türk Milli Kültürü''. Türk Kültürünü Araştırma Enstitüsü, 1977
''page 134''
/ref>


List of Oghuz ethnic groups

*Azerbaijani people *Qashqai people *Gagauz people *Turkish people *Turkmen people *Salar people


Other Oghuz sub-ethnic groups and tribes


Anatolia and Caucasus

;Anatolia *Abdal of Turkey *Yörüks *Tahtacı *:tr:Varsak Türkmenleri, Varsak *Barak (tribe), Barak *:tr:Karakeçili aşireti, Karakeçili (Black Goat Turkomans) *:tr:Manavlar, Manav *:tr:Atçekenler, Atçeken *Küresünni *Chepni people, Chepni ;Caucasus *Azerbaijanis in Armenia *Azerbaijanis in Turkey *Azerbaijanis in Georgia *Terekeme people *Qarapapaq *Karadaghis *Javanshir clan *Turkmens#Turkmen of Stavropol Region of Russia, Trukhmen *Turks in Abkhazia ;Cyprus *Cypriot Turks


Balkans

*Turks in Bosnia *Bulgarian Turks *Turks in Croatia *Dodecanese Turks *Kosovan Turks *Macedonian Turks *Turks in Serbia *Turks in Montenegro *Romanian Turks *Turks of Western Thrace *Cretan Turks *Karamanlides *Gajal *Amuca tribe


Central Asia

*Meskhetian Turks


Iran and Greater Khorasan

*Iranian Azerbaijanis *Shahsevan *Qizilbash#Legacy, Qizilbash *Padar tribe *Khorasani Turks *Iranian Turkmens *Afghan Turkmens *Qajars (tribe) *Bichaghchi *Turks in Afghanistan


Arab world

*Turks in Libya *Turks in Egypt *Turks in Algeria *Syrian Turkmen *Iraqi Turkmen *Turks in Lebanon *Turks in Israel *Turks in Jordan *Turks in Tunisia *Turks in Saudi Arabia *Turks in Yemen


See also

*Algoz *Turkic migration *List of Turkic dynasties and countries *Turkic peoples#History, History of Turkic peoples *Timeline of Turks (500-1300) *Turkoman (ethnonym), Turkomans


Notes


References


Sources

* * * * * * * * Text was copied from this source, which is available under
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License


Further reading

* René Grousset, Grousset, R., ''The Empire of the Steppes'', 1991, Rutgers University Press * Nicole, D., ''Attila and the Huns'', 1990, Osprey Publishing * Lewis, G., ''The Book of Dede Korkut'', "Introduction", 1974, Penguin Books * Minahan, James B. ''One Europe, Many Nations: A Historical Dictionary of European National Groups''. Greenwood Press, 2000
''page 692''
* Aydın, Mehmet. ''Bayat-Bayat boyu ve Oğuzların tarihi''. Hatiboğlu Yayınevi, 1984
''web page''


External links

* *
The ''Book of Dede Korkut''
(pdf format) at the Uysal-Walker Archive of Turkish Oral Narrative
Similarities between the epics of Dede Korkut and AlpamyshThe Old Turkic Inscriptions.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Oghuz Oghuz Turks, History of the Turkish people Turkic peoples of Asia Turkic peoples of Europe