Koroghlu
The ''Epic of Koroghlu'' (; ; ; ) is a heroic legend prominent in the oral traditions of the Turkic peoples, mainly the Oghuz Turks. The legend typically describes a hero who seeks to avenge a wrong. It was often put to music and played at sporting events as an inspiration to the competing athletes. Koroghlu is the main hero of an epic with the same name in Azerbaijani, Turkmen and Turkish as well as some other Turkic languages. The epic tells about the life and heroic deeds of Koroghlu as a hero of the people who struggled against unjust rulers. The epic combines the occasional romance with Robin Hood-like chivalry. Due to the migration in the Middle Ages of large groups of Oghuz Turks within Central Asia, South Caucasus and Asia Minor, and their subsequent assimilation with other ethnic groups, the Epic of Koroghlu spread widely in these geographical regions leading to emergence of its Turkmen, Kazakh, Uzbek, Tajik, Azerbaijani, Turkish, Crimean Tatar, Georgian, ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Oghuz Turks
The Oghuz Turks ( Middle Turkic: , ) were a western Turkic people who spoke the Oghuz branch of the Turkic language family. In the 8th century, they formed a tribal confederation conventionally named the Oghuz Yabgu State in Central Asia. Today, much of the populations of Turkey, Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan are descendants of Oghuz Turks. The term Oghuz was gradually supplanted by the terms Turkmen and Turcoman ( or ''Türkmân'') by the 13th century.Lewis, G. ''The Book of Dede Korkut''. Penguin Books, 1974, p. 10. The Oghuz confederation migrated westward from the Jeti-su area after a conflict with the Karluk allies of the Uyghurs. In the 9th century, the Oghuz from the Aral steppes drove Pechenegs westward from the Emba and Ural River region. In the 10th century, the Oghuz inhabited the steppe of the rivers Sari-su, Turgai and Emba north of Lake Balkhash in modern-day Kazakhstan. They embraced Islam and adapted their traditions and institutions to the Islam ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Ashik
An ashik (; ) or ashugh (; ka, :ka:აშუღი, აშუღი) is traditionally a List of oral repositories, singer-poet and bard who accompanies his song—be it a dastan (traditional epic story, also known as ''Azeri hikaye, hikaye'') or a shorter original composition—with a long-necked lute (usually a bağlama or bağlama, saz) in Music of Azerbaijan, Azerbaijani culture, including Music of Turkey, Turkish and Iranian Azeri, South Azerbaijani and non-Turkic cultures of Transcaucasia, South Caucasus (primarily Music of Armenia, Armenian and Music of Georgia (country), Georgian). In Azerbaijan, the Ashiqs of Azerbaijan, modern ashik is a professional musician who usually serves an apprenticeship, masters playing the bağlama, and builds up a varied but individual repertoire of Turkic peoples, Turkic folk songs.Colin P. Mitchell (Editor), New Perspectives on Safavid Iran: Empire and Society, 2011, Routledge, 90–92 Etymology The word ''ashiq'' (, meaning "in love" ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Turkmen Language
Turkmen (, , , or , , , ) is a Turkic language of the Oghuz branch spoken by the Turkmens of Central Asia. It has an estimated 4.7 million native speakers in Turkmenistan (where it is the official language), and a further 359,000 speakers in northeastern Iran and 1.2 million people in northwestern Afghanistan, where it has no official status. Turkmen is also spoken to lesser varying degrees in Turkmen communities of Uzbekistan and Tajikistan and by diaspora communities, primarily in Turkey and Russia. Turkmen is a member of the Oghuz branch of the Turkic languages. It is closely related to Azerbaijani, Gagauz, Qashqai, and Turkish, sharing varying degrees of mutual intelligibility with each of those languages. However, the closest relative of Turkmen is considered Khorasani Turkic, spoken in northeastern regions of Iran and with which it shares the eastern subbranch of Oghuz languages, as well as Khorazm, the Oghuz dialect of Uzbek spoken mainly in Khorezm along the ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Crimean Tatars
Crimean Tatars (), or simply Crimeans (), are an Eastern European Turkic peoples, Turkic ethnic group and nation indigenous to Crimea. Their ethnogenesis lasted thousands of years in Crimea and the northern regions along the coast of the Black Sea, uniting Mediterranean basin, Mediterranean populations with those of the Eurasian Steppe.''Агджоян А. Т., Схаляхо Р. А., Утевская О. М., Жабагин М. К., Тагирли Ш. Г., Дамба Л. Д., Атраментова Л. А., Балановский О. П.'Генофонд крымских татар в сравнении с тюркоязычными народами Европы, 2015 Genome-wide study of the Crimean Tatars unveiled connections between them and the genomes of individuals from the Steppe during the Bronze Age, specifically those associated with the Yamnaya culture, Yamnaya archaeological culture. Until the 20th century, Crimean Tatars were the most populous demographic cohort ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Turkmens
Turkmens (, , , ) are a Turkic ethnic group native to Central Asia, living mainly in Turkmenistan, northern and northeastern regions of Iran and north-western Afghanistan. Sizeable groups of Turkmens are found also in Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, and the North Caucasus ( Stavropol Krai). They speak the Turkmen language, which is classified as a part of the Eastern Oghuz branch of the Turkic languages. In the early Middle ages, Turkmens called themselves Oghuz; in the Middle Ages, they took the ethnonym Turkmen. These early Oghuz Turkmens moved westward from the Altai Mountains through the Siberian steppes, and settled in the region now known as Turkmenistan. Further westward migration of the Turkmen tribes from the territory of modern Turkmenistan and the rest of Central Asia started from the 11th century and continued until the 18th century. These Turkmen tribes played a significant role in the ethnic formation of such peoples as Anatolian Turks, Turkmens of Iraq, and Syria ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Bagshy
A bagshy is a professional Turkmen bard who devotes his or her life to memorizing and reciting historical epics ('' dessan'' in Turkmen), typically accompanied by the traditional two-stringed instrument known as the dutar. Bagshys have enjoyed great respect in Turkmen society as guardians of the culture, and since independence in 1991, they have received greater support from the government. In central Asia, the word ''bagshy'' (also spelt as ''baqshi'' or ''bakshi'' among other variants) refers to a bard or a shaman. The model Turkic bard is the legendary figure of Dede Korkut (or Qorqyt), who is also regarded as the saint and protector of all bagshy. Dede Korkut is the central figure in the epic The Book of Dede Korkut. He is also said to be the inventor of the two-stringed fiddle known as the qobyz, which is the preferred instrument of shamans. The art of the bagshy is called the bagshychylyk in Turkmen and is handed down orally from one generation of bagshy to the next. Th ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Georgians
Georgians, or Kartvelians (; ka, ქართველები, tr, ), are a nation and Peoples of the Caucasus, Caucasian ethnic group native to present-day Georgia (country), Georgia and surrounding areas historically associated with the Georgian kingdoms. Significant Georgian diaspora communities are also present throughout Georgians in Russia, Russia, Georgians in Turkey, Turkey, Georgians in Greece, Greece, Iranian Georgians, Iran, Georgians in Ukraine, Ukraine, the Georgian Americans, United States, and the European Union. Georgians arose from Colchis, Colchian and Kingdom of Iberia (antiquity), Iberian civilizations of classical antiquity; Colchis was interconnected with the Ancient Greece, Hellenic world, whereas Iberia was influenced by the Achaemenid Empire until Alexander the Great conquered it. In the early 4th century, the Georgians became one of the first to Christianization of Iberia, embrace Christianity. Currently, the majority of Georgians are Eastern Orthodo ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Kurds
Kurds (), or the Kurdish people, are an Iranian peoples, Iranic ethnic group from West Asia. They are indigenous to Kurdistan, which is a geographic region spanning southeastern Turkey, northwestern Iran, northern Iraq, and northeastern Syria. Consisting of 30–45 million people, the global Kurdish population is largely concentrated in Kurdistan, but significant communities of the Kurdish diaspora exist in parts of West Asia beyond Kurdistan and in parts of Europe, most notably including: Turkey's Central Anatolian Kurds, as well as Kurds in Istanbul, Istanbul Kurds; Iran's Khorasani Kurds; the Caucasian Kurds, primarily in Kurds in Azerbaijan, Azerbaijan and Kurds in Armenia, Armenia; and the Kurdish populations in various European countries, namely Kurds in Germany, Germany, Kurds in France, France, Kurds in Sweden, Sweden, and the Kurds in the Netherlands, Netherlands. The Kurdish language, Kurdish languages and the Zaza–Gorani languages, both of which belong to the Wes ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Armenians
Armenians (, ) are an ethnic group indigenous to the Armenian highlands of West Asia.Robert Hewsen, Hewsen, Robert H. "The Geography of Armenia" in ''The Armenian People From Ancient to Modern Times Volume I: The Dynastic Periods: From Antiquity to the Fourteenth Century''. Richard G. Hovannisian (ed.) New York: St. Martin's Press, 1997, pp. 1–17 Armenians constitute the main demographic group in Armenia and constituted the main population of the breakaway Republic of Artsakh until their Flight of Nagorno-Karabakh Armenians, subsequent flight due to the 2023 Azerbaijani offensive in Nagorno-Karabakh, 2023 Azerbaijani offensive. There is a large Armenian diaspora, diaspora of around five million people of Armenian ancestry living outside the Republic of Armenia. The largest Armenian populations exist in Armenians in Russia, Russia, the Armenian Americans, United States, Armenians in France, France, Armenians in Georgia, Georgia, Iranian Armenians, Iran, Armenians in Germany, ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Oghuz Languages
The Oghuz languages are a sub-branch of the Turkic language family, spoken by approximately 108 million people. The three languages with the largest number of speakers are Turkish, Azerbaijani and Turkmen, which, combined, account for more than 95% of speakers of this sub-branch. Kara-Khanid scholar Mahmud al-Kashgari, who lived in the 11th century, stated that the Oghuz language was the simplest among all Turkic languages. Swedish turcologist and linguist Lars Johanson notes that Oghuz languages form a clearly discernible and closely related bloc within the Turkic language family as the cultural and political history of the speakers of Oghuz languages has linked them more closely up to the modern age. Western Oghuz languages are highly mutually intelligible with each other and the Crimean Tatar language, which, though genetically Kipchak Turkic rather than Oghuz, has been heavily influenced by Turkish over several centuries. History and terminology The ancestor of O ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Turkmenistan
Turkmenistan is a landlocked country in Central Asia bordered by Kazakhstan to the northwest, Uzbekistan to the north, east and northeast, Afghanistan to the southeast, Iran to the south and southwest and the Caspian Sea to the west. Ashgabat is the capital and largest city. It is one of the six independent Turkic states. With a population over 7 million, Turkmenistan is the 35th most-populous country in Asia and has the lowest population of the Central Asian republics while being one of the most sparsely populated nations on the Asian continent. Turkmenistan has long served as a thoroughfare for several empires and cultures. Merv is one of the oldest oasis-cities in Central Asia, and was once among the biggest cities in the world. It was also one of the great cities of the Islamic world and an important stop on the Silk Road. Annexed by the Russian Empire in 1881, Turkmenistan figured prominently in the anti-Bolshevik movement in Central Asia. In 1925, Turkmenistan be ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Azerbaijanis
Azerbaijanis (; , ), Azeris (, ), or Azerbaijani Turks (, ) are a Turkic peoples, Turkic ethnic group living mainly in the Azerbaijan (Iran), Azerbaijan region of northwestern Iran and the Azerbaijan, Republic of Azerbaijan. They are predominantly Shia Islam, Shia Muslims. They comprise the largest ethnic group in the Republic of Azerbaijan and the second-largest ethnic group in neighboring Iran and Georgia (country), Georgia. They speak the Azerbaijani language, belonging to the Oghuz languages, Oghuz branch of the Turkic languages. Following the Russo-Persian Wars of Russo-Persian War (1804–1813), 1813 and Russo-Persian War (1826–1828), 1828, the territories of Qajar Iran in the Caucasus were ceded to the Russian Empire and the Treaty of Gulistan, treaties of Gulistan in 1813 and Treaty of Turkmenchay, Turkmenchay in 1828 finalized the borders between Russia and Iran. After more than 80 years of being under the Russian Empire in the Caucasus, the Azerbaijan Democratic Re ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |