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 Islamic world, emerging as empire-builders with a constructive sense of statecraft. In the 11th century, the Seljuk Oghuz clan entered Persia, where they founded the Great Seljuk Empire. The same century, a Tengriist Oghuz clan, also known as ''Uzes'' or ''Torks'', overthrew Pecheneg supremacy in the frontier of the Russian steppes; those who settled along the frontier were gradually Slavicized; the almost feudal '' Black Hat'' principality grew with its own military aristocracy. Others, harried by the Kipchak Turks, crossed the lower Danube and invaded the Balkans, where they were stopped by a plague and became mercenaries for the Byzantine imperial forces (1065). Oghuz warriors served in almost all Islamic armies of the Middle East from the 1000s onwards, and as far as Spain and Morocco.

In the late 13th century after the fall of the Seljuks, the Ottoman dynasty gradually conquered Anatolia with an army also predominantly of Oghuz, besting other local Oghuz Turkish states. In legend, the founder Osman's genealogy traces to Oghuz Khagan, the legendary ancient ancestor of Turkic people, giving the Ottoman sultans primacy among Turkish monarchs. The dynasties of Khwarazmians, Qara Qoyunlu, Aq Qoyunlu,
Ottomans, Afsharids and Qajars are also believed to descend from the Oghuz-Turkmen tribes of Begdili, Yiva, Bayandur, Kayi and Afshar respectively.

Name and language

The name ''Oghuz'' is a Common Turkic word for "tribe". By the 10th century, Islamic sources were calling them Muslim Turkmens, as opposed to those of Tengrist or Buddhist religion; and by the 12th century this term was adopted into Byzantine usage, as the Oghuzes were overwhelmingly Muslim. The name "Oghuz" fell out of use by 13th century.

Linguistically, the Oghuz belong to the Common Turkic speaking group, characterized by sound correspondences such as Common Turkic versus Oghuric and Common Turkic versus Oghuric . Within the Common Turkic group, the Oghuz languages share these innovations: loss of Proto-Turkic gutturals in suffix anlaut, loss of except after , becoming either or lost, voicing of to and of to , and becomes .

Their language belongs to the Oghuz group of the Turkic languages 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 long separation had led to clear differences between the western Oghuz and Kipchak language and that of the eastern Turks. Byzantine sources call Oghuz Turks Uzes (, ).

Origins

According to historians and linguists, the Proto-Turkic language originated in Central-East Asia, potentially in Altai-Sayan region, Mongolia or Tuva. Initially, Proto-Turkic speakers were potentially both hunter-gatherers and farmers, but later became nomadic pastoralists. Early and medieval Turkic groups exhibited a wide range of both East Asian and West-Eurasian physical appearances and genetic origins, in part through long-term contact with neighboring peoples such as Iranian, Mongolic, Tocharian, Uralic and Yeniseian peoples, and others."Some DNA tests point to the Iranian connections of the Ashina and Ashide,133 highlighting further that the Turks as a whole ‘were made up of heterogeneous and somatically dissimilar populations’.134 Geographically, the accounts cover the regions of Inner Mongolia, Gansu, Xinjiang, the Yenisei zone and the Altay, regions with Turkic, Indo-European (Iranian akaand Tokharian), Yeniseic, Uralic and other populations. Wusun elements, like most steppe polities of an ethno-linguistic mix, may have also played a substratal role."

In early times, they practiced a Tengrist religion, erecting many carved wooden funerary statues surrounded by simple stone ''balbal'' monoliths and holding elaborate hunting and banqueting rituals.

During the 2nd century BC, according to ancient Chinese sources, a steppe tribal confederation known as the Xiongnu and their allies, the Wusun (probably an Indo-European people) defeated the neighboring Indo-European-speaking Yuezhi and drove them out of western China and into Central Asia. Various scholarly theories link the Xiongnu to Turkic peoples and/or the Huns. 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 account, recorded by Han Chinese, of Xiongnu leader Modu Shanyu (or Mau-Tun), who founded the Xiongnu Empire. However, Oghuz Khan narratives were actually collected in Compendium of Chronicles by Ilkhanid 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; however, this is controversial and has few scholarly adherents.

Yury Zuev (1960) links the Oghuz to the Western Turkic tribe 姑蘇 ''Gūsū'' < ( MC *''kuo-suo'') in the 8th-century encyclopaedia Tongdian (or erroneously ''Shǐsū'' 始蘇 in the 11th century Zizhi Tongjian). 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, Talas river's basin and seemingly around the Syr Darya basin, and near the Chumul, Karluks, Qays, 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) as neighbours of the Pechenegs.

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 from whom emerged the founders of Uyghur Khaganate. Istakhri 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' 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, an Arab historian, claimed that the Oghuz Turks were settled mainly in Transoxiana, between the Caspian and Aral Seas, during the period of the caliph Al-Mahdi (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 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 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 and Iran". Khiva khan, Abu al-Ghazi Bahadur, in his Chagatai-language treatise Genealogy of the Turkmens, wrote that "their (Oghuz Turks) 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 commented in ''Künhüʾl-aḫbār'' that Anatolian Turks and Ottoman elites are ethnically mixed: "Most of the inhabitants of Rûm 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 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''.

Their cuisine included yahni (stew), kebabs, Toyga soup (meaning "wedding soup"), Kımız (a traditional drink of the Turks, made from fermented horse milk), Pekmez (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 (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.

Patrilineally 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 Central Asia

In the 700s, the Oghuz Turks made a new home and domain for themselves in the area between the Caspian and Aral seas and the northwest part of Transoxania, along the Syr Darya river. They had moved westward from the Altay mountains passing through the Siberian steppes and settled in this region, and also penetrated into southern Russia and the Volga from their bases in west China. In the 11th century, the Oghuz Turks adopted Arabic script, replacing the Old Turkic alphabet.

In his accredited 11th-century treatise titled ''Diwan Lughat al-Turk'', Karakhanid scholar 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 Karachuk mountains to its east). The extension from the Karachuk Mountains towards the Caspian Sea 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 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.

Literature and poetry

Book of Dede Korkut

The '' Book of Dede Korkut'' is a seminal collection of epic tales originating from the Oghuz Turks. Comprising twelve stories, the narratives encapsulate themes of heroism, morality, and social norms prevalent among the nomadic Oghuz. The tales were transmitted orally before being compiled into manuscripts in the 15th century. The character Dede Korkut serves as a sage and bard, linking the stories together and offering wisdom to the protagonists. The epics provide insights into the Oghuz way of life, including their customs, conflicts, and the transition from pre-Islamic beliefs to Islamic faith.

Epic of Koroghlu

The '' Epic of Koroghlu'' narrates the adventures of the hero Koroghlu, who seeks to avenge his father's blinding by a corrupt ruler. This tale emphasizes themes of justice, resistance against tyranny, and the valorization of the common folk. The epic has been preserved in various Turkic cultures, including Azerbaijani, Turkish, and Turkmen traditions, often performed by bards known as ashiks or bagshys.

Imadaddin Nasimi

Imadaddin Nasimi (1369–1417) is recognized as a pivotal figure in Turkic literature, particularly for his contributions to Azerbaijani classical poetry. Writing in Oghuz Turkic, Persian, and Arabic, Nasimi's works delve into themes of mysticism, humanism, and the nature of existence. His poetry significantly influenced subsequent generations and helped shape the literary traditions of the region.

Magtymguly Pyragy

Magtymguly Pyragy (c. 1733–c. 1790) is esteemed as the father of Turkmen literature. His poetry, composed in the Turkmen language, addresses topics such as patriotism, social justice, and moral integrity. Employing the qoshuk form, his verses played a crucial role in fostering a sense of national identity among the Turkmen people.

Oghuz and Yörüks

Yörüks are Turkish subgroup of Oghuz origin, some of whom are still semi-nomadic, primarily inhabiting the mountains of Anatolia and partly Balkan peninsula.

In the medieval era, to distinguish their own loyal Sunni Turkomans from the Shah-loyal Shiite Kızılbaş Turkomans of eastern Anatolia and Azerbaijan, Ottoman governors coined the blanket term ''Yörük'' (or ''Yürük''), meaning "nomad" or "wanderer." This served as a political demarcation between western (Ottoman Turkic) and eastern (Persian-influenced) Turkoman groups.

Despite being politically divided between the Ottoman Turks and the Persian-influenced eastern realms, Eastern and Western Turkomans were ethnically and linguistically the same, differing only in minor dialectal or cultural aspects.

The Yörük to this day appear as a distinct segment of the population of 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 mediterranean regions (in southern Anatolia), in the Pindus (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 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. Settled Yörüks could be found until 1923, especially near and in the town of Kozani.

List of Oghuz dynasties

* Oghuz Yabgu State
*Pechenegs
* Seljuks
* Zengid dynasty
* Anatolian beyliks
* Khwarazmian dynasty
* Rasulid dynasty
*Ottomans
*Aq Qoyunlu
* Kara Koyunlu
* Safavid
* Afsharids
* 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 Khalajiyya tribes are distinguished from them he twenty-twoin 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 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 (Ottomans, Jandarids and Chobanids)
* Bayat ( Qajars, Dulkadirids, Fuzûlî)
* Alkaevli
* Karaevli
;Ay Han
* Yazır (disambiguation)
* Döger ( Artuqids)
* Dodurga
* Yaparlı
;Yıldız Han
* Afshar ( Afsharids and Zengids)
* Qiziq
* Begdili ( Khwarazmian dynasty)
* Kargın

Üçoks (Three Arrows)

;Gök Han
* Bayandur (founders of the Ak Koyunlu)
* Pecheneg
* Çavuldur ( Tzachas)
* Chepni (refer to Küresünni)
;Dağ Han
* Salur ( Kadi Burhan al-Din, Salghurids and Karamanids; see also: Salars)
* Eymür
* Alayuntlu
* Yüreğir ( Ramadanids)
;Diŋiz Han
* Iğdır
* Büğdüz
* Yıva ( Qara Qoyunlu and Oghuz Yabgu State)
* Kınık (founders of the Seljuk Empire)

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
* Varsak
* Barak
* Karakeçili (Black Goat Turkomans)
* Manav (While Manavs originally belonged to the Kipchaks-Cumans, today they have become Oghuz under the influence of the Oghuz.)
* Atçeken
* Küresünni
* Chepni
;Caucasus
* Azerbaijanis in Armenia
* Azerbaijanis in Turkey
* Azerbaijanis in Georgia
* Terekeme people
* Qarapapaq
* Karadaghis
* Javanshir clan
* Trukhmen
* Turks in Abkhazia
* Meskhetian Turks
;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

* Iranian Azerbaijanis
* Shahsevan
* 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 Palestine
* Turks in Jordan
* Turks in Tunisia
* Turks in Saudi Arabia
* Turks in Yemen

See also

* Algoz
*Turkic migration
* History of Turkic peoples
*Timeline of Turks (500-1300)
* Turkomans

Notes

References

Sources

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

Further reading

* 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

History of the Turkish people
Turkic peoples of Asia
Turkic peoples