Turkic peoples

Turkic peoples are Northern and Central Eurasian peoples who speak languages belonging to the Turkic family of languages and which share in varying degrees, ethnic, cultural and historical traits. Even though many consider this term to be distinct from the term Turkish, growing use of term Turkish opposed to Turkic has been noted in the Turkish/Turkic world. Turkic languages belong to the Altaic language group and is one of the most geographically widespread in the world, spoken in a geography spanning from Europe to Siberia.

History

It is generally believed that the first Turkic people were native to Central Asia. Some historians claim that the Turks originated in Western Asia, and migrated to Central Asia in prehistoric times; while others believe that migration to Western Asia occurred via Central Asia before the advent of the Huns. Some scholars consider the Huns, whose origins may go back to 1200 BC, as one of the earlier Turkic-Mongol tribes.

Related Topics:
Huns - 1200 BC

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The precise date of the initial expansion from the early homeland remains unknown. The first state known as "Turk", giving its name to the many states and peoples afterwards, was that of the Gokturks (gog = "blue" or "celestial") in the 6th century AD. The head of the Asena clan led his people from Li-jien (modern ZhelaiZhai) to the Juan Juan seeking inclusion in their confederacy and protection from China. His tribe were famed metal smiths and were granted land near a mountain quarry which looked like a helmet from which they got their name ??. A century later their power had increased such that they conquered the Juan Juan ad set about establishing their Gok Empire.

Related Topics:
Gokturks - 6th century

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Later Turkic peoples include the Karluks (mainly 8th century), Uyghurs, Kirghiz, Oghuz (or ?uz) Turks, and Turkmens. As these peoples were founding states in the area between Mongolia and Transoxiana, they came into contact with Muslims, and most gradually adopted Islam. However, there were also (and still are) Turkic people belonging to other religions, including Christians, Jews (see Khazars), Buddhists, and Zoroastrians.

Related Topics:
Karluks - Uyghur - Kirghiz - Oghuz - Turkmens - Mongolia - Transoxiana - Islam - Christians - Jew - Khazars - Buddhists - Zoroastrian

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Turkic soldiers in the army of the Abbasid caliphs emerged as the de facto rulers of most of the Muslim Middle East (apart from Syria and Egypt), particularly after the 10th century. The Oghuz and other tribes captured and dominated various countries under the leadership of the Seljuk dynasty, and eventually captured the territories of the Abbasid dynasty and the Byzantine Empire.

Related Topics:
Abbasid - Caliphs - Syria - Egypt - Seljuk dynasty - Byzantine Empire

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Meanwhile, the Kirghiz and Uyghurs were struggling with one another and with the Chinese Empire. The Kirghiz people ultimately settled in the region now referred to as Kyrgyzstan. The Tatar peoples conquered the Volga Bulgars in what is today Tatarstan, following the westward sweep of the Mongols under Genghis Khan in the 13th century. The Bulgars were thus mistakenly called Tatars by the Russians. Native Tatars live only in Asia; European "Tatars" are in fact Bulgars. Other Bulgars settled in Europe in the 7-8th centuries, exchanging their original Turkic tongue for what eventually became the Slavic Bulgarian language. Everywhere, Turkic groups mixed with the local populations to varying degrees.

Related Topics:
Kyrgyzstan - Tatar - Volga Bulgars - Tatarstan - Genghis Khan - Bulgarian language

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In Central Asia, a Turkic warrior caste, whose lifestyle was influenced by the Mongols, became the aristocrats of the polyglot Turco-Persian culture. These Turco-Mongols conquered on horseback, while Arabic-schooled Persians called "Tajiks" served as their administrators over the territories they absorbed. Timur conquered much of Central Asia, while his descendant Babur moved into India, founding the Mughal ("Mongol") dynasty.

Related Topics:
Turco-Persian - Turco-Mongol - Arabic - Persians - Tajiks - Timur - Babur - Mughal

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As the Seljuk Empire declined following the Mongol invasion, the Ottoman Empire emerged as the new important Turkic state, that came to dominate not only the Middle East, but even southeastern Europe, parts of southwestern Russia, and northern Africa.

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The Ottoman Empire gradually grew weaker in the face of maladministration, repeated wars with Russia and Austria, and the emergence of nationalist movements in the Balkans, and it finally gave way after World War I to the present-day republic of Turkey.

Related Topics:
World War I - Turkey

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