Eurasian Nomads: Part 1

Turkic Kaganate (552-744)

by Perry Gray


In 552 AD, the Ruruans were destroyed by the Turks, who are thought to be the direct descendants of the Hsiung-nu. The Avars, a part of the defeated Mongols, moved westward and invaded Europe in the 7th century. At its height the Turkic Kaganate (kagan, or khan, is the title of "king" among the Mongol and, later, among the Turkic tribes) covers most of Central Asia and northern China. During the 6th and 7th centuries, the Turks develop an alphabet and incribe part of their history on stone stelae (the Orkhon-Yenisei inscriptions, often mistakenly described as written in "Turkic runes").

Turks

About 300 BC, Türkic language split into two branches, Oguz (Eastern) and Ogur (Western). Note that the major linguistic differences: Oguz 'z', 'y,i', (Oguz, yilan, Yaik) and Ogur 'r', 'd, dj', (Ogur, djulan, Djaik).

Like all dialectical splits, the Oguz-Ogur separation was caused by the geographical separation. Oguzes tended to inhabit more southern areas, from steppes to semi-deserts to subtropical latitudes, whereas Ogurs are known, from the antiquity to the present, to live in steppe, forested steppes, and forest areas, including the mountainous areas. These differences are attested by the tribal names that traditionally associate the populous subdivisions with occupations or geographical location: Burtas (Beehive As), Agachir (Forest Man), Suas (Water As), Majar (Forest Man), Tauar (Mountain Man), Suvar (Water Man) etc.

It is possible to date the name “Oguz” to the earliest times. In the Chinese sources of the 2nd Century BC, a tribe named O-Kut is mentioned (there was no name “Turk” at that time). It is a Chinese version of the tribal name, which in Türkic is called Ogur, because some Türkic tribes came to pronounce the sound ‘z’ as ‘r’. The name “Oguz” may come from the Turkish word “Ok” (arrow), although it can also mean “tribe”. In those times this word was translated to Chinese as “tribe” (On-Oki = ten tribes or federates). According to this, the word “Oguz” is formed by connection to “Ok” of an ending “z”, the plural ending in the Old Türkic language. The word “Oguz” was not an ethnic name, and meant directly “Türkic tribes”. In the Chinese sources of the period of the Gok-Turkic Kaganate, the Oguzes are mentioned not independently (that is as ”Oguzes”) but as ”Nine Tribes” (Kui-Sin), and the translation of the word ”Oguz” is given as Tu-Kue (Turk), which shows the absence of a necessity to call this group by another name.

Much more can be told about the appearance, dress, tools, and armaments of the Oguzes and Ogurs, their similarities and differences. These are the people that were riders of the Achaemenid, Chinese, Parthian, Persian, Greek, Roman and Arab armies, their images populated stellae and palaces, and are familiar from the pictures and museum collections. These are the people that led a first revolt in the Arab Caliphate, and who in 868 AD established a first Türkic overlordship of Egypt and Syria, who as Ogur Bolgars, Sabirs and Majars faught with Attila’s armies, and as Oguzes took control of the Caliphate plus the Asia Minor.

It is possible to date the name “Oguz” to the earliest times. In the Chinese sources of the 2-nd c. BC is mentioned a tribe O-Kut (there was no name “Türk” at that time). It is a Chinese version of the tribal name, which in Türkic is called Ogur, because some Türkic tribes came to pronounce the sound ‘z’ as ‘r’. The name “Oguz” comes from a word “Ok” = arrow, “Ok” in Türkic also means “tribe”. In those times this word was translated to Chinese as “tribe” (for example: On-Oki = ten tribes). According to this, the word “Oguz” is formed by connection to “Ok” of an ending “z”, the plural ending in the Old Türkic language. The word “Oguz” was not an ethnic name, and meant directly “Türkic tribes”. In the Chinese sources of the period of the Kok-Türkic Kaganate the Oguzes are mentioned not independently (that is as ”Oguzes”) but as ”Nine Tribes” (Kui-Sin), and the translation of the word ”Oguz” is given as Tu-Kue (= Türk), which shows the absence of a necessity to call this group by another name.

The Name Turk

The word "turk" has different meanings, of which the known ones are T’u-que (Turk) = helmet, Trk = the leaved, Turk = the age of maturity. It may have been derived from "türemek" (reproduction) or "Töreli" (having order and code, tradition).

    Tu-küe (there is no voice 'r' in Chinese)= Türküt=Türkit
    Türküz=Türkü=Turkyt=Turkid=Twrky=Türk
    Hung= Khun=Kün=Hun
    Hiung-nu= Hyiung-nu= Hsiung-nu=Hunlar= Proto Türkler
    Chuni= Khuns
    T'u-chüe= Gök-Türkler
    Kök-Türük=Gök-Türk
    Türük=Türk

    Tu-ku= Türk
    Tu-cüe= Türkler
    Uz= Tork= Ghuzz
    Turkoman= used for the Ghuzz people converted to Islam, by Persian and Arabic historians.
    Turanlý= Türk (Turan is the name given by old Persians for Turkistan or North and West of Sayhan River)
    Tork= Uz (in mid 11th Century; Ghuzz lived North of Black Sea, named as "Tork" by Russian writers, "Uz" by Latin writers)

There are many obvious words in Turkish that would lead to "türk", primarily "türe-" = "to originate" (therefore a hypothetical adjective form "türük"), or old Turk(?) (and old-Altaic(?)) "düre-" = "to walk, to move" (therefore a hypothetical adjective form "dürük" = "that which moves" = a nomad), "tür" = "kind, sort, species", or words of probably same origin, like "torun" = "grand child".

Turkish supreme leaders were called shan-yu (first used by the Hsiung-nu), which was later replaced by the Mongol word khan or khagan (first used by the Ruruan).

The first Turks or Tu-Kue/Tu-gue (as a tribe not as an ethnic group such as Turkish people) are recorded to be a group of ironsmiths or iron slaves working for the Ruruans in the Altai Mountains and were called the Turks 'tie nu' (iron slaves). It said the Turks could be the 500 families who fled to the Ruruans when Northern Wei Emperor Daowudi (reign 386-409) defeated the Hsiung-nu state of Juqu in Gansu Province. Alternatively, the Turks could have their origin from a state called Suo-guo, which was situated to the north of the Hsiung-nu.

The Turks rebelled against the Ruruans in AD 546-553, and they defeated the Ruruans and forced Ruruan khan into seeking refuge inside of Western Wei. Turks would succeed the Ruruans in controlling the vast land west and northwest of China. From the beginning, this confederacy was composed of two semi-autonomous nations - the White (Eastern) Turks and the Blue or Gok/Kok (Western or Celestial) Turks who soon quarrelled and split into independent Kaganates.

Alternate identification of the Turks include the following:

    Uch-Oguzes would be "3 Oguz" or Karluks;
  1. The word Turk was a "political name";
  2. In Tang Chinese documents (after 618, annual chronicles), the Nine Tribes, called in the inscriptions 'Nine Oguzes', sometimes 'Nine Türkic Tribes (Kok-Türks)' are mentioned as 'Türks of Nine Tribes (Kok-Türks)', and sometimes as 'Nine Toles Tribes', Nine Toles Oguzes means the same, as Nine Kok-Türk Oguzes. The roots of Kok-Türks are the Oguz tribes;
  3. About 630 AD, the Oguz united, creating a Nine-Oguzes Khanate. In the beginning of the Uigur Khanate the Uigur leader, Moen-Chur, still being a 'Tegin', was in the head of the Oguzes. A bit later the Oguzes rose against the Uigur Khanate. This time they were a part of the Eight Oguzes. In Burgu and on the bank of Selenga Moen-Chur subjugated Oguzes, who joined with Otuz-Tatars, 'Thirty Tatars'. Oguzes, crossing Selenga, retreated; and
  4. The members of the Oguz relocated in great numbers from the Orkhon area to the vicinity of Talas, and then to Syr Darya. The Oguz dialect separated from the Eastern Türkic dialect before the 9th Century, and by the 11th Century the Oguz language of Syr Darya differed from Eastern Türkic language in the lexicon and pronunciation.

In other words, the second Turkish empire was based on the unification of a number of groups both Turkish and non-Turkish. Following its decline, the Turkish language evolved differently because of the geographical separation of the many Turkish speakers across the Eurasian steppes.

The Oghuz, also called Ghuzz or Ouzz, were a confederation of 24 Turkic tribes inhabiting the region between the Caspian and the Aral Sea (northern and western Khwarazm). They were successors to the Gök Turks, from whom most of the tribes were descended (some may have been Uighur originally). Though frequently subject to the Khazars or other steppe peoples, they are nonetheless of critical importance to world history as being the forbears of the Seljuq Turks. Their ruler, when they were united under one individual, held the title Yabghu (prince); his foremost warlord and military leader was called the Kudarkin.

Khazars

In 576 AD, another group of Turks invaded the Caucasus and established the Khazar Khanate. The Khazars, who were considered to be the continuation of the Western (Gok) Turks, took over their military and civilian organizations. This empire, which ruled for over 300 years, bears the name of "Turk" in Arabian, Syrian and Byzantine sources. Picking up after the Gok-Turks, the Khazars gained control over a large part of the Caucasus and Eastern Europe, building fortresses and cities to cement that control. http://www.geocities.com/kaganate/khazmaps.htmlUnder triple pressure from the Rus, Byzantines, and Arabs, they declined in the 10th Century. It was the Rus, who benefited the most from the destruction of the Khazars as they conquered much of the Khazar territory. Many of their vassal groups (Magyars and Pechenegs) migrated westward as the Rus extended control over the Russian steppes.

Over time the Khazars developed a stratified social system. Two economic classes emerge within the culture:

    The higher class; the Ak-Khazars and the lower class; the Kara Khazars. There are many different theories pertaining to this aspect of the Khazar heritage. Some suggest this caste was nothing more than a class system; not strictly divided by birth status; and

    The Ak-Khazars or ‘White Khazars’ were said to be fair skinned and beautiful like women, with long braided hair. The Kara-Khazars (according to Arab writers) were described as ugly and as dark as Indians.

The ancestors of the Khazars, among the Huns, called themselves Basils (Bas, head; il/el, people--ruling people). This is also an alternate name for the Bulgars, which may suggest that the Khazars are a mix of Bulgars (descendants of the Huns) and Turks (formerly Gok-Turks).

Eurasian Nomads: Part 1

Eurasian Nomads: Part 2

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