Turkic peoples

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Turkic peoples

Total population

Approximately 160 million[citation needed]

Regions with significant populations

Turkey c. 55,000,000 (70-76% of total country pop.)[1][2]  Uzbekistan 24,000,000 (90% of total country pop.)  Iran 15,000,000 (18% of total country pop.)  Kazakstan 11,000,000 (70% of total country pop.)  China 11,647,000 (0.8% of the total country pop.)  Russia 10,431,000 (6% of total country pop.)  Azerbaijan 9,047,000  Turkmenistan 4,500,000[3] (90% of the total country pop.)  Kyrgyzstan 4,500,000 (90% of the total country pop.)  European Unionexcept Bulgaria and Greece 5,210,000  Iraq 1,500,000 (5% of the total country pop.)  Afghanistan 982,000[4]  Bulgaria 801,200 c  United States 523,000  TRNC 298,862  Australia 293,500  Ukraine 275,300[5]  Saudi Arabia 224,460  Greece 178,000 h  Moldova 158,300  Macedonia 82,959  Pakistan 62,100[6]

The Turkic peoples (also Turkics and Turks) are peoples residing in northern, central and western Asia, southern Siberia and northwestern China and parts of eastern Europe. They speak languages belonging to theTurkic language family.^[7] They share, to varying degrees, certain cultural traits and historical backgrounds. The term Turkic represents a broad ethno-linguistic group of people including existing societies such as the Turkish,Azerbaijani, Chuvashes, Kazakhs, Tatars, Kyrgyzs,Turkmen, Uyghur, Uzbeks, Bashkirs, Qashqai, Gagauzs,Yakuts, Crimean Karaites, Krymchaks, Karakalpaks,Karachays, Nogais and as well as past civilizations such as the Kumans, Kipchaks, Avars, Bulgars, Turgeshes,Seljuks, Khazars, Ottoman Turks, Mamluks, Timurids, and possibly the Xiongnu and Huns.^[7][8][9]

Contents  [hide] 1 Demographics 2 Geographical distribution 3 Nomenclature 4 History 4.1 Origins and early expansion 4.2 Middle Ages 4.3 Islamic empires 5 Language 6 Mythology 6.1 Animals 6.2 Personalities 7 Religion 8 International organizations 9 Gallery 9.1 People 9.2 Flags of the Turkic peoples 10 Notes and references 11 Further reading and references 12 See also 13 External links

Demographics

See also: List of Turkic groups

The Countries and autonomous regions where a Turkic language has official status.

The distribution of people of Turkic cultural background ranges from Siberia, across Central Asia, to Eastern Europe. Presently, the largest groups of Turkic people live throughout Central Asia—Kazakhstan,Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, andAzerbaijan, in addition to Turkey and Iran. Additionally, Turkic people are found withinCrimea, East Turkistan region of westernChina, northern Iraq, Pakistan, Israel, Russia,Afghanistan, and the Balkans: Moldova,Bulgaria, Romania, and former Yugoslavia. A small number of Turkic people also live in Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania. There is also a small number in eastern Poland and southeastern part ofFinland.^[10] There are also considerable populations of Turkic people (originating mostly from Turkey) in Germany, United States, and Australia, largely because of migrations during the 20th century.

Sometimes the above list is grouped into six branches: the Oghuz Turks, Kipchak, Karluk, Siberian,Chuvash, and Sakha/Yakut branches. The Oghuz have been termed Western Turks, while the remaining five, in such a classificatory scheme, are called Eastern Turks.

One of the major difficulties perceived by many who try to classify the various Turkic languages and dialects is the impact of Soviet and particularly Stalinist nationality policies—the creation of new national demarcations, suppression of languages and writing scripts, and mass deportations—had on the ethnic mix in previously multicultural regions like Khwarezm, the Fergana Valley, and Caucasia. Many of the above-mentioned classifications are therefore by no means universally accepted, either in detail or in general. Another aspect often debated is the influence of Pan-Turkism, and the emergingnationalism in the newly independent Central Asian republics, on the perception of ethnic divisions.

All the Turkic peoples native to Central Asia are of mixed Caucasoid and Mongoloid origin. Of these Central Asian Turks, Kazakhs and the Kyrgyz are closer to Mongoloids racially. Karakalpak are mixed almost evenly. Uighur in Xinjiang China, Uzbek and Turkmen are more close to Caucasoid. The genetic distances between the different populations of Uzbeks scattered across Uzbekistan is no greater than the distance between many of them and the Karakalpaks. This suggests that Karakalpaks and Uzbeks have very similar origins. The Karakalpaks have a somewhat greater bias towards the eastern markers than the Uzbeks. Reference: The Karakalpak Gene Pool (Spencer Wells, 2001) & Discussion and Conclusions at www.karakalpak.com/genetics.html

The Turkic people display a great variety of ethnic types.^[11] They possess physical features ranging from Caucasoid to Northern Mongoloid. Mongoloid and Caucasoid facial structure is common among many Turkic groups, such as Chuvash people, Tatars, Kazakhs, Uzbeks, Hazaras, and Bashkirs. Historically, the racial classification of the Turkic peoples was sometimes given as "Turanid". Western (Anatolian) Turks are largely the genetic descendants of Turkified/Islamized Indo-European/Semiticgroups such as Armenians, Kurds, Jews, Greeks, Assyrians, Arabs, and Slavs.

The following is an incomplete list of Turkic people with the respective groups's core areas of settlements and their estimated sizes (in million):

People	Region	Population	Modern Language
Turkish people Meskhetian Turks Syrian Turkmens Iraqi Turkmens	Turkey, Germany, Bulgaria, Georgia, Syria, Iraq	70 M	Turkish
Azerbaijanis	Azerbaijan Republic, Iran, Turkey, Russia, Georgia	22 to 30 M	Azerbaijani
Uzbeks	Uzbekistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan	28,3 M	Uzbek
Kazakhs	Kazakhstan, Russia, China, Uzbekistan	13.8 M	Kazakh
Uyghurs	China (Xinjiang), Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Turkey	9 M	Uyghur
Turkmens	Turkmenistan, Pakistan, Iran, Afghanistan,	8 M	Turkmen
Tatars	Russia, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Poland, Lithuania, Finland	7 M	Tatar
Kyrgyzs	Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Uzbekistan, China, Tajikistan	4,5 M	Kyrgyz
Bashkirs	Russia, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan	2 M	Bashkir
Crimean Tatars	Ukraine (Crimea), Russia, Uzbekistan, Turkey, Romania	0.5 to 2 M	Crimean Tatar
Qashqai	Iran	1.7 M	Qashqai
Chuvashes	Russia	1.7 M	Chuvash
Karakalpaks	Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan	0.6 M	Karakalpak
Yakuts	Russia	0.5 M	Sakha
Kumyks	Russia	0.4 M	Kumyk
Karachays andBalkars	Russia, Turkey	0.4 M	Karachay-Balkar
Tuvans	Russia	0.3 M	Tuvan
Gagauzs	Moldovia	0.2 M	Gagauz
Crimean Karaitesand Krymchaks	Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Turkey	0.2 M	Karaim andKrymchak

Geographical distribution

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Many of the Turkic peoples have their homelands in Central Asia, where the Turkic peoples settled from China. According to historian John Foster, "The Turks emerge from among the Huns in the middle of [the] fifth century. They were living in Liang territory when it began to be overrun by the greater principality of Wei. Preferring to remain under the rule of their own kind, they moved westward into what is now the province of Kansu. This was the territory of kindred Huns, who were called theRouran. The Turks were a small tribe of only five hundred families, and they became serfs to the Rouran, who used them as iron-workers. It is thought that the original meaning of "Turk" is "helmet", and that they may have taken this name because of the shape of one of the hills near which they worked. As their numbers and power grew, their chief made bold to ask for the hand of a Rouran princess in marriage. The demand was refused, and war followed. In 546, the iron-workers defeated their overlords."^[12] Since then Turkic languages have spread, through migrations and conquests, to other locations including present-day Turkey. While the term "Turk" may refer to a member of any Turkic people, the term Turkish usually refers specifically to the people and language of the modern country of Turkey.

The Turkic languages constitute a language family of some 30 languages, spoken across a vast area from Eastern Europe and the Mediterranean, to Siberia and Western China, and to northern edges ofPakistan and the Middle East.

Some 170 million people have a Turkic language as their native language;^[13] an additional 20 million people speak a Turkic language as a second language. The Turkic language with the greatest number of speakers is Turkish proper, or Anatolian Turkish, the speakers of which account for about 40% of all Turkic speakers.^[14] More than one third of these are ethnic Turks of Turkey, dwelling predominantly inTurkey proper and formerly Ottoman-dominated areas of Eastern Europe and West Asia; as well as inWestern Europe, Australia and the Americas as a result of immigration. The remainder of the Turkic people are concentrated in Central Asia, Russia, the Caucasus, China, northern Iraq.

At present, there are six independent Turkic countries: Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan,Turkmenistan, Turkey, Uzbekistan; There are also several Turkic national subdivisions^[15] in theRussian Federation including Bashkortostan, Tatarstan, Chuvashia, Khakassia, Tuva, Yakutia, theAltai Republic, Kabardino-Balkaria, and Karachayevo-Cherkessiya. Each of these subdivisions has its own flag, parliament, laws, and official state language (in addition to Russian).

The Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in western China and the autonomous region of Gagauzia, located within eastern Moldova and bordering Ukraine to the north, are two major autonomous Turkic regions. The Autonomous Republic of Crimea within Ukraine is a home of Crimean Tatars. In addition, there are several Iraq, Georgia, Bulgaria, the Republic of Macedonia, Tajikistan, Afghanistan, and western Mongolia.

In the age of nationalism, Turkic speakers were among the first Muslim people to take up Western ideas of liberalism and secular ideologies. Pan-Turkism first sprang up at the end of the 19th century in the Russian Empire and was advanced by leading Turkish intellectuals like Crimean Tatar İsmail Gaspıralı, Azerbaijan philosophers like Mirza Fatali Akhundov and Tatar Yusuf Akçura, as a reaction to Panslavist and Russification policies of the Russian Empire. The first fully democratic and secular republics in the Islamic world were Turks: the ill-fated Idel-Ural State established in 1917, theAzerbaijan Democratic Republic in 1918 (both annexed and absorbed by the Soviet Union), and in 1923 Republic of Turkey. In 1991 Azerbaijan became an independent Azerbaijan Republic.

The Turks in Turkey are over 60 million^[16] to 70 million worldwide, while the second largest Turkic people are the Azerbaijanis, numbering 22.5 to 40 million worldwide; most of them live in Azerbaijan and Iran.

Turks in India are very small in number. There are barely 150 Turkish people from Turkey in India. These are recent immigrants. Descendants of Turkish rulers also exist in Northern India. Mughals who are part Turkic people also live in India in significant numbers. They are descendants of the Mughal rulers of India. Karlugh Turks are also found in small amounts in Srinagar region of Kashmir. Small amount of Uyghurs are also present in India. Turks also exist in Pakistan in similar proportions.One of the tribe in Hazara region of Pakistan is Karlugh Turks which is direct descendent of Turks of Central Asia. Turkish influence in Pakistan can be seen through the national language, Urdu, which comes from a Turkish word meaning "horde" or "army".

Western Yugur at Gansu in China, Salar at Qinghai in China, Dolgan at Krasnoyarsk Krai in Russia, Nogai at Dagestan in Russia are the Turk minorities at the respective regions. Beauty of Yugur Culture, Beauty of the Dolgan and Northern Tungus Culture, Beauty of Yakut Sakha Culture, Beauty of Khakass Culture at youtube show the facial feature of the Turks native to Asian Russia and China

Nomenclature

The first known mention of the term Turk applied to a Turkic group was in reference to the Göktürks in the 6th century. A letter by Ishbara Qaghan to Emperor Wen of Sui in 585 described him as "the Great Turk Khan."^[17] The Orhun inscriptions (735 CE) use the terms Turk and Turuk.

Previous use of similar terms are of unknown significance, although some strongly feel that they are evidence of the historical continuity of the term and the people as a linguistic unit since early times. This includes Chinese records Spring and Autumn Annals referring to a neighbouring people asBeidi.^[18]

In modern Turkey, a distinction is made between "Turks" and the "Turkic peoples" in loosely speaking: the term Türk corresponds specifically to the "Turkish-speaking" people (in this context, "Turkish-speaking" is considered the same as "Turkic-speaking"), while the term Türki refers generally to the people of modern "Turkic Republics" (Türki Cumhuriyetler or Türk Cumhuriyetleri). However, the proper usage of the term is based on the linguistic classification in order to avoid any political sense. In short, the term Turkic can be used for Turk or vice versa.^[19]

Map from Kashgari'sDiwan, showing the distribution of Turkic tribes.

Timeline of Scythian kurgans in Asia and Europe (Per Fig.6 of Alekseev, A. Yu. et al., "Chronology of Eurasian Scythian Antiquities".^[20]

According to Book of Zhou, the original meaning of "Turk" is "helmet", and that they may have taken this name because of the shape of the Altai Mountains. According to Mahmud of Kashgar, an 11th century Turkic scholar, and various other traditional Islamic scholars and historians, the name "Turk" stems from Tur, one of the sons of Japheth, and comes from the same lineage as Gomer (Cimmerians) and Ashkenaz (Scythians, Ishkuz) who, according to tradition, were some of the earliest Turks. For millennia, a long string of historical references specifically linked Herodotus’ Scythians with various tribes, such as the Hunno-Bulgars, Avars, Türks, Mongols, Khazars etc.^[21]Between 400 CE and the 16th century the Byzantine sources use the name Σκΰθαι in reference to twelve different Türkic peoples.^[21] Paul Pelliot said Türk means powerful in Old Turkic.^[22]

Alp Er Tunga is a mythical hero in Turkic tradition; the Göktürks of the 6th century carried on the tradition of Alp Er Tunga and they too had a myth according to which they themselves were descendants of a wolf.

History

Main articles: Göktürks and History of the Turkic peoples

Origins and early expansion

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Main article: Origin of the Turkic peoples

Further information: Xiongnu and Huns

Main articles: Turkic migrations and Nomadic empires

The top of Belukha in the Altay Mountains in Mongolia is shown here. The mountain range is thought to be the birthplace of the Turkic people

It is generally agreed that the first Turkic people lived in a region extending from Central Asia to Siberia with the majority of them living in China historically. The earliest separate Turkic peoples appeared on the peripheries of the late Xiongnu confederation (contemporaneous with the Chinese Han Dynasty).^[23]Turkic people may be related to the Xiongnu, Dinglingand Tiele people. According to the Book of Wei, the Tiele people were the remaining of the Chidi (赤狄), the red Di people competing with the Jin in the Spring and Autumn Period.^[24] Turkic tribes, such asKhazars and Pechenegs, probably lived as nomadsfor many years before establishing the Göktürk Empire in the 6th century. These were Chinese herdsmen and nobles who were searching for new pastures and wealth. The first mention of Turks was in a Chinese text that mentioned trade of Turk tribes with the Sogdians along the Silk Road.^[25] The first recorded use of "Turk" as a political name is a 6th-century reference to the word pronounced in Modern Chinese as Tujue. The Ashina clan migrated from Li-jien (modern Zhelai Zhai) to the Juan Juan seeking inclusion in their confederacy and protection from the prevalent dynasty. The tribe were famed metal smiths and was granted land near a mountain quarry which looked like a helmet, from which they were said to have gotten their name 突厥 (tūjué). A century later, their power had increased such that they conquered the Juan Juan and established the Gök Empire.^[26]

Orkhon tablet inscribed inOld Turkic script

Göktürk petroglyphs from Mongolia.

Göktürk sculpture fromOrkhon Valley

Turkic peoples originally used their own alphabets, like Orkhon andYenisey runiform, and later the Uyghur alphabet. The oldest inscription was found near the Issyk river in Kyrgyzstan. Traditional national and cultural symbols of the Turkic peoples include wolves in Turkic mythology and tradition; as well as the color blue, iron, and fire.Turquoise blue, from the French word meaning "Turkish", is the color of the stone turquoise still used as jewelry and a protection against evil eye.

It has often been suggested that the Xiongnu, mentioned in Han Dynasty records, were Proto-Turkic speakers.^{[27][28][29][30][31]} Although little is known for certain about the Xiongnu language(s), it seems likely that at least some Xiongnu tribes spoke a Turkic language.^[32] Some scholars see a possible connection with the Iranic-speaking Sakas,^[33] while others believe they were probably a confederation of various ethnic and linguistic groups. On the other hand, genetics research from 2003^[34] confirms the studies indicating that the Turkic people originated from the same area and so are related with the Xiongnu.^[35] So the scientific genetic results show clearly that the Turks originated nearby the Centre-west part of modern China.

Xiongnu writing, older than Turkic is agreed to have the earliest known Turkic alphabet, the Orkhon script. This has been argued recently using the only extant possibly Xiongu writings, the rock art of the Yinshan and Helanshan.^[36] It is dated from the 9th millennium BC to 19th century, and consists mainly of engraved signs (petroglyphs) and few painted images.^[37] Excavations done during 1924–1925, in Noin-Ula kurgans located in Selenga River in the northern Mongolian hills north of Ulan Bator, produced objects with over 20 carved characters, which were either identical or very similar to that of to the runic letters of the Turkic Orkhon script discovered in theOrkhon Valley.^[38]

The Hun hordes of Attila, who invaded and conquered much of Europe in the 5th century, might have been Turkic and descendants of the Xionghu.^[23][39][40] Some scholars argue that the Huns were one of the earlier Turkic tribes, while others argue that they were of Mongolicorigin.^[41] Linguistics studies by Otto Maenchen-Helfen's support a Turkic origin.^[42][43] In all probability, they were closely related as the borders were not settled unlike modern times and migrations were common to distant places.

In the 6th century, 400 years after the collapse of northern Xiongnu power in Inner Asia, leadership of the Turkic peoples was taken over by the Göktürks. Formerly in the Xiongnu nomadic confederation, the Göktürks inherited their traditions and administrative experience. From 552 to 745, Göktürk leadership united the nomadic Turkic tribes into the Göktürk Empire. This was the first known political entity to be called "Turk". The name derives from gok, "blue" or "celestial". Unlike its Xiongnu predecessor, the Göktürk Khanate had its temporary khans from the Ashina clan that weresubordinate to a sovereign authority controlled by a council of tribal chiefs. The Khanate retained elements of its original shamanistic religion, Tengriism, although it received missionaries of Buddhistmonks and practiced a syncretic religion. The Göktürks were the first Turkic people to write Old Turkicin a runic script, the Orkhon script. The Khanate was also the first state known as "Turk". It eventually collapsed due to a series of dynastic conflicts, but the name "Turk" was later taken by many states and peoples.

Turkic peoples and related groups migrated west from Turkestan and what is now Mongolia towardsEastern Europe, Iranian plateau and Anatolia and modern Turkey in many waves.^[44] The date of the initial expansion remains unknown. After many battles, they established their own state and later created the Ottoman Empire.^[45] The main migration occurred in medieval times, when they spread across most of Asia and into Europe and the Middle East.^[26] They also participated in theCrusades.^[46]

Kipchaks in Eurasia circa 1200.

Later Turkic peoples include the Avars, Karluks(mainly 8th century), Uyghurs, Kyrgyz, Oghuz (or Ğuz) Turks, and Turkmens. As these peoples were founding states in the area between Mongolia andTransoxiana, they came into contact with Muslims, and most gradually adopted Islam. Small groups of Turkic people believes in other religions, includingChristians, Jews (Khazars), Buddhists, andZoroastrians.