TURKS

ATATURK: FATHER OF THE TURKS ATATURK PHOTO GALLERY ANCIENT TURKS PIRI REIS MAP-ANCIENT WORLD MAP ANCIENT TURKS' LANGUAGE TURKS' RECENT HISTORY WHO ARE TURKS? KIPCHAK TURKS OGUZ TURKS TURKS AT AMERICA MIGRATION & CENTRAL ASIA NE MUTLU TURKUM DIYENE HISTORY BEGINS WITH TURKS TURAN ATATURK'S GREAT SPEECHES ANTI-TURKISM -TURK DUSMANLIGI

RECENT HISTORY OF TURKS

The Turks proudly state that their recent ancestors comprised of Huns. Huns established the largest Empire(in land size) on earth in the world history which stretched from Pacific Ocean(Kamchatka, China) to Atlantic Ocean(Scandinivia, Northern France), from northern Siberian Arctic lands to southern India. The Uygur Turks nationalists also had further provided two lineages of eastern and western Hunnic kings to support their claim of Hunnic heritage. The Turks are a nation descended from ancient tribes of Central Asia and Eurasian steppes as well as recently from Huns, and their influence was felt in recent Turkish Empires and their conquests of the Roman-Byzantium lands, Europe including the Balkans, Eurasian steppes, China, the Middle-East, Northern Africa as well as waves of conquest into the Indus Valley, India. Their history had been full of extraordinary events like establishing many states in different regions of the world. Their linguistic flavor found many entries in many languages all over the world. They pushed Islam to its apex.

In this section, we will concentrate on the Turkic origin and influence in China and Mongolia during their early developments. Turks had impacted the Chinese more than the Mongols.
Who are those people called Turks then? They did not disappear as the others did. Today's Turks in Turkey are direct descendants of Osmanli(Ottoman) Turks who belonged to the Oghuz and Kipchak confederations who had their origins at Central Asia and then Euroasian steppes. We had also traced the original Huns to a group of people from Eastern Turkestan. There is a common feature among those ancient Central Asian tribes, namely, they loved the nomadic way of life, they never settled down, and they were descended from the first human inhabitants of Central Asia(Turkestan).

The Uygur Turks', in regards to the Hunnic ancestry, claim could be built on basis of their ancestor Huihe's membership in the Tiele Tribes, a group of people sandwiched between the various Central Asian Turkish tribes and the original dwellers of Xinjiang or Eastern Turkestan. (Uygurs claimed they descended from 'Chunwei', the son of Jie, last Xia Dynasty lord). To provide as detailed descriptions as possible, I had traced the Huns to Central Asian Turks, Uighur Turks and Ruruans(Mongolians) according to the specific naming as recorded in history, rather than generic naming. I traced the ending of the Eastern Huns to their relocation to Hebei. Province by the Tuoba in AD 523 and that of the western Huns to Attila and his warfare in Europe in AD 433-453.

We make an explanation here between the words of 'Turk' and 'Turkic' . The word 'Turk' would denote the tribes of people at Central Asia(Turkestan) as recorded in the middle 6th century. Today "Turk" is the identity including all Turks living in Turkey and the rest of Turks living in Central Asia, Eurasia, Balkans, Europe, Asia and America. The word 'Turkic' means the language that was spoken by all Central Asian and Euroasian nomads, and the earlier Huns were said to speak Turkic language and by means of ethnic identity as earlier Turks. Today Turks' language is classified as "Turkish" language spoken by Turks in Turkey and "Turkic" language spoken by Central Asian Turks, Eurasian Turks and Balkan Turks. So " Turk " is an identity for all Turks on world, Turkic is not identity but language of Turks outside Turkey and Turkish is the language of Turks living in Turkey as well as the meaning for "belongs to Turks" . More realistic definition of Turkic languages is; different dialects originated from old Turkish language at Central Asia. Today there is a cooperation between Turkey and Central Asian Turkish Republics to unify the dialects of Turkish language everywhere. Soon there won't be any classification of the language like Turkic and Turkish; as all dialects, spoken at Turkey and Turkish Republics at Central Asia, will all be called as Turkish.

The Central Asian Turks later were employed as a group of iron miners in the Altai Mountains, rebelled against the Ruruans in AD 546-553. Western history books classify the Ruruans as 'Mongolian', but the term 'Mongolian' was a much later concept. The term 'Mongolian' did not appear till Khubilai endorced it in the 14th century, supposedly on basis of the word 'Mengwu Shiwei'. Conventional history would make such a distinction between the Turk and Mongolian ethnicity. Here, I will refer to the Huns as 'Turks vs. Ruruans for clarification's sake. The Ruruans were responsible for pressuring the so-called 'Huns' into migrations towards Europe as well as cracking down on the eastern Huns in collaboration with the Tuba. The two groups, Ruruans and Turks, were hostile towards each other. Numerous records point to the Turks' chasing the Ruruan khan to the Western Wei Dynasty (AD 535-557) as well as chased other Ruruan royal family members to the Hephthalite Empire of the (Ye-tai).

Historians express Central Asia, Eurasian steppes and Altay-Sayan-Hindikush region as the cultural and geographical environment of Proto-Turks, depending on the Chinese, Roman and Arabic sources. We learn the cultural aspects of this region from the excavation results of cultural historians and Russian archeologists.

Typical Bronze Age aspects are seen in Afenesavo culture (3000-1700 B.C.). Hunting, animal feeding, pottery are typical aspects of this culture. In Andronovo culture, (1700-1200 B.C.), bronze and related tools are dominant. In Tagar culture (700-200 B.C.) near Yenisey River, iron casting, animal motifs, the exploration of the bit, which is used for riding horses, felt, the cart covered by felt, kimiz, and usage of milk product are determinant. The archeological traces fond in Pazirik fortress, are examined in Tagar culture. The steps of Abakan-Minusinks-Tuva are geographical region of Karasuk culture. (After 700s B.C.). The characteristics of this culture is usage of iron as weapon after casting. The people belong to Karasuk culture, live in tends made of felt and use carts having wheels. According to Afanasevo and Andronovo cultural data, riding horse began in 1700 B.C. Riding horse is the second phase of benefiting from horse, after the use of horse meat and milk. So, the domestication of horse had been occurred before this time. According to Deer, one of the Hungarian Turkologists, "if horse had not been existed, the battle style, which was having thunder-like promptness could not be improved by step men, the states of the Khuns, Avars, and Gokturks could not be established. The Khuns almost established and defended their state by riding horses.

Step culture is very important, from the point of view of step culture of Asiatic people, that is especially Turkish culture. Because as it is known the place, where the step culture firstly emerged in the history is at the same time the place called "Turan" land; in other words, the place where the Proto-Turks lived and still modern Turks are living. Apart from this it is not coincidence that calling "sella Turcica" (The Turkish Bone) as a bone, which seems like "saddle" on skull of human body, in medicinal literature.

The Name Turk

The concept of Turk, firstly seen on the "Orkhun" monuments, dominantly as "Turuk". (These are the first stones made monuments consisting the name Turk; they were built in years 720-725, 732-735). However it is obvious with documents that these people had not emerged instantaneously. On the other hand, a process is necessary to live for emerging of a man in historical scene. So, the real question is that "who are the first ancestors (proto ancestors) of Turks?” Some of the historians had given sometimes different, sometimes same answers to this question. For example, historians, who are specialized in pre-Islamic Turkish history, like W. Eberhard, Ý. Kafesoðlu, B. Ögel ve L. Rasonyi, unanimously say "Hiung-nus" are the Proto-Turks.

On the other hand it was supposed that, the "Targita" in Heredotos’ treatise, "Togharma", the grand child of Yafes in Old Testament, "Turukha" and "Thrak" in Indian sources, "Tik" in Chinese sources, the "Turukku"s in hieroglyphs of Western Asia as ancient Turkish tribes.

The Turk name had been searched in Zent-Avesta and Old Testament. For example, "Turk" the grandchild of Noah and son of Rapheth as Turak or Tur, who is the son of the ruler Feridun (Noah or Thraetaonna) in Avesta, had been shown as a tribe named as Turk.

The word Turk used in a Persian text, dated 420, for expressing the "Altayid" and "Turanid" (in Persian Literature the word "turk" also used for beautiful), later as in year 515, instead of "powerful Khan-Khun" the term "Turk Khan-Khun" had been used. But as the name of a nation and state; firstly used in the annual record of Chou family (557-579), in Western World; in the treatise of historian Agathias (died in 582), in Arabic Laguage; in the divan of N. Zubyani (died in 600) and in Slavic Language; used in the first Russian chronicles in XII century.

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. According to A. Wembrey and J. Deny the word "turk" is originated from "türemek" (reproduction). The first Turkish sociologist, Ziya Gökalp (1886-1924) used "Turk" as "Töreli" (having order and code, tradition).

Yusuf Has Hacip used "Turk" as name and adjective in his masterpiece Kutadgu Bilig.

As adjective; " ay ilig baka kör seningde oza beg erdi atangilde erk turk tuze" ( Hey the ruler, look up, the one who ruled better than you was your father). Here used as "powerful, strengthful".

As name; " Körü borsa emdi bu türk begleri ajun beglerinde bular yigleri" ( If you pay attention, you may see that, among the world rulers, the best ones are Turkish). Bu turk beglerinde ati belgülüg tonga alp er erdi kuti belgülüg ( among these turk rulers, the one whose career seemed obvious was Tonga Alp-Er)

The Usage Of The Concept Turk In History

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= In the first years of Islam, used for the Ghuzz people converted to Islam, by Persian and Arabic historians.

Turanli= Türk (Turan is the name given by old Persians for Turkistan or North and West of Sayhan River)

Tork= Uz (In mid XI century; Ghuzz lived North of Black Sea, named as "Tork" by Russian writers, "Uz" by Roman writers)

The Khuns, Scythians, And Gok Turks

The classical Roman, Latin, and Armenian historians (like Theodoretus, Sidonius, and Priskos) expressed the Khuns as Scythians The writer of this paper determined that some old graves in Mangislak of Kazakhstan, Hiva of Uzbekistan, and historical uybat city of Hakasya and some styles of clothing are commonly belonging to Khuns and Scythlaus.

"Almost all Chinese records are unanimous on the Hienyun (Xiong-nu) of ancient times are the ancestors of the Khuns" . Sümer (1972, p.2) also assigns that the first founders of Turkish state structre are the "Xiong-nus". on the other hand "Gökturk state is almost the continuation of the Great Khun State". Because it is written in Chinese Sources that the

Gokturks, Uygurs, and Kirghiz are descended from the Xiong-nu people and Xiong-nu state were ruled by 24 commanders .

"The most precise result about the origin of the Gök-Turks is that they had lived in South of Altay Mountains until the year 542. As all Chinese sources allied, they descended from the Khuns and located at the North of them . Thus the Gök-Turks are one line of the Khuns.

The first kagans of the Khuns, of the Khuns, Mete and Ghuzz of Ghuzz Legend are said to be the same person by some folklorists.

Although in Chinese annual records, some words used by tliung-nus like "tanrý, kut, börü, il, ordu, tugh, kilich.., and so on" can be seen; the first historical document about the Khuns is belonging to the year 318 B-C; an agreement. At those times the Chou role in china weakened and some civil struggles emerged. In such a situation five local rulers signed alliance agreement with Xiong-nus, against to the strengthened Ch'ins.

The General Characteristics Of The Xiong-nus

The Xiong-nus had begun to be seen in Chinese sources since 400 s B.C. Before them, since some relations between the religious beliefs and traditions of Chou state (1050-256 B.C.)

And those of Turks exist; and since this state established on the geography of Turks; the relation with Turks is expressed. But since this could not be proven, it is not more than a hypothesis. They lived in nomadic style, fed horse, cattle, and sheep, and performed agriculture. So they were having grain cellars. Their food pattern was meat dominant. They were wearing clothes made of pelt. They drunk kimiz and were using voiced arrows and leather clothes.

In fifth month of every year, they do fast and sacrifice for land and sky. Horseracings are being done during these fests. In eighth month, autumn, horseracings around forest or a sign, are being done. Left side is holy. They worship to sun and moon.

The magicians engrave the bones of sheep and cattle to the road against the bad spirits. It is said that the magicians of the Khuns were being used in the service of Chincses. They export wool covers, wooll made textiles, and different felts.

The Gu-tzang city in Gan-su was established by Xiong-nus. But they have no big city siuce they live semi-nomadic life. Politically, they wore 24 nobility levels in society. They are red haired, white raced and having green eycs.

The States Established by Xiong-nus

If we consider the first document in Chinese annual records, the states established by Xiong-nus are:

The First Khun State (318 B.C.- 48 A.D.)
Northern Khun State (48-156 A.D.)
Southern GokTurk State (48-216 A.D.)
The First Chao GokTurk State (303 -329 A.D.)
The Second Chao State (328 – 352 A.D.)
Akhun (The White Khun State) (350 – 577 A.D.)
Xia (Hsia) Khun State (407 – 431 A.D.)
Northern Liang Khun State (401 – 439 A.D.)
European Khun State (374 – 469 A.D.)

General Aspects Tu-gues

Their first homelands are near the Altay Mountains. One part of the Xiong-nus are said to be Tu-gues. They believe that they originated from female wolf. According to them, female wolf had fed their first ancestors so there is a wolf icon at the top of their flag. This wolf legend is a typical motif not only for Tu-gues but for all Turks also.

Tu-gues are performing the iron works of Juan-juans. One of their ancestors’ hair is red and eyes are sky-blue. Their clothes are buttoned from left hand side (of Chinese are from right hand side), and their hair had been shaved. They stay in felt covered tents (yurt). They migrate and they occupy with hunting. They eat moat, drink kimiz, wear on fur and wool clothes. Their khans (hakan) sit on carpet.

The khan has been elected according personal power. They have bows made of horn, arrows for which leads made of bone, long spears, swords and knives. They are good riders and sharp shooters.

The dead are put in tent by ceremony; sheep and horses are sacrificed. Horse races are done around that tent of dead. Faces are drawn representing the requiem. Dead is engraved after burned with his/her wealth and horse. A picture of dead is drawn. Stones as much as the number of people the dead body killed while living, are put in the grave.

The skulls of sacrificed animals are inserted on poles and these are located near grave. Big fest begins at the second half of the fifth month, by sacrificing for land and sky.

Girls play ball with their feet. They drink kimiz and believe in spirits, they respect in magicians. They have writings like those of Xiongnus. Their traditions are similar from all aspects with those of Xiongnus.

The States Established by Tu-gues:

The First GokTurk State (552-582 A.D.)
Eastern GokTurk State (582-630 A.D.)
Western GokTurk State (582-630 A.D.)
The Second GokTurk State (681-744 A.D.)

Symbol (stamp/damga):

At the end of my studies, I collected thousands of symbols (stamps/damgalar). The symbols are very important authentic evidence in cultures of peoples. Especially, for the Turks, these have mythological specifications more than being both the sign of independence and ornament-art material. For example, in Oguz Kagan Legend, one of the creation legends of Turks, it has been said that Turks are coming from 24 tribes. The symbols of these 24 Oguz tribes showed and these symbols of 24 Oguz tribes are still used by Turkish people either as it was or as modified.

The use of some names of totems, which are accepted as god or holly by pre-Islamic Turks in symbols are determined. For example, "Umay Ene" (Which is the protective god of ancient Turks.), Eagle, deer and ram are some of them. But there is no symbol named as Turk. However, It has been seen symbols of "Turkmen rose" or "Hun rose" (according to historians the Khuns are the firs ancestors of Turks who had established empire).

In the written history of Turks, the name "Turk" firstly used in Orkhun Monuments. (In 732 AC) These monuments were written by the first Turkic alphabet, Runic alphabet. Some letters of this alphabet are based on the stamps which were (and still are) used by Turks.

Another aspect of these symbols is their usage of evidence by the scientists who postulate Indians as first Turks or Asians passed through Bering Channel. It is a fact that the Indian traditions and the symbols which they used are dramatically corresponding to old Turkish ones. These can be reviewed in "Dene and Na-Dene Indians" of Ethel G. Stewart and "Indians of the United States" of Clark Wissler.

Turkic Language

Unlike other earlier nomads who left no records of written language, the Turks possessed the so-called Orkhon inscriptions (a Kok Turk invention related to Eastern Khanate around AD 682) in a runic-like script, and this script was deciphered back in 1896. Among the Turks, the Uygurs were great language masters, and adopted their own script which became known as the Uygur script. They helped Ghengis Khan's Mongols in devising the written Mongol language in early 13th century. The Uygur script indirectly influenced the Manchus when the latter adopted the Mongolian script in 1599. By 20^th century, Turkic language was accepted as one of the main branches of Uralic-Altaic language family. But today Turkic language, with the latest scientific and linguistic findings, is considered to be the father of all Ural-Altai and Indo-European languages. My suspicion is that the branches did not distinguish themselves till much later like 4000 B.C. and all the language branch designations were the products of linguists of 20th century any way. When you look at the photos of ruins of Karakorum, near the Orkhon River, southwest of Ulaanbaatar as well as few slates of tomb stones on the desolate Gobi, the impression will be all yours to imagine who the successive dwellers had been on that land. The control of the area of Mongolia had passed from the Central Asian Turks to the Mongols. (The Kirgiz were said to be the last Turks to have resided in Mongolia)

In the following, I will tentatively explore the origin of Turks and their history.

Origin Of Turks & The Uygur Turks (Turkish and Chinese records)

Uygur Turks state that "after 210 B.C., the Uygurs played important roles in the Hun (220 B.C. - 386 A.D.), Tabgach (To'pa) (386-554 A.D.), and Kok Turk (552-744 A.D.) empires which were established in Central Asia.
The Turks, specifically called Tujüe or Tujue (Turks) at the time of North Dynasties (AD 386-581) and Sui/Tang Dynasties, asserted themselves in late time period of Toba Northern Wei Dynasty (A.D. 386-533). Toba Wei split into Eastern and Western Wei Dynasties in AD 534. The Turks rebelled against the Ruruans in AD 546-553 and Ruruans were defeated and exterminated by Turks.
Tang Dynasty writer, Li Yanshou, in his book History of the Northern Dynasties, wrote that the Huns were predecessor of Turks whose ancestors had originally dwelled to the right side [northside] of the Xihai [West Sea]. According to Chinese legends, the ancestor of the Turks came from a boy whose arms were cut off and whose ankles were also deliberately disabled by the tribal feuds. This boy was from the background of mixed Hunnic nomads in today's Gansu-Qinhai areas. History of the Northern Dynasties said that the Turkic clan to which the boy belonged dwelled to the west side of Xi Hai, i.e., Qinghaih Lake of today's Qinghai Province. (Xi Hai was also the name for the Mediterranean). A wolf would be responsible for saving the life of the boy. When the enemies found out about the boy, they killed the boy. However, the pregnant wolf fled to the mountains near ancient Gaochang Statelet (Turpan) and she gave birth to 10 children who ultimately became the ancestors of later Turks, i.e., Ten Turkic Family Names. The ten Turks used their wives' family name as their respective clan name.
The name of "turk" was in fact something denoting some cloth cover on the head, said to be of the same shape as the Altai mountains in today's northern Turkestan. Li Yanshou also said that the Turks could have their origin from a statelet called Suoguo which was to the north of the Huns. The Hunnic tribal chieftan, i.e., A'pangbu, possessed 70 brothers, with one of them born with a wolf. Brother Nishidu would revive the tribe after it was conquered by neighbors. Nishidu had four sons, with one son leading the Qigu statelet, and the elder son living on Mount Ba-si-chu-zhe-shi-shan. This elder son was made into the chieftain, and he bore ten sons, with the youngest named Ashina(Asena). Ashina was later selected as the chieftain because he could jump the highest against the tree. Ashina had one of his descendants by the name of Tumen (Bumin Han). In AD 545, a Western Toba Wei emissary visited Tumen. Tumen was delighted at the visit by grandiose Chinese emissary and thought this visit might for sure bring along luck to him.
Reconciling all above accounts of Turkic origins, Historian Luu Simian cited Mongol Yuan Dynasty's writing to state that the westernmost Turkic tribe, Ke-sa Tribe, dwelled to the right side of the West(Xihai) Sea. Luu Simian did cite Western and Eastern Turks' common practice of paying pilgrimage to the wolf cave in Altai Mountain, to the northwest of today's Urumqi, as evidence that early Turks fled there and then worked as iron miners. Ancient classics claimed that Arabs and Parthians traded with Romans at Xihai Sea in section on Gan Ying's trip across Central Asia. Hence, Xihai was considered by Luu Simian to be likely the Mediterranean Sea. Some Chinese experts believed that West Sea referred to the Caspian Sea. The sentence containing the word of right side of the West Sea could be as the area of the Caspian, or Black Sea.

The Turks became a strong power after they, under Tumen, defeated the 'Tiele Tribe' and absorbed about 50,000 households in AD 546

Early Turks History

Turks, thinking that they helped in rearing the Tiele Tribes on behalf of the Ruruans, proposed a marriage with the princess of the Ruruans. Ruruans declined their request. Hence, Turks sought for marriage with Toba's Western Wei Dynasty. In the 17th year of Western Wei's Datong era, i.e., AD 551, Turkic Khan Tumen (Bumin) obtained Toba Princess Changle as a bride. When Western Wei Emperor Wendi died, Tumen sent in 200 horses as condolences. In the first year of Western Wei Emperor Feidi, Tumen defeated the Ruruans, causing Ruruan Khan commit suicide and Ruruan Khan's son flee to Northern Qi Dynasty. Tumen declared himself Khan and gave his wife the title of Hatun or Kadun (similar to Hunnic title of Yanzhi for queen). Tumen's son, named Keluo, was Khan.
Hence, the Turks controlled the vast territories at east extending from Eastern Turkistan to Manchuria. Turks were recorded to have about 28 levels of officials, including Yehu, She(4), Teqin, Silifa, Tudunfa etc. They had the same custom as the Scandinavian pirates in that they would burn the dead body of their chieftain together with the belongings like horses and clothes. Tents were always opened towards the east where the sun rose.

In the west, the Turks was led by the son of Muchu Khan. When conflicting with Khan Shabolue, Western Turks set up two courts, one in ancient Shi-guo Statelet and the other in ancient Qiuci (Chouci) Statelet. By AD 605, the western Turks were in constant fights with the Tiele Tribes. Sui Dynasty sent a minister called Fei Ju to pursuade Western Turkic Khan Chuluo to seek vassalage with Sui.

Further details of Turkic history will be covered in Eastern Khanate and Western Khanate.

The Uygur Turks(Eastern Turkistan)

The Hunnic successors will include the Central Asian Turks, Uighur Turks and Ruruans.

According to History Of Tuba Wei Dynasty, the Uygur Turks originated from the Tiele Tribes who were in turn descendants of the Huns. Tiele Tribes would be a generic name pointing to the dozens of tribal states across the northern belt of today's Eastern Turkestan.
Today's Uygurs, also spelled as UIGUR, UIGHUIR, UIGUIR, UYGHUR and WEIWUER in Mandarin, live largely in Xinjiang or Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (so-called Eastern Turkestan). They have a present population of over 10 million around or more.   There are also considerable number of them in Western Turkestan which includes Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kirghizstan, Turkmenistan and Tajikistan. Among the Uygurs inside of China, there are three major groups, consisiting of the Yugur or Yellow Uygur in today's Gansu Province, and the Uygurs south and north of Khan Tengri (Tianshan Mountains). The nationalist Uygurs disputed the specific naming like Kazaks, Uzbeks, and Turkmens etc, and they claimed they were of the same family under Turks.

A review of the major Turkic tribes in Mongolia yielded a tribe called 'Sakiz Oghuz' or the Eight Oghuz with a smilar pronunciation to Xueyantuo. The historic records showed 'Sakiz Oghuz' was a name which existed in 8th century.
Uygurs henced relocated to Mongolia and they ultimately set up Uygur Kingdom in AD 744/45 The 'Sakiz Oghuz' tribe is said to have some remnants left in Mongolia. When the Kirghiz Turks defeated the Uygur Turks in AD 840 and took over northern Mongolia, there was a group of people called the Naimans who remained in their homelands in the Altai Mountains and attached themselves to the Kirghiz. The Naimans were said to be a Mongol name for a group of the Turkic tribe called 'Sakiz Oghuz'. (The Oghuz Turks would find their way to Anatolia, separately.)

The Orkhon [Eastern] Khante would end in the hands of the Uygurs and the Karluks. History said the Tang Chinese conspired to have the Uygurs and Karlaks attack the Orkhon Turks of Khan Muchuo (Mo-ch'o). To check the Orkhon Turks, Tang Chinese also allied with the Western Turks called Turgesh [who were situated in today's Ili, between the Arabs and the Chinese] from AD 716 to AD 733. After Khan Mochuo was killed by the tribesmen from the Tiele Tribes, the Orkhon Turks came to terms with Chinese, and their successors were said to have erected a stone monument cursing the Chinese for the treachery and the Tiele tribesmen for betrayal.
After Orkhon Turks were defeated by Uygur Turks, Uygurs would control Kirghiz and Khitans. The remaining Orkhon Turks were not heard from after China's Five Dynasties time period. Uygurs (Uighurs) took refuge in Ganzhou and Xinjiang after being replaced by the Kirghiz.

New History Of Five Dynasties said that Kirghiz Turks possessed lighter skin, brunette or red hair, green/gray eyes and taller at height. Ancient Central Asians possessed all different hair and eye color features. Today Turks on all over the world carry also different features from brunette to red hair and blonde and from brown to green, gray and blue eyes.  It's not surprising to find the original Central Asian gene(haplogroup K) of most of the world's people on Central Asians and Turks in Turkey and also the subgroups of haplogroup K or its mutations. Today there is no other region on earth other than Central Asia(especially Eastern, Central and Western Turkestan) carrying and mixture of more than ten different genes or haplogroups(subgroups of haplogroup K).

Turfan Mummies

In Turfan, a town of oasis famous for grapes, Hami melons (from seed introduced by Henry Wallace in 1940s) and mummies, not far away from Urumqi, there have been excavated a huge number of mummies. Those mummies are not of the kind of so-called "Loulan Beauty".   They are all of Tang Dynasty Chinese from 1200 years ago, wealthy officials who chose this propitious place for their tombs which usually ran ten steps into a corridor underground, decorated with murals on both sides.   People, especially Western people, however, are more interested in the Caucasoid mummies.   Nova, in its TV series, had provided evidence that Caucasians did exist very close to China once upon a time.

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/chinamum/taklamakan.html

shows the excavations of mysterious 3000-year-old mummies in China's western desert, inside today's New Dominions Province.

NOVA pointed out that those preserved 3000-year-old mummies excavated in late 1980's show that Chinese civilization did not evolve alone and Western counterpart might have played an important role in elevating the Chinese via possible introduction of 'donkey carts' and wheels, and even bronze knives. It further extrapolated that those mummies belong to the so-called Tocharian Turks with a tongue that is more closely related to the languages of Central Asian origin.
"Loulan Beauty", the name given to a woman excavated near Loulan and those exotic mummies, however, only corroborate the historical fact that the ancient Scythians, warrior tribes of Saka, had once roamed the entire Altaic region, with today's Kirghizistan as their base.   The Scythians are a denoted term for Euroasian nomads and later became the predecessors of the Huns.

The Scythians are better known in Persian, Rome and Greek records. Before Scythians, there were Cimmerians of roughly 1000 BCE. http://www.geocities.com/kaganate/tribelist.html has a good account of historic Steppes nomad tribes, saying that the Scythians, approximately in the 8th century BCE, took the place of the Cimmerians; that Scythians were related to Saka in the area of modern Kazakhstan and Altai; and that Amazons (possibly so-called Nü-ren or Women Statelet in Chinese records, and that Sarmatians, offspring of the Scythians and the Amazons, came onto the scene in roughly the 3rd century BCE. Alexander the Great met stiff resistance from Saka tribes and hard environmental conditions in his 4th century BC advance through Central Asia, he changed his direction to south, India.
In Turfan, archaeological finds made in the early 20th century will also include Nestorian literature and extant Manichaean literature. Further, after the peoples of Scythians and before the rise of the Turks, there had existed numerous other groups of people:   Huns, Ruruans, Juanjuans, Xianbei, Qiang, and Toba.

Ruruans, Kok Turks & Tubas

    Meanwhile, Ruruans, a newly arising people, called Rouran or Rui-rui in Chinese (Juan-Juan) came into power in steppes north of the Altai Mountains in the 4th century.   Western historians called the Ruruans by "Mongolian", a term that would not appear till the 14th century. The Ruruans lost the wars to the Tobas in northern China.

Also see http://www.altai-republic.com/history/altai_history_eng.htm for details.)

But after the Ruruan founder fled to the Altai Mountains, he conquered and absorbed remnant Hunnic tribes there.
Western history books stated that "in c. 370, the so-called Huns were pressured by the Ruruans into invading Europe from the Central Asian steppe." Western history recorded that the Attila's Huns were so savage and barbaric that they ate raw meat. All these stories were Roman lies and false propaganda about Attila and his Huns. This life style was totally different from those eastern Huns who were semi-sinicized and civilized.
The Ruruans employed a group of people called Central Asian Turks as serfs working in the iron mines in the Altai Mountains. Turks ultimately exterminated the Ruruans.
Northern Wei split into Eastern and Western Wei Dynasties in AD 534.   At almost the same timeframe, 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.   This Turkic empire would be called Turkic Khanate (552-744 A.D.), alternatively called Kok-Turk.

Later Turkish Empire expanded to all Central Asia and Caucasus including Khazars, Pechenegs, Cumans, Sabirs, Saragurs, Kuturgurs, Barsils and Seljuks etc.
The early Turks came to their apex in AD 593.
In the west, Khazar Turks khan sent emissaries to Byzantium in AD 568, about 9 centuries before Ottoman Turks were to take over the city of Constantinople.   In 572-91, the Khazar Turks and the Byzantines allied against the Sassanian Persia.   In 576, the Turks invaded the Caucasus and established the Khazar Khanate, Khazaria where they were converted into Judaism in AD 740 by Jewish immigrants who came from Persia after the Arab conquest.   In Asia Minor, the Western Turks allied with Sassanian Persians in AD 565, dividing Ephthalite empire of the White Huns.   In the east of the Gobi, the Eastern Turks would defeat Khitans.

Ruruans, Ephthalites (White Huns) & Avars   The Ruruans are another successors to the Huns.   They were famous for introducing a new cavalry warfare called the stirrup.   We called it "introducing" because they did not invent "stirrups", an art of war which led to the feudal class of the European Middle Ages according to Lynn White (Medieval Technology and Social Change).      Primitive stirrups had appeared much earlier. Many excavations of tombs in northern Korea showed that the Xianbei nomads had developed some form of stirrups. It was the Xianbei nomads who are frequently mentioned as mercenaries of Jinn Chinese in fighting the Huns and Jiehus on behalf of the Chinese emperors.

Ruruans once helped the Tobas in cracking down on the Huns.   But soon they were defeated by the Turks, another successor of the Huns.   According to Chinese chronicle, the Ruruan khan and his family sought refuge inside of China, but were slaughtered by the Turks within the boundary of Norther Zhou Dynasty (AD 557-581) while being deported.   .

Around that time, the Scythians/Sakas (called the 'Sai' people in Chinese), allied with Parthians, had already conquered the Greco-Bactria kingdom by defeating the remaining divided Greeks there. By 75 BC, Scythians took over Punjab, and by 25 BC, Scythians terminated the Greek rule in India.

The Kushan Turks followed the path of the Scythians in entering India, reducing the Sakas to the tributary vassal in the Punjab. Kushans' expansion towards Eastern Turkestan was checked by General Pan Ch'ao in AD 90. Kushans allied with Romans in skipping their common enemy in trade, Parthia, by linking China/India to the Roman Empire via the Indian Sea. Emperor Trajan received the Kushan emissary in AD 99. The Kushans will be responsible for reviving Buddhism and propogating it across Central Asia and to China.

Lack of written records from the Asia Minor, Caucasus and Volga areas has led to the above historical confusion in regards to the Ruruan Avars and the Turkic Avars.   Some counts of the above events are intended to alert the readers about the riddles of Central Asia which will now be complicated further by the introduction of Takla Makan mummies.   The Avars would be there to stay.   The Avars, together with Persians, would attack Byzantium in AD 626.   Charlemagne the Great would face the Avars and the Slavs for control of Carinthia and Bohemia in late 8th century.

Turks of Afghanistan & the Hindus(Pakistan&India)    Turks were not the first Muslims to invade India. Before the Turks converted to Islam, their ancestors were in fact believers of Buddhism. It is a bit ironic to see the later Turks dealing a devastating blow to Buddhism. Arabs of the Umayyad caliphate first invaded India in AD 711 and captured Sind. But the Arabs stopped here. The Turks of Ghazni in Kabul, Afghanistan called Sabuktegin, as their king. In AD 989 and 991, respectively, he raided into the Indus, and his successor, Mahmud of Ghazni, waged 17 wars against India between AD 997 and 1030, and he annexed Punjab. After the Ghazni, the Ghoris, a mountain Turkic principality in Western Afghanistan, would succeed the Ghaznavids in conquering India under Muhammad Ghori. Ghori's slave, Kutbu-d-din Aibak, was appointed as a general and this person slaughtered all monks and destroyed monasteries in AD 1199. Hindu Kush, in fact, meant for the 'Blood of the Indians'. In AD 1200, Aibak invaded Bengal and the Rajput principalities in northern India all ended. An internal rebellion, which killed Ghori, made Aibak declare to be the sultan of the slave dynasty in Delhi in AD 1206. The Delhi dynasties continued three dynasties, Slave, Khilji and Tughlak, till AD 1388. In between, the Genghis Khan Mongols once pursued the son of Kharezm sultan to the Punjab in AD 1220, and the Turks repelled Mongol invasion from 1246 to 1287. Timur would sack Delhi in AD 1398. Babur, after losing Fergana Valley, entered Kabul with 300 followers in AD 1504, and then invaded Lodi, India in AD 1526. The successor, Akbar, would take measures to remove discriminatory policies against the Hindus as well as removed the poll tax. Though those rulers invariably claimed Mongol heritage, their Turkish elements might weigh more than the Mongols.

Western Turkic peoples, notably the Khazars, Cumans(Kipchaks), and Pechenegs, had played important roles in the medieval history of South Russia and Southeastern Europe including Balkans. The affiliations with the Magyars, Avars, and Székely in Hungary, Ukraine, the Balkans would be too complicated a topic to be included here.

http://www.factmonster.com/ce6/history/A0827540.html pointed out that "Khazars are a group of ancient Turks who appeared in Transcaucasia in the 2nd century and subsequently settled in the lower Volga region. Emerging in the 7th cent, the Khazars extended their control, during 8th-10th centuries, from the northern shores of the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea to the Urals and as far westward as Kiev. They conquered the Volga Bulgars and the Crimea, levied tribute from the eastern Slavs, and warred with the Arabs, Persians, and Armenians. In the 8th cent, the Khazar nobility embraced Judaism. The Khazar empire fell when Sviatoslav, duke of Kiev, defeated its army in AD 965." Genetically(Haplogroup K, L, T, R, R1A, R1B, P, Q), The Khazar Turks (or Chazars) are proven to be the ancestors of many Northern and Eastern European Jews including Ukrainian and Russian Jews.

Khazar Jewish Turks-1876
http://www.factmonster.com/ce6/society/A0838008.html continued saying that "Pechenegs or Patzinaks, in the 8th and 9th cent, inhabited the region between the lower Volga and the Urals. Pushed west (c.889) by the Khazars and Cumans, they drove the Magyars before them and settled in southern Ukraine on the banks of the Dnieper. They long harassed Kievan Rus and even threatened (934) Constantinople. After unsuccessfully besieging Kiev (968) and killing the Kievan duke Sviatoslav (972), they were defeated (1036) by Yaroslav and moved to the plains of the lower Danube. Attacked (1064) by the Cumans, many Pechenegs were slain or absorbed. After once more besieging Constantinople (c.1091), they were virtually annihilated by Emperor Alexius I. There were some significant communities of Pechenegs in Hungary today. Cumans or Kumans, identified with the Kipchaks (or the western branch of the Kipchaks) and known in Russian as Polovtsi, had come from northwestern Asian Russia. They conquered Southern Russia and Walachia in the 11th cent., and for almost two centuries warred intermittently with the Byzantine Empire, Hungary, and Kiev. In the early 12th cent. the main Cuman forces were defeated by the Eastern Slavs. The Mongols decisively defeated the Cumans in AD 1245. Some were sold as slaves, and many took refuge in Bulgaria and also in Hungary, where they were gradually assimilated into the Hungarian culture. Others joined the khanate of the Golden Horde (also called the Western Kipchaks)."

In Asia Minor and Anatolia would be the Seljuks and the Osmanli or Ottoman Turks, both members of the Oghuz confederations. Kipchak Turks also had mass migrations to Anatolia from Caucasus and Balkans in the last two millenniums. The Turks, who embraced the Sunni Muslim faith, began to migrate to the Middle East. At first as mercenaries for the Abbasids, the Turks would become the actual rulers of the empire. At the beginning of the 11th cent, Seljuk Turks, led by Tughrul Beg, conquered Kharezm and Iran. They entered Baghdad in 1055, with Tughrul Beg proclaimed sultan. His successor, Alp Arslan, conquered Georgia, Armenia, and much of Asia Minor, overran Syria, and defeated (1071) the Byzantine emperor Romanus IV at Manzikert, opening Byzantium (except for a small area around Constantinople) to Seljuk and Turkmen occupation.

After final downfall of the Seljuk empire in 1157, all the Seljuk states were overrun in the 13th cent by Ghenghis Khan and his successors, whose hordes comprised both Mongols and Turks and became generally known as Tatars.

After Kosedag war, remains of the Seljuk Turks, Turkish tribes hold the Anatolia in control, some Oghuz Turk tribes chose Turanic Turkic and Islamic motives on their flags while some other Oghuz Turk tribes chose Turanic Turkic and Judaic motives(Star of David) on their flags.

Map and Flags of Turkish Tribes in Turkish Anatolia

After the Mongol wave had receded, the Osmanli Turks, a minor Oghuz tribe and the last of the Turkish invading peoples who had been assigned in 13th century to the border area of the Eastern Roman Empire(Byzantine Empire) by their Seljuk overlords, would complete the overthrow of the Eastern Roman Empire(Byzantine Empire) and would unite all Turkish tribes.

Highly disciplined, they would, in the 14th cent, make themselves masters of the ruins of the Seljuk empire in Anatolia. Their historic ruler ... [Suleyman the Magnificient], at one period, ruled from Vienna to the Indian Ocean and from Morocco to the Caucasus. The people of modern Turkey, founded after the collapse of the Ottoman Empire in 1918, are direct descendants of Osmanli Turks.

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