Introduction to Turkey -Country of Contrasts
Turkey a -bridge between Europe and Asia
Turkey is a great destination to travel. But I think you should study about the history and culture of the people before going . Sure there many places to visit :beach ,food St Sophia, etc .
Study the history of the people. Actually Turkish people are not from Turkey . They came from another land . It is not just one country with Turkish people but many and they are related . Two thousand years ago Turkish and Mongolian had the same ancestor.
Here is the history.
The ancient
Turkish were called Gok Turks or Kok Turks.
They were nomadic tribes and 1st in Mongolia to identify them
as “Turk”. The 1st reference to Turks were in Chinese Records of
about 2000 BC. About 4000 years ago. The records refer to Husiung-nu, an early
form of Western Hun.’ They lived in area bounded by Altai Mountains, Lake
Baikal and northern edge of the Gobi Desert.
Early Turks:
The Huns
were considered as somehow related to ancestors of the Turks. Interestingly the
Hungarians were considered as Turks by the Byzantine Empire.
The Huns:
They were
nomadic tribe who were very skilled in archery and as horsemen. The Huns burst
into Europe suddenly in 370 CE somewhat. The other barbarians were fleeing the
Huns! The Huns went through the “Gateway of the Nations”. The huns were a mystery,
they came from nowhere’ and they vanished suddenly. This reminds me of Dhul
Qarnian and Yajuj and Magug(Gog and Magog)
of the Quran or two horned one. Dhul Qarnian was a might powerful king
who was requested by a certain people, having no refuge from the sun. A place
bounded by two mountains and a lake. A wall was constructed made of molten
copper between the mountains. Probably some where in Kyrgyzstan or Caucaus. We
will not discuss in this post. But while writing
similarities could be found between Huns and Islamic view of Yajuj
and Majuj.
The verse
in the Quran is as follows:
They
said, “O Dhul-Qarnayn, indeed (Ya’juj) Gog and Magog (Ma’juj) are [great]
corrupters in the land. So may we assign for you an expenditure that you might
make between us and them a barrier?”
Language:
The
earliest form of Turkish writings was found in Mongolia. Approximately some
2500-3000 years ago Turkish language is thought to have evolved. It is thought
to be part of Altaic Language family, which is common ancestor of following
languages:
·
Turkish
·
Korean
·
Japanese
The
earliest written record is in early 8th century by the Gok
Turks. They are called Orkhon
inscriptions written in Old Turkic language.
The two memorials were erected in the honor of two Turkic princes:
·
Kul
Tigin
·
Bilge
Khagan- lived from 683 CE to 734 CE.
Origins
from Prophet Nuh(Noah in Bible, and maybe Manu of Hindu Scriptures).
According
to Abul Ghazi Khan
(who was the Khan of Kiva, located in Uzbekistan), Prophet Yafith(Japeth)
settled “between the yaqiq and itil rivers(Ural and Volga). He had 8 sons and
eldest being Turk. The Turks descended from Turk.
Religion:
The Turks
before Islam believed in Shamanism but believed also that there was a God and
He was in the sky. These Turks were called Gok Turks. (Sky turks). Then there
were other turks called as Ay Turks who believed the moon is supported by the God.
We talk
about the Gok Turks for now since we have an idea of the origins. Also we have
an understanding on why Turkey has a Crescent like in Kurulus Osman. But one
thing is clear like Mongols, they have a strong sense of Asabiyyah’ which
is an Arabic word. This means Social Cohesion or group feeling in
regards to tribalism.
Ibn
Khaldun, the great Muslim Arab historian said about the Mongols:
None of the
kings on erath is equal in their asabiya,nor chroses ,nor Caesar,not Aleander
,nor Nebuchadnezzar
“ “
The Gok
Khanate
Khanate was
a political entity ruled by a Khan, Khagan, Khatun or Khanam. At first, I thought Khan, Khagan meant same
thing. The Turkish Soldiers took the latter two to the Indian continent that is
how in India and Pakistan you get Muslim women having Khatun as surname. Even
some Muslim in India and non-Muslims look down upon the surname being ‘Khatun’.
I even did, thought illiterate Muslim girls had ‘khatun’ as their surname.
Khagan
translates to emperor. Literally translated means “Khan of Khans”. This has similarity with the Persians who use
“Shah” Shahen Shah meaning king of kings. No wonder Persians and Turks were
competitor in lot of things.
The Rouran
Khaganate(350 CE -555 CE) was the first to sue these titles.
Origins
of Gok Turks
The Gok
Turks originated from the Ashina clan, who lived in area of China called
Xinjiang. The Ashina clan or the wolf clan. No wonder the wolf is said to ne
popular with historical Turkish series like Kurulus Osman by Mehmet Bozdag.
Legend of
the Wolf and Ashina Clan.
The legend
goes to explain the origins of the Ashina. Clan. There was a boy who had
survived a battle. A wolf finds the boy, saves and nurses him back to health.
The boy impregnates (according to the legend) the wolf and gives birth to 10
half wolf and half humans This is where you get a legend about werewolves. A branch of Ashina clan was said to come to
Japan in 6th century.
The Gok
Turk Khanate
The GokTurk
(also known as Celestial Turks or Blue turks) founded the empire in 552 CE
after defeating the Roururan Overlords.
The two brothers Bumain and Istemi founded the empire. Bumin declared
himself as Khagan but later died after a year. His brother Istemi was made
viceroy or yagbu of the western division. Rome was founded by two brothers,
too.
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Following is an excerpt from Gokturk-Khanate-History-Turkish-Turkish-History-Ertugul
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