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The ethnonym "Turk" may be first mentioned in Herodotus' (c. 484–425 BCE) work "Targitas";[73] furthermore, during the first century CE., Pomponius Mela refers to the "Turcae" in the forests north of the Sea of Azov, and Pliny the Elder lists the "Tyrcae" among the people of the same area.[73] The first definite reference to the "Turks" come mainly from Chinese sources in the sixth century. In these sources, "Turk" appears as "Tujue" (Chinese: 突厥; Wade–Giles: T’u-chüe), which referred to the Göktürks.[74][75] Although "Turk" refers to Turkish people, it may also sometimes refer to the wider language group of Turkic peoples.[76] In the 19th century, the word Türk only referred to Anatolian villagers. The Ottoman elite identified themselves as Ottomans, not usually as Turks.[77] In the late 19th century, as the Ottoman elite adopted European ideas of nationalism—and as it became clear that the Turkish-speakers of Anatolia were the most loyal supporters of Ottoman rule—the term Türk took on a much more positive connotation.[78] In Ottoman times, the millet system defined communities on a religious basis, and a residue of this remains in that Turkish villagers commonly consider as Turks only those who profess the Sunni faith, and consider Turkish-speaking Jews, Christians, or even Alevis non-Turks.[79] On the other hand, Kurdish-speaking or Arabic-speaking Sunnis of eastern Anatolia are sometimes considered Turks.[80] The imprecision of the appellation Türk can also be seen with other ethnic names, such as Kürt (Kurd), which is often applied by western Anatolians to anyone east of Adana, even those who speak only Turkish.[79] In recent years, centrist Turkish politicians have attempted to redefine this category in a more multi-cultural way, emphasizing that a Türk is anyone who is a citizen of the Republic of Turkey.[81] Currently, article 66 of the Turkish Constitution defines a "Turk" as anyone who is "bound to the Turkish state through the bond of citizenship."[82] Currently, a new constitution is being written, which may address citizenship and ethnicity issues.[83] History See also: History of Turkey and History of Turkic people Prehistory, Ancient era and Early Middle Ages Further information: Turkic peoples, Oghuz Turks and Ancient Anatolians Anatolia was first inhabited by hunter-gatherers during the Paleolithic era, and in antiquity was inhabited by various ancient Anatolian peoples.[84]j[›] After Alexander the Great's conquest in 334 BC, the area was Hellenized, and -by the first century BC- it is generally thought that the native Anatolian languages had become extinct.[85][86][87] In Central Asia, the earliest surviving Turkic-language texts, the eighth-century Orkhon inscriptions, were erected by the Göktürks in the sixth century CE, and include words not common to Turkic but found in unrelated Inner Asian languages.[88] Although the ancient Turks were nomadic, they traded wool, leather, carpets, and horses for wood, silk, vegetables and grain, as well as having large ironworking stations in the south of the Altai Mountains during the 600s CE. Most of the Turkic-speaking people were Tengriists, sharing the cult of the sky god Tengri, although there were also adherents of Manichaeism, Nestorian Christianity, or, especially, Buddhism.[89][73] However, during the Muslim conquests, the Turks entered the Muslim world proper as servants, during the booty of Arab raids and conquests.[73] The Turks began converting to Islam after Muslim conquest of Transoxiana through the efforts of missionaries, Sufis, and merchants. Although initiated by the Arabs, the conversion of the Turks to Islam was filtered through Persian and Central Asian culture. Under the Umayyads, most were domestic servants, whilst under the Abbasids, increasing numbers were trained as soldiers.[73] By the ninth century, Turkish commanders were leading the caliphs’ Turkish troops into battle. As the Abbasid caliphate declined, Turkish officers assumed more military and political power taking over or establishing provincial dynasties with their own corps of Turkish troops.[73] Seljuk era Main article: Seljuk Turks See also: Great Seljuq Empire and Sultanate of Rum During the 11th century the Seljuk Turks grew in number and were able to occupy the eastern province of the Abbasid Empire. By 1055 the Seljuk Empire captured Baghdad and began to make their first incursions into the edges of Anatolia.[90] The victory of the Turks at the Battle of Manzikert over the Byzantine Empire, in 1071, opened the gates of Anatolia to the Seljuk Turks.[91] Although ethnically Turkish, the Seljuk Turks appreciated and became the purveyors of the Persian culture over the Turkish culture.[92][93] Nonetheless, the Turkish language and Islam were introduced and gradually spread over the region and the slow transition from a predominantly Christian and Greek-speaking Anatolia to a predominantly Muslim and Turkish-speaking one was underway.[91] In dire straits, the Byzantine Empire turned to the West for help setting in motion the pleas that led to the First Crusade.[94] Once the Crusaders took Iznik, the Seljuk Turks established the Sultanate of Rum from their new capital, Konya, in 1097.[91] By the 12th century the Europeans had begun to call the Anatolian region "Turchia" or "Turkey", meaning "the land of the Turks".[95] The Turkish society of Anatolia was divided into urban, rural and nomadic populations;[96] the other Turcoman tribes who had also swept into Anatolia at the same time as the Seljuk Turks were those who kept their nomadic ways.[91] These tribes were more numerous than the Seljuk Turks, and rejecting the sedentary lifestyle, adhered to an impregnated Islam with animism and shamanism from their central Asian steppeland origins, which then mixed with new Christian influences. From this popular and syncretist Islam, with its mystical and revolutionary aspects, sects such as the Alevis and Bektashis emerged.[91] Furthermore, the intermarriage between the Turks and local inhabitants, as well as the conversion of many to Islam, also increased the Turkish-speaking Muslim population in Anatolia.[91][97] By 1243, at the Battle of Köse Dağ, the Mongols defeated the Seljuk Turks and became the new rulers of Anatolia, and in 1256, the second Mongol invasion of Anatolia caused widespread destruction. Particularly after 1277, political stability within the Seljuk territories rapidly disintegrated, leading to the strengthening of Turcoman principalities in the western and southern parts of Anatolia called the "beyliks".[98] Beyliks era Main article: Anatolian Turkish beyliks When the Mongols defeated the Seljuk Turks at the Battle of Köse Dağ, Beyliks emerged as autonomous fiefdoms. Once the Seljuk Turks were defeated by the Mongol's conquest of Anatolia, the Turks became the vassal of the Ilkhans who established their own empire in the vast area stretching from present-day Afghanistan to present-day Turkey.[99] As the Mongols occupied more lands in Asia Minor, the Turks moved further to western Anatolia and settled in the Seljuk-Byzantine frontier.[99] By the last decades of the 13th century, the Ilkhans and their Seljuk vassals lost control over much of Anatolia to these Turkoman peoples.[99] A number of Turkish lords managed to establish themselves as rulers of various principalities, known as "Beyliks" or emirates. Amongst these beyliks, along the Aegean coast, from north to south, stretched the beyliks of Karasi, Saruhan, Aydin, Menteşe and Teke. Inland from Teke was Hamid and east of Karasi was the beylik of Germiyan. To the north-west of Anatolia, around Söğüt, was the small and, at this stage, insignificant, Ottoman beylik. It was hemmed in to the east by other more substantial powers like Karaman on Iconium, which ruled from the Black Sea to the Mediterranean. Although the Ottomans were only a small principality among the numerous Turkish beyliks, and thus posed the smallest threat to the Byzantine authority, their location in north-western Anatolia, in the former Byzantine province of Bithynia, became a fortunate position for their future conquests. The Latins, who had conquered the city of Constantinople in 1204 during the Fourth Crusade, established a Latin Empire (1204–61), divided the former Byzantine territories in the Balkans and the Aegean among themselves, and forced the Byzantine Emperors into exile at Nicaea (present-day Iznik). From 1261 onwards, the Byzantines were largely preoccupied with regaining their control in the Balkans.[99] Toward the end of the 13th century, as Mongol power began to decline, the Turcoman chiefs assumed greater independence.[100] Turkish people (Turkish: Türkler) are a Turkic ethnic group speaking Turkish and primarily living in Republic of Turkey, and in the former lands of the Ottoman Empire where Turkish minorities have been established. Indeed, the Turkish minorities are the second largest ethnic groups in Bulgaria and Cyprus. In addition, as a result of modern migration, a Turkish diaspora has been established, particularly in Western Europe (see Turks in Europe), where large communities have been formed in Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. There are also Turkish communities living in Australia, the former Soviet Union and North America. |
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