Turkoman (ethnonym)


Turkoman is a term widely used during the Middle Ages for the people of the Oghuz Turkic origin. According to medieval authors Al-Biruni and al-Marwazi, this term referred to the Oghuz who converted to Islam. However, there is also evidence that non-Oghuz Turks such as Karluks may have been called as Turkomans as well.
Originally an exonym, presumably from the period of the high Middle Ages, along with the ancient and familiar name Turk and tribal names, it started to be used as an ethnonym by the Oguz tribes that settled in Anatolia, Azerbaijan, Iran, and Turkmenistan.
In Anatolia, since the late Middle Ages, it was supplanted by the term "Ottomans" - from the name of the state and the ruling dynasty. It ceased to be used in Azerbaijan since the 17th century, but it remained as the self-name for the semi-nomadic tribes of the Terekime, a sub-ethnic group of the Azerbaijani people.
Today, this ethnonym is still used by the Turkmens of Central Asia, Iran, Afghanistan and Russia, as well as the other descendants of the Oghuz Turks - Iraqi and Syrian Turkmens.

Etymology and history

For the first time, the term "Turkmen", "" or "Turkoman" was mentioned in the Chinese sources of the 8th – 9th centuries. The spread of the term "Turkoman" occurs with the expansion of the area of residence of that part of the Oghuz that converted to Islam.
The greatest spread of the term Turkoman occurs in the era of the Seljuk conquests. Muslim Oghuz people rallied around the Kınık tribe that made up the main core of the future Seljuk tribal union and the state they would create in the 11th century. Since the Seljuk era, the sultans of the dynasty created military settlements in various parts of the Near and Middle East in order to strengthen their power; so large Turkoman settlements were created in Syria, Iraq, and eastern Anatolia. After the Battle of Manzikert, the Oghuz massively settled throughout Anatolia and Azerbaijan. In the 11th century, Turkomans densely populated Arran. The Persian writer of the 12th century, al-Marvazi wrote about the Turkomans the following:
Towards the high Middle Ages, the eastern part of Anatolia became known as "Turkomania" in European and as "Turkmeneli" in Ottoman sources. The center of the Turkoman settlement in the territory of modern Iraq became Kirkuk.
The Turkmens also included the Ive and Bayandur tribes, from which the ruling clans of the states of Kara Koyunlu and Aq Qoyunlu emerged. After the fall of the latter, the Turkoman tribes, partly under their own name, for example Afshars, Hajilu, Pornak, Deger, and Mavsellu united in a single tribe of Turkoman or Qizilbash tribal confederation.

Language

Turkomans primarily spoke languages that belong to the Oghuz branch of Turkic languages, which included such languages and dialects as Seljuk, Old Anatolian Turkish, Ottoman Turkish, Afshar Turkic and others. Outstanding example for one of the languages spoken by the Medieval Turkomans is the language used in the literary masterpiece of the Oghuz Turks called "the Book of Dede Korkut". The language used in one of the three earliest manuscripts that survived to our days, is of a mixed character and depicts vivid characteristics of the period of transition from later Old Oghuz Turkic to Early Modern Turkic of Iranian Azerbaijan. However, there are also orthographical, lexical and grammatical structures peculiar to Eastern Turkic.
The following sentences are few of many wise-sayings that appear in the Book of Dede Korkut:

Literature

Turkoman literature includes the famous Book of Dede Korkut which was UNESCO's 2000 literary work of the year, as well as the Oghuzname, Battalname, Danishmendname, Köroğlu epics which are part of the literary history of Azerbaijanis, Turks of Turkey and Turkmens. The modern and classical literature of Azerbaijan, Turkey and Turkmenistan are also considered Oghuz literature, since it was produced by their descendants.
The Book of Dede Korkut is an invaluable collection of epics and stories, bearing witness to the language, the way of life, religions, traditions and social norms of the Oghuz Turks.
Other notable literary works of Turkoman era are Târîh-i Âli Selçûk by Yazıcıoğlu Ali, Şikâyetnâme by Fuzûlî, Dâstân-ı Leylî vü Mecnûn by Fuzûlî, Risâletü'n-Nushiyye by Yunus Emre, Mârifetnâme by İbrahim Hakkı Erzurumi and others.

Notable Turkoman dynasties and tribal confederations

Seljuq dynasty

Seljuqs were probably first to adopt a "Turkoman" ethnonym universally, and the spread of the term across the Islamic world at a remarkable speed is attested primarily to them. Seljuqs established both the Seljuk Empire and the Sultanate of Rum, which at their heights stretched from Iran to Anatolia, with the former being the first Turkic empire to link "the East and the West".

Turkmen beyliks of Anatolia

Turkmen beyliks of Anatolia were small principalities in Anatolia governed by Beys, the first of which was founded at the end of the 11th century. A second, more extensive period of establishment of beyliks took place as a result of the decline of the Seljuq Sultanate of Rûm in the second half of the 1200s.
The basis of the organization of beyliks was the territorial and tribal principle. Unification took place around the chief of the tribe and his descendants. For this reason, the names of the beyliks were not associated with the name of the territory, but with the name of the dynasty, for example, Osmanoğullari, Dilmachoğullari, Saruhanoğullari and etc.
One of the beyliks, that of the Osmanoğlu, from its capital in Bursa completed its conquest of other Turkmen beyliks by the late 15th century, becoming a transcontinental empire and a great power known as the Ottoman Empire.

Kara Koyunlu

Kara Koyunlu was the union of Oguz Turkic nomadic tribes led by the Shia Turkmendynasty from the Oghuz tribe of Yiva, which existed in the 14th-15th centuries in Asia Minor, on the territory of modern Azerbaijan, Armenia, Iraq, northwestern Iran and eastern Turkey.
Kara Koyunlu tribal confederation included such Turkmen tribes as Baharlu, Saadlu, Karamanlu, Alpaut, Duharlu, Jagirlu, Hajilu, Agacheri.
The reign of Jahan Shah is generally considered as the most prosperous era of the Kara Koyunlu as it controlled vast and wealthy lands, becoming a formidable force in the region. Kara Koyunlu became one of the important Islamic states at that time, with a developed political, administrative, military, economic and cultural structure.

Ak Koyunlu

Ak Koyunlu was a tribal confederation of Turkmen tribes under the leadership of the Bayandur tribe, who ruled eastern Anatolia and western Iran until the Safavids conquered the area in 1501-1503.
The Ak Koyunlu first acquired land in 1402, when Turco-Mongol warlord Timur granted them all of Diyar Bakr in present-day Turkey. For a long time, these Turkmens were unable to expand their territory, as the rival Kara Koyunlu Turkmens kept them at bay. However, the situation changed completely with the rule of Uzun Hasan, who defeated the Kara Koyunlu leader Jahān Shāh in 1467.
After the defeat of a Timurid leader, Abu Sa'id Mirza, Uzun Hasan was able to take Baghdad along with territories around the Persian Gulf. He expanded into Iran as far east as Khorasan.

Qizilbash

Qizilbash was initially the association of the Turkoman nomadic tribes of Ustādjlu, Rūmlu, Shāmlu, Dulkadir, Afshār, Qājār, Takkalu etc. Later, the term Qizilbash was designated to all subjects of the Safavid state, regardless of their ethnicity.
The Qizilbash flourished in Iranian Azerbaijan, Anatolia and Kurdistan from the late 15th century onwards, some of which contributed to the foundation of the Safavid dynasty of Iran.
Currently, there is an ethnic group in Afghanistan known as the "Qizilbash". In Turkey, adherents of the Shia sect of Ali-Illahi, which also include the Yoruk tribes are known as the Qizilbash. The Qizilbash also constitute part of the present-day Turkmens and Kurds.

Afsharid dynasty

Afsharids were a short-lived dynasty that, at its height, controlled modern-day Iran, Armenia, Georgia, Azerbaijan Republic, parts of the North Caucasus, Afghanistan, Bahrain, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Pakistan, parts of Iraq, Turkey, United Arab Emirates and Oman. It originated from the Turkmen Afshar tribe in Iran's north-eastern province of Khorasan. The dynasty was founded in 1736, by the brilliant military commander Nader Shah, who deposed the last member of the Safavid dynasty and proclaimed himself as the Shah of Iran.
During Nader's reign, Iran reached its greatest extent since the Sasanian Empire. After his death, however, most of the empire was divided between the Zands, Durranis, Georgians, and the Caucasian khanates, while Afsharid rule was confined to a small local state in Khorasan. Eventually, the Afsharid dynasty was overthrown by Mohammad Khan Qajar in 1796.
The military forces of the Afsharid dynasty had their origins in the relatively obscure, yet bloody inter-factional violence in Khorasan during the collapse of the Safavid state. The small band of warriors under local warlord Nader Qoli of the Turkmen Afshar tribe in north-east Iran were no more than a few hundred men. Yet at the height of Nader's power as the king of kings, Shahanshah, he commanded an army of 375,000 fighting men which constituted the single most powerful military force of its time, led by one of the most talented and successful military leaders of history.

Qajar dynasty

The Qajar dynasty was a royal dynasty of Turkoman origin, specifically from the Qajar tribe, ruling over Iran from 1789 to 1925.
The Qajars were one of the original Turkmen Qizilbash tribes that emerged and spread across the Asia Minor around 10th and 11th centuries. They later supplied military power to the Safavid Iran since the earliest days of the Safavids' reign. Numerous members of the Qajar tribe held important positions in the Safavid Iran.
In 1794, a Qajar chieftain, Agha Mohammed, member of the Qoyunlu branch of the Qajars, founded the Qajar dynasty which took over the Zand dynasty in Iran. He started his campaign from his base south of the Caspian Sea, capturing Isfahan in 1785. In 1786, Tehran acknowledged Mohammed's authority.
The Qajars had a desire to conquer the new territories on the model of Genghis Khan and Timur, their goal was also to return the territories of the Safavid and Afsharid empires.
In the 1980s, the Qajar population was a little more than 15,000 people, most of whom lived in Iran.