Who surrounded the Turkic ethnos. Turkic group of languages: peoples

Community of Turkic-speaking peoples

The Turks are an ethno-linguistic community that formed in the steppes of North China in the 1st millennium BC. e.

Many peoples inhabiting the world space are Türkic-speaking. They can be conventionally classified into several groups. The convention is explained by linguistic convergence in the process of coexistence of tribes in neighboring lands. The ancient t. Include: Türkuts, Pechenegs, Polovtsians, Huns, Bulgars, Khazars, Oguz Türks, Karluks.

Currently, scientists divide so into two large groups:

1) Western t. Are presented:

Bulgar subgroup;

Kypchak (northwestern) subgroup, which includes: Kypchak-Bulgar, Kypchak-Polovtsian, Kypchak-Nogai peoples;

Karluk (southeastern) subgroup;

Oguz (southwestern) subgroup, which includes: Oguz-Bulgar, Oguz-Seljuk, Oguz-Turkmen peoples.

2) eastern t. Are presented:

Kirghiz-Kypchak subgroup;

Uyghur subgroup.

Who are the c. And where did they come from?

For the first time the ethnonym Türk is found among the Türks of the 6th century. Chinese chronicles have reported about the Turks since 542; European - since 568

There are many versions of the origin of the name Comrade V. Thomsen translates the term "toruk", "turuk" as "standing upright", "strong." V.V. Bartold rejects the opinion of V. Thomsen and speaks of the origin of the name from the word "turu" (determination), which in relation to the people ruled by the Turkic kagan means "the people ruled by me." A.N. Kononov - the word "Turk" means "strong, strong".

Ethnogenesis and common language

The initial territories of settlement were the lands of Asia and South Siberia. West of the r. Volga in III - II millennium BC e. formed a group of so-called migrants. These so became dominant in the Volga region, Kazakhstan, Altai and the valley of the Upper Yenisei. Another group of so-called appeared in the steppes east of the river. Yenisei a little later, its roots are intra-Asian. The tribes interacted with each other, and in the II millennium AD. e. among them stood out modern so. Russia and adjacent territories.

Social and state system

The form of the state in ancient times is nomadic. Since the middle of the 1st millennium BC. e. and up to the XVII century. in Eurasia there were first Scythian, then Turkic states.

In the Central Asian interfluve in the early Middle Ages, sedentary and semi-nomadic so-called, closely contacting the Iranian-speaking Sogdian, Khorezm and Bactrian population, took shape. In the VI century. n. e. in the middle reaches of the river. Syr Darya and r. Chu arose Turkestan.

The first state association was the Hunnu horde. This is the formation of the Huns of the 5th century. By 552 - 745 existence in Central Asia Turkic kaganate. In the V - VIII centuries. Bulgars created new states on the territory of Europe - Danube Bulgaria, Volga Bulgaria. In 650 - 969 there was the Khazar Kaganate, defeated by Svyatoslav. From the second half of the 9th century. the Khazars were driven out by the Pechenegs, who occupied the northern Black Sea region. They were defeated in 1019 by the Russian Yaroslav the Wise. In the XI century. the Pechenegs were replaced by the Polovtsians, who were conquered at the beginning of the 13th century. Mongol-Tatars. Formed Golden Horde had a mainly Turkic population. In the XV - XVI centuries. it broke up into independent khanates.

Economy, culture and traditions

The traditional occupations of the trade are nomadic herding, extraction and processing of iron.

Ethnocultural traditions took shape in the era of antiquity and the Middle Ages. In the second half of the 1st millennium AD. e. the economic and cultural type, spiritual culture, traditions, etc. took shape. Its own writing was created.

Many Turkic-speaking tribes took part in the historical process of the formation and development of the ancient Turkic statehood and culture. An important role in this process was played by the Pechenegs, united in a powerful alliance of tribes.

Pechenegs

The Pechenegs wandered in the VIII-IX centuries between the Aral Sea, the Lik and Volga rivers and controlled the territory where the Iranian-speaking Sarmatian, Finno-Ugric and other tribes lived.

Faced with pressure from the Khazars, Oguzes and Polovtsians (Kipchaks), the Pechenegs moved west. One of the reasons that prompted the first Pechenegs to move to the east of Europe, and then the Oguzes and Polovtsians, was an almost century-old drought, which sharply reduced the areas suitable for nomadic camps in the Aral Sea region and the Trans-Caspian region.

In the 9th century, the Pechenegs crossed the Volga and settled in the Northern Black Sea region, controlling a vast steppe strip from the Don to the Danube and fighting with almost all of their close neighbors: the Khazars, Magyars, Russia and Byzantium.

Byzantium often resorted to military assistance from the Pechenegs to weaken Ancient Rus. So, in 972, the Pechenegs met at the Dnieper rapids the squad of Svyatoslav Igorevich, who was returning from Byzantium, and defeated it.

The fierce war continued under Prince Vladimir Svyatoslavovich, who created several fortified lines to protect the southern borders of Rus, concluded an alliance with the Oguzes against the Pechenegs, and approached Byzantium.

In 1036, Yaroslav the Wise defeated the Pechenegs near Kiev, after which the Pechenezh military association collapsed.

The Oguzes-Torks completed the business, and later, who drove the Pechenegs in the middle of the 11th century to the Carpathians and the Danube. Groups of Pechenegs gradually dissolved among the surrounding population, and most of them merged with the Cumans (Cumans).

There are reasons to consider the Pechenegs, Oghuz and Polovtsians, who settled and lived on the Danube, the Turkic-speaking people of the Gagauz as distant descendants of the Bulgarians. The Gagauz people adopted Christianity in the 13th century and moved to Bessarabia in the late (late 18th - 19th centuries). Now they have formed the Gagauz Republic within Moldova.

Oguzes

The Oguz tribes were mentioned in the Orkhon-Yenisei inscriptions of the 8th century. called Tokuz-Oguz (literally - nine genera). Subsequently, they became part of the Türkic and Uygur Kaganates, where, in the process of the formation of the Uyghur ethnos, the name Tokuz-Oguz is replaced by the ethnonym “Uygur”.

In the 9th - 11th centuries, under the name Oguz, a Turkic union of the Aral and Caspian tribes was formed with the center in the city of Yangikent in the lower reaches of the Syr Darya. In the 10th century, the western Oghuzes (Guzes, Uzes, Torks) appeared in the east of Europe, while the other part of them moved to Central Asia. Western Oghuz-Torks fought with the Khazar Kaganate, the Pechenegs, made an unsuccessful campaign against Byzantium, and at the beginning of the 11th century roamed the steppes of the Black Sea region.

Oguzes-Torks often acted as allies of the Kiev princes. The chronicle first mentions the Torks in 985, when they participated in the campaign of Prince Vladimir against the Volga Bulgarians. They later participated in internecine wars Russian princes, fought with the Polovtsians. Part of the Torks, settled by the sons of Yaroslav along the rivers Ros and Torch (the city of Torchesk), eventually became glorified, and those who remained in the steppes were assimilated by the Polovtsy.

Mentioned from the end of the XI-XII century. the tribal association of "black hoods" also consisted of the remnants of the Turkic tribes - the Pechenegs, Torks, Berendeys. It defended the southern borders of Kievan Rus and was used by the Russian princes competing in the struggle for power as military support. Gradually, the torques moved to a sedentary lifestyle. In the XII century. the Kiev prince was formally "the supreme overlord of the black hoods". It is interesting to note that the ethnonym "Black Klobuki" has something in common with the self-name of the Karakalpaks - a modern Turkic ethnos living in Karakalpakstan within the Republic of Uzbekistan.

The Oguzes of Central Asia, led by the Seljuks, subjugated Khorezm, Iran, Azerbaijan, moved to Southwest Asia and the Middle East, creating by the end of the 11th century a huge Seljukid state. In the XI-XIII centuries, the ethnonym "Oguz" was replaced in Central Asia by the ethnonym "Turkmen", and in the Middle East - by the ethnonym "Turk". Oguzes have played a significant role in the ethnogenesis of modern Turkmens, Azerbaijanis and Turks.

Kipchaks (Cumans, Cumans)

In the 11th century, the peoples of Eastern Europe and Central Asia witnessed the next wave of migration of nomadic peoples after the great Hunnic migration, caused by the movement of a new strong alliance of Turkic nomadic tribes called the Kipchaks, Polovtsy or Cumans. The term "Kipchaks" was used in the east, the Polovtsians were called the Slavs, and the Cumans were most often called in Europe.

The Kipchaks in the VIII century were part of the so-called Kimak Kaganate, which existed in Western Siberia, and were the western group of this tribal union. After separation, the Kipchaks occupied the territory of North-West Kazakhstan and in the 10th century bordered on the east with the Kimaks, in the west with the Khazars, in the south with the Oguzes. Already in the middle of the 10th century, the Kipchaks, following the Oghuz-Torks, crossed the Volga and in a wide wave spread over the steppes of Eastern Europe, subjugating the main part of the Pechenegs and Tork-Oghuzes that remained there.

The huge territory controlled by the Kipchaks in the XI-XIII centuries was named Desht-i-Kipchak in the east (from the Persian “Kipchak steppe”), its borders stretched from the Irtysh to the Danube.

It is assumed that the northern border of Desht-i-Kipchak ran along the Moskva River, where the Turks bordered on the Finno-Ugric peoples, and deduces a toponymic series of names near Moscow: Kolomenskoye - from "kolloma" (protection), Kapotnya - from "high settlement" (" tall grass "), Kuntsevo - from the" shelter "(" visiting yard "), Desht-i-Kipchak was conditionally divided into the western and eastern parts, the borders of which were the Ural and the Yaik river.

The western part of the Kipchak steppes received the name Polovtsian land in the Russian chronicles. The basis of the Kipchak economy remained nomadic cattle breeding, but under the influence of the peoples of the occupied lands, a part of the Kipchaks switched to a sedentary lifestyle, agriculture, crafts and trade. A significant role was played by the military aristocracy, seeking to expand power and replenish wealth.

Most of the Polovtsians remained pagans. The dominant religion, obviously, was shamanism, which had been preserved among the Kipchaks since ancient times. The Polovtsian archaeological monuments of the Black Sea steppes are considered to be burial mounds, on which "stone women" were usually installed - statues of human figures from one and a half to three and a half meters in height, having early analogues among the Scythian-Sarmatian and Turkic peoples. The sculptures preserved in the southern Russian steppes make it possible to represent the details of the costume and weapons of the Polovtsians. The social system of the Polovtsians was at the stage of formation of early feudal relations.

Despite the vastness of the territories controlled by the Kypchaks, they did not have a state as a formalized political institution. Individual tribal unions, headed by khans-princes, were nothing more than a conglomerate. But, located at strategically important geopolitical and trade crossroads connecting the countries, cultures and civilizations of the East and Europe, they played an important role in the fate of many peoples of Eurasia, especially Russian and Tatar. The Kipchak enzyme gave brightness and strength to the multicolored Turkic civilization.

Thus, by the beginning of the Middle Ages, the Great Steppe was not only charged with the energy of the multi-ethnic flow of the Eurasian peoples, but also turned into an arena of unique historical creativity and cultural and civilizational competitive rivalry.

Official history says that the Turkic language emerged in the first millennium when the first tribes belonging to this group appeared. But, as modern research shows, the language itself appeared much earlier. There is even an opinion that the Turkic language came from a certain proto-language, which was spoken by all the inhabitants of Eurasia, as in the legend of Tower of babel... The main phenomenon of the Turkic vocabulary is that it has practically not changed over the five millennia of its existence. The ancient writings of the Sumerians will still be as understandable to the Kazakhs as modern books.

Spread

The Turkic language group is very numerous. If you look geographically, then the peoples communicating in similar languages \u200b\u200blive like this: in the west, the border begins with Turkey, in the east - with the Xinjiang Autonomous Region of China, in the north - with the East Siberian Sea and in the south - with Khorasan.

Currently, the approximate number of people who speak Turkic is 164 million, this number is almost equal to the entire population of Russia. On this moment there are different opinions on how the group of Turkic languages \u200b\u200bis classified. What languages \u200b\u200bstand out in this group, we will consider further. The main ones: Turkish, Azerbaijani, Kazakh, Kyrgyz, Turkmen, Uzbek, Karakalpak, Uyghur, Tatar, Bashkir, Chuvash, Balkarian, Karachaev, Kumyk, Nogai, Tuvan, Khakass, Yakut, etc.

Ancient Turkic-speaking peoples

We know that the Turkic group of languages \u200b\u200bhas spread very widely across Eurasia. In ancient times, peoples who speak this way were simply called Türks. Their main activity was animal husbandry and agriculture. But one should not perceive all modern peoples of the Turkic language group as descendants of an ancient ethnos. Over the millennia, their blood has mixed with the blood of other ethnic groups in Eurasia, and now there are simply no indigenous Turks.

The ancient peoples of this group include:

• turkyuts - tribes that settled in the mountainous Altai in the 5th century AD;
• pechenegs - arose at the end of the 9th century and inhabited the area between Kievan Rus, Hungary, Alania and Mordovia;
• the Polovtsians - they drove out the Pechenegs by their appearance, were very freedom-loving and aggressive;
• the Huns - arose in the II-IV centuries and managed to create a huge state from the Volga to the Rhine, the Avars and Hungarians came from them;
• bulgars - from these ancient tribes such peoples as Chuvash, Tatars, Bulgarians, Karachais, Balkars originated.
• the Khazars - huge tribes that managed to create their own state and oust the Huns;
• oghuz Turks - the ancestors of the Turkmens, Azerbaijanis, lived in Seljukia;
• karluks - lived in the VIII-XV centuries.

Classification

The Türkic group of languages \u200b\u200bhas a very complex classification. Rather, each historian offers his own version, which will differ from the other in minor changes. We offer you the most common option:

1. Bulgar group. The only presently existing representative is the Chuvash language.
2. The Yakut group is the most eastern of the peoples of the Turkic language group. Residents speak Yakut and Dolgan dialects.
3. South Siberian - this group includes the languages \u200b\u200bof peoples living mainly within the borders Russian Federation in the south of Siberia.
4. Southeast, or Karluk. Examples are Uzbek and Uyghur.
5. Northwestern, or Kypchak group - represented big amount nationalities, many of which live on their own independent territory, for example, Tatars, Kazakhs, Kyrgyz.
6. Southwest, or Oguz. The languages \u200b\u200bof the group are Turkmen, Salar, Turkish.

Yakuts

On their territory, the local population simply calls itself Sakha. Hence the name of the region - the Republic of Sakha. Some representatives also settled in other neighboring areas. The Yakuts are the most eastern of the peoples of the Turkic language group. Culture and traditions in ancient times were borrowed from tribes living in the central steppe part of Asia.

Khakass

For this people, a region has been defined - the Republic of Khakassia. The largest contingent of Khakas is located here - about 52 thousand people. Several thousand more moved to live in Tula and the Krasnoyarsk Territory.

Shors

This nationality reached the greatest number in the 17th-18th centuries. Now it is a small ethnic group that can be found only in the south of the Kemerovo region. Today the number is very small, about 10 thousand people.

Tuvans

It is customary to divide Tuvinians into three groups, differing from each other in some peculiarities of the dialect. Inhabited by the Republic This is a small eastern of the peoples of the Turkic language group, living on the border with China.

Tofalars

This nationality has practically disappeared. According to the 2010 census, 762 people were found in several villages of the Irkutsk region.

Siberian Tatars

The eastern dialect of Tatar is a language that is considered to be national for the Siberian Tatars. This is also a Turkic group of languages. The peoples of this group are densely settled in Russia. They can be found in rural areas of Tyumen, Omsk, Novosibirsk and others.

Dolgans

A small group living in the northern regions of the Nenets autonomous region... They even have their own municipal district - Taimyr Dolgano-Nenetsky. To date, only 7.5 thousand people remain of the Dolgans.

Altaians

The Türkic group of languages \u200b\u200bincludes the Altai lexicon. Now in this area you can freely get acquainted with the culture and traditions of the ancient people.

Independent Turkic-speaking states

Today there are six separate independent states, the nationality of which is the indigenous Turkic population. First of all, these are Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. Of course, Turkey and Turkmenistan. And do not forget about Uzbekistan and Azerbaijan, which belong to the Turkic language group in the same way.

The Uighurs have their own autonomous region. It is located in China and is called Xinjiang. Other nationalities belonging to the Turks also live in this territory.

Kyrgyz

The Turkic group of languages \u200b\u200bprimarily includes Kyrgyz. Indeed, the Kirghiz or Kyrgyz are the most ancient representatives of the Turks who lived in Eurasia. The first mentions of the Kirghiz are found in the 1st millennium BC. e. In almost all of its history, the nation did not have its own sovereign territory, but at the same time it managed to preserve its identity and culture. The Kyrgyz even have such a concept "ashar", meaning teamwork, close cooperation and solidarity.

The Kyrgyz have long lived in the steppe sparsely populated areas. This could not but affect some of the character traits. These people are extremely hospitable. When a new person arrived in the settlement earlier, he told the news that no one could hear before. For this, the guest was awarded the best treats. It is still customary to honor guests sacredly.

Kazakhs

The Turkic language group could not exist without the most numerous Turkic people living not only in the state of the same name, but all over the world.

The folk customs of the Kazakhs are very harsh. Children from childhood are brought up in strict rules, taught to be responsible and hardworking. For this nation, the concept of "dzhigit" is the pride of the people, a person who by all means defends the honor of his fellow tribesman or his own.

A clear division into "white" and "black" can still be traced in the appearance of the Kazakhs. IN modern world it has long lost its meaning, but vestiges of old concepts are still preserved. A feature of the appearance of any Kazakh is that he can simultaneously be similar to both a European and a Chinese.

Turks

The Turkic language group includes Turkish. It so happened historically that Turkey has always worked closely with Russia. And this relationship was not always peaceful. Byzantium, and later the Ottoman Empire, began its existence simultaneously with Kievan Rus. Even then, there were the first conflicts for the right to rule in the Black Sea. Over time, this enmity intensified, which greatly influenced the relationship between Russians and Turks.

Turks are very distinctive. First of all, this is evident in some of their features. They are hardy, patient and completely unpretentious in everyday life. The behavior of the representatives of the nation is very careful. Even if they are angry, they will never express their displeasure. But then they can harbor anger and take revenge. In serious matters, the Turks are very cunning. They can smile in the face, and build intrigues behind their backs for their own benefit.

The Turks took their religion very seriously. Harsh Muslim laws prescribed every step in a Turk's life. For example, they could kill an unbeliever and not be punished for it. Another feature is connected with this feature - hostility towards non-Muslims.

Conclusion

Turkic-speaking peoples are the largest ethnos on Earth. The descendants of the ancient Turks settled on all continents, but most of them live in the indigenous territory - in the mountainous Altai and in the south of Siberia. Many peoples have managed to preserve their identity within the borders of independent states.

Until the mid-80s of the 20th century, there was no people called "Turks". There was also no anthropological term "Turks". Only in the linguistic environment the so-called "Turkic languages" were called by this term. The famous Turkologist A.N. Kononov in the article "Turkology" defines this concept as follows: "Turkology, a complex of humanities studying languages, history, literature, folklore, culture of peoples speaking Turkic languages. Initially, Turkic studies developed mainly as a philological discipline ”[TSB]. But at present, several peoples at once - representatives of different races - are trying to identify the Turks in ethnic terms. And in this context, there is an invisible struggle.

Recall that Turkic languages \u200b\u200bare common in Turkey, among part of the population of Russia, Iran, Afghanistan, Mongolia, China, Bulgaria, Romania, Yugoslavia, Albania, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Bashkiria, Karakalpakia, Tatarstan, Tuva, Chuvashia, Yakutia, Gorno-Altai Autonomous Region, Khakass Autonomous Region, Dagestan, Kabardino-Balkaria, Karachay-Cherkessia, Stavropol Territory, Moldavia, Lithuania and Ukraine (Karaites), Georgia (Urum), Crimea (Krymchaks), etc. In addition to Negroids and Australoids, there are also peoples of all races. So far, in this confrontation, Caucasians, Caucasians and Semites are inferior to Mongoloids.

Let us trace the evolution of the so-called “Turkic languages” using the “Languages \u200b\u200bof the world” scheme [Tyunyaev, 2007]. If you strictly follow the definition, then the Turkic language until the beginning of the 20th century was the name of the language that preceded the modern Khakass and Shor languages \u200b\u200band began its formation in the 5th century from the ancient Uigur language. The latter, in addition to those mentioned, gave rise to several more languages: 1) in the confluence with Sogdian - Uyghur (8th century) and further Mongolian (from the 19th century), Kalmyk (from the 19th century), Buryat (from 14 th century), Chinese (from the 14th century) languages; 2) Oirot, Altai (from the 19th century), Uzbek (from the 19th century) languages; 3) in confluence with Oghuz - Turkish (from the 7th century) language. The Sogdian language is a descendant of the Avestan (Ghat) language - the language of the Indo-European family - at the beginning of the 2nd millennium BC. mixed with the Elamite language (the Elamodravid family of paleoanthropists in India). The Oguz language belongs to the Uralic family.

In general, to be precise in their research, it must be stated that deeper than the date “the beginning of the 2nd century. AD " there are no more Turkic languages. Outside this time, there are languages \u200b\u200bof other families. If, nevertheless, we try to find a certain “root” of the Turkic language, then it is better to do it along the line of the Old Uigur language, because, we repeat, the “Sogdian” line leads us to two completely unrelated language families:
elamodravid and Indo-European. Their mixing, which occurred at the beginning of the 2nd millennium BC, exactly coincides with the data of archeology and anthropology.

Those who came in the 3rd millennium BC. In the region of the Avestan languages, Caucasoid settlers, led by the mythological hero Bohumir (Avest. Yima), brought with them the common Indo-European language. And the local population belongs to the Vedoid race (sub-race of the Negroid race).

The ancient Uigur line of "Turkic languages" developed completely differently, both linguistically and anthropologically. The basis of the genesis here is a pair of Mongoloid races. But the Caucasians were also involved here. The ancient Uigur language was formed by the 2nd century. AD by merging two languages \u200b\u200b- Altai and Samoyed. The Altai language developed from Ugric, which was formed by the middle of the 3rd millennium BC. by mixing the Prafinnougorsk (Mongoloids) and the common Indo-European.

And the Samoyed language developed from Prasamodian, which, in turn, developed from the Uralic language by the 5th millennium BC. The Uralic language itself is the result of a mixture of the Indo-European language (Caucasians) and the Sino-Caucasian (paleomongoloid paleoanthropes of the Caucasus and Altai) language, which took place in the 10th millennium BC. And this is the final point of the Uralic family of languages. However, there is no reason to attribute the Turkic languages \u200b\u200bto this family. More precisely, only to this family. The real Uralic languages \u200b\u200bare Koryak, Chukchi, Nivkh, Aleutian, Yukagir, etc., which no one associates with the Turkic languages.

And, if we try to give a clear definition to the process of forming a “Turkic” family of languages, then this definition should be formulated as follows. The Türkic family of languages \u200b\u200bis the result of an unequal mixing of the languages \u200b\u200bof four unrelated families - Uralic, Indo-European, Elamodravid and Sino-Caucasian. Mixing took place in the Altai region following the processes of interracial crossbreeding in several stages. At the first stage, by the 10th millennium BC, from the confluence of the Sino-Caucasian (Mongoloid) and Indo-European (Caucasoid) components, the Uralic lineage was formed, the Elamodravid lineage took shape separately from Negroid carriers. At the second stage, in the 3rd - 2nd millennium BC, both lineages experienced a new powerful influx of Indo-European languages. At the third, final stage, around the 2nd - 5th c. AD, these two lines merged, giving rise to the well-known "Turkic" languages.

The Türkic peoples are the "product" of the functioning of ancient trade routes in the Altai region, along which ancient Rus came from the northwest to the region, the Sino-Caucasian part of the Chinese from the southeast, the Vedoid Afghans and Indians from the south, and in the Altai region itself the first Uralians were formed. The dates are the same as in the previous paragraph.

To understand the ethnocultural processes associated with the speakers of the Turkic languages, we will use the data presented in Table 1. It presents the number of speakers of the languages \u200b\u200bof different families. The speakers of the Turkic languages \u200b\u200bare a completely insignificant part of human society. For comparison, their number is more than two times lower than the number of, for example, African languages, whose cultural influence even in neighboring regions is hardly traced.

As for the formation of the ethnonym "Türk", then here, as in the case of the Greco-Italian region, one should turn to mythology. Here we will dwell in more detail, since this issue has not been studied at all by Türkologists, and it, as you know, forms the basis of national identification.

First of all, let us note that the first arrival in the Turkic region (Northern India, Afghanistan and the lands to the north of them) of the Caucasians took place in the 10th millennium BC. (possibly a little later). At an early stage, due to the small number of Caucasians, it is difficult to identify with any archaeological culture. The autochthonous paleoanthropes of this time left behind Mousterian tools, which they used until the 8th millennium BC. In the 7th - 5th millennia BC. the influence of Caucasians in this region became dominant - these are the cultures of painted ceramics (monuments of the Harappa type). There was practically no cross-breeding with local paleoanthropines.

The mythological line of the heroes is preserved in written sources and legends. The beginning of the dynasty was laid by the Indo-European serpent Yusha (Shesha, As, Az, from him Asia). His family came out in the 8th millennium BC. from the lands of the Russian Plain, in the 7th millennium BC. passed through Armenia and proceeded to the east, where his descendant is known under the name Azhi-Dakhak. Further in Kabul, Mardas ruled. This was already the ancestor of the Arabs. Further - Zahhak (Arab, Kabul; the first Jew). Further - Mehrab (Arab, Kabul), Rudaba (Arab) and Zal's husband, then - Rustam and Takhmin's wife (Afrasiab), then Suhrab and Shagad. This is the Elamo-Dravidian line. To this day, noble families in Kabul trace their genealogies to these characters.

The next component of the Turkic people is represented by the descendants of the Most High. His family emerged from the common Indo-European unity a little later Yushi - approximately, in the 8th millennium BC, but stayed in Armenia for a long time. Where the first and most ancient capital is named after him - Vishap. Further, this clan, under the leadership of Kryshnia and his son Kama, by the 3rd - 2nd millennium BC. reached North India, where he formed the higher castes. Genetically, they are carriers of the "Russian" haplogroup R1a1. Linguistically - Sanskrit and Avestan languages. The descendants of this family became the second component of the Pra-Turkic unity.

The third component of the Turks is along the Scythian line. He is the son of the legendary Bohumir (Yima), the son of Dazhbog, the grandson of Perun and the great-grandson of Svarog. Bohumir in the 3rd millennium BC came to Central Asia from the central regions of the Russian Plain. We know this people under the name “Tochars”, and Turkologists are well aware of its history. After his son Scythian conquered a vast territory, and his descendants from the 8th - 7th centuries BC. began to be called Scythians. Genetically, they are carriers of the same Russian haplogroup R1a1. Linguistically, they are native speakers of the Old Russian language. Their kings are known: Arianta (550 BC, Atey (400 - 339 BC), Skilur (300 - 200 BC), Farzoy and Inismay (75), Dir (950 year) and others.

Let us note two more components of the Turkic people, the names of the mythological heroes of which, unfortunately, are not known to us - these are the Altai Mongoloids (with the so-called "reverse monogoloid") and the Sinitic or Austrian Mongoloids (with normal monogoloid; natives of South China). The former invested in the formation of the Uralic family of languages, the latter - in the formation of the Sino-Caucasian.

From the 4th millennium BC Central Asia was the center of the intersection of many trade routes. The main of which was the Northern Trade Route, connecting these places with the Ancient Rus. Jade (3rd millennium BC), lapis lazuli (2nd millennium BC) and other objects of trade went along this route to Russia and further to the west, and honey from Russia and the west. , fur, wood, tar, other chemical products, amber, etc. Later, in the 1st millennium BC. silk and mirrors began to be sent to Russia and to the west. And at the turn new era the Southern Trade Route was also opened.

Thus, Central, Middle, North-West regions East Asia became an area of \u200b\u200bactive international trade and a melting pot for many races and peoples. It was in this melting pot that the type of person we call “Turk” was developed. Archaeological cultures this region is widely known, so we will not dwell on them. Let's pay more attention to the mythological data.

In the midst of this commercial civilization, the local image of Dazhbog - the legendary Faridun - was formed. He had three sons. Elder Salm, his father gave him control of Rum and the entire West. The younger Eraj, his father gave him control over Iran and Arabistan (the ancestor of the Iranians). And the middle son was called Tour. He inherited Turan and Chinese Turkestan from his father. It is this Tur that is the mythological progenitor of the Turkic people. This mythological event took place around the 2nd millennium BC. And all the peoples named above were involved in it. That is why some branches of the Turkic language are based on the Indo-European language, while others are based on Altai, Elamite or another.

After the Tour, the Turkic countries were ruled by his son Pashang, then by his grandson Afrasiab. At this time, war broke out between different clans. And now Afrasiab takes revenge for Tur and opposes the Keyanids. Later, Shida, Jakhn (ruler of Turan) ruled and went to the Karakhanid dynasty (the Khagan dynasty, which ruled from the beginning of the 10th century to 1211 in the Semirechye and East Turkestan; Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan) and the Seljukids (11-14 centuries, the Turks Oguzes).

So the countdown follows. According to mythology, Faridun ruled for over 1000 years, that is, the existence of his sons - Salma, Tura and Eraj - is the 1st millennium BC. Zahhak's lineage was ruled by his son Mehrab. They went from him arabic languages: to the 4th c. AD formed the Arab Koine - on the basis of the ancient Arabic; the latter took shape by the 5th century. BC. based on the Urmian (Aramaic) language - the ancestor of the ancient Armenian language; Urmian was formed by the 8th century. BC. from Chaldian. And now the Chaldian language carries a component of the Elamite language, with which it merged in the 9th century. BC. (that is, the same 1st millennium BC). In Semirechye - this is the time of the Scythians.

Analyzing the linguistic, anthropological and genealogical situation in this region at the indicated time, we come to the conclusion that, most likely, all the royal lines here were carriers of R1a1. This is confirmed by the fossil Tarim DNA - R1a1. The Turkicization of the population proceeded along the female half, mixing with the male “Russian” gene pool the gene pools of wives: Mongolians, Altai, Uralok, Hindu, Afghans, Chinese, etc. In this case, the population of this region retained the Russian R1a1, and the anthropological features became Turkic - mixed from the indicated anthropological lines.

Thus, we can draw the following conclusions. The beginning of the formation of the Turks should be attributed to the 1st millennium BC. The eponym of the Turks was formed on behalf of Tur, a mythological hero who ruled in the 1st millennium BC. Turan. Anthropologically, the Türks were formed as a result of a mixture of representatives of several races: the Caucasian, Mongoloid Altai, Mongoloid Sinitic, Veddoid and Caucasian. The main genetic marker is R1a1. The root of the Turkic language family comes from the Indo-European family. Separate branches of the tree of the Turkic languages \u200b\u200bwere formed as a result of mixed processes with the speakers of certain languages \u200b\u200bassociated with the named races. Hence the variety of Turkic languages.

Turks (also turkic peoples, turkic-speaking peoples, peoples of the Turkic language group) is an ethno-linguistic community. They speak the languages \u200b\u200bof the Turkic group. Globalization and increased integration with other peoples led to a wide spread of the Turks beyond their historical range. Modern Turks live on different continents - in Eurasia, North America, Australia and in the territories of various states - from Central Asia, the North Caucasus, Transcaucasia, the Mediterranean, Southern and Eastern Europe and further to the east - up to the Far East of Russia. There are also Turkic minorities in China, the states of America, the Middle East and Western Europe. The largest settlement area in Russia, and the population in Turkey.

Türkic-speaking peoples have been known since the 3rd century. BC, but the first mention of the ethnonym turk appeared at the beginning of the 6th century. in the Mongolian Altai and belonged to a small people that later became dominant in Central Asia. Word turk means strong, strong. One of the traditional occupations of the Turks was nomadic herding, as well as the extraction and processing of iron.

The ethnic history of the proto-Türkic substrate is marked by the synthesis of two population groups:

• · Formed to the west of the Volga, in the III-II millennium BC, in the course of centuries of migrations in the eastern and southern directions, became the predominant population of the Volga region and Kazakhstan, Altai and the Upper Yenisei valley.
• · Which appeared in the steppes east of the Yenisei later, was of intra-Asian origin.

History of interaction and merger of both groups ancient population over the course of two - two and a half thousand years, there is a process during which ethnic consolidation was carried out and the Turkic-speaking ethnic communities were formed. It was from among these closely related tribes in the II millennium AD. the modern Turkic peoples of Russia and adjacent territories stood out

D.G. writes about the "Scythian" and "Hunnish" layers in the formation of the ancient Turkic cultural complex. Savinov, according to which they “gradually modernized and mutually penetrated each other, became the common heritage of the culture of numerous groups of the population that became part of the Ancient Turkic Kaganate. The ideas of the continuity of the ancient and early medieval culture of nomads also found their reflection in works of art and ritual structures. "

Since the 6th century AD, the region in the middle reaches of the Syr Darya and the Chu River has been called Turkestan. The toponym is based on the ethnonym Tur, which was the common tribal name of the ancient nomadic and semi-nomadic peoples of Central Asia. The nomadic type of state has been the predominant form of power organization in the Asian steppes for many centuries. Nomadic states, replacing each other, existed in Eurasia from the middle of the 1st millennium BC. until the 17th century.

In 552-745 in Central Asia, there was a Türkic Kaganate, which in 603 fell into two parts: the Eastern and Western Kaganates. The Western Kaganate (603-658) included the territory of Central Asia, the steppes of modern Kazakhstan and Eastern Turkestan. The Eastern Khaganate included the modern territories of Mongolia, northern China and southern Siberia. In 658, the Western Khaganate fell under the blows of the combined forces of the Chinese and Eastern Turks. In 698, the leader of the tribal union of the Turgesh, Uchelik, founded a new Turkic state - the Turgesh Kaganate (698-766).

In the V-VIII centuries, the Turkic nomadic tribes of the Bulgars who came to Europe founded a number of states, of which the most durable turned out to be Danube Bulgaria in the Balkans and Volga Bulgaria in the Volga and Kama basins. In 650-969. the Khazar Kaganate existed on the territory of the North Caucasus, the Volga region and the northeastern Black Sea region. In the 960s. he was defeated by the Kiev prince Svyatoslav. The Pechenegs displaced in the second half of the 9th century by the Khazars settled in the northern Black Sea region and posed a threat to Byzantium and Old Russian state... In 1019, the Pechenegs were defeated by the Grand Duke Yaroslav. In the 11th century, the Pechenegs in the southern Russian steppes were replaced by the Polovtsians, who in the 13th century were defeated and conquered by the Mongol-Tatars. The western part of the Mongol Empire - the Golden Horde - became a predominantly Turkic state in terms of population. In the XV-XVI centuries. it split into several independent khanates, on the basis of which a number of modern Turkic-speaking peoples were formed. At the end of the 14th century, Tamerlane created his empire in Central Asia, which, however, with his death (1405) quickly disintegrated.

In the early Middle Ages, a sedentary and semi-nomadic Turkic-speaking population was formed on the territory of the Central Asian interfluve, which was in close contact with the Iranian-speaking Sogdian, Khorezm and Bactrian population. Active processes of interaction and mutual influence led to the Turkic-Sogdian symbiosis.

Back at the beginning of the 1st millennium A.D. separate Turkic groups began to penetrate into the Transcaucasus. The penetration of the Turks into the territory of Western Asia (Transcaucasia, Azerbaijan, Anatolia) began in the middle of the 11th century. (Seljuks). The invasion of the Seljuks was accompanied by the devastation and destruction of many Transcaucasian cities. In the XI-XIV centuries, the population of the eastern Transcaucasia underwent Turkization in connection with the invasions of the Oguz Turks and the Mongol Tatars. As a result of the conquests of the Ottoman Turks in the XIII-XVI centuries. territories in Europe, Asia and Africa, a huge Ottoman Empire was formed, but from the 17th century it began to decline. Having assimilated the majority of the local population, the Ottomans became the ethnic majority in Asia Minor. In the XVI-XVIII centuries, first the Moscow state, and then, after the reforms of Peter I, the Russian Empire, includes in its composition most of the lands of the former Golden Horde, on which the Turkic states existed (Kazan Khanate, Astrakhan Khanate, Siberian Khanate, Crimean Khanate, Nogai Horde. At the beginning of the 19th century, Russia annexes a number of Azerbaijani khanates of Eastern Transcaucasia. At the same time, China annexes Central Asia (Dzungar Khanate) After the annexation of the territories of Central Asia and the Kazakh Khanate and the Kokand Khanate to Russia, the Ottoman Empire, along with the Khiva Khanate and the Bukhara Emirate, remained the only purely Turkic states.

For the first time the ethnonym (the name "Türk") was mentioned in Chinese written sources in 542. According to some researchers, translated from Mongolian "Türk" means a helmet resembling a tukoetau in shape. Initially, the term "Turk" also meant a representative of the nobility or military aristocracy, i.e. had a purely social significance. Subsequently, he became a symbol of the ruling "royal" tribe and the tribes subject to him, which the neighbors also began to call Türks. In the second half of the VI century. this term is widely used among the Byzantines, Arabs, Syrians, falls into Sanskrit, various Iranian languages, and Tibetan. Before the creation of the Kaganate, the word "Turk" meant only a union of ten (later twelve) tribes, which took shape soon after 460 in Altai. This meaning was preserved by the term in the era of the Khaganates. It is reflected in the most ancient Türkic texts in the expression “Türk bodun” (bodun union of tribes). Back in the middle of the VIII century. sources mention "twelve tribal Turkic people". The same word was used to designate the state created by the Turkic tribes-unions-Turkel proper (Turkic country, state). Both of these meanings are reflected in ancient Turkic epigraphic monuments and Chinese sources. In a broader sense, the term began to denote the belonging of various nomadic tribes to the power created by the Turks. So it was used by the Byzantines and Iranians, and sometimes by the Turks themselves. The latter meaning of the term was further developed by Arab historians and geographers in the 9th-11th centuries, where the word "Turk" appears as the name of a group of peoples and languages, and not as the name of any one people and state. It was in the Arab scientific literature that general concept about the genetic relationship of the languages \u200b\u200bspoken by the Turkic tribes, and the geneological relationship of these tribes themselves. Outside the sphere of Muslim education, such a broad interpretation did not appear. For example, Abulgazy Bahadur Khan in his "Turkic Chronicle" notes that in the Turkic state there are five most famous clans. These are: Uighurs, Kangly, Kipchaks, Kalash, dwarfs. And in the Russian chronicles of 985, the Tork tribe is mentioned - i.e. Turks, but this is just one of the many nomadic associations of the Great Steppe, called together with the Berendey, Pechenegs, Black Cloabucks, Polovtsy. So, approximately, is the situation with the meaning of the term "Turk". After clarifying the basic concepts associated with the name "Turk", it will be possible to move on to the process of forming a steppe empire.

The beginning of the ethnogenesis of the Ashin Türks is associated with the tours. According to the genealogical legend, the first ancestor of the Turks was a ten-year-old boy, the only survivor of the extermination of the people. He was brought up by a she-wolf, who later became his wife. The descendants of the ten sons of the she-wolf, having received the name Ashina, subsequently united all the local tribes and gave them the name Türk.

Bumyn Kagan, who ruled in the land of the Ashin Turks in the middle of the 6th century, was a descendant of Nadulushe (according to legend, a man who brought fire to people). In the 4th-5th centuries, when the Turkic ethnos was reviving in the historical arena of Central Asia, they were surrounded from the east by the Chinese, from the north by the Tungus-Manchus, from the west by the Iranian, and from the south by the Tocharian population. Until the middle of the 6th century, the Turks were dependent on the Juan-Juans (Jujans, Avars). The beginning of hegemony is associated with the subordination of the tele tribes that lived in Dzungaria (possibly the Oguzes). During the period of self-affirmation, the Turks sent an embassy to the Avar kagan, demanding a princess. To which the Zhuzhan ruler responded with the following indignant challenge: “You are my smelter - a vassal. How dare that? "

As a result of the outbreak of war (551-555), the Jujans were completely defeated and for the most part physically exterminated. A new Central Asian empire, the Turkic Khaganate (551-744), arose on the lands in Northern Mongolia. The founder of the Turkic state is considered BuMyn (Tumyn), who in 551 took the title of kagan. His successor Kara-Kagan (552-553) and Mukan-Kagan (553-572) completed the rout of the Jujans.

In connection with the activity in the west, a new stage of the ethnogenesis of the Turks moves to the territory of the Great Steppe and covers the oases of Turkestan. This stage determined new level ethnic contacts, and economic symbiosis with the East Iranian world. Within the framework of a single state, literary language and writing, and then the general imperial standards in culture, especially expressed in material culture (dwellings, clothes, saddle with stirrups, harness, ornaments). These processes reflected the beginning of a new ethnic order. All this culminated in the formation of a common Turkic ethnic identity and Pan-Turkic ideology. The Turkic Kaganate included such peoples as the Kirghiz, Kipchaks, Oguzes, tribes of Avars, Kai, Khitan, etc.

In the ancient Turkic kaganates, the solution of many economic problems depended on trade. Neither raids, nor wars, nor spoils from them, but constant exchange trade served as a source of well-being for the nomads. During the empire, the Turks became the masters of most of the Great Silk Road. The confidants of the Turkic khans in this matter were Sogdian merchants, who concentrated in their hands a huge amount of silk fabrics of their own and Chinese production. Through the Sogdian merchants, the nomads sold their livestock products, as well as war booty. Merchants through Iran delivered them to Byzantium. The fate of the Silk Road depended on the relationship between the three great states. This partnership was the reason for the conclusion of a military alliance between the Turks and the Byzantine Empire against Iran (in 567). Iran's refusal to improve relations forced the Turks to look for new territories for the export of silk. Thus, a road was built through the Volga region. Other routes also passed through the steppes of Kazakhstan, connecting Siberia and the Volga region with Central Asia. One of the most ancient communication routes was the meridian route between Turkestan and Siberia, through the steppes of Kazakhstan. Perhaps this path is much older than others (for example, the Great Silk Road), since the south and north of the Great Steppe were in the same economic and cultural system. Even in ancient times, part of the nomads went to the winter camp to the south, moreover, the main city centers were located there. During the Bronze Age, copper and other metals were transported along the Great Meridian Route.

The urban culture of the Western Turkic Kaganate was created with the participation of the Sogdians. In the 5th-7th centuries, with the support of the Turks, the Sogdians created a large number of trading settlements in the Semirechye, Dzungaria, East Turkestan, and Southern Siberia. A significant part of the population was engaged in agriculture, trade and crafts.

In general, we can talk about a common Turkic complex, which included material culture, ideological ideas and spiritual thoughts widespread throughout the territory in the second half of the 1st millennium AD. The culture of nomadic tribes and sedentary regions acts in organic integrity, constitutes a single cultural system. Various cults of sacred mountains, rivers, caves, snakes and the wolf-progenitor were widespread among the Turks. The Kimako - Kylchak tribes had a great reverence for the cult of the river. They talked about the Irtysh - "the river is the god of man" (Gardizi). The banners of the ancient Turks were decorated with a wolf's head. Along with their own beliefs, the nomadic Turks were fond of other religious systems: Buddhism, Manichaeism, Christianity, Judaism. The most remarkable thing in the culture of the ancient Turkic period is the emergence of runic writing and a rich written literature. Runic texts in honor of Bilge Kagan, Kultegin and other prominent figures of the Turkic ale are at the same time as outstanding literary works, and the historical evidence of the era.

In the ancient Turkic era, the population of the Great Steppe gradually switched from the runic alphabet to the Arabic alphabet. The largest monuments on this chart are “Divan-lugat-at-Turk” (Dictionary of the Turkic language) M. Kash gari, “Kutadgu-bi lik” (Blessed knowledge) by Y. Balasaguni, etc. A book about kimakaz was also compiled in the Arabic script Zhdanakh-Kimaki. Interestingly, the author of this book was the heir to the Kimak ruler. This book was subsequently used by Arab-Persian travelers, merchants and scholars traveling to the Great Steppe. The ancient Türkic time is the time of the appearance, as the Chinese say, of a "reasonable book", i.e. philosophical literature, various treatises on epistemological problems, music theory, art, etc. The most prominent figure in the scientific world was al-Farabi.