Extra History of Pre-Anatolian Turkish Culture || Turkish History

 Pre-Anatolian Turkish Culture

The Turkish states were a confederation of various Turkish tribes. At the head of the state was a ruler bearing the title of Khagan. The Kök-Turk Khans were descended from the Ashina (Bozkurt) lineage, and the Uyghur Khans were from the Yaglakar tribe. The first lady of the khan was called Katun (Hatun), especially being a Turk. The capitals of Kök-Turks and Uyghurs were in the Ötüken region. Kagan's greatest assistants were Katun and Kuraltay. He participated in the administration of the country on issues such as the congress, war, peace, and the election of the Khanate. Katun, on the other hand, would act as Kagan's deputy when he went on an expedition.

 The administration of the country was divided into two as East and West Khanate, and the East Khanate was also elevated to the Central Khanate. Kagan descendants appointed to the Western Khaganate carried the title of Yabgu. Sometimes, as in Istemi and his son Tardu, the Western Khagans rose to the status of the Khagans of the two countries. Apart from these, high-ranking officials such as Şad, Yabgu, Tarkan, Tamgacı, İç-buyruks were assigned in the administration of the state and the country.

Turks were an army-nation in terms of their way of life. They lived in a military order and discipline from birth to death. As a result of steppe life, the old Turkish society, which shows a nomadic community, settled in places called winter quarters. They lived in tents. It is known that they process metals such as iron, gold, silver and copper. They were engaged in agriculture in the region chosen as winter quarters. Kagan commanded the Turkish army. The army was set up according to the decimal system. In wars, they would encircle the enemy from the flanks and destroy them (Turan Tactic). They were very good at shooting arrows and using swords.

The pre-Islamic Turkish religion was a religion such as the belief in the Sky God, the veneration of the ancestors' spirit, the belief in the earth-water, which some described as Shamanism, while others confused it with Totemism, Naturism and Animism. Turks believed in the Sky God, who created the whole world, and showed respect to their ancestors' spirits. The holy places and waters were mostly related to the old Turkish customs and traditions. Every Turkish tribe had an Ongun. It could have been an animal (eagle in Seljuks, gray wolf in Kök-Turks, etc.). 

 There was also a belief in a being called Umay, who was considered to protect children and women. The funeral ceremony is mentioned as Yuğ. If the deceased died in the winter, he was buried with a ceremony in the spring, if he died in the summer, in the autumn. The corpse would be put in a tent, and a horse, sheep, cattle or camel would be sacrificed, and their loved ones would return around the tent in tears. Stones called balbals were erected on the grave, showing the important enemies that the person killed during his life. After the Turks entered religions such as Buddhism, Manichaeism, Judaism and Christianity, IX.-X. After centuries, they accepted Islam in masses.

The existence of a developed language and Turkish alphabet in ancient Turks emerged with the reading of inscriptions from the Root-Turks and Uyghurs. Kök-Turks used an alphabet consisting of 38 letters called Orkun or Kök-Türk alphabet. The stones (inscriptions, inscriptions) on which these writings are written are called Bengü-taş. Among the written inscriptions with the Kök-Turk alphabet, the Orkun Inscriptions are particularly important. These inscriptions were read with the Kök-Türk alphabet, which was deciphered by the Danish Wilhelm Thomsen in 1893.

 The first of these inscriptions was erected by the famous Kök-Türk Ayguçı (vizier) Tonyukuk towards 730, the second by Bilge Kağan for the Kök-Türk commander and his brother Kül-Tigin, who died a year ago in 732, and the last one was erected by his son in the name of Bilge Kagan in 735. Yuluğ Tigin, who wrote these inscriptions, is known as the first known Turkish literary man. The inscription of Bayan Çur Kagan, which is left from the Uyghurs and written in the Kök-Turkish alphabet, also has historical value. The Kok-Turk alphabet could be written in three ways: from top to bottom, from right to left, and from left to right.

The alphabet, known as the Uyghur alphabet, consists of 14 letters and was created by making use of the Sogdian alphabet. Written documents from the Uyghurs that have been passed down to us in the Uyghur alphabet are mostly books on Buddhism, Manichaeism and fortune-telling. The Uyghurs are a Turkish society that has made book printing for the first time in the world with woodblock printing.

Among the ancient Turkish epics are the Root-Turks' Epic of Creation, the Gray Wolf Epic, the Ergenekon Epic; We can mention the Epic of Creation and Descent and the Epic of Migration of the Uighurs.

Weapon making, gold and silver work, household goods, horse gear making, carpet making, boot making, weaving and carving are the most important art branches of the Turks. Apart from these, the Uyghurs made progress in fine arts such as miniature, fresco art, book printing and bookbinding.

The Turks, who were engaged in animal husbandry, sold animal products, weapons they made from the mine, and bought grain, fabric, manufactured goods and gold-silver from their neighbors. They mostly traded with China. The ancient Turks used to make a drink called koumis made from horse milk, begni made from wheat and millet, and sweetened yogurt with apricots and cherries.