Turkmens

Turkmens (, , , ) are a Turkic ethnic group native to Central Asia, living mainly in Turkmenistan, northern and northeastern regions of Iran and north-western Afghanistan. Sizeable groups of Turkmens are found also in Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, and the North Caucasus (Stavropol Krai). They speak the Turkmen language, which is classified as a part of the Eastern Oghuz branch of the Turkic languages.

In the early Middle Ages, Turkmens called themselves Oghuz; in the Middle Ages, they took the ethnonym Turkmen. These early Oghuz Turkmens moved westward from the Altai Mountains through the Siberian steppes, and settled in the region now known as Turkmenistan. Further westward migration of the Turkmen tribes from the territory of modern Turkmenistan and the rest of Central Asia started from the 11th century and continued until the 18th century. These Turkmen tribes played a significant role in the ethnic formation of peoples who would be known today as Anatolian Turks, Turkmens of Iraq, and Syria, as well as the Turkic population of Iran and Azerbaijan. To preserve their independence, those tribes that remained in Turkmenistan were united in military alliances, although remnants of tribal relations remained until the 20th century. Their traditional occupations were farming, cattle breeding, and various crafts. Ancient samples of applied art (primarily carpets and jewelry) indicate a high level of folk art culture.

The Seljuks, Khwarazmians, Qara Qoyunlu, Aq Qoyunlu, Ottomans, and Afsharids are also believed to descend from the Turkmen tribes of Qiniq, Begdili, Yiwa, Bayandur, Kayi, and Afshar respectively.

Etymology

The term Turkmen is generally applied to the Turkic tribes that have been distributed across the Near and Middle East, as well as Central Asia, from the 11th century to modern times.Barbara Kellner-Heinkele, "Türkmen", The Encyclopaedia of Islam, eds. P.J. Bearman, T.H. Bianquis, C.E. Bosworth, E. Van Donzel and W. P. Heinrichs, vol. X (Leiden: E.J. Brill, 2000), pp. 682-685 Originally, all Turkic tribes who belonged to the Turkic dynastic mythological system and/or converted to Islam (e.g. Karluks, Oghuz Turks, Khalajs, Kanglys, Kipchaks, etc.) were designated "Turkmens". Only later did this word come to refer to a specific ethnonym. The generally accepted view for the etymology of the name is that it comes from Türk and the Turkic emphasizing suffix -men, meaning "'most Turkish of the Turks' or 'pure-blooded Turks.'", , . A folk etymology, dating back to the Middle Ages and found in the works of al-Biruni and Mahmud al-Kashghari, instead derives the suffix -men from the Persian suffix -mānand, with the resulting word meaning "like a Turk". While formerly the dominant etymology in modern scholarship, this mixed Turkic-Persian derivation is now typically viewed as incorrect.,,. An alternative etymology was proposed by 16th-century Ottoman historian Mehmed Neşri, who derived it from the Persian phrase Turk-i iman (), meaning "Turk of the faith" (i.e. Islam). This theory was rejected as incorrect by turkologist Ármin Vámbéry, who argued that it relied upon an incorrect understanding of Persian grammar:

Despite various criticisms, it remains a theory advocated by some today, such as linguist and ethnographer Dávid Somfai. Former president of Turkmenistan Saparmurad Niyazov was also among the advocates of this etymology, although he altered the meaning of the words, writing in his Ruhnama that, rather than "Muslim Turk", it meant "made of light":

Today, the terms Turkmen and Turkoman are usually restricted to two Turkic groups: the Turkmen people of Turkmenistan and adjacent parts of Central Asia and Iran, and the Turkomans of Iraq and Syria.

Origins

Türkmens were mentioned near the end of the 10th century A.D in Islamic literature by the Arab geographer al-Muqaddasi in Ahsan Al-Taqasim Fi Ma'rifat Al-Aqalim.Al-Marwazī, Sharaf Al-Zämān Tāhir Marvazī on China, the Turks and India, Arabic text (circa A.D. 1120) (English translation and commentary by V. Minorsky) (London: The Royal Asiatic Society, 1942), p. 94 In his work, which was completed in 987 A.D, al-Muqaddasi writes about Turkmens twice while depicting the region as the frontier of the Muslim possessions in Central Asia.V. Minorsky, "Commentary," in Sharaf Al-Zämān Tāhir Marvazī on China, the Turks and India, Arabic text (circa A.D. 1120) (English translation and commentary by V. Minorsky) (London: The Royal Asiatic Society, 1942), p. 94.

Earlier references to Türkmen might be trwkkmˀn (if not trkwmˀn "translator"), mentioned in an 8th-century Sogdian letter and 特拘夢 Tejumeng (< MC ZS *dək̚-kɨo-mɨuŋH), another name of Sogdia, besides Suyi 粟弋 and Sute 粟特, according to the Chinese encyclopedia Tongdian.Golden, Peter B. (1992) An Introduction to the History of the Turkic Peoples. p. 212-3Du You, Tongdian vol. 193 "粟弋，後魏通焉。在蔥嶺西，大國。一名粟特，一名特拘夢。" Tr. "Suyi communicated [with] Latter Wei. It is a large country to the west of Onion Ridges. Another name is Sute; another name is Tejumeng" However, even if 特拘夢 might have transcribed Türkmen, these "Türkmens" might be Karluks instead of modern Türkmens' Oghuz-speaking ancestors;Kafesoğlu, İbrahim. (1958) "Türkmen Adı, Manası ve Mahiyeti," in Jean Deny Armağanı: Mélanges Jean Deny, eds., János Eckmann, Agâh Sırrı Levend and Mecdut Mansuroğlu (Ankara: Türk Tarih Kurumu Basımevi) p. 131 as Türkmen might be the Karluks' equivalent of the Göktürks' political term Kök Türk. Zuev (1960) links the tribal name 餘沒渾 Yumeihun (< MC *iʷо-muət-хuən) in Tang Huiyao to the name Yomut of a modern Turkmen clan.Tang Huiyao vol. 72 txt. "餘沒渾馬。與迴紇相類。印州。赤馬。與迴紇苾餘沒渾同類。印行。" tr. "Horses of the Yumeihun and horses of the Uyghurs are of similar stock; tamga 州. Horses of the Chiks, and of the Uyghurs, of the (Qi)bis', and of the Yumeihun, are of the same stock; tamga 行"Zuev Yu.A. (1960). "Tamgas, Horses from the Vassal Princedoms" in Works of History, Archeology, and Ethnography Institute 8, p. 112-113, 128

Towards the end of the 11th century, in Divânü Lügat'it-Türk (Compendium of the Turkic Dialects), Mahmud Kashgari uses "Türkmen" synonymously with "Oğuz".Kaşgarlı Mahmud, Divânü Lügat'it-Türk, vol. I, p. 55. He describes Oghuz as a Turkic tribe and says that Oghuz and Karluks were both known as Turkmens.Kaşgarlı Mahmud, Divânü Lügat'it-Türk, vol. I, pp. 55-58;A. Zeki Velidî Togan, Oğuz Destanı: Reşideddin Oğuznâmesi, Tercüme ve Tahlili (İstanbul: Enderun Kitabevi, 1982), pp. 50-52

The origins of the Turkic peoples has been a topic of much discussion, but evidence points either to a homeland in South Central Siberia, close to the Altai Mountains and Lake Baikal or farther East in Mongolia. Archaeogenetic, historical and linguistic evidence suggests that the earliest Turkic peoples were "within or close to the Northeast Asian genepool" but made up of multiple heterogeneous groups, with their exact location of their homeland remaining disputed. The genetic and historical evidence suggests that the early Turkic peoples, including the ancestors of the Turkmen people - Oghuz Turks, harbored both West-Eurasian and Northeast Asian ancestry and were located in and around the Altai region and western Mongolia. Later medieval Turkic groups exhibited a wide range of both West-Eurasian and East Asian physical appearances and genetic origins, in part through long-term contact with neighboring Iranian and Mongolic peoples.

Before the formation of the Turkmen ethnicity, the Oghuz Turks inhabited parts of Transoxiana, the western portion of Turkestan, a region that largely corresponds to much of Central Asia as far east as Xinjiang. Famous historian and ruler of Khwarazm of the XVII century Abu al-Ghazi Bahadur links the origin of all Turkmens to 24 Oghuz tribes in his literary work "Genealogy of the Turkmens". In Byzantine, then in the European sources and later in the American tradition, Turkmens were called Turkomans,D. Yeremeyev. Ethnogenesis of the Turks. M. Nauka (Science), 1971. - "At the end of the XI century, for the first time in the Byzantine chronicles, Turkmens that penetrated Asia Minor are mentioned. Anna Komnene calls them Turkomans."Arminius Vambery, "The Turcomans Between the Caspian and Merv", The Journal of the Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland, Vol. 9. (1880) in the countries of the Near and Middle East - Turkmens, as well as Torkaman, Terekeme; in Kievan Rus - Torkmens;Нестор-летописец (Nestor the Chronicler). Повесть временных лет (Primary Chronicle). - «Вышли они из пустыни Етривской между востоком и севером, вышло же их 4 колена: торкмены и печенеги, торки, половцы.» (They came out of the Etriva desert between east and north, but their 4 tribes came out: Torkmens and Pechenegs, Torks, Polovtsians.) in the Duchy of Moscow - Taurmen; and in the Tsarist Russia - Turkoman and Trukhmen.

In the 7th century AD, Oghuz tribes had moved westward from the Altai Mountains through the Siberian steppes, and settled in this region. They also penetrated as far west as the Volga basin and the Balkans. These early Turkmens are believed to have mixed with native Sogdian peoples and lived as pastoral nomads until being conquered by the Russians in the 19th century.

Migration of the Turkmen tribes from the territory of Turkmenistan and the rest of Central Asia in the south-west direction began mainly from the 11th century and continued until the 18th century. These Turkmen tribes played a significant role in the ethnic formation of such peoples as Anatolian Turks, Turkmens of Iraq and Syria, as well as the Turkic population of Iran and Azerbaijan. To preserve their independence, those tribes that remained in Turkmenistan were united in military alliances, although remnants of tribal relations remained until the 20th century. Their traditional occupations were farming, cattle breeding, and various crafts. Ancient samples of applied art (primarily carpets and jewelry) indicate a high level of folk art culture.

Genetics Haplogroup Q-M242 is commonly found in Siberia, Southeast Asia, Central Asia. This haplogroup forms a large percentage of the paternal lineages of Turkmens.

Grugni et al. (2012) found Q-M242 in 42.6% (29/68) of a sample of Turkmens from Golestan, Iran. Di Cristofaro et al. (2013) found Q-M25 in 31.1% (23/74) and Q-M346 in 2.7% (2/74) for a total of 33.8% (25/74) Q-M242 in a sample of Turkmens from Jawzjan. Karafet et al. (2018) found Q-M25 in 50.0% (22/44) of another sample of Turkmens from Turkmenistan.Tatiana M. Karafet, Ludmila P. Osipova, Olga V. Savina, et al. (2018), "Siberian genetic diversity reveals complex origins of the Samoyedic-speaking populations." Am J Hum Biol. 2018;e23194. https://doi.org/10.1002/ajhb.23194. DOI: 10.1002/ajhb.23194. Haplogroup Q has seen its highest frequencies in the Turkmens from Karakalpakstan (mainly Yomut) at 73%.

Haplogroup Q is very rare among Turkmens of Stavropol Krai (tribes Choudor, Igdyr, Suyunadjy), where it reaches only 2%. Suyunadjy tribe makes up 53% of all Stavropol Turkmen; among them the frequency of R1a reaches 82%.https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11675605/ Genetic Polymorphism of Y-Chromosome in Turkmen Population from Turkmenistan

A genetic study on maternal mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) haplogroups of a Turkmen sample describes a mixture of mostly West Eurasian maternal lineages and a minority of East Eurasian lineages. Turkmens also have two unusual mtDNA markers with polymorphic characteristics, only found in Turkmens and southern Siberians.

History

Turkmens

Bron en licentie