Oghuz Khan
Encyclopedia
Oghuz Khan was a legendary and semi-mythological Khan of Turks. Some Turkic cultures use this legend to describe their ethnic origins and the origin of the system of political clans used by Turkmen
, Ottoman
, and other Oghuz Turks
. The various versions of the narrative preserved in many different manuscripts has been published in numerous languages as listed below in the references. The narrative is often entitled Oghuznama, or narrative of the Oghuz.
The anonymous Uyghur vertical script narrative of the 14th century, which is preserved in Paris, is a manuscript that was probably already being modified to fit with stories of the Mongol Conquest, as Paul Pelliot has shown. But it does not have any suggestions of Oghuz Khan's later significance as Islamizer of the Turks, and it does not include the figure of Moghul (Mongol) as an ancestor of Oghuz Khan.
Abū’l-Ghāzī’s 16th century version roughly follows Rashīd ad-Dīn’s already Islamized and Mongolized (post-conquest) version of the early 14th century. But in his account, Oghuz Khan is more fully integrated into Islamic and Mongol traditional history. The account begins with descent from Adam to Noah, who after the flood sends his three sons to repopulate the earth: Ham was sent to Hindustan, Sam to Iran, and Yafes went to the banks of the Itil and Yaik rivers and had eight sons named Turk, Khazar, Saqlab, Rus, Ming, Chin, Kemeri, and Tarikh. As he was dying he established Turk as his successor.
Turk settled at Issiq Kul and was succeeded by Tutek, the eldest of his four sons. Four generations after him came two sons, Tatar and Moghul, who divided his kingdom between them. Moghul Khan begat Qara Khan who begat Oghuz Khan. For three days he would not nurse and every night he appeared in his mother's dream and told his mother to become a Muslim or he would not suckle her breast. His mother converted, and Abū’l-Ghāzī writes that the Turkic peoples of Yafes from the time of Qara Khan had been Muslim but had lost the faith. Oghuz Khan restored Islamic belief.
as the son of Qara Khan, leader of the Turks. He starts talking as soon as he was born. He stops drinking his mother's milk after the first time and asks for kımız (an alcoholic beverage made with horse milk) and meat. After that, he grows up supernaturally fast and only in forty days he becomes a young adult. At the time of his birth, the lands of the Turks were preyed upon by a dragon
named Kıyant. Oghuz arms himself and goes to kill the dragon. He kills the great dragon with his lance and cuts off his head.
After Oghuz kills the dragon Kıyat, he becomes a national hero. He forms a special warrior band from the forty sons of forty Turk nobles. But his Chinese stepmother and half-brother, who is the heir to the throne, become jealous and convince Qara Khan that Oghuz was planning to dethrone him. Qara Khan decides to assassinate Oghuz at a hunting party. Oghuz learns about this plan and instead, kills his father to become the Khan. His stepmother and half brother flee to China.
After Oghuz becomes the khan
, he goes to steppes by himself to praise and pray to Tengri
(Sky-God). While praying he sees a circle of light coming from the sky, there was a supernaturally beautiful girl in the light. Oghuz falls in love with the girl and marries her. He has three sons which he names Gün (Sun), Ay (Moon) and Yıldız (Star). Later, Oghuz goes hunting and sees another supernaturally beautiful girl inside a tree. He marries her and has three sons which he names Gök (Sky), Dağ (Mountain) and Deniz (Sea).
After his sons are born, Oghuz Khan gives a great toy (feast) and invites all of his bey
s (lords). At the feast, he gives this order to his lords:
"I am became your Khan;
Let's all take swords and shields;
Kut
(divine power) will be our sign;
Grey wolf will be our uran (warcry);
Our iron lances will be a forest;
Khulan
will walk on the hunting ground;
More seas and more rivers;
Sun is our flag and sky is our tent."
Then, he sends letters to the Kings of the Four Directions, saying: "I am the Khan of the Turks. And I will be Khan of the Four Corners of the Earth. I want your obedience."
Altun Khan (Golden Khan), on the right corner of earth, submits his obedience but Urum (Roman
), Khan of the left corner, does not. Oghuz declares war on Urum Khan and marches his army to the west. One night, a large male wolf with grey fur comes to his tent in an aura of light. He says, "Oghuz, you want to march against Urum, I want to march before your army." So, the grey sky-wolf marches before the Turkish army and guides them. The two armies fought near the river İtil (Volga). Oghuz Khan wins the war. Then, Oghuz and his six sons carry out campaigns in Turkistan
, India
, Iran
, Egypt
, Syria
, with the grey wolf as their guide. He becomes the Khan of the Four Corners of the Earth.
In his old age, Oghuz sees a dream. He calls his six sons and sends them to the east and the west. His elder sons find a golden bow in the east. His younger sons find three silver arrows in the west. Oghuz Khan breaks the golden bow in to three pieces and gives each to his three older sons Gün, Ay and Yıldız. He says: "My older sons, take this bow and shoot your arrows to the sky like this bow." He gives three silver arrows to his three younger sons Gök, Dağ and Deniz and says: "My younger sons, take these silver arrows. A bow shoots arrows and you are to be like the arrow." Then, he passes his lands onto his sons, Bozok
s (elder sons) and Üçoks (younger sons) at a final banquet.
(Abū’l-Ghāzī identifies the lineage symbols, tamga seals and ongon spirit guiding birds, as well as specifying the political hierarchy and seating order at banquets for these sons and their 24 sons) Then he says:
"My sons, I walked a lot;
I saw many battles;
I threw so many arrows and lances;
I rode many horses;
I made my enemies cry;
I made my friends smile;
I paid my debt to Tengri;
Now I am giving my land to you."
, Hondemir
, Abulgazi
) with the Maodun biography in the Chinese sources (feud between the father and son and murder of the former, the direction and sequence of conquests, etc.), which was first noticed by N.Ya. Bichurin (Collection of information, pp. 56–57)".
and Oğuzhan
are a common masculine Turkish given names
, which are used in memory of Oghuz Khan.
Turkmen people
The Turkmen are a Turkic people located primarily in the Central Asian states of Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, and northeastern Iran. They speak the Turkmen language, which is classified as a part of the Western Oghuz branch of the Turkic languages family together with Turkish, Azerbaijani, Qashqai,...
, Ottoman
Ottoman Turks
The Ottoman Turks were the Turkish-speaking population of the Ottoman Empire who formed the base of the state's military and ruling classes. Reliable information about the early history of Ottoman Turks is scarce, but they take their Turkish name, Osmanlı , from the house of Osman I The Ottoman...
, and other Oghuz Turks
Oghuz Turks
The Turkomen also known as Oghuz Turks were a historical Turkic tribal confederation in Central Asia during the early medieval Turkic expansion....
. The various versions of the narrative preserved in many different manuscripts has been published in numerous languages as listed below in the references. The narrative is often entitled Oghuznama, or narrative of the Oghuz.
Sources
The legend of Oghuz Khan is one of a number of different origin narratives that circulated among the Turkic peoples of Central Asia. It was first recorded in the 13th century.The anonymous Uyghur vertical script narrative of the 14th century, which is preserved in Paris, is a manuscript that was probably already being modified to fit with stories of the Mongol Conquest, as Paul Pelliot has shown. But it does not have any suggestions of Oghuz Khan's later significance as Islamizer of the Turks, and it does not include the figure of Moghul (Mongol) as an ancestor of Oghuz Khan.
Abū’l-Ghāzī’s 16th century version roughly follows Rashīd ad-Dīn’s already Islamized and Mongolized (post-conquest) version of the early 14th century. But in his account, Oghuz Khan is more fully integrated into Islamic and Mongol traditional history. The account begins with descent from Adam to Noah, who after the flood sends his three sons to repopulate the earth: Ham was sent to Hindustan, Sam to Iran, and Yafes went to the banks of the Itil and Yaik rivers and had eight sons named Turk, Khazar, Saqlab, Rus, Ming, Chin, Kemeri, and Tarikh. As he was dying he established Turk as his successor.
Turk settled at Issiq Kul and was succeeded by Tutek, the eldest of his four sons. Four generations after him came two sons, Tatar and Moghul, who divided his kingdom between them. Moghul Khan begat Qara Khan who begat Oghuz Khan. For three days he would not nurse and every night he appeared in his mother's dream and told his mother to become a Muslim or he would not suckle her breast. His mother converted, and Abū’l-Ghāzī writes that the Turkic peoples of Yafes from the time of Qara Khan had been Muslim but had lost the faith. Oghuz Khan restored Islamic belief.
Legend
According to legend, Oghuz was born in Central AsiaCentral Asia
Central Asia is a core region of the Asian continent from the Caspian Sea in the west, China in the east, Afghanistan in the south, and Russia in the north...
as the son of Qara Khan, leader of the Turks. He starts talking as soon as he was born. He stops drinking his mother's milk after the first time and asks for kımız (an alcoholic beverage made with horse milk) and meat. After that, he grows up supernaturally fast and only in forty days he becomes a young adult. At the time of his birth, the lands of the Turks were preyed upon by a dragon
Dragon
A dragon is a legendary creature, typically with serpentine or reptilian traits, that feature in the myths of many cultures. There are two distinct cultural traditions of dragons: the European dragon, derived from European folk traditions and ultimately related to Greek and Middle Eastern...
named Kıyant. Oghuz arms himself and goes to kill the dragon. He kills the great dragon with his lance and cuts off his head.
After Oghuz kills the dragon Kıyat, he becomes a national hero. He forms a special warrior band from the forty sons of forty Turk nobles. But his Chinese stepmother and half-brother, who is the heir to the throne, become jealous and convince Qara Khan that Oghuz was planning to dethrone him. Qara Khan decides to assassinate Oghuz at a hunting party. Oghuz learns about this plan and instead, kills his father to become the Khan. His stepmother and half brother flee to China.
After Oghuz becomes the khan
Khan (title)
Khan is an originally Altaic and subsequently Central Asian title for a sovereign or military ruler, widely used by medieval nomadic Turko-Mongol tribes living to the north of China. 'Khan' is also seen as a title in the Xianbei confederation for their chief between 283 and 289...
, he goes to steppes by himself to praise and pray to Tengri
Tengri
Tengri or Tengger Tengri or Tengger Tengri or Tengger (Old Turkic: ; Mongolian: Тэнгэр, Tenger; Chinese: 腾格里, Mandarin: Ténggélǐ, Hungarian: Tengri, Turkish: Tanrı, Bulgarian: Tangra (Тангра) is a sky god, formerly the chief deity of the early Turkic peoples, including the Xiongnu, Huns, Bulgars,...
(Sky-God). While praying he sees a circle of light coming from the sky, there was a supernaturally beautiful girl in the light. Oghuz falls in love with the girl and marries her. He has three sons which he names Gün (Sun), Ay (Moon) and Yıldız (Star). Later, Oghuz goes hunting and sees another supernaturally beautiful girl inside a tree. He marries her and has three sons which he names Gök (Sky), Dağ (Mountain) and Deniz (Sea).
After his sons are born, Oghuz Khan gives a great toy (feast) and invites all of his bey
Bey
Bey is a title for chieftain, traditionally applied to the leaders of small tribal groups. Accoding to some sources, the word "Bey" is of Turkish language In historical accounts, many Turkish, other Turkic and Persian leaders are titled Bey, Beg, Bek, Bay, Baig or Beigh. They are all the same word...
s (lords). At the feast, he gives this order to his lords:
"I am became your Khan;
Let's all take swords and shields;
Kut
Kut
Al-Kūt is a city in eastern Iraq, on the left bank of the Tigris River, about 160 kilometres south east of Baghdad. the estimated population is about 374,000 people...
(divine power) will be our sign;
Grey wolf will be our uran (warcry);
Our iron lances will be a forest;
Khulan
Khulan
Khulan may refer to:* A subspecies of the Onager , called the Mongolian Wild Ass, or Khulan,* a common female name in Mongolia:** Khulan, a wife of Genghis Khan,** Chuluuny Khulan, a Mongolian actress...
will walk on the hunting ground;
More seas and more rivers;
Sun is our flag and sky is our tent."
Then, he sends letters to the Kings of the Four Directions, saying: "I am the Khan of the Turks. And I will be Khan of the Four Corners of the Earth. I want your obedience."
Altun Khan (Golden Khan), on the right corner of earth, submits his obedience but Urum (Roman
Byzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire during the periods of Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, centred on the capital of Constantinople. Known simply as the Roman Empire or Romania to its inhabitants and neighbours, the Empire was the direct continuation of the Ancient Roman State...
), Khan of the left corner, does not. Oghuz declares war on Urum Khan and marches his army to the west. One night, a large male wolf with grey fur comes to his tent in an aura of light. He says, "Oghuz, you want to march against Urum, I want to march before your army." So, the grey sky-wolf marches before the Turkish army and guides them. The two armies fought near the river İtil (Volga). Oghuz Khan wins the war. Then, Oghuz and his six sons carry out campaigns in Turkistan
Türkistan
*Türkistan is the local name for Turkestan, a region of Central Asia.*Türkistan, Kazakhstan is a historic city and place of pilgrimage in southern Kazakhstan...
, India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
, Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
, Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
, Syria
Syria
Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....
, with the grey wolf as their guide. He becomes the Khan of the Four Corners of the Earth.
In his old age, Oghuz sees a dream. He calls his six sons and sends them to the east and the west. His elder sons find a golden bow in the east. His younger sons find three silver arrows in the west. Oghuz Khan breaks the golden bow in to three pieces and gives each to his three older sons Gün, Ay and Yıldız. He says: "My older sons, take this bow and shoot your arrows to the sky like this bow." He gives three silver arrows to his three younger sons Gök, Dağ and Deniz and says: "My younger sons, take these silver arrows. A bow shoots arrows and you are to be like the arrow." Then, he passes his lands onto his sons, Bozok
Bozok
Bozok may refer to;* one of the two branches in Turkish/Turkic legendary history from which three sons of Oghuz Khan and the 12 clans of their respective descendancy is traced;* The former name of Yozgat Province in Turkey...
s (elder sons) and Üçoks (younger sons) at a final banquet.
(Abū’l-Ghāzī identifies the lineage symbols, tamga seals and ongon spirit guiding birds, as well as specifying the political hierarchy and seating order at banquets for these sons and their 24 sons) Then he says:
"My sons, I walked a lot;
I saw many battles;
I threw so many arrows and lances;
I rode many horses;
I made my enemies cry;
I made my friends smile;
I paid my debt to Tengri;
Now I am giving my land to you."
Historical precursor
"In the scientific literature, the name of Maodun is usually associated with Oguz Kagan, an epic ancestor of the Türkic people. The reason for that is a striking similarity of the Oguz-Kagan biography in the Turko-Persian manuscripts (Rashid al-DinRashid al-Din
Rashīd al-Dīn Tabīb also Rashīd al-Dīn Fadhl-allāh Hamadānī , was a Persian physician of Jewish origin, polymathic writer and historian, who wrote an enormous Islamic history, the Jami al-Tawarikh, in the Persian language, often considered a landmark in intercultural historiography and a key...
, Hondemir
Husayni al-Isfahani
Ghiyath al-Din Ali ibn Amirin Husayni Isfahani was a 15th-century Persian physician and scientist from Isfahan, Iran. He is best known for a Persian encyclopedia of the natural sciences entitled Danish'namah-i Jahaan, which he completed in either 1474 or 1466. The encyclopedia was concerned with...
, Abulgazi
Abu al-Ghazi Bahadur
Abu al-Ghazi Bahadur was a khan of Khiva and a historian who wrote in the Khiva dialect of the Chagatai language....
) with the Maodun biography in the Chinese sources (feud between the father and son and murder of the former, the direction and sequence of conquests, etc.), which was first noticed by N.Ya. Bichurin (Collection of information, pp. 56–57)".
Legacy
OğuzOğuz (name)
Oğuz is a common masculine Turkish given name. There are various theories on the meaning of "Oğuz". The most prominent explanation is that it is composed of "ok" and "z". In Turkish and proto Turkish "ok" means "arrow". Only in proto Turkish, "ok" also means "clan", and/or "nation". Again, only...
and Oğuzhan
Oğuzhan
Oğuzhan is a common masculine Turkish given name. "Oğuzhan" is composed of two words: "Oğuz" and "Han". In Turkish, "Han" means literally "Khan" whereas Oğuz is a given name, per se. Thus, "Oğuzhan" means "Oğuz khan"....
are a common masculine Turkish given names
Turkish name
A Turkish name consists of an ad and a soyadı . Turkish names exist in a "full name" format. While there is only one soyadı in the full name, there may be more than one ad...
, which are used in memory of Oghuz Khan.
See also
- AnsarluAnsarluThe Ansarlu or Ansaroğlu are Anatolian Turks adherent of Twelver Shī‘ism.This tribe belongs to a branch of the Oghuz Turks, belonging to the Qizilbash people of Afghanistan. In Afghanistan the clan is known to have who originally migrated into the country with Nader Shah Afshar. Takht e Nadir Shah...
- Azerbaijani peopleAzerbaijani peopleThe Azerbaijanis are a Turkic-speaking people living mainly in northwestern Iran and the Republic of Azerbaijan, as well as in the neighbourhood states, Georgia, Russia and formerly Armenia. Commonly referred to as Azeris or Azerbaijani Turks , they also live in a wider area from the Caucasus to...
- BayatBayatThe surname Bayat or Baiyat is derived from clans in Iran and Afghanistan.-Clans:Bayat is the name of an originally Turkic clan in Iran which traces its origin to the 12th century...
- Kara KoyunluKara KoyunluThe Kara Koyunlu or Qara Qoyunlu, also called the Black Sheep Turkomans , were a Shi'ite Oghuz Turkic tribal federation that ruled over the territory comprising the present-day Armenia, Azerbaijan, north-western Iran, eastern Turkey and Iraq from about 1375 to 1468.The Kara Koyunlu Turkomans at one...
- Khalaj languageKhalaj languageKhalaj is a Turkic language spoken in Iran.It is a member of the Azerbaijani subgroup of the Oghuz languages.There were approximately 42,000 speakers of this language as of 2000...
- Modu Chanyu
- Oghuz languagesOghuz languagesThe Oghuz languages, a major branch of the Turkic language family, are spoken by more than 110 million people in an area spanning from the Balkans to China.-Linguistic features:...
- Ottoman EmpireOttoman EmpireThe Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
- Qizilbash
- SeljukSeljukSeljuk was the eponymous hero of the Seljuq Turks. He was the son of a certain Duqaq surnamed Timuryaligh and either the chief or an eminent member from the Kınık tribe of the Oghuz Turks...
- Turkmen peopleTurkmen peopleThe Turkmen are a Turkic people located primarily in the Central Asian states of Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, and northeastern Iran. They speak the Turkmen language, which is classified as a part of the Western Oghuz branch of the Turkic languages family together with Turkish, Azerbaijani, Qashqai,...
