Old page wikitext, before the edit (old_wikitext ) | '{{short description|Legendary khan of the Turkic people, eponymous ancestor of Oghuz Turks}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2022}}
{{Infobox person
| honorific_prefix =
| name = Oghuz Khan
| image = File:Oghuz Khagan portrait, Turkmenistan banknote (2014).jpg
| image_size = 150px
| caption = Modern-day representation of Oghuz Khan as [[Zulqarnayn]], with two horns, on a 100 [[Turkmenistan manat]] banknote
| birth_date =
| birth_place = [[Central Asia]]
| death_date =
| other_names =
| known_for = being an eponymous ancestor of Oghuz Turks
| title = [[Khagan]]
| term =
| predecessor = [[Qara Khan (mythology)|Qara Khan]]
| successor = Division of Empire between his sons
| spouse =
| partner = <!-- (unmarried long-term partner) -->
| children = Gun, Ay, Yildiz, Kok, Tagh, Tengiz
| mother = [[Ay Khagan]]{{citation needed|date=May 2021}}
| father = Qara Khan
| footnotes =
}}
'''Oghuz Khagan''' or '''Oghuz Khan''' ({{lang-tk|Oguz Han or Oguz Kagan }}; {{lang-tr|Oğuz Kağan or Oğuz Han}}; [[Azerbaijani language|Azerbaijani]]: Oğuz Xan or Oğuz Xaqan) is a legendary [[Khan (title)|khan]] of the [[Turkic people]] and an eponymous ancestor of [[Oghuz Turks]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Bonnefoy |first1=Yves |title=Asian Mythologies |date=1993 |publisher=University of Chicago Press |page=337 |quote=Oghuz Khan , the eponymous ancestor of the Oghuz from whom the Seljukids and the Ottomans descended , probably owes his reputation to the importance...}}</ref> Some Turkic cultures use the [[Dastan|legend]] of Oghuz Khan to describe their ethnic and tribal origins. The various versions of the [[narrative]] preserved in many different manuscripts has been published in numerous languages as listed below in the references. The narratives about him are often entitled [[Oğuzname|Oghuzname]], of which there are several traditions, describing his many feats and conquests, some of these tend to overlap with other Turkic epic traditions such as [[Selçukname|Seljukname]] and [[Book of Dede Korkut|The Book of Dede Korkut]].
The name of Oghuz Khan has been associated with [[Maodun]], also known as Mete Khan; the reason being that there is a remarkable similarity between the biography of Oghuz Khagan in the [[Turkic mythology]] and the biography of Maodun found in the [[Chinese historiography]], which was first noticed by the [[Russians|Russo-]][[Chuvash people|Chuvash]] [[Sinology|sinologist]] [[Hyacinth (Bichurin)|Hyacinth]].<ref>Bichurin N.Ya., ''"Compilation of reports on peoples inhabiting Central Asia in ancient times"'', vol. 1, Sankt Petersburg, 1851, pp. 56–57</ref><ref name="auto">Taskin V.S., ''"Materials on history of Sünnu"'', transl., 1968, Vol. 1, p. 129</ref>
==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 script|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 and it does have suggestions of Oghuz Khan's later significance as [[Islamization|Islamizer]] of the Turks, and does not include the figure of Moghul ([[Mongol]]) as an ancestor of Oghuz Khan.
[[Abu al-Ghazi Bahadur|Abū’l-Ghāzī]]'s 17th century version called ''[[Shajara-i Tarākima]]'' (Genealogy of the Turkmen) roughly follows [[Rashid-al-Din Hamadani|Rashīd ad-Dīn]]'s already Mongolized (post-conquest) version of the early 14th century. But in his account, Oghuz Khan is more fully integrated into [[Islam]]ic and [[Mongol people|Mongol]] traditional history. The account begins with descent from [[Adam]] to [[Noah]], who after [[Noah's flood|the flood]] sends his three sons to repopulate the earth: [[Ham (son of Noah)|Ham]] was sent to Africa, [[Shem|Sam]] to Iran, and [[Japheth|Yafes]] went to the banks of the [[Volga|Itil]] and [[Ural River|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 [[Issyk-Kul Region|Issiq Kul]] and was succeeded by Tutek, the eldest of his four sons. Four generations after him came three sons: Tatar, Qara and Moghul(Mongol), who divided the kingdom between them. Qara Khan 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 the Islamic belief.
===Seljuks===
[[File:TM-2011-20manat-Oguz Han2-b.png|thumb|200px|Oghuz Khan on the [[commemorative coin]] of Turkmenistan]]
The [[Seljuks]] originated from the [[Kınık (tribe)|Kinik]] branch of the [[Oghuz Turks]],<ref>Concise Britannica Online [http://concise.britannica.com/ebc/article-9378199/Seljuq-dynasty Seljuq Dynasty] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070114233201/http://concise.britannica.com/ebc/article-9378199/Seljuq-dynasty |date=2007-01-14 }} article</ref><ref>Merriam-Webster Online – Definition of [http://www.m-w.com/cgi-bin/dictionary?va=seljuk Seljuk]</ref><ref>The History of the Seljuq Turks: From the Jami Al-Tawarikh ([https://books.google.com/books?vid=ISBN0700713425&id=jmMpaJZemk0C&pg=PA3 LINK])</ref><ref>Shaw, Stanford. ''History of the Ottoman Empire and Modern Turkey'' ([https://books.google.com/books?vid=ISBN0521291631&id=UVmsI0P9RDUC&pg=PA7 LINK])</ref><ref>Golden, Peter B. (1992). An Introduction to the History of the Turkic People. Otto Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden. p. 209</ref> who in the 9th century lived on the periphery of the Muslim world, north of the [[Caspian Sea]] and [[Aral Sea]] in their [[Yabghu]] [[Khaganate]] of the Oghuz confederacy.<ref>Wink, Andre, ''Al Hind: the Making of the Indo-Islamic World'' Brill Academic Publishers, 1 Jan 1996, {{ISBN|90-04-09249-8}} p. 9</ref><ref>''Islam: An Illustrated History'', p. 51</ref> During the 11th century, they established the [[Great Seljuk Empire]] under the command of the Seljuk chieftains [[Toghrul Beg]] and [[Chaghri Beg]].<ref>Andre Wink, ''Al-Hind: The Making of the Indo-Islamic World'', Vol.2, (Brill, 2002), 9.</ref>
===Anushteginids===
There are certain historical sources which state that the Anushteginids, who ruled vast parts of [[Central Asia]] from 1077 to 1231 under the title of [[Khwarazmshahs]], descended from the [[Begdili]] tribe of the Oghuz Turks.<ref name="anush">{{cite book |last1=Fazlallakh |first1=Rashid ad-Din |title=Oghuznameh (in Russian) |date=1987 |location=Baku}}"Similarly, the most distant ancestor of Sultan [[Muhammad, Khwarezm-Shah|Muhammad Khwarazmshah]] was [[Anushtegin Gharchai|Nushtekin Gharcha]], who was a descendant of the Begdili tribe of the [[Oghuz Turks]]."</ref>
The dynasty was founded by commander [[Anush Tigin Gharchai]], a former Turkic slave of the Seljuq sultans, who was appointed as governor of [[Khwarezm]]. His son, [[Muhammad I of Khwarazm|Qutb ad-Din Muhammad I]], became the first hereditary [[Shah]] of [[Khwarezm]].<ref name="Britannica">[[Encyclopædia Britannica]], "Khwarezm-Shah-Dynasty", ([http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9045365/Khwarezm-Shah-Dynasty#87942.hook LINK])</ref>
===Kara Koyunlu===
[[Kara Koyunlu]] were a tribal confederation of Oguz Turkic nomadic tribes from the Oguz tribe of Yiva, which existed in the 14-15th centuries in [[Western Asia]], on the territory of modern [[Azerbaijan]], [[Armenia]], [[Iraq]], northwestern [[Iran]] and eastern [[Turkey]].<ref>Peter B. Golden, «An Introduction to the History of the Turkic Peoples», pp. 367–368</ref>
===Aq Qoyunlu===
The [[Aq Qoyunlu]] Sultans claimed descent from [[Bayandur (tribe)|Bayindir]] Khan, through grandson of Oghuz Khagan.<ref>Cornell H. Fleischer, (1986), ''Bureaucrat and intellectual in the Ottoman Empire'', p. 287</ref>
===Ottomans===
{{lang|tr|Yazıcıoğlu Ali}}, in early 15th century, traced [[Osman I|Osman]]'s genealogy to Oghuz Khagan, through his senior grandson of his senior son, so giving the Ottoman sultans primacy among [[Anatolian Beyliks|Turkish monarchs]].<ref>{{cite book|author=Colin Imber|year=2002|title=The Ottoman Empire, 1300-1650|page=95}}</ref> Yazıcıoğlu quotes as follows:<ref>{{cite book|title=The Ottoman Empire: The Classical Age 1300-1600|author=Halil İnalcık|year=1973|page=56|language=en}}</ref>
{{blockquote|Ertugrul, from the tribe of {{lang|tr|Kayï}}, his son Osman Bey, and the beys on the frontier, held an assembly. When they had consulted each other and understood the custom of Oghuz (Khan), they appointed Osman khan.}}
[[Bayezid I]] advanced this claim against [[Timur]], who denigrated the Ottoman lineage.<ref>{{cite book|author=Douglas Streusand|year=2010|title=Islamic Gunpowder Empires: Ottomans, Safavids, and Mughals|page=66}}</ref>
According to Ottoman historian [[Neşri]], Osman had a grandfather with a king's name and came from a lineage of the senior branch of [[Oghuz Turks|Oghuz family]]:<ref name=empire />
{{blockquote|The experts in knowledge of the foundation of the prophets and those who know the secrets of the meanings (human) works narrate that this great lineage (of the house of Osman) comes from Oghuz son of Kara Han, who was one of the children of Bulcas, son of [[Japeth|Yafes]], son of [[Noah]], peace be upon him! As follows: [[Ertugrul]] son of [[Suleyman Shah]] son of Kaya Alp son of Kızıl Buğa ... son of Bulcas son of Yafes son of Noah.}}
[[Cem Sultan]], [[Bayezid II]]'s brother, linked their genealogy to Oghuz Khagan that would prevail as a tool of legitimization of the sixteenth century onwards:<ref name=empire>{{cite book|author=Marinos Sariyannis|year=2018|title=A History of Ottoman Political Thought Up to the Early Nineteenth Century|page=61}}</ref>
{{blockquote|Oghuz Khan, he was given the name, which means "saint", in his childhood because he was seen on the right path (i.e. God's). Because he recognized the Oneness of God, he fought with his father, and Oghuz's army killed the latter. This happened during Prophet [[Abraham]]'s times.}}
==Legend==
[[File:Ashgabat IMG 5820 (25838312100).jpg|thumb|Oguzhan monument in [[Ashgabat]]]]
According to a Turkic legend, Oghuz was born in [[Central Asia]] as the son of Qara Khan, leader of the Turkic people. He started talking as soon as he was born. He stopped drinking his mother's milk after the first time and asked for [[kymyz]] (an alcoholic beverage made with fermented horse milk) and meat. After that, he grew up supernaturally fast and in only forty days he became a young adult. At the time of his birth, the lands of the Turkic people were preyed upon by a [[dragon]] named Kiyant. Oghuz armed himself and went to kill the dragon. He set a trap for the dragon by hanging a freshly killed deer in a tree, then killed the great dragon with a bronze lance and cut off its head with a steel sword.
After Oghuz killed Kiyant, he became a people's hero. He formed a special warrior band from the forty sons of forty Turkic [[Baig|beg]]s (lords, chiefs), thus gathering the clans together. But his Chinese stepmother and half-brother, who was the heir to the throne, became intimidated by his power and convinced Qara Khan that Oghuz was planning to dethrone him. Qara Khan decided to assassinate Oghuz at a hunting party. Oghuz learned about this plan and instead killed his father and became the khan. His stepmother and half-brother fled to Chinese lands.
After Oghuz became the [[khan (title)|khan]], he went to the [[steppes]] by himself to praise and pray to [[Tengri]]. While praying, he saw a circle of light coming from the sky with a supernaturally beautiful girl standing in the light. Oghuz fell in love with the girl and married her. He had three sons whom he named Gün (Sun), Ay (Moon), and Yıldız (Star) (all in Turkish). Later, Oghuz went hunting and saw another mesmerizing girl inside a tree. He married her as well and had three more sons whom he named Gök (Sky), Dağ (Mountain), and Deniz (Sea) (in Turkish).
After his sons were born, Oghuz Khan gave a great [[:tr:Toy|toy]] (feast) and invited all of his [[Baig|beg]]s (lords). At the feast, he gave this order to his lords:
{{poem quote|I have become your Khan;
Let's all take swords and shields;
Kut (divine power) will be our sign;
[[Gray wolf]] will be our ''uran'' ([[battle cry]]);
Our iron lances will be a forest;
[[Mongolian wild ass|Khulan]] will walk on the hunting ground;
More seas and more rivers;
Sun is our flag and sky is our tent.}}
Then, he sent 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 the earth, submitted his obedience, but Urum ([[Roman Republic|Roman]]), Khan of the left corner, did not. Oghuz declared war on Urum Khan and marched his army to the west. One night, a large male wolf with grey fur (which is an avatar of Tengri) came to his tent in an aura of light. He said, "Oghuz, you want to march against Urum, I want to march before your army." So, the grey sky-wolf marched before the Turkic army and guided them. The two armies fought near the river İtil (Volga). Oghuz Khan won the battle. Then, Oghuz and his six sons carried out campaigns in [[Turkestan|Turkistan]], India, Iran, Egypt, Iraq and Syria, with the grey wolf as their guide. He became the Khan of the Four Corners of the Earth.
In his old age, Oghuz saw a dream. He called his six sons and sent them to the east and the west. His elder sons found a golden bow in the east. His younger sons found three silver arrows in the west. Oghuz Khan broke the golden bow into three pieces and gave each to his three older sons Gün, Ay, and Yıldız. He said, "My older sons, take this bow and shoot your arrows to the sky like this bow." He gave the three silver arrows to his three younger sons Gök, Dağ and Deniz and said, "My younger sons, take these silver arrows. A bow shoots arrows and you are to be like the arrow." Then, he passed his lands on to his sons, [[Oghuz Turks|Bozoks]] (Gray Arrows - elder sons) and [[Üçok]]s (Three Arrows - 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 said:
{{poem quote|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 and legacy==
[[File:Pınarbaşı 1.JPG|thumb|upright|Bust of [[Modun]] or (Mete Khan)]]
In scientific literature, the name of [[Modu Chanyu|Maodun]] is usually associated with Oghuz Khagan. The reason for that is a striking similarity of the Oguz-Kagan biography in the Turko-Persian manuscripts ([[Rashid-al-Din Hamadani|Rashid al-Din]], [[Husayni al-Isfahani|Hondemir]], [[Abu al-Ghazi Bahadur|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 [[Nikita Bichurin|N.Ya. Bichurin]] (Collection of information, pp. 56–57).<ref>{{cite book|author=Bichurin N.Ya.|title=Collection of information on peoples in Central Asia in ancient times|volume=1|year=1851|pages=56–57}}</ref><ref name="auto"/>
Oghuz Khan is sometimes considered the legendary founder of most Turkic people, and ancestor of the Oghuz subbranch. Even today, subbranches of Oghuz are classified in order of the legendary six sons and 24 grandsons of Oghuz Khan. In history, Turkmen dynasties often rebelled or claimed sovereignty by saying their rank was higher than the existing dynasty in this tribal classification.
Oghuz Khan appears on the 100 [[Turkmenistan manat]] banknote.<ref>{{cite web |title=Banknotes of 2020 series |url=https://www.cbt.tm/en/money/tm_manat_20.html |website=Central Bank of Turkmenistan}}</ref>
[[Oğuz (name)|Oğuz]] and [[Oğuzhan]] are a common masculine Turkish and Turkic given names, which come from Oghuz Khan.
[[Mary Province]]'s district [[Oguzhan District|Oguzhan]], in [[Turkmenistan]], is named after him.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Abasov |first1=Rafis |title=Historical Dictionary of Turkmenistan |date=2005 |publisher=The Scarecrow Press |location=Oxford, UK |page=199}}</ref>
The International airport in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan is named after Oghuz Khan.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.turkmenistan.gov.tm/_eng/?id=6453 |title=The President of Turkmenistan took part in the opening of new Ashgabat International Airport |publisher=Turkmenistan. The Golden Age |date=17 September 2016 |access-date=17 September 2016 |archive-date=18 September 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160918234422/http://www.turkmenistan.gov.tm/_eng/?id=6453 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
==Footnotes==
{{Reflist}}
==See also==
* [[Book of Dede Korkut]]
* [[Ergenekon]]
==References==
{{more footnotes|date=August 2012}}
* Abū’l Ghāzī. 1958. Rodoslovnaia Turkmen. Andrei N. Kononov, ed. Moscow: Nauka.
* İlker Evrim Binbaş, Encyclopædia Iranica, "Oguz Khan Narratives" [http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/oguz-khan-narratives Welcome to Encyclopaedia Iranica], accessed 7 July 2012.
* Golden, Peter B. 1992. An introduction to the history of the Turkic peoples. Ethnogenesis and state formation in medieval and early modern Eurasia and the Middle East. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz.
* Light, Nathan. Genealogy, history, nation
*''Nationalities Papers: The Journal of Nationalism and Ethnicity.'' Volume 39, Issue 1, 2011, Pages 33 – 53.
* Pelliot, Paul. 1930. Sur la légende d'Uγuz-khan en écriture ouigoure. T'oung Pao. Second Series. 27: 4–5. pp. 247–358.
* Rašīd ad-Dīn. Die Geschichte der Oġuzen des Rašīd ad-Dīn. Karl Jahn, trans. Vienna: 1969
* Shcherbak, Aleksandr Mikhaǐlovich. Oguz-name. Muhabbatname. Moscow, 1959.
* Woods, John E. 1976. The Aqquyunlu Clan, Confederation, Empire: a study in 15th/16th Century Turco-Iranian Politics. Minneapolis: Bibliotheca Islamica.
[[Category:Dhul-Qarnayn|*]]
[[Category:Oghuz Turks]]
[[Category:Legendary Islamic people]]' |
New page wikitext, after the edit (new_wikitext ) | '{{short description|Legendary khan of the Turkic people, eponymous ancestor of Oghuz Turks}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2022}}
{{Infobox person
| honorific_prefix =
| name = Oghuz Khan
| image = File:Oghuz Khagan portrait, Turkmenistan banknote (2014).jpg
| image_size = 150px
| caption = Modern-day representation of Oghuz Khan as [[Zulqarnayn]], with two horns, on a 100 [[Turkmenistan manat]] banknote
| birth_date =
| birth_place = [[Central Asia]]
| death_date =
| other_names =
| known_for = being an eponymous ancestor of Oghuz Turks
| title = [[Khagan]]
| term =
| predecessor = [[Qara Khan (mythology)|Qara Khan]]
| successor = Division of Empire between his sons
| spouse =
| partner = <!-- (unmarried long-term partner) -->
| children = Gun, Ay, Yildiz, Kok, Tagh, Tengiz
| mother = [[Ay Khagan]]{{citation needed|date=May 2021}}
| father = Qara Khan
| footnotes =
}}
'''Oghuz Khagan''' or '''Oghuz Khan''' ({{lang-tk|Oguz Han or Oguz Kagan }}; {{lang-tr|Oğuz Kağan or Oğuz Han}}; [[Azerbaijani language|Azerbaijani]]: Oğuz Xan or Oğuz Xaqan) is a legendary [[Khan (title)|khan]] of the [[Turkic people]] and an eponymous ancestor of [[Oghuz Turks]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Bonnefoy |first1=Yves |title=Asian Mythologies |date=1993 |publisher=University of Chicago Press |page=337 |quote=Oghuz Khan , the eponymous ancestor of the Oghuz from whom the Seljukids and the Ottomans descended , probably owes his reputation to the importance...}}</ref> Some Turkic cultures use the [[Dastan|legend]] of Oghuz Khan to describe their ethnic and tribal origins. The various versions of the [[narrative]] preserved in many different manuscripts has been published in numerous languages as listed below in the references. The narratives about him are often entitled [[Oğuzname|Oghuzname]], of which there are several traditions, describing his many feats and conquests, some of these tend to overlap with other Turkic epic traditions such as [[Selçukname|Seljukname]] and [[Book of Dede Korkut|The Book of Dede Korkut]].
The name of Oghuz Khan has been associated with [[Maodun]], also known as Mete Khan; the reason being that there is a remarkable similarity between the biography of Oghuz Khagan in the [[Turkic mythology]] and the biography of Maodun found in the [[Chinese historiography]], which was first noticed by the [[Russians|Russo-]][[Chuvash people|Chuvash]] [[Sinology|sinologist]] [[Hyacinth (Bichurin)|Hyacinth]].<ref>Bichurin N.Ya., ''"Compilation of reports on peoples inhabiting Central Asia in ancient times"'', vol. 1, Sankt Petersburg, 1851, pp. 56–57</ref><ref name="auto">Taskin V.S., ''"Materials on history of Sünnu"'', transl., 1968, Vol. 1, p. 129</ref>
==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 script|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 and it does have suggestions of Oghuz Khan's later significance as [[Islamization|Islamizer]] of the Turks, and does not include the figure of Moghul ([[Mongol]]) as an ancestor of Oghuz Khan.
[[Abu al-Ghazi Bahadur|Abū’l-Ghāzī]]'s 17th century version called ''[[Shajara-i Tarākima]]'' (Genealogy of the Turkmen) roughly follows [[Rashid-al-Din Hamadani|Rashīd ad-Dīn]]'s already Mongolized (post-conquest) version of the early 14th century. But in his account, Oghuz Khan is more fully integrated into [[Islam]]ic and [[Mongol people|Mongol]] traditional history. The account begins with descent from [[Adam]] to [[Noah]], who after [[Noah's flood|the flood]] sends his three sons to repopulate the earth: [[Ham (son of Noah)|Ham]] was sent to Africa, [[Shem|Sam]] to Iran, and [[Japheth|Yafes]] went to the banks of the [[Volga|Itil]] and [[Ural River|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 [[Issyk-Kul Region|Issiq Kul]] and was succeeded by Tutek, the eldest of his four sons. Four generations after him came three sons: Tatar, Qara and Moghul(Mongol), who divided the kingdom between them. Qara Khan 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 the Islamic belief.
===Seljuks===
[[File:TM-2011-20manat-Oguz Han2-b.png|thumb|200px|Oghuz Khan on the [[commemorative coin]] of Turkmenistan]]
The [[Seljuks]] originated from the [[Kınık (tribe)|Kinik]] branch of the [[Oghuz Turks]],<ref>Concise Britannica Online [http://concise.britannica.com/ebc/article-9378199/Seljuq-dynasty Seljuq Dynasty] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070114233201/http://concise.britannica.com/ebc/article-9378199/Seljuq-dynasty |date=2007-01-14 }} article</ref><ref>Merriam-Webster Online – Definition of [http://www.m-w.com/cgi-bin/dictionary?va=seljuk Seljuk]</ref><ref>The History of the Seljuq Turks: From the Jami Al-Tawarikh ([https://books.google.com/books?vid=ISBN0700713425&id=jmMpaJZemk0C&pg=PA3 LINK])</ref><ref>Shaw, Stanford. ''History of the Ottoman Empire and Modern Turkey'' ([https://books.google.com/books?vid=ISBN0521291631&id=UVmsI0P9RDUC&pg=PA7 LINK])</ref><ref>Golden, Peter B. (1992). An Introduction to the History of the Turkic People. Otto Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden. p. 209</ref> who in the 9th century lived on the periphery of the Muslim world, north of the [[Caspian Sea]] and [[Aral Sea]] in their [[Yabghu]] [[Khaganate]] of the Oghuz confederacy.<ref>Wink, Andre, ''Al Hind: the Making of the Indo-Islamic World'' Brill Academic Publishers, 1 Jan 1996, {{ISBN|90-04-09249-8}} p. 9</ref><ref>''Islam: An Illustrated History'', p. 51</ref> During the 11th century, they established the [[Great Seljuk Empire]] under the command of the Seljuk chieftains [[Toghrul Beg]] and [[Chaghri Beg]].<ref>Andre Wink, ''Al-Hind: The Making of the Indo-Islamic World'', Vol.2, (Brill, 2002), 9.</ref>
===Anushteginids===
There are certain historical sources which state that the Anushteginids, who ruled vast parts of [[Central Asia]] from 1077 to 1231 under the title of [[Khwarazmshahs]], descended from the [[Begdili]] tribe of the Oghuz Turks.<ref name="anush">{{cite book |last1=Fazlallakh |first1=Rashid ad-Din |title=Oghuznameh (in Russian) |date=1987 |location=Baku}}"Similarly, the most distant ancestor of Sultan [[Muhammad, Khwarezm-Shah|Muhammad Khwarazmshah]] was [[Anushtegin Gharchai|Nushtekin Gharcha]], who was a descendant of the Begdili tribe of the [[Oghuz Turks]]."</ref>
The dynasty was founded by commander [[Anush Tigin Gharchai]], a former Turkic slave of the Seljuq sultans, who was appointed as governor of [[Khwarezm]]. His son, [[Muhammad I of Khwarazm|Qutb ad-Din Muhammad I]], became the first hereditary [[Shah]] of [[Khwarezm]].<ref name="Britannica">[[Encyclopædia Britannica]], "Khwarezm-Shah-Dynasty", ([http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9045365/Khwarezm-Shah-Dynasty#87942.hook LINK])</ref>
===Kara Koyunlu===
[[Kara Koyunlu]] were a tribal confederation of Oguz Turkic nomadic tribes from the Oguz tribe of Yiva, which existed in the 14-15th centuries in [[Western Asia]], on the territory of modern [[Azerbaijan]], [[Armenia]], [[Iraq]], northwestern [[Iran]] and eastern [[Turkey]].<ref>Peter B. Golden, «An Introduction to the History of the Turkic Peoples», pp. 367–368</ref>
===Aq Qoyunlu===
The [[Aq Qoyunlu]] Sultans claimed descent from [[Bayandur (tribe)|Bayindir]] Khan, through grandson of Oghuz Khagan.<ref>Cornell H. Fleischer, (1986), ''Bureaucrat and intellectual in the Ottoman Empire'', p. 287</ref>
===Ottomans===
{{lang|tr|Yazıcıoğlu Ali}}, in early 15th century, traced [[Osman I|Osman]]'s genealogy to Oghuz Khagan, through his senior grandson of his senior son, so giving the Ottoman sultans primacy among [[Anatolian Beyliks|Turkish monarchs]].<ref>{{cite book|author=Colin Imber|year=2002|title=The Ottoman Empire, 1300-1650|page=95}}</ref> Yazıcıoğlu quotes as follows:<ref>{{cite book|title=The Ottoman Empire: The Classical Age 1300-1600|author=Halil İnalcık|year=1973|page=56|language=en}}</ref>
{{blockquote|Ertugrul, from the tribe of {{lang|tr|Kayï}}, his son Osman Bey, and the beys on the frontier, held an assembly. When they had consulted each other and understood the custom of Oghuz (Khan), they appointed Osman khan.}}
[[Bayezid I]] advanced this claim against [[Timur]], who denigrated the Ottoman lineage.<ref>{{cite book|author=Douglas Streusand|year=2010|title=Islamic Gunpowder Empires: Ottomans, Safavids, and Mughals|page=66}}</ref>
According to Ottoman historian [[Neşri]], Osman had a grandfather with a king's name and came from a lineage of the senior branch of [[Oghuz Turks|Oghuz family]]:<ref name=empire />
{{blockquote|The experts in knowledge of the foundation of the prophets and those who know the secrets of the meanings (human) works narrate that this great lineage (of the house of Osman) comes from Oghuz son of Kara Han, who was one of the children of Bulcas, son of [[Japeth|Yafes]], son of [[Noah]], peace be upon him! As follows: [[Ertugrul]] son of [[Suleyman Shah]] son of Kaya Alp son of Kızıl Buğa ... son of Bulcas son of Yafes son of Noah.}}
[[Cem Sultan]], [[Bayezid II]]'s brother, linked their genealogy to Oghuz Khagan that would prevail as a tool of legitimization of the sixteenth century onwards:<ref name=empire>{{cite book|author=Marinos Sariyannis|year=2018|title=A History of Ottoman Political Thought Up to the Early Nineteenth Century|page=61}}</ref>
{{blockquote|Oghuz Khan, he was given the name, which means "saint", in his childhood because he was seen on the right path (i.e. God's). Because he recognized the Oneness of God, he fought with his father, and Oghuz's army killed the latter. This happened during Prophet [[Abraham]]'s times.}}
==Legend==
[[File:Ashgabat IMG 5820 (25838312100).jpg|thumb|Oguzhan monument in [[Ashgabat]]]]
According to a Turkic legend, Oghuz was born in [[Central Asia]] as the son of Qara Khan, leader of the Turkic people. He started talking as soon as he was born. He stopped drinking his mother's milk after the first time and asked for [[kymyz]] (an alcoholic beverage made with fermented horse milk) and meat. After that, he grew up supernaturally fast and in only forty days he became a young adult. At the time of his birth, the lands of the Turkic people were preyed upon by a [[dragon]] named Kiyant. Oghuz armed himself and went to kill the dragon. He set a trap for the dragon by hanging a freshly killed deer in a tree, then killed the great dragon with a bronze lance and cut off its head with a steel sword.
After Oghuz killed Kiyant, he became a people's hero. He formed a special warrior band from the forty sons of forty Turkic [[Baig|beg]]s (lords, chiefs), thus gathering the clans together. But his Chinese stepmother and half-brother, who was the heir to the throne, became intimidated by his power and convinced Qara Khan that Oghuz was planning to dethrone him. Qara Khan decided to assassinate Oghuz at a hunting party. Oghuz learned about this plan and instead killed his father and became the khan. His stepmother and half-brother fled to Chinese lands.
After Oghuz became the [[khan (title)|khan]], he went to the [[steppes]] by himself to praise and pray to [[Tengri]]. While praying, he saw a circle of light coming from the sky with a supernaturally beautiful girl standing in the light. Oghuz fell in love with the girl and married her. He had three sons whom he named Gün (Sun), Ay (Moon), and Yıldız (Star) (all in Turkish). Later, Oghuz went hunting and saw another mesmerizing girl inside a tree. He married her as well and had three more sons whom he named Gök (Sky), Dağ (Mountain), and Deniz (Sea) (in Turkish).
After his sons were born, Oghuz Khan gave a great [[:tr:Toy|toy]] (feast) and invited all of his [[Baig|beg]]s (lords). At the feast, he gave this order to his lords:
{{poem quote|I have become your Khan;
Let's all take swords and shields;
Kut (divine power) will be our sign;
[[Gray wolf]] will be our ''uran'' ([[battle cry]]);
Our iron lances will be a forest;
[[Mongolian wild ass|Khulan]] will walk on the hunting ground;
More seas and more rivers;
Sun is our flag and sky is our tent.}}
Then, he sent 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 the earth, submitted his obedience, but Urum ([[Roman Republic|Roman]]), Khan of the left corner, did not. Oghuz declared war on Urum Khan and marched his army to the west. One night, a large male wolf with grey fur (which is an avatar of Tengri) came to his tent in an aura of light. He said, "Oghuz, you want to march against Urum, I want to march before your army." So, the grey sky-wolf marched before the Turkic army and guided them. The two armies fought near the river İtil (Volga). Oghuz Khan won the battle. Then, Oghuz and his six sons carried out campaigns in [[Turkestan|Turkistan]], India, Iran, Egypt, Iraq and Syria, with the grey wolf as their guide. He became the Khan of the Four Corners of the Earth.
In his old age, Oghuz saw a dream. He called his six sons and sent them to the east and the west. His elder sons found a golden bow in the east. His younger sons found three silver arrows in the west. Oghuz Khan broke the golden bow into three pieces and gave each to his three older sons Gün, Ay, and Yıldız. He said, "My older sons, take this bow and shoot your arrows to the sky like this bow." He gave the three silver arrows to his three younger sons Gök, Dağ and Deniz and said, "My younger sons, take these silver arrows. A bow shoots arrows and you are to be like the arrow." Then, he passed his lands on to his sons, [[Oghuz Turks|Bozoks]] (Gray Arrows - elder sons) and [[Üçok]]s (Three Arrows - 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 said:
{{poem quote|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 and legacy==
[[File:Pınarbaşı 1.JPG|thumb|upright|Bust of [[Modun]] or (Mete Khan)]]
[[Oğuz (name)|Oğuz]] and [[Oğuzhan]] are a common masculine Turkish and Turkic given names, which come from Oghuz Khan.
[[Mary Province]]'s district [[Oguzhan District|Oguzhan]], in [[Turkmenistan]], is named after him.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Abasov |first1=Rafis |title=Historical Dictionary of Turkmenistan |date=2005 |publisher=The Scarecrow Press |location=Oxford, UK |page=199}}</ref>
The International airport in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan is named after Oghuz Khan.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.turkmenistan.gov.tm/_eng/?id=6453 |title=The President of Turkmenistan took part in the opening of new Ashgabat International Airport |publisher=Turkmenistan. The Golden Age |date=17 September 2016 |access-date=17 September 2016 |archive-date=18 September 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160918234422/http://www.turkmenistan.gov.tm/_eng/?id=6453 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
==Footnotes==
{{Reflist}}
==See also==
* [[Book of Dede Korkut]]
* [[Ergenekon]]
==References==
{{more footnotes|date=August 2012}}
* Abū’l Ghāzī. 1958. Rodoslovnaia Turkmen. Andrei N. Kononov, ed. Moscow: Nauka.
* İlker Evrim Binbaş, Encyclopædia Iranica, "Oguz Khan Narratives" [http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/oguz-khan-narratives Welcome to Encyclopaedia Iranica], accessed 7 July 2012.
* Golden, Peter B. 1992. An introduction to the history of the Turkic peoples. Ethnogenesis and state formation in medieval and early modern Eurasia and the Middle East. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz.
* Light, Nathan. Genealogy, history, nation
*''Nationalities Papers: The Journal of Nationalism and Ethnicity.'' Volume 39, Issue 1, 2011, Pages 33 – 53.
* Pelliot, Paul. 1930. Sur la légende d'Uγuz-khan en écriture ouigoure. T'oung Pao. Second Series. 27: 4–5. pp. 247–358.
* Rašīd ad-Dīn. Die Geschichte der Oġuzen des Rašīd ad-Dīn. Karl Jahn, trans. Vienna: 1969
* Shcherbak, Aleksandr Mikhaǐlovich. Oguz-name. Muhabbatname. Moscow, 1959.
* Woods, John E. 1976. The Aqquyunlu Clan, Confederation, Empire: a study in 15th/16th Century Turco-Iranian Politics. Minneapolis: Bibliotheca Islamica.
[[Category:Dhul-Qarnayn|*]]
[[Category:Oghuz Turks]]
[[Category:Legendary Islamic people]]' |