Who are the Turks and their origin. Turkic and Mongolian peoples of Russia

Where did the Turks come from?

The Huns, led by Atilla, invade Italy. . Vcentury n.uh.

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The question is not simple. It seems that the Turks consider themselves a people who have lost their roots. Ataturk (father of the Turks), the first president of Turkey, assembled a representative scientific commission and set it the task of finding the origin of the Turks. The commission worked long and hard, discovered a huge number of facts from the history of the Turks, but there was no clarity on the issue.

Our compatriot L.N. Gumilyov made a great contribution to the study of the history of the Turks. A number of his serious works (“Ancient Turks”, “A Millennium Around the Caspian Sea”) are dedicated specifically to the Turkic-speaking peoples. It can even be argued that his works laid the foundation for scientific ethnology.

However, the respected scientist makes one completely tragic mistake. He pointedly refuses to analyze ethnonyms and, in general, claims that language has no influence on the formation of an ethnos. This more than strange statement makes the scientist completely helpless in the simplest situations. Let's show this with an example.

Talking about the Kimaks, an ancient Turkic people who, on the verge of the first and second millennia, formed a strong state somewhere in the region of modern Kazakhstan that lasted about three hundred years, he cannot help but express surprise at its sudden and complete disappearance. In search of the disappeared ethnic group, the scientist documentedly searched all the surrounding areas. There were no traces of him in the sheger of the Kazakh tribes.

Perhaps, the scientist suggests, the Kimaks assimilated with the peoples who conquered them or scattered across the steppe. No, we will not explore the ethnonym. “It won’t give anything anyway,” says Lev Nikolaevich. But in vain.

Kimaki – this is a slightly distorted Russian word hamsters. If you read this word backwards, it turns out to be Arabicقماح To amma :X  "wheat" The connection is clear and self-explanatory. Now let’s compare the current expression “Tashkent– city ​​of grain.” And we didn’t invent jerboas. As for the name of the city of Tashkent, it consists of the part Kent"city" and the Arabic root, which we can observe in the wordعطشجي at Ashji "stoker". If you don't light the oven, you won't bake bread. Some translate the name of the city as “stone city.” But if it is a grain city, its name must be translated as a city of stokers and bakers.

In the outlines of the borders of modern Uzbekistan, we can easily see a wheat lover.

Here is his photo and drawing in life

Only Simia can give simple answers to complex questions. Let's continue. Let's read the ethnonym Uzbeks in Arabic, i.e. backwards:خبز XBZ means “bake bread” and henceخباز X Abba :z “ovenmaker, baker”, “bread seller or one who bakes it.”

If we now take a quick look at the culture of Uzbekistan, we will find that it is all filled with ceramics. Why? Because the technology for its production coincides with the technology for baking bread. By the way, Russian baker and Arabicفخار F X A :R "ceramics" – the same word. It is for this reason that Tashkent is a grain city and for the same reason Uzbekistan is a country that can be proud of its karama for centuries. Samarkand, the capital of Tamerlane's empire, Bukhara, Tashkent are monuments of ceramic architecture.

Registan, main square of Samarkand

Registan:

The name of the square is explained as a derivative of the Persian. R egi - sand. They say that a river once flowed in this place and deposited a lot of sand. No, it's from Ar. re: G And - "I beg" (راجي ). And for Russian I beg– ar. scarf"honor". At this place roads from different parts of the world converged. And Timur invited traders, artisans, and scientists to his capital so that they would make the city the capital of the world. When Russians invite, they say I ASK, and Arabs sayشرف Sharraf"do the honors". Persian word from Ar.راجع re :g iъ "returning" If you build a city among the sands and do not take care of it, the sand will return. This was the case with Samarkand before Timur.

Here we have traced the path of the supposedly disappeared Turkic tribe of Kimaks. It turns out that it manifested itself through another name that has the same meaning.

But the Turkic tribes are numerous. It is known that their homeland is Altai, but they traveled a long way from Altai along the Great Steppe to the center of Europe, several times experiencing the so-called “passionary explosion” (Gumilev). The final explosion was embodied in the Ottoman Empire, which ended with the end of the First World War, when the empire shrank to a small state called Turkey.

Ataturk's task remains unsolved. At the same time, another awakening of the Turks is planned, which forces them to look for their roots.

In the heat of passionary excitement, all sorts of theories are put forward. It sometimes comes to the point that Russians are Turks in the past, and the same applies, naturally, to the Slavs. And there can be no talk about Ukrainians. Khokhol means “son of heaven” in Turkic.

A leading position in the new pan-Turkism movement is occupied by journalist Adji Murad, who literally tries to show in just a few words that all, for example, Russian words are from Turkic languages. Judging by the method of juggling words, it is clear that the journalist is very far from linguistics. And in the topic he declared, such knowledge would be useful to him. After all, linguistics has long learned to distinguish between its own and someone else’s languages. Even the average person can see this in most cases. For example, in the Russian language no one tries to declare such words as expedition, modernization, saxaul, horde, balyk as originally Russian. The criterion is simple: the word belongs to the language in which it is motivated. There are other signs, additional. Borrowed words, as a rule, have a meager set of derivative words, a strange syllabic structure, and in their morphology they carry grammatical features of a foreign language, for example, rails, marketing. In the first, the English plural indicator remains, in the second, traces of the English gerund.

Yes, word topknot is motivated in Slavic languages. It also has another meaning: “an unruly strand of hair”, “a sticking out tuft of hair or feathers”. And this was in reality. Ukrainians wore crests and were and remain stubborn by nature. Who doesn't know this?

This also has a counterpart in Arabic:لحوح lah O: X  "stubborn, persistent", derived from the verbألح " alah X A "insist". Almost also called Poles, their eternal rivals Poles, of which the most stubborn Pole Lech Kaczynski.

But what is most surprising in the works of Adji Murad is that he does not even try to raise the question of the meaning of the numerous names of the Turkic tribes. Well, okay, at least I thought about the meaning of the word TURKI, denoting the Turkic superethnos. Since I really want to put them at the head of all the peoples of the world.

Let's help the Turks. For Simiya, this is not such a difficult task.

Let's turn to the ancient Egyptian fresco "Creation of the World", which is a program file for the deployment of ethnic groups.

There are 6 characters on the fresco, which corresponds to the biblical text about the creation of the world, called the Six Days in the Christian tradition, for God created the world in six days, and on the seventh day he rested. And the hedgehog understands that nothing serious can be done in six (seven) days. It’s just that someone read the Russian word dny (levels) as days (weeks).

The silhouettes of the letters of the Arabic alphabet are easily recognizable behind the figures on the Egyptian fresco. You can read about them in my book “System Languages ​​of the Brain” or “World Periodic Law”. We will be interested here only in the central couple “Heaven and Earth”.

The sky is depicted by the heavenly goddess Nut. And under it is the Celestial Yeb, the god of the earth. What happens between them is exactly what is written in their names, if you read them in Russian: Eb and Nut. The Russian language has emerged again. In Ancient Egypt, did priests write in Russian? Let's leave the question unanswered for now. Let's move on.

If you put the sky goddess on the "butt", you get ancient Aramaic letter gimel ( ג ), in Arabic "gym". And if Eba, the god of the earth, is placed on the sinful earth with his feet, the Arabic letter vav will be obtained ( و ).

و Andג

It is clear that the Celestial Eb is China, whose residents never tire of pronouncing the name of the producing organ in Russian. Russian again? And the Goddess of the sky, Nut, is India, in which the Himalayas are mountains.

Arabic and Aramaic letters have numerical values. The letter gim is in third place and has a numerical value of 3. The letter vav is in sixth place and has a numerical value of 6. And so it is clear that the Arabic vav is just an Arabic six.

The Heavenly Goddess was often depicted as a cow.

In fact, the image of the cow belonged to the goddess of Wisdom, Isis. Between her horns she has the disk of the sun RA. Otherwise, that under it, under Heaven, was always depicted in the form of a man, sometimes with a snake's head.

This is because the Arabic name for snake, the root CUY, is similar to what is written on our fence. That's why the Celestial Empire built the longest fence for itself. Despite the fact that ZUBUR, this is a plural form. numbers of the Arabic word BISON.

In Russian BISON is “BULL”, in Arabic it isطور TOUR.

For some time, the bison was found inside China and was its necessary accessory. But for some time I realized my own importance. After all, you must agree, it is he who should be with the cow so that roof at her, and not some person. In short, the moment has come for the bison (bull, aurochs) to say to the man: shoo, scratch, get out of here. Since then, man in Turkic is kishi, kizhi.

Let's formulate this more precisely. The Turkic word kishi "man", comes from the Russian kysh. One could say that from Arabicكش ka :sh sh “drive away,” but the Russian interjection is more emotional and more accurately conveys the indignation of the tour. Word tour comes from ArabicWith aura "bull", derived from the verbثار With A :R "be angry".

From this moment, when the Russian word kysh was heard, the history of the TURKS, the bulls, begins. They leave the heavenly god of the earth, depriving him of the organ of copulation, which is why Geb becomes feminine, i.e. Celestial Empire. Like on this map:

Photo of a modern TOURIST map of Tibet.

Easy to say!!! In reality, acquiring independence, it was necessary to leave the god of the earth. Where? To the north, to where the sky was not blue, like the Chinese, but blue, like the Turkic one. To Altai. We saw the blue sacred color of the Turks on Uzbek palaces and mosques. But these are quite late times. At first, the new color of the sky appeared on the Turkic yurts.

What palaces are there!

Did the prince cover his palaces with carvings?
What are they in front of the blue yurt!

Archaeological research shows that the yurt has existed since the 12th century BC.

Although the Turks separated from China, the idea of ​​a Chinese “heavenly state” still remained. These are the roots. Simia found out that when a bull becomes sacralized, it always reflects No. 2. Compare American bison, Belarusian bison. And if this happens to a cow, then it becomes the carrier of number three. There is no brighter example than the Indian sacred cow, which walks the roads of India, located on a triangular peninsula.

The Chinese number is 6, we saw this both in the Arabic letter and in the pose of the Celestial Empire, and at the same time, the Turks have their own, anti-Chinese number – 5.

The union of a bull and a cow: 2 + 3 = 5. But if the addition sign is made rotating, then the five will alternate with the six, in this situation: 2 x 3 = 6. This is the cybernetic meaning of the Turkic number.

So that no one doubts that the Turks are bulls, tours, the Turks use the word as an honorific beck. "This word generally means master and is always placed after one's own name, for example Abbas Beg." (Brockhaus). It doesn’t occur to anyone that this appeal comes from the Russian word bull. Meanwhile, there is nothing strange in the fact that bulls call especially respected individuals among themselves bulls.

What's a bull without a cow? The sacredness of the cow is reflected in the sacredness of milk for the Turkic tribes. And from here, for example, Caucasian Albania, which is in the north of Azerbaijan. This is an Arabic wordألبان Alba :n "dairy" . What is the name of the capital of Azerbaijan? In Azerbaijani Baki. It is clear that this is a Russian word BULLS.

Some might think that this could be a coincidence. Yes, a strange coincidence. But there is another Albania, Balkan. Its capital Tirana. The name is not clear to anyone. Why is it unclear? Every Arab will say that these are "bulls" (ثيران you :r a:n ). Moreover, the Arab can be checked.Easily. I looked in the dictionary and made sure that the Arab had not lied.You can’t invent such parallelism on purpose. Look: One Albania is connected with the “Russian bulls”, the other with the “Arab ones”. It’s as if the Turks conspired to show the importance of RA. What does the name of the country Azerbaijan mean? No one knows. Only simiya gives direct and clear answer . First part from Arabicجازر ja : h er , yea : zer " Reznik", second part - Russian. BYCHINA.

So, the topic of “cutting up a bull carcass” appears. I read in one historical book about the Turks that Bashkirs,Pechenegs and Oguzes connected by a common historical destiny. Not being a historian, I cannot verify this. But as a linguist, it amazes me that these names refer specifically to the cutting of bovine carcasses. Bashkirs from the head, i.e. This refers to the front part of the carcass. Pechenegs from Russian liver. In Arabic this concept is broader. This refers not only to a well-known organ, but also to the central part of something. Oghuz, of course, from Russian. O tail, i.e. rear end. The bull's carcass is ritually divided into three parts according to the number of the cow. The numbers of the number are repeated again (2 and 3). Let's take note of this matter in our minds.

So, a Turk is a bull. The creator did his best genetically. The Turks, as a rule, have a short, massive neck, which gives them the opportunity to easily win prizes in classical wrestling (now Greco-Roman, in the time of Poddubny - French). After all, in this type of wrestling the main thing is a strong neck, so that there is a strong “bridge”. And this is so that you have enough strength to withstand the Six pose. I know, because in my youth I studied the “classics” at that time. You come to training and stand in the Eba pose. This is called "rocking the bridge."

Sobbing is soothing. Calmness, repose of the soul in Arabic is calledرضوان read va :n . In Arab Egypt, where the ancient funeral cult is preserved, and where the newspapers are filled with obituaries, you see this word in every obituary. The second part of the ethnonym MEN comes from Ar.أمان "ama :n , "ame:n"calmness"

Dutar- a two-stringed instrument, to the music of which dastans (fairy tales) are sung. Fairy tales also tell the stories of that other world, world number 2. Dutar was scattered by a cultural wave throughout Central Asia, but “dutar is an integral part of the centuries-old musical culture of the Turkmen people. If you listen to the sound of dutar, you can feel the heat of the hot Turkmen sun, catch the polyphony of mountain rivers and the splash of waves of the ancient Caspian Sea.” This text is taken from the website سنةWith anat "year"سنة sinat “sleep” - N.V.) to get to the condition, to soak in juices of the earth, - Nazarguli continues. - If you start working with the material right away, this will subsequently lead to deformation of the dutar and distortion of the sound. When it comes term(cf. ar.أجل "A gal "deadline, end"آجلة "agila "that light". where is the Russian from? grave- N.V.), I take out logs, make blanks from them... To make a good dutar, you first need a good tree. Best fit mulberry"If Tutankhamun had heard these words, he would have turned over in his grave twice.

Russian word string comes from Arabicوتر Vatar "string", "string", derived from Arabicوتر watara "pull on". It’s just that Russians sometimes see the letter vav as the Russian s. Hence fire And shooter. And again and again wind, because he is tightening the sails. But if you read it the other way around, it turns out zealous. These are the horses that the Turks, especially the Tajiks, love. After all, there are two reasons that the strings of the dutar.

But this is also important for us: " Turkmen music is different... connection rhythmic. links of even and odd structure: 2 + 3, 3 + 2. (Website "Belkanto.ru) . Let's find out the formula for the structure of the Turkic number? Let's translate it into words: "bull + cow, cow + bull."

Sing, my dutar, cry and sing about your dear side.

In Egypt, the sleep of the pharaohs was guarded by a sphinx with the body of a lion. Here is a lioness, the silhouette of whose muzzle can be seen in the outline of the borders of modern Turkmenistan.

The lioness is numbered five. This is a common Turkic number, which is supported by the administrative division of the country. And this can be seen on the flags of Turkmenistan.

On the Soviet flag, 2 blue lines divided the red field in two. On the modern one, a green field is crossed by a brown carpet with five patterns. Flag Day is celebrated on February 19th. On this day in 2001, the leadership changed the aspect ratio of the flag, they became 2 to 3. To the rhythms of dutar? Five stars symbolize 5 regions of the country.

In general, the dutar is a descendant of the Turkic bow, adapted to territory No. 2. The transition was obviously smooth. According to ancient Arabic sources (mentioned above), in ancient times the Turkmens had wedding custom: The groom's friends shot at his ring with arrows. And then the groom himself appointed the place of the first wedding night by throwing an arrow. I don’t know if that custom has been preserved, but the dutar player from time to time bends it with a special technique, as if showing where this instrument comes from.

There is a disease, the companion of all wars. Tetanus is called tetanus in Latin.

Tetanus (Tetanus).

A wounded warrior before death.

An acute infectious disease characterized by severe convulsions resulting from damage to the nervous system. The causative agent is tetanus bacillus (Clostridium tetani). Penetration of pathogen spores into a wound (with soil, a piece of cloth, wood, etc.), in the presence of dead tissue (anaerobic conditions), causes disease. S. is a common companion of wars. Tonic spasms cover the muscles of the neck, torso, and abdomen; the head is thrown back, the spine is curved anteriorly - the patient touches the bed only with the back of the head and heels". (TSB) S. bacilli produce a poison similar to strychnine, which causes poisoning - tetanine.(Brockhaus).

The Russian name is externally motivated by the verb stand still . In fact, the name of the disease comes from the addition of the Arabic prefixاست ist "to ask" + read backwardsنبل observable"arrows", + يقي yak And "to defend oneself", literally "to ask for arrows for protection." Hence the bow-stretched pose.The Latin name for the deadly disease comes from the Russian word bowstring. (see Vashkevich “Dictionary of etymological and hidden meanings”. Issue 4).

ABSTRACT

Altai - the center of the universe of the Turkic peoples

Introduction

Today, it has long been an axiom among the scientific community around the world that Altai is the great ancestral home of all modern Turkic peoples, and in a broad sense, the peoples of the entire Altai language family.

The relevance of my topic lies in the fact that the culture of any nation is based on its national characteristics. Every person should know their origins, customs, and traditions. But also the traditions and customs of other peoples confidently enter our lives, this suggests that we should know the culture of other peoples no less than our own. And it is precisely in this work that the stated goal is revealed, to tell about the Turkic peoples of the Altai region, about their culture and history in general. In this regard, the tasks are the general characteristics of the Turkic and Altai people, their history, culture and worldview. The object of my research is the Altai region, and the subject is the Turkic peoples. The tools for researching the assigned tasks were studying literature and working on the Internet.

In the Altai region in 552, the ancient Turks created their first state - the great Turkic Khaganate, which united Northern Asia and Eastern Europe, laying the foundations of Eurasian statehood and civilization, a state in which your direct ancestors - the people of the Tatars - thirty Turkic tribes and the Huns played a significant role -Bulgarians.

In honor of the celebration of the 250th anniversary of the voluntary entry of the Altai people into the Russian state, respected Mintimer Sharipovich, being the President of Tatarstan, presented a memorial sign “Altai - the heart of Eurasia.” It is located at the very entrance to the Altai Republic on the banks of the Katun River near the sacred Mount Baburgan.

That is why the creation and construction of the sign “Altai - the heart of Eurasia” is so significant and memorable for all of us, Russians, - a kind of symbol of recognition of the Altai Republic not only as the ancestral home of all Turkic ethnic groups, but also as part of the modern republics of the Russian Federation. Altai played a huge unifying role in the history of the peoples of our country from the Far East to the Volga and the Urals, the Danube and the Carpathians. Further development through a series of successive eras from the Hunnic-Bulgarian, Horde to Russian, had, as our joint history has confirmed, the most beneficial impact on the formation, formation and development of all our peoples.

On the memorial sign made by Tatarstan specialists, it is carved: “We erected this memorial sign in Altai - the “center of the universe”, on the place where our ancient ancestors gathered to resolve public affairs, from where the batyrs on argamaks went on campaigns, the people organized holidays and competitions in honor of famous events. Turkic civilization originates here. A message to descendants is carved on six pedestals along the perimeter of the sign in Tatar, Altai, English, Japanese, Korean, Persian and Turkish.

The Altai Republic is a stable, kind of model region, where Turks and Slavs, Russians and Altaians, and representatives of other large and small ethnic groups have lived in peace and harmony for 2.5 centuries. As a result, a dual cultural-civilizational symbiosis has developed and is strengthening from generation to generation, like you have in Tatarstan: “Live yourself and let others live!” This is the credo of our Altai, Siberian, Russian coexistence and cooperation. That is why respect for each other, languages ​​and cultures, traditions and customs, spiritual values, as they say, is in the blood of our people. We are open to friendship and cooperation with everyone who comes to us with kind hearted and pure thoughts. IN last years The Altai Republic has significantly expanded cooperation not only with the neighboring Siberian regions of Russia, but also with the adjacent territories of Kazakhstan, Mongolia, and China.

1. General characteristics of representatives of the Turkic and Altai people of Russia

Representatives of the Turkic group of peoples of Russia, who today live mainly in the Volga region, the Urals, Southern Siberia and the Altai Territory and represent quite original, cohesive national communities, due to the peculiarities of the historical past, in their ethnopsychological characteristics, are not so sharply different from each other and have much more similarities among themselves in comparison, for example, with the indigenous peoples of the Caucasus.

The most common and similar national psychological characteristics and their representatives that influence interethnic relations are:

¾ acute national pride, a special sense of awareness of one’s national identity;

¾ unpretentiousness and unpretentiousness in everyday life and when performing professional and everyday duties;

¾ high feeling responsibility to the team, colleagues and manager;

¾ discipline, diligence and perseverance when performing any type of activity;

¾ sharp directness of judgment, openness and clarity in interaction and communication with representatives of one’s own and other ethnic communities, the desire for equal relations;

¾ group, national and clan cohesion;

¾ with poor knowledge of the Russian language, they exhibit a certain shyness and constraint in communicating with representatives of other ethnic communities, some passivity, and a desire to be satisfied with communication in their national environment.

2. Brief history of the Turkic people

Turkic Altaic population national

One of the traditional occupations of the Turks was nomadic cattle breeding, as well as iron mining and processing.

The ethnic history of the proto-Turkic substrate is marked by the synthesis of two population groups: the first formed west of the Volga, in the 5th-8th millennium BC, during centuries-long migrations in the eastern and south directions, became the predominant population of the Volga region and Kazakhstan, Altai and the Upper Yenisei valley. And the second group, which appeared in the steppes east of the Yenisei later, was of intra-Asian origin.

The history of interaction and fusion of both groups of ancient population over two thousand years is the process during which ethnic consolidation was carried out and Turkic-speaking ethnic communities were formed. It was from among these closely related tribes that in the 2nd millennium BC. modern Turkic peoples of Russia and adjacent territories emerged.

D.G. made an assumption about the “Hunnic” layers in the formation of the ancient Turkic cultural complex. Savinov - he believed that they, “gradually modernizing and mutually penetrating each other, became the common property of the culture of numerous population groups that became part of the Ancient Turkic Kaganate.”

From the 6th century AD. the region in the middle reaches of the Syr Darya and the Chu River began to be 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 was for many centuries the predominant form of organization of power in the Asian steppes. Nomadic states, replacing each other, existed in Eurasia from the middle of the 1st millennium BC. until the 17th century.

In 552-745, the Turkic Khaganate existed in Central Asia, which in 603 split into two parts: the Eastern and Western Khaganates. The Western Kaganate included the territory of Central Asia, the steppes of modern Kazakhstan and Eastern Turkestan. The Eastern Kaganate included the modern territories of Mongolia, northern China and southern Siberia. In 658, the Western Kaganate fell under the blows of the Eastern Turks. In 698, the leader of the Turgesh tribal union, 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 were Danube Bulgaria in the Balkans and Volga Bulgaria in the Volga and Kama basin. In the years 650-969, the Khazar Khaganate existed on the territory of the North Caucasus, the Volga region and the northeastern Black Sea region. In the 960s. it was defeated by the Kyiv prince Svyatoslav. The Pechenegs, ousted in the second half of the 9th century by the Khazars, settled in the northern Black Sea region and posed a great threat to Byzantium and the Old Russian state. In 1019, the Pechenegs were defeated by Grand Duke Yaroslav. In the 11th century, the Pechenegs in the southern Russian steppes were replaced by the Cumans, who were defeated and conquered by the Mongol-Tatars in the 13th century. The western part of the Mongol Empire - the Golden Horde - became a predominantly Turkic state in population. In the 15th-16th centuries it broke up 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 own empire in Central Asia, which, however, quickly disintegrated with his death (140).

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

The penetration of the Turks into the territory of Western Asia (Transcaucasia, Azerbaijan, Anatolia) began in the middle of the 11th AD. (Seljuks). The invasion of these Turks was accompanied by the destruction and devastation of many Transcaucasian cities. As a result of the conquests of territories in Europe, Asia and Africa by the Ottoman Turks in the 13th-16th centuries, the 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 16th-18th centuries, first the Russian state, and then, after the reforms of Peter I, the Russian Empire, included 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 annexed a number of Azerbaijani khanates of Eastern Transcaucasia. At the same time, China annexed the Dzungar Khanate, exhausted after the war with the Kazakhs. After the annexation of the territories of Central Asia, the Kazakh Khanate and the Kokand Khanate, the Ottoman Empire, along with the Khiva Khanate, remained. the only Turkic states.

Altaians are, in a broad sense, Turkic-speaking tribes of the Soviet Altai and Kuznetsk Ala-Tau. Historically, Altaians were divided into two main groups:

.Northern Altaians: Tubalars, Chelkans, or Lebedins, Kumandins, Shors

.Southern Altaians: actually, Altaians or Altai-Kizhi Telengits, Teleuts.

The total number is 47,700 people. In old literature and documents, the Northern Altaians were called “black Tatars,” with the exception of the Shors, who were called Kuznetsk, Mras, and Kondoma Tatars. Southern Altaians were incorrectly called “Kalmyks” - mountain, border, white, Biysk, Altai. By origin, the Southern Altaians are a complex tribal conglomerate formed on an ancient Turkic ethnic base, supplemented by later Turkic and Mongolian elements that penetrated Altai in the 13th-17th centuries. This process in Altai took place under double Mongolian influence. The Northern Altaians are basically a mixture of Finno-Ugric, Samoyed and Paleo-Asian elements that were influenced by the ancient Turks of the Sayan-Altai Highlands back in the pre-Mongol era. The ethnographic characteristics of the Northern Altaians were formed on the basis of foot taiga hunting of animals in combination with hoe farming and gathering. Among the Southern Altaians, they were created on the basis of nomadic cattle breeding combined with hunting.

Most of the Altaians, with the exception of the Shors and Teleuts, are united in the Gorno-Altai Autonomous Region and are being consolidated into a single socialist nation. During the years of Soviet power, a radical change occurred in the economy and culture of the Altai people. The basis of the Altaian economy is socialist livestock farming with subsidiary farming, beekeeping, fur hunting and pine nut collection. Some Altai residents work in industry. During Soviet times, a national intelligentsia also appeared.

Winter housing is a log hut of the Russian type, increasingly widespread on collective farms, in some places a wooden log yurt of a hexagonal shape, on the Chuya River there is a round lattice-felt yurt. The summer dwelling is the same yurt or conical hut, covered with birch bark or larch bark. Common winter national clothing is a sheepskin coat of Mongolian cut, wrapped with the left flap up and belted. The shatka is round, made of sheepskin, the top is covered with fabric or sewn from the paws of a valuable animal, with a tassel of threads of colored silk on the top. Boots with a wide top and soft sole. Women wear a skirt and short jacket of the Russian type, but with an Altai collar: wide, turn-down, decorated with rows of mother-of-pearl and glass colored buttons. Nowadays, clothes of Russian urban cut are becoming more common. Almost the only means of transportation for Altai people for many centuries were riding and pack horses; now automobile and horse-drawn transport are widespread.

In the social system of the Altaians, until the final liquidation of the exploiting classes, tribal remnants were preserved: exogamous patriarchal clans “sook” and associated customs, intertwined with patriarchal-feudal relations, influenced by the capitalist forms of the Russian economy. Family relations are now characterized by the complete disappearance of patriarchal customs, which previously reflected the subordinate position of women, and the strengthening of the Soviet family. Women now play a prominent role in industrial, social and political life. The influence of religious cults has weakened significantly. Literacy among Altaians, which was almost non-existent before the Great October Socialist Revolution, now reached 90 percent; initial, partially and high school work in their native language - Altai; writing based on the Russian alphabet. There are national teaching staff with higher education. Literature and theater with national and translated repertoire have been created, folklore is successfully developing.

3. Population of the Altai Territory

In terms of population, the Altai Territory is one of the largest regions in the USSR. According to the 1939 census, the region's population was 2,520 thousand people. The average population density is about 9 people per 1 sq. km. The bulk of the population is concentrated in the forest-steppe and steppe parts, where in some areas the rural population density exceeds 20 people per 1 sq. km. The least populated is the Gorno-Altai Autonomous Region, which makes up a third of the territory of the region. About 7 percent of the population lives here.

The predominant mass of the population of the Altai Territory are Russians, who began to populate the region already at the end of the 17th and beginning of the 18th centuries. Individual Russian settlements arose somewhat earlier. The next largest national group is Ukrainians. Those who moved here at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th centuries. Chuvash and Kazakhs live in small numbers in the region. In the Gorno-Altai Autonomous Region, the indigenous population is the Altaians.

In 1939, the rural population predominated in the region - only 16 percent of the total population lived in cities. Rapid industrial development of the Altai region in the years Patriotic War and the post-war Stalinist Five-Year Plan caused a significant increase in the urban population. The population of the city of Barnaul has grown especially strongly. Over the years, the small station village of Rubtsovsk has turned into a large industrial center; the young city of Chesnokovka is rapidly growing - a large railway junction at the intersection of the Tomsk railway and the South Siberian Railway, which is under construction. Due to the growth of industry in rural areas a number of villages were transformed into workers' settlements. In 1949, there were 8 cities and 10 urban-type settlements in the region.

During the years of Soviet power, and especially during the Great Patriotic War and the post-war Five-Year Plan, the appearance of Altai cities changed dramatically. They are landscaped, enriched with residential buildings and administrative buildings of a modern type. Many streets and squares are covered with stone pavements or asphalt. From year to year, the area of ​​green spaces in Altai cities increases, and gardens, parks, and boulevards are laid out not only in the central part of the cities, but also on the previously empty outskirts. In Barnaul, water supply and sewerage systems were installed, a tram was launched, a bus service was organized, and 4 stadiums were built. Bus lines have been created in Biysk and Rubtsovsk. The number of workers and employees in towns and villages is growing rapidly. In 1926, they barely made up 8 percent of the active population of the Altai Territory, and in 1939 - 42.4 percent. On the eve of the revolution, only 400 engineers and technicians worked in Altai, but in 1948 there were 9 thousand of them in industrial and construction enterprises alone.

The Altai village was also transformed beyond recognition as a result of the victory of the collective farm system. And in the Altai Territory there are many collective farm villages with electricity, radio centers, comfortable clubs, and multi-room urban houses. In 1949, a nationwide movement for the transformation of villages began in the region. In rural areas, clubs, reading rooms, medical centers, and maternity hospitals are being built for collective farmers, teachers, and agricultural specialists. All construction is carried out according to standard designs. Work on the electrification and radio connection of the village has expanded widely. Before the Great October Socialist Revolution, there were only 21 agronomists in the entire region. Now 2 thousand agronomists, agricultural forest reclamation and land managers, 2 thousand veterinarians and livestock specialists work here. New professions appeared in the village, about which the pre-revolutionary peasant had no idea. In 1949, more than 20,000 tractor drivers, more than 8,000 combine operators, and over 4,000 drivers worked in the countryside.

4. Culture and worldview of the Turkic people

During the period of antiquity and the Middle Ages, ethnocultural traditions took shape and were successively consolidated, which, often having different origins, gradually formed features that were, to one degree or another, inherent in all Turkic-speaking ethnic groups. The most intensive formation of this kind of stereotypes occurred in ancient Turkic times, that is, in the second half of the 1st millennium AD. Then the optimal forms of economic activity - nomadic and semi-nomadic cattle breeding - were determined, in general an economic and cultural type took shape - traditional housing and clothing, means of transportation, food, jewelry, etc., spiritual culture, folk ethics, social and family organization, visual arts acquired a certain degree of completeness. art and folklore. The highest cultural achievement was the creation of their own written language, which spread from its Central Asian homeland of Altai, Mongolia, Upper Yenisei to the Don region and the North Caucasus.

The religion of the ancient Turks was based on the cult of Heaven - Tengri; among its modern designations, the conventional name - Tengrism - stands out. The Turks had no idea about Tengri's appearance. According to ancient views, the world is divided into 3 layers: the top one was depicted by an outer large circle, the middle one was depicted by a middle square, the bottom one was depicted by an inner small circle.

It was believed that originally Heaven and Earth were fused, creating chaos. Then they separated: a clear, clean Sky appeared above, and brown earth appeared below. The sons of men arose among them. This version was mentioned on steles in honor of Kül-tegin and Bilge Kagan.

There was also a cult of the wolf: many Turkic peoples still retain legends that they descend from this predator. The cult was partially preserved even among those peoples who adopted a different faith. Images of a wolf existed in the symbolism of many Turkic states. The image of a wolf is also present on the national flag of the Gagauz people.

In Turkic mythical traditions, legends and fairy tales, as well as in beliefs, customs, rituals and folk holidays the wolf acts as a totemic patron, protector and ancestor

The cult of ancestors was also developed. There was polytheism with the deification of the forces of nature, which was preserved in the folklore of all Turkic peoples.

Conclusion

The topic of my research was to talk about the Turkic peoples of the Altai region. The significance lies in the fact that every person knows about his origin, his traditions and culture in general.

Turkic peoples are peoples who speak Turkic languages, and these are Azerbaijanis, Altaians (Altai-Kizhi), Afshars, Balkars, Bashkirs, Gagauz, Dolgans, Kajars, Kazakhs, Karagas, Karakalpaks, Karapapakhs, Karachais, Kashkais, Kirghiz, Kumyks, Nogais , Tatars, Tofs, Tuvans, Turks, Turkmen, Uzbeks, Uighurs, Khakass, Chuvash, Chulyms, Shors, Yakuts. The Turkish language originates from the speech of the Turkic tribes, and the name of the Turkish nation comes from their common name.

Türks is a generalized name for the ethnolinguistic group of Turkic peoples. Geographically, the Turks are scattered over a vast territory, which occupies about a quarter of all Eurasia. The ancestral home of the Turks is Central Asia, and the first mention of the ethnonym “Turk” dates back to the 6th century AD. and it is connected with the name of the Kök Türks, who, under the leadership of the Ashin clan, created the Turkic Kaganate.

Although the Turks are not a historically single ethnic group, but include not only related but also assimilated peoples of Eurasia, nevertheless the Turkic peoples are a single ethnocultural whole. And according to anthropological characteristics, one can distinguish Turks who belong to both the Caucasian race and the Mongoloid race, but most often there is a transitional type belonging to the Turanian race.

In world history, the Turks are known, first of all, as unsurpassed warriors, founders of states and empires, and skilled cattle breeders.

Altai is the ancestral home of all modern Turkic peoples of the world, where in 552 BC. The ancient Turks created their own state - the Kaganate. Here the primordial language of the Turks was formed, which became widespread among all the peoples of the Kaganate thanks to the emergence of writing in connection with the statehood of the Turks, known today as the “Orkhon-Yenisei runic writing.” All this contributed to the emergence in the modern scientific world of the term “Altai family” of languages ​​(which includes 5 large groups: Turkic languages, Mongolian languages, Tungus-Manchu languages, in the maximum version also the Korean language and Japanese-Ryukyuan languages, the relationship with the last two groups is hypothetical ) and made it possible for the scientific direction of Altaic studies to establish itself in world science. Altai, due to its geopolitical location - the center of Eurasia - in different historical eras united different ethnic groups and cultures.

The Altai Republic is a stable, kind of model region, where Turks and Slavs, Russians and Altaians, and representatives of other large and small ethnic groups have lived in peace and harmony for 2.5 centuries. As a result, a dual cultural-civilizational symbiosis has developed and is strengthening from generation to generation, like you have in Tatarstan: “Live yourself and let others live!” - this is the credo of Altai, Siberian, Russian coexistence and cooperation. That is why respect for each other, languages ​​and cultures, traditions and customs, spiritual values, as they say, is in the blood of our people. We are open to friendship and cooperation with everyone who comes to us with a kind heart and pure thoughts. In recent years, the Altai Republic has significantly expanded cooperation not only with the neighboring Siberian regions of Russia, but also with the adjacent territories of Kazakhstan, Mongolia, and China.

List of sources used

1.Turkic peoples [Electronic resource] // Wikipedia the free encyclopedia. - Access mode: https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0% A2% D1% 8E % D1% 80% D0% BA

2. Vavilov S.I. / Altai region. Second volume. / S.I. Vavilov. - State scientific publishing house "Big Soviet Encyclopedia", 1950. - 152 p.

Krysko V.I. / Ethnic psychology / V.I. Krasko - Academy / M, 2002 - 143 p.

Turks Turkology ethnology. Who are the Turks - origin and general information. [Electronic resource] // Turkportal - Access mode: http://turkportal.ru/

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Turks of Russia, Turks Wikipedia
Total: approximately 160-165 million people

Türkiye Turkey - 55 million

Iran Iran - from 15 to 35 million (Azerbaijanis in Iran)
Uzbekistan Uzbekistan - 27 million
Kazakhstan Kazakhstan - 12 million
Russia Russia - 11 million
PRC PRC - 11 million
Azerbaijan Azerbaijan - 9 million
Turkmenistan Turkmenistan - 5 million
Germany Germany - 5 million
Kyrgyzstan Kyrgyzstan - 5 million
Caucasus (without Azerbaijan) - 2 million
EU - 2 million (excluding UK, Germany and France)
Iraq Iraq - from 600 thousand to 3 million (Turkomans)
Tajikistan Tajikistan - 1 million
USA USA - 1 million
Mongolia Mongolia - 100 thousand.
Australia Australia - 60 thousand
Latin America (without Brazil and Argentina) - 8 thousand.
France France - 600 thousand.
Great Britain Great Britain - 50 thousand
Ukraine Ukraine and Belarus Belarus - 350 thousand.
Moldova Moldova - 147,500 (Gagauz)
Canada Canada - 20 thousand
Argentina Argentina - 1 thousand.
Japan Japan - 1 thousand
Brazil Brazil - 1 thousand.
Rest of the world - 1.4 million

Language

Turkic languages

Religion

Islam, Orthodoxy, Buddhism, ayyy shamanism

Racial type

Mongoloids, transitional between Mongoloids and Caucasoids (South Siberian race, Ural race) Caucasians (Caspian subtype, Pamir-Fergana type)

Not to be confused with Turkic language.

Türks(also Turkic peoples, Turkic-speaking peoples, peoples of the Turkic linguistic group) - an ethno-linguistic community. They speak languages ​​of the Turkic group.

Globalization and increased integration with other peoples have led to the widespread spread of the Turks beyond their historical area. Modern Turkic-speaking peoples 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 east - all the way to the Russian Far East. There are also Turkic minorities in China, America, the Middle East and Western Europe. The largest settlement area is in Russia, and the largest population is in Turkey.

• 1 Origin of the ethnonym
• 2 Brief history
• 3 Culture and worldview
• 4 Lists of Turkic peoples
  • 4.1 Disappeared Turkic peoples
  • 4.2 Modern Turkic peoples
• 5 See also
• 6 Notes
• 7 Literature
• 8 Links

Origin of the ethnonym

According to A. N. Kononov, the word “Turk” originally meant “strong, strong.”

Short story

Main articles: Proto-Turks, Migration of the Turks Turkic world according to Mahmud Kashgari (XI century) Flag of the countries of the Turkic Council

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

• formed west of the Volga, in the III-II millennium BC. e., during centuries-long migrations in 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.

The history of the interaction and fusion of both groups of the ancient population over the course of two to two and a half thousand years is the process during which ethnic consolidation was carried out and Turkic-speaking ethnic communities were formed. It was from among these closely related tribes that in the 2nd millennium BC. e. modern Turkic peoples of Russia and adjacent territories emerged.

D. G. Savinov wrote about the “Scythian” and “Hunnic” layers in the formation of the ancient Turkic cultural complex, according to which they “gradually modernized and mutually penetrated each other, became the common property of the culture of numerous population groups that became part of the Ancient Turkic Khaganate. The ideas of continuity of the ancient and early medieval culture of nomads are also reflected 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 began to be called Turkestan. According to one version, 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. Another version is based on an early analysis of the ethnonym at the beginning of the 20th century by the Danish Turkologist and President of the Royal Danish Scientific Society Wilhelm Thomsen and suggests the origin of the specified term from the word “toruk” or “turuk”, which from most Turkic languages ​​can be translated as “standing upright” or "strong", "steady". At the same time, a prominent Soviet Turkologist, Academician. Barthold criticized this hypothesis of Thomsen and, based on a detailed analysis of the texts of the Türkuts (Turgesh, Kök-Türks), concluded that the term more likely originated from the word “turu” (establishment, legality) and the designation of the people under the rule of the Turkic Kagan - “ future Turks,” that is, “the people governed by me.” The nomadic type of state was for many centuries the predominant form of organization of power in the Asian steppes. Nomadic states, replacing each other, existed in Eurasia from the middle of the 1st millennium BC. e. until the 17th century.

One of the traditional occupations of the Turks was nomadic cattle breeding, as well as iron mining and processing.

In 552-745, the Turkic Khaganate existed in Central Asia, which in 603 split into two parts: the Eastern and Western Khaganates. The Western Kaganate (603-658) included the territory of Central Asia, the steppes of modern Kazakhstan and East Turkestan. The Eastern Kaganate included the modern territories of Mongolia, northern China and southern Siberia. In 658, the Western Kaganate fell under the blows of the Eastern Turks. In 698, the leader of the Turgesh tribal union, 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 were Danube Bulgaria in the Balkans and Volga Bulgaria in the Volga and Kama basin. 650-969 in the territory of the North Caucasus, the Volga region and the north-eastern Black Sea region there was the Khazar Khaganate. 960s it was defeated by the Kyiv 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 the Old Russian state. In 1019, the Pechenegs were defeated by Grand Duke Yaroslav. In the 11th century, the Pechenegs in the southern Russian steppes were replaced by the Cumans, who were defeated and conquered by the Mongol-Tatars in the 13th century. The western part of the Mongol Empire - the Golden Horde - became a predominantly Turkic state in population. XV-XVI centuries it broke up 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 own empire in Central Asia, which, however, quickly disintegrated with his death (1405).

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

The initial penetration of Turkic-speaking tribes into the territory of Western Asia (Transcaucasia, Azerbaijan, Anatolia) began in the 5th century. AD, during the so-called “Great Migration.” This became more widespread in the 8th-10th centuries; it is believed that it was at this time that the Turkic tribes of Khalaj, Karluk, Kangly, Kipchak, Kynyk, Sadak and others appeared here in the middle of the 11th century. e. A massive invasion of Oguz tribes (Seljuks) began in these territories. The Seljuk invasion was accompanied by the conquest of many Transcaucasian cities. This led to the formation in the X-XIV centuries. Seljuk and its subordinate sultanates, which broke up into several Atabek states, in particular the state of the Ildegizids (territory of Azerbaijan and Iran).

After the invasion of Tamerlane, the sultanates of the Kara Koyunlu and Ak Koyunlu were formed on the territory of Azerbaijan and Iran, which were replaced by the Safavid Empire, the third great Muslim empire in size and influence (after the Ottoman and Great Mughals), with a Turkic-speaking (Azerbaijani dialect of the Turkic language) imperial court, supreme clergy and army command. The founder of the empire, Ismail I, was the heir to the ancient Sufi order (based on an indigenous Aryan Iranian root), represented mainly by the Turkic-speaking “Kizilbash” (“red-headed”, wore red stripes on their turbans) and was also the direct heir to the Sultan of the Ak Koyunlu Empire, Uzun-Hasan ( Uzun Hasan); in 1501 he took the title of Shahinshah of Azerbaijan and Iran. The Safavid state existed for almost two and a half centuries and during its heyday covered the territories of modern Azerbaijan, Armenia and Iran (entirely), as well as modern Georgia, Dagestan, Turkey, Syria, Iraq, Turkmenistan, Afghanistan and Pakistan (partially). Replaced on the throne of Azerbaijan and Iran in the 18th century. Safavid Nadir Shah was from the Turkic-speaking Afshar tribe (a sub-ethnos of Azerbaijanis living in Azerbaijani Iran, Turkey and part of Afghanistan) and founded the Afsharid dynasty. Nadir Shah became famous for his conquests, thanks to which he later received the title “Napoleon of the East” from Western historians. 1737 Nadir Shah invaded Afghanistan and captured Kabul, and in 1738-39. entered India, defeated the Mughal army and captured Delhi. After an unsuccessful campaign against Dagestan, Nadir, who fell ill on the way, died suddenly. The Afsharids did not rule the state for long, and in 1795 the throne was taken by representatives of another Turkic-speaking tribe, the “Qajars” (a subethnic group of Azerbaijanis in Northern Iran, the northern regions of Azerbaijan and Southern Dagestan), who founded the Qajar dynasty, which ruled for 130 years. The rulers of the northern Azerbaijani lands (historically located in the territories of the Seljuk atabeks and the Safavid beglyarbegs) took advantage of the fall of the Afsharids and declared their relative independence, which gave rise to the formation of 21 Azerbaijani khanates.

As a result of the conquests by 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 16th-18th centuries, first the Russian state, and then, after the reforms of Peter I, the Russian Empire, included 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 annexed a number of Azerbaijani khanates of Eastern Transcaucasia. At the same time, China annexes the Dzungar Khanate, exhausted after the war with the Kazakhs. After the annexation of the territories of Central Asia, the Kazakh Khanate and the Kokand Khanate to Russia, the Ottoman Empire, along with the Makin Khanate (Northern Iran) and the Khiva Khanate (Central Asia) remained the only Turkic states.

Culture and worldview

During the period of antiquity and the Middle Ages, ethnocultural traditions took shape and were successively consolidated, which, often having different origins, gradually formed features that were, to one degree or another, inherent in all Turkic-speaking ethnic groups. The most intensive formation of this kind of stereotypes occurred in ancient Turkic times, that is, in the second half of the 1st millennium AD. e.. Then the optimal forms of economic activity were determined (nomadic and semi-nomadic cattle breeding), in general, an economic and cultural type took shape (traditional housing and clothing, means of transportation, food, jewelry, etc.), spiritual culture, social family organization, folk ethics, fine arts and folklore. The highest cultural achievement was the creation of their own written language, which spread from its Central Asian homeland (Mongolia, Altai, Upper Yenisei) to the Don region and the North Caucasus.

Shaman from Tuva during the ceremony

The religion of the ancient Turks was based on the cult of Heaven - Tengri; among its modern designations, the conventional name - Tengrism - stands out. The Turks had no idea about Tengri's appearance. According to ancient views, the world is divided into 3 layers:

• the upper one (the sky, the world of Tengri and Umai), was depicted as an outer large circle;
• middle (of earth and water), depicted as a middle square;
• the lower (underworld) was depicted as an inner small circle.

It was believed that originally Heaven and Earth were fused, creating chaos. Then they separated: a clear, clean Sky appeared above, and brown earth appeared below. The sons of men arose among them. This version was mentioned on steles in honor of Kül-tegin (died in 732) and Bilge Kagan (734).

Another version is about a duck(s). According to the Khakass version:

first there was a duck; making the other a comrade, she sent her to the bottom of the river for sand; she brings it three times and gives it first; the third time she left some of the sand in her mouth, this part became stones; the first duck scattered the sand, pushed for nine days, the earth grew; the mountains grew after the messenger duck spat stones out of his mouth; because of this, the first refuses to give her land; agrees to give land the size of a cane; the messenger pokes a hole in the ground and goes into it; the first duck (now God) creates a man from the earth, a woman from his rib, gives them cattle; second duck - Erlik Khan

Erlik is the god of the empty and cold underworld. He was represented as a three-eyed bull-headed creature. One of his eyes saw the past, the second - the present, the third - the future. “souls” languished in his palace. He sent troubles, bad weather, darkness and messengers of death.

Tengri's wife is the goddess of women's crafts, mothers and women in labor - Umai. In Turkic languages, words with the root “umai” have been preserved to this day. Many of them mean "umbilical cord", " female organs childbearing."

The patron of the earth was called the deity Ydyk-Cher-Sug (Sacred Earth-Water).

There was also a cult of the wolf: many Turkic peoples still retain legends that they descend from this predator. The cult was partially preserved even among those peoples who adopted a different faith. Images of a wolf existed in the symbolism of many Turkic states. The image of a wolf is also present on the national flag of the Gagauz people.

In Turkic mythical traditions, legends and fairy tales, as well as in beliefs, customs, rituals and folk holidays, the wolf acts as a totemic ancestor, patron and protector.

The cult of ancestors was also developed. There was polytheism with the deification of the forces of nature, which was preserved in the folklore of all Turkic peoples.

Lists of Turkic peoples

Disappeared Turkic peoples

Avars (debatable), Alty Chubs, Berendeys, Bulgars, Burtases (debatable), Bunturks, Huns, Dinlins, Dulu, Yenisei Kyrgyz, Karluks, Kimaks, Nushibis, Oguzes (Torks), Pechenegs, Polovtsians, Tyumens, Turkic Shatos, Turkuts , Turgesh, Usun, Khazars, Black Klobuks and others.

Modern Turkic peoples

Number and national-state formations of the Turkic peoples Name of the people Estimated number National-state formations Notes Azerbaijanis from 35 million to 50 million, Azerbaijan Azerbaijan Altaians 70.8 thousand Altai Republic Altai Republic/ Russia Russia Balkars 150 thousand Kabardino-Balkaria Kabardino-Balkaria/ Russia Russia Bashkirs 2 million Bashkortostan Bashkortostan/ Russia Russia Gagauz 250 thousand Gagauzia Gagauzia/ Republic of Moldova Republic of Moldova Dolgans 8 thousand Taimyrsky Dolgano-Nenetsky district/ Russia Russia Kazakhs St. 15 million Kazakhstan Kazakhstan Karakalpaks 620 thousand Karakalpakstan Karakalpakstan/ Uzbekistan Uzbekistan Karachais 250 thousand Karachay-Cherkessia Karachay-Cherkessia/ Russia Russia Kyrgyz 4.5 million Kyrgyzstan Kyrgyzstan Crimean Tatars 500 thousand Crimea Crimea/ Ukraine Ukraine / Russia Russia Kumandins 3.2 thousand - Mainly live in Russia Kumyks 505 thousand Nagaibaki 9.6 thousand - Mainly live in Russia Nogais 104 thousand Dagestan Dagestan/ Russia Russia Salars 105 thousand - Mainly live in China PRC Siberian Tatars 200 thousand - Mainly live in Russia Tatars 6 million Tatarstan Tatarstan/ Russia Russia Teleuts 2.7 thousand - Mainly live in Russia Tofalar 800 - Mainly live in Russia Tubalars 2 thousand - Mainly live in Russia Tuvans 300 thousand Tyva Tyva/ Russia Russia Turks 62 million Türkiye Türkiye Turkmens 8 million Turkmenistan Turkmenistan Uzbeks 28 - 35 million Uzbekistan Uzbekistan Uyghurs 10 million Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region / PRC PRC Khakassians 75 thousand Khakassia Khakassia/ Russia Russia Chelkans 1.7 thousand - Mainly live in Russia Chuvash 1.5 million Chuvashia Chuvashia/ Russia Russia Chulymtsy 355 - Mainly live in Russia Shors 13 thousand - Mainly live in Russia Yakuts 480 thousand Republic of Sakha Republic of Sakha/ Russia Russia

see also

• Turkology
• Pan-Turkism
• Turan
• Turkic (language)
• Turkisms in Russian
• Turkisms in the Ukrainian language
• Turkestan
• Nomadic state
• central Asia
• Turkvision Song Contest
• Proto-Turks
• Turk (disambiguation)

Notes

1. Gadzhieva N.Z. Turkic languages ​​// Linguistic encyclopedic dictionary. - M.: Soviet Encyclopedia, 1990. - P. 527-529. - 685 s. - ISBN 5-85270-031-2.
2. Milliyet. 55 million kişi "etnik olarak" Türk. Retrieved January 18, 2012.
3. Estimates of the number of Iranian Azerbaijanis given in various sources can vary significantly - from 15 to 35 million. See, for example: Looklex Encyclopaedia, Iranian.com, “Ethnologue” Report for Azerbaijani Language, UNPO information on Southern Azerbaijan, Jamestown Foundation, The World Factbook: Ethnic groups by country (CIA)
4. VPN-2010
5. 1 2 Lev Nikolaevich Gumilev. Ancient Turks
6. Chapter 11. A War Within a War, page 112. // Losing Iraq: Inside the Postwar Reconstruction Fiasco. Author: David L. Phillips. Reprinted edition. Hardcover first published in 2005 by Westview Press. New York: Basic Books, 2014, 304 pages. ISBN 9780786736201 Original text (English)

   Behind the Arabs and the Kurds, Turkmen are the third-largest ethnic group in Iraq. The ITF claim Turkmen represent 12 percent of Iraq's population. In response, the Kurds point to the 1997 census which showed that there were only 600,000 Turkmen.

7. Encyclopedia of the Peoples of Asia and Oceania. 2008. volume 1 page 826
8. Ayagan, B. G. Turkic peoples: an encyclopedic reference book. - Almaty: Kazakh encyclopedias. 2004.-382 p.: ill. ISBN 9965-9389-6-2
9. Turkic peoples of Siberia / resp. ed. D. A. Funk, N. A. Tomilov; Institute of Ethnology and Anthropology named after. N. N. Miklouho-Maclay RAS; Omsk branch of the Institute of Archeology and Ethnography SB RAS. - M.: Nauka, 2006. - 678 p. - (Peoples and cultures). - ISBN 5-02-033999-7
10. Turkic peoples of Eastern Siberia / comp. D. A. Funk; resp. editor: D. A. Funk, N. A. Alekseev; Institute of Ethnology and Anthropology named after. N. N. Miklouho-Maclay RAS. - M.: Nauka, 2008. - 422 p. - (Peoples and cultures). ISBN 978-5-02-035988-8
11. Turkic peoples of Crimea: Karaites. Crimean Tatars. Krymchaks / Rep. ed. S. Ya. Kozlov, L. V. Chizhova. - M., 2003. - 459 p. - (Peoples and cultures). ISBN 5-02-008853-6
12. Scientific Editorial Council, Chairman Chubaryan A. O. Scientific editor L. M. Mints. Illustrated encyclopedia "Russica". 2007. ISBN 978-5-373-00654-5
13. Tavadov G. T. Ethnology. Textbook for universities. M.: Project, 2002. 352 p. P. 106
14. Ethnopsychological Dictionary. - M.: MPSI. V. G. Krysko. 1999
15. Akhatov G. Kh.. Dialect of West Siberian Tatars. Ufa, 1963, 195 p.
16. Kononov A. N. Experience in analyzing the term Turk // Soviet ethnography. - 1949. - No. 1. - P. 40-47.
17. Klyashtorny S. G., Savinov D. G. Steppe empires of Eurasia // St. Petersburg: Farn. 1994. 166 pp. ISBN 5-900461-027-5 (erroneous)
18. Savinov D.G. About the “Scythian” and “Hunnic” layers in the formation of the ancient Turkic cultural complex // Questions of archeology of Kazakhstan. Vol. 2. Almaty-M.: 1998. P. 130-141
19. Eremeev D.E. “Turk” - an ethnonym of Iranian origin? // Soviet ethnography. 1990. No. 1
20. Bartold V.V. Türks: Twelve lectures on the history of the Turkish peoples of Central Asia (published according to the edition: academician V.V. Bartold, “Works”, vol. V. Publishing house “Science”, Main editorial office of Eastern literature, M., 1968) / R. Soboleva. - 1st. - Almaty: ZHALYN, 1998. - P. 23. - 193 p. - ISBN 5-610-01145-0.
21. Kradin N. N. Nomads, world-empires and social evolution // Alternative paths to civilization: Col. monograph / Ed. N. N. Kradina, A. V. Korotaeva, D. M. Bondarenko, V. A. Lynshi. - M., 2000.
22. A.Bakıxanov adına Tarix institutu. Azərbaykan tarixi. Yeddi cilddə. II cild (III-XIII əsrin I rübü) / Vəlixanlı N.. - Bakı: Elm, 2007. - P. 6. - 608 p. - ISBN 978-9952-448-34-4.
23. Eremeev D.E. Penetration of Turkic tribes into Asia Minor // Proceedings of the VII International Congress of Anthropological and Ethnographic Sciences. - Moscow: Science; Main editorial office eastern. literature, 1970. - P. 89. - 563 p.
24. East in the Middle Ages. V. Transcaucasia in the XI-XV centuries
25. Soviet historical encyclopedia: in 16 volumes. Seljuk state / ed. E. M. Zhukova. - Moscow: Soviet Encyclopedia, 1961-1976.
26. Quinn SA. The New Cambridge History of Islam / Morgan DO, Reid A.. - New York: Cambridge University Press, 2010. - pp. 201-238.
27. Trapper R. Shahsevid in Sevefid Persia // Bulletin of the Schopol of Oriental and African studies, University of London. - 1974. - No. 37 (2). - pp. 321-354.
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37. “Maral”, “Bear” and “Wolf” reward the winners of the Altai World Music Festival:: IA AMITEL
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Literature

• Türks // Encyclopedic Dictionary of Brockhaus and Efron: in 86 volumes (82 volumes and 4 additional). - St. Petersburg, 1890-1907.
• Turko-Tatars // Encyclopedic Dictionary of Brockhaus and Efron: in 86 volumes (82 volumes and 4 additional). - St. Petersburg, 1890-1907.
• Akhatov G. Kh. On the ethnogenesis of the West Siberian Tatars // Questions of dialectology of Turkic languages. - Kazan: Kazan University Publishing House, 1960.
• Ganiev R. T. Eastern Turkic state in the VI-VIII centuries. - Ekaterinburg: Ural University Publishing House, 2006. - P. 152. - ISBN 5-7525-1611-0.
• Gumilyov L. N. History of the Xiongnu people
• Gumilyov L. N. Ancient Turks
• Mingazov Sh. Prehistoric Turks
• Bezertinov R. Ancient Turkic worldview “Tengrianism”
• Bezertinov R. Turkic-Tatar names
• Faizrakhmanov G. L. Ancient Turks in Siberia and Central Asia
• Zakiev M.Z. Origin of the Turks and Tatars. - M.: Publishing House "Insan", 2002. - 496 p. ISBN 5-85840-317-4
• Voitov V. E. The ancient Turkic pantheon and the model of the universe in the cult and memorial monuments of Mongolia of the 6th-8th centuries - M., 1996

Links

• Ancient Turkic dictionary
• - Texts and variants of the Kyrgyz epic “Manas”. Research. Historical, linguistic and philosophical aspects of the epic. “Small Epic” of the Kyrgyz. Kyrgyz folklore. Fairy tales, legends, customs.

Turkic peoples

Azerbaijanis | Altaians | Afshar | Balkarians | Bashkirs | Gagauz | Dolgans | Yellow Uighurs | Kazakhs | Karaites | Karakalpaks | Karamanlids | Carapapakhi | Karachais | Qashqai | Crimean Tatars | Krymchaks | Kumandy | Kumyks | Kyrgyz | Nagaibaki | Nogais | Salary | Siberian Tatars | Tatars | Telengits | Teleuts | Tofalar | Trukhmeny | Tubalars | Tuvans | Turks | Meskhetian Turks | Turkmens | Turkomans | |Uzbeks | Uyghurs | Khakass | Khalaji | Chelkans | Chuvash | Chulym people | Shors | Yuryuki | Yakuts

Turks, Turks Wikipedia, Turks of India, Turks against Armenia, Turks of Russia, Seljuk Turks, Turkisms in Russian, Mikhail Leonidovich Turkin, Turkis cabbage, Turkistan

Turki Information About

A new era in the history of Europe opened in 375. Then numerous hordes of Huns invaded its borders, starting a devastating war. The massive movement of the Huns to the West gave impetus to the Great Migration, which contributed to the death of the slave-owning Roman Empire. New, early feudal social orders were emerging in Europe, and the Middle Ages began. An important result of the Great Migration was the formation of a new political and ethnic map of the European continent.

Together with the Huns, the Bulgarians, Khazars, Savirs and other Turkic-speaking tribes came to the Eastern European steppes. Thus, the era of the Great Migration of Peoples played a huge role in the further historical destinies of the local peoples of a huge region that stretched in the north to the banks of the Middle Volga. It is to these peoples, who had their own statehood, a vibrant and original culture, that the most ancient roots go back Tatar people.

Of course, both the Huns and the Turks (Turkuts) who came after them cannot be considered the direct ancestors of the Tatars. Of the numerous tribes of the Hunnic union, only the Bulgarians, Savirs and Barsils, who found themselves in the VI-VII centuries. as part of the Turkic Khaganate, Great Bulgaria and Khazaria, then went to the forest-steppe regions of the Middle Volga region. Having mixed here with the local Finno-Ugric population, they laid the foundation for the formation of the Bulgarian nation as part of the new state of Volga Bulgaria.

§3.Xiongnu-HunsAndGreatresettlementpeoples

Xiongnu-Huns through the eyes of Europeans. “The hitherto unknown human race, the Huns, were a new tribe in Europe, which even our ancestors did not know about,” wrote the historian of that time, Ammianus Marcellinus. No one is engaged in arable farming and never touches the plow. All of them, without a specific place of residence, wander to different places, as if eternal fugitives, with wagons in which they spend their lives, driving draft animals and herds before them; They put the greatest care into caring for their horses... The Huns are born horsemen, “they have grown attached to the horses,” they even sleep, bending over the narrow neck of their cattle.”

Who were these Huns, about whom medieval authors spoke with horror and disdain? Where are they from?

Origin and economy of the Huns. The beginning of their power. Two or three millennia ago, in the steppes of modern Mongolia and Northern China, in Altai and in the Baikal region, they lived Turkic-speakingtribes. In Chinese sources they were known as the Hong Nu or Xiongnu. Their authors reported that they were a very strong and numerous people who did not want to obey anyone.

The Huns' habitat did not give them the opportunity to actively develop agriculture, so they were primarily engaged in cattle breeding and led a nomadic lifestyle. Their main wealth were horses and sheep.

In the III-II centuries. BC. The Huns were undergoing a process of decomposition of tribal orders. The tribal nobility began to fight for primacy in the unification of nomads. Chinese historian of the 2nd century. AD Sima Qian left us a colorful description of the events that marked the beginning of the power of the Huns.

Shangyu (ruler)HunsToumanhadtwosons.HeirHewanteddojuniorson,and the older oneMaodunyasenthostageVenemytribe.ThenToumanattackedonthem.Maodun is notdiedHestolehorseAndgalloped awayToyours.ToumanGave himsquadwarriorsTeachingtheir,Maodunorderedsoldiers shootthere,Whereflieshis"whistle" (famouswhistlingarrowHuns).SoonHeshot an arrowVhisbeautifulhorseThoseWhoNotfollowedhisfor example,Hechopped offheads.Sometime laterMaodunlet me inarrowVmybelovedwife.Hechopped offheadsthoseWhoNotdaredfire.One dayonhuntingMaodunshotVhorsehisfather,AndnobodyfromhiswarriorsNotslowed downdoThatsamemost.MaodunUnderstood,Whattimeit has arrived.WhenHelet me inarrowVhisfather,Toumanya,momthroughinstantwasstuddedarrows.Executionjuniorbrotherand associatesfather,MaodunbecameLet's go.Thiswas at 209G.

Rulerneighboringtribe,decidingWhatturmoilweakenedHuns,demandedfromMaodunyagive inborderterritory.Someelders,afraidwars,advisedMaodunyugive awayland.Extremelyangry,Maodunanswered:"Earthfoundation of the stateisn't itCangive awayher!» Everyone,advisedgive inland,Hechopped offheads.Then Maodundefeatedhostiletribe,killedtheirrulerAndannexedtheirlandTohislands.

According to the same historian Sima Qian, “under Maodong, the Xiongnu (Huns) became incredibly stronger, conquered all the northern barbarians and formed a state equal in strength to the Middle State,” i.e. China.

Hun power. The Hunnic state was a centralized empire that absorbed nomadic and semi-nomadic peoples. The head of the state was the ruler Shanyu. His power was strictly hereditary and deified. Shanyu was called the “Son of Heaven.” He controlled the entire territory of the state, personally led the troops, had the right to life and death of every subject, and was the supreme judge.

Shanyu was surrounded by a large group of assistants, advisers and military leaders. The highest officials of the state after the Shanyu were the “wise princes”, his sons and closest relatives. A step lower were other relatives. From among them, temniks were appointed (from the ancient Turkic word “tyumen” ten thousand), i.e. captains over ten thousand horsemen. Within the boundaries of his domain, the temnik in turn appointed commanders of thousands, centurions and tens.

The main duty of the entire male population was military service. Every Xiong was considered a warrior, and the slightest evasion from military duties was punishable by death.

Maodun successfully undertook campaigns of conquest, expanding the borders of his state. First of all, he annexed the northern territories of the Altai foothills and the Baikal region, rich in a variety of minerals. Immediately after the seizure of new lands, the Xiongnu masters began to develop iron deposits. Settlements of metallurgists, foundries and blacksmiths appeared, who supplied the army with weapons and camping equipment. It was then that most of the Xiongnu cities and fortresses, craft and agricultural settlements arose. Thus, the reports of medieval authors that the barbarian Huns “move from place to place in search of water and grass, and they have no cities surrounded by internal and external walls, no permanent residence,

and they do not cultivate the fields,” turned out to be far from reality. A significant part of the Huns also led a sedentary lifestyle.

Not far from the Baikal city of Ulan-Ude, on the left bank of the river. Selenga, archaeologists excavated the ruins of a large Xiongnu city called Ivolginsky. The city was fortified with five rows of earthen ramparts and ditches. During the excavations, dozens of dwellings with a unique heating system made from chimney channels, granaries, cellars for food supplies, furnaces for smelting iron and copper, the remains of workshops, artisans' tools, various products made of iron, cast iron, bronze and bone, processed with amazing skill, were discovered. An important place among the finds is occupied by weapons: complex bows with bone plates and whistling arrows. Lots of jewelry made of silver, gold and precious stones. The pottery, decorated with wavy patterns, is made by hand and on a pottery wheel.

The Huns had many cities like Ivolginsky. Two of them Longchen And Daylin were capitals. According to Sima Qian, “in the summer, the Huns gather for a large meeting in Longcheng, where they make sacrifices to the ancestors, heaven, earth, human spirits and heavenly spirits. In the autumn, when the horses are fattened, they gather for a large meeting in Dailin, where the number of horses and livestock is counted and checked.” These cities had temples, residence palaces, and other public buildings. The population of the surrounding villages was engaged in agriculture.

Confrontation with the Chinese Empire and its consequences. The Chinese Empire could not come to terms with the appearance of such a powerful and warlike power in the north. The Xiongnu captured the territory along which the Great Silk Road ran, and thereby interfered with China's trade with the West.

For a long time, China did not recognize the Xiongnu state, demanded its submission, and sent large military detachments to destroy it. The Xiongnu were interested in trade with China: the exchange of livestock products for grain, textiles and handicrafts promised benefits.

But the empire’s irreconcilable policy towards its neighbors forced the Huns to rise up to fight. In the 1st century BC. Xiongnu troops surrounded and destroyed the Chinese army numbering over 320 thousand people. The Huns demonstrated their strength, and China paid them tribute for many years from then on.

The Chinese are making attempts to expel the Huns from their territory. There is a continuous war between the Huns and China. In an effort to protect themselves from attacks by the Huns and other nomadic tribes, the Chinese in the north of the country begin to build a powerful fortress wall hundreds of kilometers long. She entered. history called the Great Wall of China and has largely survived to this day.

Constant wars with the Chinese and other neighbors exhausted the strength of the Huns. Unity within their state also weakened. The Huns split into two parts. As a result, they were completely defeated by Chinese troops in the 1st century. AD

Advancement of the Huns to the West. Attnla. After the defeat, some of the Huns begin to move to the West. They are joined by force or voluntarily by other nomadic and semi-nomadic tribes of Southern Siberia. Having passed through the steppes of modern Kazakhstan, they appear on the shores of the Aral and Caspian seas.

In 375, the Huns (as they were called in the West) crossed the Volga. They rush further and penetrate into the territory of Eastern Europe. The massive advance of the Huns to the West gave impetus to the Great Migration of Peoples, which lasted for several centuries.

In the 5th century The Huns, led by the famous commander Attila, reach the borders of modern Italy, Spain, France and participate in the defeat of the once powerful Roman Empire. Having conquered vast territories, the state keeps all of Europe in terror. After Attila's death in 453 G. The Hunnic state collapsed and ceased to exist.

In the Huns' association there were tribes who spoke mainly the Turkic language. When moving from the East to the West, they drove many peoples from their inhabited places, among whom were the Bulgarians and Suvars, the distant ancestors of the Tatar people. Some of these tribes, willy-nilly, joined the Huns, others, leaving their native places, went to calmer northern regions.

Middle Volga region in Hunnic times. During the period of the Huns' invasion, part of the tribes that advanced with them settled in the Volga region. Among the settlers, obviously, were the Huns themselves. Archaeologists find objects here that are unique to them. Thus, near the village of Tatarskoye Suncheleevo, Aksubaevsky district of the Republic of Tatarstan, large bronze cauldrons with two handles, very beautifully decorated, were found. They certainly once belonged to the Huns.

Near the village of Turaevo, Mendeleevsky district, there is an ancient cemetery, which dates back to the 4th-5th centuries. The high hills above the graves were once visible from afar. Finds made during excavations, an iron helmet decorated with gold and silver, chain mail, a sword with a gilded handle and scabbard, arrow and spear tips, and battle axes indicate that there was a rich burial of military leaders here. These were warriors from Turkic tribes that migrated with the Huns. Thus, the Hunnic invasion left its mark on the history of the region, in the history of the Tatar and other local peoples.

QuestionsAndtasks

1. Who were the Xiongnu ethnically? Where did these tribes originally live? 2. Compare the ideas about the Xiongnu of Europeans and their real way of life. What conclusions did you come to? 3. When was the Hunnic state created?4. Who did the ruling layer of the Xiongnu state consist of? How was governance structured in this empire? 5. Describe the economic activities of the Huns. 6. Why was the Xiongnu army a powerful force? 7. Tell us about the confrontation between the Hunnic state and the Chinese Empire. Determine the main results and consequences of this confrontation. 8. How did the Hun invasion affect the history of the region?

§4.TurkicKhaganate (551-630gg.)

Homeland and origin of the Turks. In the VI century. a small group of population called « Turk","Turkuts". They lived in Southern Altai and considered themselves descendants of the Huns. One of the legends about the origin of the Turks tells that the Huns were allegedly completely exterminated by their neighbors; Only one ten-year-old boy survived, whose enemies cut off his arms and legs and threw him into a swamp. The boy was saved by a she-wolf. She fed him, took him to the mountains and hid him in a cave. The young man was eventually killed, and the she-wolf gave birth to ten sons from him. This genus multiplied; one of the she-wolf's grandchildren was named Ashina. He became the founder of the Turkic dynasty.

In the IV - early VI centuries. the Turks led settled way of life, engaged in iron mining and smelting in the foothills of Altai. However, they were vassals of the Mongol-speaking Rourans. The entire economy and weapons of the Rouran army depended on the Turkic miners, iron smelters and blacksmiths.

Turks during the reign of Bumyn. Under the ruler Bumyne The Turks became stronger, stopped taking the Jujans into account and moved their possessions far to the east. They sought to maintain peaceful relations and trade contacts with China. In 545, an embassy of the Chinese emperor arrived at Bumyn's headquarters. “The Turks congratulated each other and said: now our state will prosper! After all, the ambassador of a great power came to us,” this is how this event is described in one Chinese chronicle. Bumyn responded by sending his ambassadors to China with rich gifts. Thus, the Turkic state received international recognition.

An opportunity soon presented itself for complete liberation from the hated Juran dependence. The Turkic Tele tribes, exhausted from the Rouran yoke, rebelled and went on a campaign against their enslavers. Along the way they met the Turkuts, with whom they had no intention of fighting. The Teles expressed complete submission to Bumgau. After this, the chronicles report, “relying on his strength and numbers,” Bumyn turned to the Rouran sovereign with a request to give him a princess as his wife. The angry khan replied: “You are my smelter! How dare you make such an offer to me?” Then the determined Bumyn asked for the hand of the Chinese princess and married her. His authority among the nomads increased. Taking advantage of the current situation, in 551 Bumyn defeated all the main forces of the Rourans and appropriated the title of Ilkagan to himself. This is how the first one arose TurkicKhaganate

Campaigns of the Turks. Wars of Istemi Kagan. In 552 Bumyn Kagan died. Under his descendants, the possessions of the Turks were significantly expanded. They waged continuous wars with neighboring tribes, seizing their wealth, new lands, and turning prisoners into their warriors and slaves. Even the Chinese emperor, after another defeat, was forced to pay the Kagan an annual tribute in the amount of 100 thousand pieces of silk fabric. The dominance of the Turks was established in vast regions.

Some time after the formation of the Khaganate, Turkic troops began to move west along the path laid by the Huns. The western campaign was led Istemi-kagan, Bumyn's younger brother, and his son Kara-Churin. Having subjugated a number of tribes in Southern Siberia, the Aral region and the Southern Urals, in 558 they reached the banks of the Volga.

In Central Asia, the Turks defeated the powerful state of the Hephthalites, as well as the Sogdians, and entered into an alliance with Sasanian Iran. Iran and the Turkic Khaganate divided between themselves AverageAsia all lands east and north of the Amu Darya became part of the Kaganate. In the newly conquered lands, the Turks managed to establish control over the Great Silk Road, which contributed to the strengthening of the economic power of the state.

Collapse of the Khaganate. Now the Turkic Khaganate extended from the Yellow Sea in the east to the Black Sea steppes in the west. Such vast lands could not coexist for a long time within the framework of a single empire created by force of arms. There were no close economic ties between the individual regions. The state was weakened by frequent internecine wars, the desire of individual representatives of the Turkic aristocracy to independently govern the occupied territories, the struggle for power in ruling stratum. As a result, the Khaganate in 581-603. split into two parts: West(from Altai to the Black Sea with the center in Semirechye) and Oriental (from Altai to Velikaya Chinese wall with center on the river. Orkhon). In 630, both of these states ceased to exist.

However, half a century later, a EastTurkic Khaganate It existed until the 740s. and gave the world magnificent examples of runic writing in the form of inscriptions on the tombstones of Kul-Tegin, Tonyukuk and Bilge Kagan. These inscriptions tell about the life and exploits of the rulers and commanders of the Turkic Khaganate against the background of its general history.

Turks in the history of Eurasia. The Turkic Khaganate played an important role in the history of the peoples of Central Asia and Eastern Europe. The Turks did not destroy settled agricultural areas, limiting themselves to collecting tribute from the population. Their policy was aimed at developing trade. The Turks also contributed to the unification of heterogeneous Turkic-speaking tribes and nationalities within a single state. In the depths of this association were laid basicsmodernTurkicpeoples The Turks were the first to create a culture based on writing. At first it was Sogdian writing. Later it formed the basis of runic writing, which was used by the entire population of the Kaganate. It was born with her common Turkicliterarylanguage It is on it that the famous texts are written on the tombstones erected in honor of Kul-Tegin, Tonyukuk and Bilge Kagan. In Turkic times, urban planning, architecture and art received their further development. Historical sources contain information about the construction of roads and postal stations.

Imenkovskaya culture. During the existence of the Turkic Kaganate, i.e. in the VI-VII centuries, migration of peoples was common. The wave of resettlement reached the banks of the Volga and Kama. At a time when the Turkic Kaganate was waging wars for the steppes of the Azov, Caspian and Black Sea regions, new tribes appeared in our area, at the confluence of the Volga and Kama. In science they are called Imenkovsky(the existence of these tribes was first revealed by the results of excavations near the village of Imenkovo, Laishevsky district).

The traditions and culture of the Imenkovtsy differ sharply from the customs of the local tribes. For example, they first burned the dead, their remains were placed in clay pots and buried in small pits.

The Imenkovtsy had developed agriculture. They were the first among the local tribes of the region to begin cultivating the land using a plow pulled by a horse. Their main occupation also included cattle breeding.

The Imenkovsky tribes established and maintained trade relations with very remote areas, right up to Central Asia and Kazakhstan. They are among the first among local peoples to begin to use metallic money when trading. The first money was made of cast bronze and had an oblong shape.

The ethnicity of the Imenkovtsy is still a subject of scientific debate. Some scientists consider them Turks, others ancient Slavs. There is no exact answer yet. It is only obvious that the Imenkovtsy, like some other tribes, at one time were forced to leave their inhabited places as a result of the aggressive wars of the Turkic Kaganate.

QuestionsAndtasks

1. Describe the lifestyle and occupations of the Turks in the 4th - early 6th centuries. 2. When and under what circumstances did the first Turkic Khaganate arise? 3. What lands were part of the Turkic Kaganate? 4. When and into what parts did the Turkic Kaganate break up? Explain the reasons for this phenomenon. 5. Determine the role of the Turks in the history of the peoples of Central Asia and Eastern Europe. 6. Describe the activities and culture of the Imenkovites. How were they different from the local tribes? 7. How has it changed overall? ethnic composition population of the region as a result of the invasion of the Huns and the wars of conquest of the Turkic Kaganate? 8. How is the history of the peoples of our region connected with the history of the Turkic Kaganate?

§5.GreatBulgariaAndKhazarKhaganate

(VII-Xcenturies)

Heirs of the Huns in the steppes of Eastern Europe. The Turks of Istemi Kagan and Kara-Churin, having conquered in the middle of the 6th century. Caspian and Black Sea steppes encountered numerous peoples here. Among these peoples were the Bulgarians, Savirs, Avars, Utrigurs, Kutri-Gurs and others Turkic-speaking tribes that came here as part of the Hunnic horde back in the 370s.

Some of them took part in Attila's campaigns against Europe. After his death, the Bulgarians served as mercenaries for the Byzantine Emperor Zeno and ravaged the Balkan Peninsula. Bulgarians in Eastern Europe are repeatedly mentioned in historical works by authors of the 6th century. So, in one of them it is reported that “beyond the Caspian gates”, i.e. on the territory of modern Dagestan, “the Burgars (Bulgars) live with their own language, they are a pagan and barbarian people, they have cities.” Obviously, these Bulgarians were one of the powerful tribes in the Hunnic alliance. They began to act especially actively after the death of Attila's power.

As a result of the collapse of the Turkic Khaganate in 630, new state formations arose on its ruins. An association was formed in the Caspian lowland and adjacent territories of the Ciscaucasia Khazar, who considered themselves the direct heirs of the Turkic Kagan. Its ruler was indeed from the powerful ruling Turkic family of Ashina. In the Black Sea and Azov steppes, on the Taman Peninsula and the Kuban region, an association was formed Bulgarians Kubrat.

Kubrat Khan and his power. There is very little information about Kubrat, the creator of this state association. His connections with the imperial house in Constantinople (Byzantium) are known. It is alleged that Kubrat was brought up at the court of the emperor, was baptized and was known as a successful commander and smart politician. Sources speak of him as the nephew of the “Hun” ruler Organa from the Turkic family of Dulo.

State capital Phanagoria was located on the Taman Peninsula. This ancient city, once destroyed by the Huns, was rebuilt by the Bulgarians and turned into a center of crafts and trade. Other settled settlements arose nearby, whose residents were engaged in agriculture and crafts, including pottery. The bulk of the population lived predominantly seminomadic Lifestyle.

Bulgarians after the death of Kubrat. Great Bulgaria did not last long. After the death of Kubrat in the 50s and early 60s. VII century the state collapsed. Its territory was divided among the sons and heirs of the khan. According to sources, Kubrat “left five sons, bequeathing that they should under no circumstances separate from each other and live together so that they would always rule over everything and not fall into slavery to another people.” The Bulgarian oral tradition says that Kubrat, dying, called his sons to him, ordered them to bring a bunch of twigs and ordered each one to break it. No one succeeded; the rods remained intact. “So you too,” Kubrat said, “together you will be invincible, but each one individually can easily be defeated and destroyed.” However, the sons did not follow their father's advice and began to fight for the throne.

Taking advantage of the favorable moment, the Khazars attacked the Bulgarians and defeated them. One of Kubrat's sons named Asparuh was forced to take his horde to new lands, to the banks of the Danube. Here the Bulgarians, having conquered the Slavs, created a new state in 681 Danube Bulgaria.

Most of the Bulgarians, together with another son of Kubrat, Batbaem, remained on its indigenous lands in the Ciscaucasia and Black Sea steppes. Soon they occupied Crimean peninsula and partially advanced northward into the steppes and forest-steppes of the Dnieper region. It was in this area, near the village of Maloye Pereshchepino, Poltava region of Ukraine, that the famous treasure of gold and silverware, precious weapons and jewelry, including two rings of Kubrat himself. It is quite possible that this treasure (“the treasure of Kubrat Khan”) was buried a little later, somewhere at the end of the 7th century, during the military clash between Batbay and the Khazars.

Khazars and the formation of the Khazar Kaganate. As already noted, the Khazars played a major role in the collapse of Great Bulgaria. A little later, its former lands came under the rule of the Khazar Kaganate.

Ancient authors began to mention the Khazars in the 6th century. One of the manuscripts says that “the language of the Bulgarians is similar to the language of the Khazars,” and the Khazars themselves are “a great people who came out of Barsilia.” Barsilia was then located in the Caspian region, on the territory of present-day Dagestan. On these lands back in the IV-V centuries. Numerous Turkic-speaking peoples lived: Barsils, Savirs, Avars, Bulgarians, Khazars, who found themselves here as part of the Hunnic state. They often feuded and fought with each other, and sometimes united to fight their neighbors.

These tribes were conquered by the Turkic kagan Is-temi, but not for long. The Khazars persistently sought to break away from subordination to the Turkic Khaganate. And when he weakened due to long wars, they, like the Bulgarians of Kubrat, in the 7th century. created their own state Khazar Khaganate. Compared to Great Bulgaria, it turned out to be more viable.

The Kaganate occupied quite a vast territory. It included the steppes and foothills of modern Dagestan and the Kuban region, the Azov lands, partly the steppes of the Northern Black Sea region and most of the Crimea.

The original capital of the Kaganate was Belenger. It was a large city, surrounded by stone and brick walls with semicircular towers up to 10 meters high. The borders of the Kaganate expanded, and it itself was subject to constant attacks from its southern neighbors. In this regard, the city later became the capital Semender. However, the Khazar Kagan did not manage to settle here for a long time.

Arab-Khazar wars and their consequences. The young Khazar state becomes a serious opponent of Byzantium and the Arab Caliphate. In the first half of the 8th century. The Arab-Khazar wars begin. The Arabs, trying to conquer the world under the flag of Islam, occupied Albania (Azerbaijan) and Armenia, the lands of the southern neighbors of the Khazars. Next in line was Khazaria.

One of the largest campaigns took place in 737. Arab troops numbering 120 thousand people, led by commander Marwan, invaded the territory of the Khazars and surrounded the city of Semender. The conquerors drove out the entire population from the foothills of the Caucasus and the Caspian Plain. Many Khazar cities and rural settlements were devastated.

The Kagan and his troops were hiding in the north in Podrnje and the Lower Volga. Following him, the tribes, tired of continuous wars, were forced to move to the north. There they captured the lands of the Bulgarians, who remained here with their leader Batbai. Part of the Bulgarians, and with them the tribes of Savirs (Suvars) and Barsils (Bersulas), leave these lands and rise up the Volga. In the middle of the USSR. they reach the territory of modern Tatarstan. However, another, quite significant, part of the Bulgarians remained part of the Khazar Kaganate. In an effort to save his state, weakened by constant wars, from complete collapse, the Khazar Kagan concluded a truce with the Arab Caliphate. According to the terms of the agreement, he accepts Islam. The new religion is spreading among the Bulgarians.

Economy and culture of the Khazar Kaganate. The long-awaited calm is coming to the country. It becomes the new, already third, capital Itil, located near the confluence of the Volga and the Caspian Sea. Itil was then one of the most beautiful and largest cities. One of the tributaries of the Volga divided it into two parts. In one part of the city the Kagan lived in his luxurious palace, and troops loyal to him were also located here. Clay huts and yurts huddled near the khan's palace. This part of the city was surrounded by a high fence.

Across the river were traders and artisans. According to one of the ancient manuscripts, in this part of the city there were about 10 thousand Muslims, for whom the Cathedral Mosque and about 30 ordinary mosques were built. Christians, Jews and pagans also lived here. Thus, in the Khazar Kaganate it was allowed to profess any religion.

Over time, the Khazar Kaganate became a strong, economically and culturally developed state. On high level Town planning took place here, livestock breeding, agriculture, and crafts developed. However, trade was of decisive importance for the economic life of the country. The Khazars were among the first in Eastern Europe to issue their own metal money.

One of the most significant indicators of cultural development is writing. It became widespread among the Khazars runicletter, which was brought to Eastern Europe by the peoples of the Turkic Kaganate. Archaeologists often come across clay pots, copper and silver vessels, bone items with signs or even small texts on runic alphabet. Unfortunately, they are still not decrypted.

The culture and life of the Khazar Kaganate are clearly reflected in archaeological monuments saltovo-Mayatskaya culture. The territory of its distribution completely coincides with the territory of the Khazarins. The monuments of this culture are varied: the remains of nomadic camps (seasonal camps) along the low banks of rivers, the ruins of cities and fortresses on high capes, burial grounds. They indicate that there was a process of settlement of nomads and the formation of agricultural and craft settlements.

At the beginning of the 9th century. The Khazars, with the participation of Byzantine craftsmen, built a fortress city on the left bank of the Don Sarkel. The city was surrounded by brick walls with corner towers and densely built up with semi-dugout dwellings. Sarkel maintained lively trade relations with Byzantium, Crimea, Transcaucasia and Central Asia.

Numerous settlements rural type. Judging by the discovered plowshares, sickles and scythes, the bulk of the Khazarin population led a sedentary lifestyle.

Another page of history was revealed by the burial grounds of the Saltovo-Mayak culture with different types of burials. Their characteristics they say that Alans (peoples of North Caucasian origin who left their homeland under the pressure of the Arabs) and Bulgarians lived on the territory of the Don and Azov regions.

QuestionsAndtasks

1. Tell us which peoples occupied the territory of the Caspian and Black Sea steppes. When did they come here? 2. What do you know about the actions of the Bulgarians after the death of Attila? How did the process of their rise take place? 3. Name the state formations that arose after the collapse of the Turkic Kaganate. 4. Describe the economic activities of the population of Great Bulgaria. 5. Tell us about the fate of the Bulgarians after the collapse of the state. 6. Who are the Khazars? What do they and the Bulgarians have in common? 7. Compare the process of formation of the Khazar Kaganate and Great Bulgaria. 8. Outline the causes and consequences of the Arab-Khazar wars. 9. Describe the economy and culture of the Khazar Kaganate. 10. How was the religious policy of the Khazar rulers different? 11. Trace the historical connections between the Hunnic Empire, the Turkic Khaganate, Great Bulgaria and the Khazar Khaganate. 12. Evaluate the contribution of the Turks to the achievements of world civilization.

Descendants of the gray wolf

In 552, a huge nomadic empire was born in Central Asia - the First Turkic Khaganate. The vast expanses of Siberia - the Altai and Minusy valleys, the Priobskoye plateau, the remote southern taiga, along with the entire population - did not remain aloof from its bloody history. Twenty years were enough for the Turkic state to become the most influential Eurasian power with borders stretching from the banks of the Yellow River in the east to the North Caucasus and the Kerch Strait in the west. Its ruler, Khagan Istemi, established equal political and trade relations with the “rulers of the world” of that time - Byzantium, Sasanian Iran and the North Chinese kingdoms. Northern Qi and Northern Zhou actually became tributaries of the Kaganate. The core of the new legislator of world destinies was the “Turk” - a people who formed in the depths of the Altai mountains.

According to legend, the ancient Turks descend from a boy - a descendant of “a separate branch of the House of the Xiongnu.” When all his relatives were killed by warriors from a neighboring tribe, the enemy threw the boy with his arms and legs cut off to die in a swamp. Here the cripple was found and fed by a she-wolf. One of the children of the grown boy and the she-wolf was Ashina - “a man with great abilities.” His descendant Asyan-shad moved to Altai. In the new place, the newcomers mixed with the local population and formed a new people - the Turks, whose ruling family was Ashina. A descendant of Asyan-shad Bumyn (in another transcription, Tumin) founded the First Turkic Khaganate.

According to another legend, the ancestors of the Turks come from the So tribe, which once lived to the north of the Xiongnu. Its head Apanbu had 70 brothers (according to another version - 17). The eldest of them, Nishidu (or Ijinishidu), was born from a she-wolf and had outstanding abilities. There were also wives to match him - the daughter of summer and the daughter of winter. The daughter of summer bore him four sons, and one of them, Nodulu-shad, who took the name Turk, ruled in the Basychusishi mountains. Nodulu had 10 wives, and his son Ashina was from the youngest of them. After the death of the father, the son who jumped the highest on the tree was supposed to inherit his power. Ashina managed to do this. Having become a leader, he took the name Asyan-shad.

The entire history of the Kaganate is full of wars and civil strife. Its territory was too large and its population too heterogeneous for the state to stand firmly on its feet. The Kaganate faced the fate of all the empires of antiquity, created by force of arms and not welded together by a common economic life, empires that, starting with the power of Alexander the Great, briefly outlived their creators. In 581, the great power fell apart into two warring and unstable associations - the Western (centered in Semirechye) and Eastern (centered in Mongolia) Turkic Khaganates. The latter quickly fell into decline and in 630 fell under the blows of the army of the Chinese Tang Empire. The Western Turkic Kaganate retained its dominance in Central Asia for another 20 years; in 651, its main forces were defeated by Chinese troops. True, peace on the borders of the “Celestial Empire” did not last long. An endless series of unrest and uprisings led, forty years later, to the emergence of another powerful state formation - the Second Turkic Khaganate, led by the ruler Ilteres, all from the same Ashina family. Soon the Kaganate extended its power to the lands of Transbaikalia, Semirechye, and Manchuria. The territories of Altai and Tyva now constituted only its northern outskirts.

	Rice. 1. River valley Katun is a high road of nomadic civilizations. Rice. 2. Turkic woman. Once upon a time, such stone sculptures of mustachioed men with a vessel in their hands adorned the mountain steppes of Altai, Tyva, Mongolia and Semirechye. As a rule, their waists are covered with belts with weapons suspended from them. They were placed near small stone fences. Often near them there were chains of vertically dug stones - balbals. It is believed that these sculptures are images of the patron ancestors of the Turkic people. Stone women, deer stones and bronze-faced idols of the West Siberian taiga have one thing in common. All these images were supposed to have weapons: carved on stone - among the steppe nomads, and real ones - among the taiga inhabitants. In Turkic sculptures left hand pressed to the belt - a sign of respect common among many peoples of Siberia and Central Asia. The sculpture seems to transmit or receive the vessel. It is not yet clear what this vessel is filled with. Perhaps a sacred drink similar to what was placed in front of the statue. Size 150x45x20 centimeters. VII-IX centuries Left bank of the river Aktru, Gorny Altai. MA IAET SB RAS.
	Fig.3. All heavily armed Turkic warriors had several bows and quivers with arrows for long-range combat, long spears for attacking in close formation, swords, broadswords, sabers and axes for close combat, and lassos. combat knives and heavy whips that served as auxiliary weapons. Horses and riders were protected by various types of brightly colored armor, knitted either from individual metal or leather plates connected with belts, or from solid leather ribbons.
	Rice. 4. Lattice frame of the Xiongnu period, the predecessor of a hard saddle. I century BC e. - I century n. e. Noin-Ula burial ground, Mongolia. Rice. 5, a-c. Scythian saddle (early Iron Age). Carved medallions on the ends of the saddle (a), wooden arches (b), quilted pillows that formed the basis of the saddle (c). The pillows were covered with felt, decorated with animal-style appliqués. Pazyryk tract. Mountain Altai. Saint Petersburg. Hermitage Museum. Rice. 6, a-c. Wide flat shelves (a) lie on the sides of the horse and are “sandwiched” between high vertical bows (b). Under these bows there are end inserts (c). IV-VI centuries Reconstruction based on materials from Southeast Asia
	Rice. 7, a-d. The ancient Turks made the back bows of their saddles inclined and sometimes decorated them with horn overlays. Such decorative elements could cover both bows or only one of them: a, d - a horn composite overlay on the rear pommel of the saddle. VII-VIII centuries Cemetery Verkh-Kaldzhin. Mountain Altai. Excavations by V. I. Molodin. MA IAET SB RAS; b - reconstruction of the saddle frame based on materials from the Verkh-Kaldzhin monument. VII-VIII centuries Mountain Altai. Excavations by V. I. Molodin. MA IAET SB RAS; c - horn plate on the front pommel of the saddle with a hunting scene. VI-VII centuries Kuderge burial ground, Altai Mountains. According to A. A. Gavrilova. Saint Petersburg. Hermitage Museum.

The state reached its greatest prosperity during the reign of Bilge Kagan (716-734). The Turks defeated first the Chinese allies, and then China, which after that was forced to agree to peace with the mighty winner and pay him tribute, but after the death of Bilge, a struggle for the throne began among his heirs. In 744, the last ruler of the Ozmish Khaganate was killed, and the Second Turkic Khaganate ceased to exist. In its place arose the Uyghur Khaganate (745-840).

But, having suffered defeat, the Turks did not disappear from the historical arena. Part of the population of the Altai Mountains, its steppe foothills and Central Kazakhstan migrated north to the Western Siberian forest-steppes (Ob-Irtysh interfluve, Priobye), where they contributed to the formation of the Srostkin culture and significantly influenced the development of the local Upper Ob, Relkin, Ust-Ishim cultures . Others, along with the Yenisei Kyrgyz, participated in a grueling war with the Uyghurs (820-840), which ended with the destruction of the Uyghur capital, the city of Ordubalyk on the Orkhon River. The new, already Kyrgyz, Kaganate included Altai with its foothills and lands in the west almost to the Irtysh region. In the middle of the 10th century, under the blows of the Mongol-speaking Khitans, the Yenisei Kyrgyz left the territory of Mongolia, retaining their possessions only in Southern Siberia - on the lands of the Altai Mountains, Tyva and the Minusinsk Basin. The last mention of the ancient Turks in Chinese dynastic chronicles dates back to approximately the same time.

Khitan (China) - Mongol-speaking tribes of hunters and herders who roamed the territory of the modern southeastern part of Inner Mongolia. Known from Chinese chronicles since the 4th century. They constantly fought with neighboring tribes, the Turks, and China. In the 6th-7th centuries, the consolidation of the Khitan tribes led to the creation of a state formation - a union of tribes with an elected ruler at its head. In the 10th century, the Khitans formed an empire. Immigrants from China are involved in streamlining the state apparatus, cities, fortresses, roads are being built, crafts and trade are being developed. In 947, a new calendar was introduced, and the state received the name Great Liao. The Khitan developed history, literature, medicine, architecture, arts, poetry, and writing. With the spread of Buddhism, printing (woodblock printing) appeared. The Khitan Empire, after a series of victorious wars, spread over the territory from the shores of the Sea of ​​Japan to East Turkestan and from the Yellow Sea to Transbaikalia and was the most powerful in East Asia. Song China, having lost the war, paid her an annual tribute. From the end of the 11th century, the decline of the Khitan empire began. In 1120, the Tungus-speaking Jurchen tribes destroyed the Liao state. Some of the Khitans went west to Central Asia.

The influence of the Turks on the historical destinies and material culture of the peoples of Siberia and Central Asia was so great that archaeologists often simply call the period of domination of the First and Second Turkic Khaganates simply “Turkic time.” At this time, a number of discoveries of nomadic culture spread across the lands of settled populations from East Asia to Europe, and, in turn, a considerable number of achievements of the agricultural population became the property of the nomads. During the era of the First Turkic Khaganate, runic writing was created, new types of horse harness, clothing, and weapons appeared.

The largest event in the history of technology, which largely determined the appearance of the era, was the invention of a rigid frame saddle and stirrups. The combat capabilities of horsemen sharply expanded, and the striking power of heavy cavalry increased. Sitting in strong saddles with a rigid frame and resting their feet on the stirrup footrests, riders gained extraordinary freedom of movement, which immediately led to the creation of new types of weapons. This could not but affect the tactics of combat.

The saddles of the Scythian period were two pillows stuffed with wool and hair, connected above the horse's spine by a leather bridge. Along the edges facing the horse's neck and croup, they thickened and were decorated with thin arches and paired carved plates made of wood or horn. Such a saddle was attached to the back of the animal using a girth, chest and undertail straps. Such a device only slightly reduced the pressure of the weight of the rider and his equipment on the horse’s back. In addition, the soft saddle did not provide the rider with support during an oncoming impact.

At the turn of the era (1st century BC - 1st century AD), rigid frames appeared, consisting of two narrow arcs, which were connected to each other by several slats. The opinions of experts expressed regarding the purpose of these lattice frames differ. According to one belief, the structure was the supporting part of pack saddles; according to another, wooden crossbars ran inside leather cushions, forming the base of a soft saddle. In any case, such a frame can be called a direct forerunner of a hard saddle.

At the next stage of its creation, the place of the pillows was taken by two boards located on the sides of the horse. They were fastened at the ends with wide arched bows, which, it is believed, “grew” from the decorative wooden overlays of Scythian saddles. The bows rested on the horse's back. In order not to interfere with her movements, they tried to make the distance between them minimal. Such a saddle literally pinched the rider, gave him strong support and even protected him from a spear strike. Similar devices for riders are well known from materials from Korea and Japan of the 4th-6th centuries, where they were probably invented. The advantages of this invention are obvious - firstly, it ensured a high seating position for the rider; secondly, sitting in such a rider could quite successfully use a spear, without fear of falling off his horse if he moved incorrectly. But it was extremely inconvenient to sit in such lock saddles in long armored clothing. Then a special backing appeared on the left side of the saddle - a prototype of the future stirrup.

In the 6th century the frame was further improved. The longitudinal boards between the bows increased in length. Now the bows were simply placed on top of a plank base, which acquired a characteristic shape with a blade in the middle. This way, the rider’s weight was distributed more evenly across the saddle - accordingly, its pressure on the horse’s spine decreased. The protruding edges made it possible to tie the stirrups in front of the pommel, rather than throwing the rope connecting them across the saddle, as was the case before. A little later, the rear bow was placed at an angle to the horizontal and, like the front, it was made entirely planed. The rider was able to deviate in any direction, lean back, jump to the ground and, as they say, “fly like a bird” onto the horse. Cavalry mobility increased significantly. The described saddle first appeared somewhere on the border of the sedentary and nomadic worlds, in the zone of contact between the pastoral and agricultural cultures of Northern China. This is where his triumphant march around the world began.

Stirrups were also invented in approximately the same area. At first, paired wooden footrests were bent from a wooden rod and lined with iron or copper. It soon became clear that a wooden base was not needed. For some time, stirrups were made from flat iron sheets. However, the narrow plate cut the leg, the footrest (the lower part of the stirrup on which the leg rests) acquired a flattened shape. Later, stirrups were entirely forged from a metal rod.

"Siberian weapons: from the Stone Age to the Middle Ages." Author: Alexander Solovyov (candidate historical sciences, senior researcher at the Institute of Archeology and Ethnography, Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences); scientific editor: academician V.I. Molodin; artist: M.A. Lobyrev. Novosibirsk, 2003