The Ancient Turkish States
It is a known fact that the Turks lived in Dzungaria to the north of East Turkestan in 2000 B.C. Unfortunately, there is no accurate and detailed information available about the Turkish States and the emperors of this era, the only limited sources being the historical documents of China. In these documents there are four Turkish emperors named between the VIII and VII centuries B.C. Çun-Goey in 1766 B.C., Ta-Pi in 1122 B.C., Pe-Çi in 1116 B.C. and Kiu-Kue in 627 B.C.
During the period up until 1500 A.D., the Turkish States carried the name of the Turkish tribe which dominated the dynasty. For example: the Huns, Avars, Kirghiz, Karluks and the Oghuz. During the mid-1500’s A.D., Kök Turks began to rule all the Turkish tribes, thus creating a tendency to call people speaking Turkish, Turks. The Chinese also adopted this name and the neighbouring people called the Turks, “Tu-Kiu”.
In tıme, and due to various reasons, the Turks began to leave their homeland and came to Iran, Caucasia, Anatolia, Eastern Europe and the Balkans.
Distribution of Turks in the World
The Turks, in various periods, ruled in Asia, Eastern Europe and the northern and eastern coasts of Africa. Besides the Republic of Turkey, today nearly eighty-five million people speak Turkish in an area extending from Macedonia in the west to China in the east.
Tha main countries and territories, besides the Republic of Turkey, where people speak Turkish are: Western Thrace,
North Macedonia, Dobruca, Deliorman, Cyprus, Kirkuk, Erbil, Azerbaijan, Hamadan, Daghestan, North Caucasia, Orenburg, Astrakhan, Chuvashestan, Tatarestan, Bashkirdestan, Turkestan, Yakuthestan, and certain sections of Altai…
The Great Hun Empire
The ancestors of the Huns were Kimmers and Sakas. The Great Hun Empire was founded by Teoman Yabgu who united various Turkish tribes of his period. This empire is generally considered to be the starting point of Turkish history. Unfortunately, there is no accurate and detailed information available about the history of the Turks before Teoman Yabgu. The Chinese called Teoman Yabgu’s state which was founded in 220 B.C., “Hiyung-nu”
After Teoman Yabgu’s death, his son, Mete succeeded him. He reigned until 174 B.C. During his reign, the Turks invaded China and occupied an area extending up to the great Ocean and the northern coast of the Caspian Sea and the region that lies between Siberia and the Himalayas. Mete, who is known as Oghuz Khan in Turkish legends, occopied certain regions of Northern China, thereby extending the territory of his empire to 18 million square kilometres.
This great empire, as a result of the political ploys of the Chinese, was divided into two: South-Eastern and North-Western Hun Empires. Losign their power entirely, the Northern Huns dispersed in 93 A.D. The Siyempis grabbed sovereignty in the Southern Empire in 216 A.D. In the end, the Huns migrated to Europe. The Siyempi-Tapa dynasty which dethroned the Turkish Khan, Hu-Çu-Tsiuen, resumed its sovereignty until 394 A.D. Hu-Çu-Tsiuen was the 38th Turkish Khan.
Huns of Europe
A section of the Huns who were forced to migrate to the West formed a state on the banks of the Volga under the administration of Balamir. This state which was founded in 374 A.D., called Volga Hun, was not longlasting. Most of the Huns, headed by Muncuh, crossed the Danube and settled in Hungaria in 375 A.D. These Huns, during the reign of the Muncuh’s son, Atilla, occupied about 75 cities between 447-448 A.D and reached Istanbul. Then Atilla conquered Milan and Pavia in Italy and marched on to Rome. But he was met by Pope Leon III and the Roman Consuls on his way and in 452 A.D he signed an agreement with them and returned. His elder son, Dengizlik, tried to unite the Hun tribes again but could not complete his task before he was killed in 496 A.D.
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