Turkic peoples

The Turkic peoples are a broad group of ethnic communities spread across West, Central, East, and North Asia, as well as parts of Europe, all united by speaking languages from the Turkic family. Linguists and historians trace the origins of Proto-Turkic to Central-East Asia, likely around the Altai-Sayan region, Mongolia, or Tuva. The earliest speakers were probably both hunter-gatherers and farmers before shifting to nomadic pastoralism. Over time, early and medieval Turkic groups displayed a wide mix of East Asian and West Eurasian physical traits and genetic backgrounds, shaped by prolonged contact with neighboring peoples like Iranic, Mongolic, Tocharian, Uralic, and Yeniseian groups.

Physiognomy

Throughout history, many very different ethnic groups joined the Turkic fold through language change, cultural adoption, conquest, intermarriage, or religious conversion. Still, Turkic peoples share, to different degrees, common cultural features, some genetic ancestry, and overlapping historical experiences. Prominent modern Turkic ethnic groups include the Altai people, Azerbaijanis, Chuvash, Gagauz, Kazakhs, Kyrgyz, Turkmens, Turkish people, Tuvans, Uyghurs, Uzbeks, and Yakuts.

The term "Turk" first appears in historical records as a name for the Göktürks, used by Chinese, Tibetans, and even Turkic-speaking Uyghurs. In contrast, medieval Muslim writers—including Turkic speakers like Ottoman historian Mustafa Âlî, explorer Evliya Çelebi, and Timurid scholar Ulugh Beg—often treated Inner Asian tribes as a single group regardless of language, using "Turk" as a general label for Inner Asians, whether Turkic- or Mongolic-speaking. Only in modern times have historians used "Turks" to refer to all Turkic-language speakers, distinguishing them from non-Turkic speakers.

Etymology

Some researchers (such as Duan, Xue, Tang, Lung, and Onogawa) suggest that the later Ashina tribe came from the Tiele confederation, which itself was likely one of several early Turkic groups ancestral to later Turkic populations. However, according to Lee and Kuang (2017), Chinese histories do not trace the Ashina or the Göktürks back to the Dingling or the Tiele confederation.

The Xiongnu, mentioned in Han dynasty records, may have been Proto-Turkic speakers. The Turks themselves might ultimately descend from the Xiongnu. While little is certain about the Xiongnu language, it seems probable that a significant portion of Xiongnu tribes spoke a Turkic language. Some scholars view the Xiongnu as a confederation of various ethnic and linguistic groups.

A 2020 study by Alexander Savelyev and Choongwon Jeong in Evolutionary Human Sciences argues that "the predominant part of the Xiongnu population is likely to have spoken Turkic." Genetic studies, however, show a mix of western and eastern Eurasian ancestries, indicating high genetic diversity within the Xiongnu, with the Turkic-related component possibly coming from an eastern Eurasian genetic substratum. Based on the only surviving possible Xiongnu writings—petroglyphs from the Yinshan and Helan Mountains—some scholars argue these older markings are precursors to the Orkhon script, the earliest known Turkic alphabet. These petroglyphs date from the 9th millennium BCE to the 19th century and consist mainly of engraved signs and a few painted images. Excavations from 1924–1925 at Noin-Ula kurgans near the Selenga River in northern Mongolia uncovered objects with over 20 carved characters identical or very similar to the runic letters of the Turkic Orkhon script found in the Orkhon Valley.

Steppe expansions

The first clear mention of "Turk" as a political name appears in the Chinese Book of Zhou. In the 540s, it records Turks approaching China's border for silk and trade. A Sogdian diplomat represented China in embassies between the Western Wei dynasty and the Turks in 545 and 546.

According to the Book of Sui and the Tongdian, the Turks were "mixed barbarians" who moved from Pingliang (in modern Gansu, China) to the Rouran confederacy for protection. Alternatively, the Book of Zhou, History of the Northern Dynasties, and New Book of Tang state that the Ashina clan was part of the Xiongnu confederation. The Göktürks were also said to have come from an obscure Suo state north of the Xiongnu.

The Ashina were famed metalsmiths, granted land south of the Altai Mountains that looked like a helmet, giving them the name 突厥 (Tūjué)—the first recorded use of "Turk" as a political name. By the 6th century, Ashina power grew enough to conquer the Tiele on behalf of their Rouran overlords, then overthrow the Rouran and establish the First Turkic Khaganate. The Old Turkic name Kök Türk comes from kök, meaning "sky," "sky-colored," "blue," or "blue-grey." Unlike the Xiongnu, the Göktürk Khaganate had temporary khagans.