The present distribution of Turkic languages bears witness to the Early Medieval westward expansion of Turkic tribes.

The main migration (expansion) of Turkic peoples occurred between the 6th and 11th centuries (the Early Middle Ages), when they spread across most of Central Asia and into Europe and the Middle East. Image File history File links Turkic_language_map3. ... Image File history File links Turkic_language_map3. ... The Turkic languages constitute a language family of some thirty languages, spoken across a vast area from Eastern Europe to Siberia and Western China with an estimated 140 million native speakers and tens of millions of second-language speakers. ... This article is about the various peoples speaking one of the Turkic languages. ... This Buddhist stela from China, Northern Wei period, was built in the early 6th century. ... As a means of recording the passage of time, the 11th century was that century which lasted from 1001 to 1100. ... Justinians wife Theodora and her retinue, in a 6th century mosaic from the Basilica of San Vitale in Ravenna. ... Map of Central Asia showing three sets of possible boundaries for the region Central Asia located as a region of the world Central Asia is a vast landlocked region of Asia. ... This article is 150 kilobytes or more in size. ... A map showing countries commonly considered to be part of the Middle East The Middle East is a region comprising the lands around the southern and eastern parts of the Mediterranean Sea, a territory that extends from the eastern Mediterranean Sea to the Persian Gulf. ...

By the 10th century, most of Central Asia, formerly dominated by Iranian peoples, was settled by Turkic tribes. The Seljuk Turks from the 11th century invaded Anatolia, ultimately resulting in permanent Turkic settlement there and the establishment of Turkey. This article is about the group of peoples who speak Iranian languages. ... The Seljuk coat of arms was a double headed eagle The Seljuk Turks (also Seldjuk, Seldjuq, Seljuq; in modern Turkish Selçuklular; in Persian سلجوقيان Saljūqiyān; in Arabic سلجوق Saljūq, or السلاجقة al-Salājiqa) were a major branch of the Oghuz Turks and a dynasty that ruled parts of... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ...

The population ancestral to the Turks is thought to be that of the Xiong Nu of Mongolia or along the upper Yenissei in Siberia (the areal of the contemporary Tuvan language), known from historical sources from ca. 200 BC (Holster, 1993). Around 50 BC, the Han Chinese expelled the Xiong Nu from their homeland resulting in the Hunnic migrations. The first reference to "Turks" (Tujue) appears in Chinese sources of the 6th century, apparently referring to a sub-tribe of a successor kingdom to the Xiong Nu^{[citation needed]}. Earliest evidence of Turkic languages as a separate group is from Orkhon inscriptions of the early 8th century. Xiongnu (匈奴; meaning Xiongs slaves, Xiong being a Chinese transliteration of a national name but also meaning savage/raucous/ferocious, however some argued that the two words are both transliteration, in this case the sense of slaves does not exist) was the term given by the Chinese to... The Yenisei (Енисе́й) is the greatest river system flowing to the Arctic Ocean, slightly shorter but with 1. ... Siberian Federal District (darker red) and the broadest definition of Siberia (red) arctic northeast Siberia Udachnaya pipe Siberia (Russian: , Sibir; Tatar: ) is a vast region of Russia constituting almost all of Northern Asia and comprising a large part of the Euro-Asian Steppe. ... Tuvan (Tuvan: Тыва дыл Tyva dyl), also known as Tuvinian, Tyvan, or Tuvin, is one of the Turkic languages. ... Centuries: 3rd century BC - 2nd century BC - 1st century BC Decades: 250s BC 240s BC 230s BC 220s BC 210s BC - 200s BC - 190s BC 180s BC 170s BC 160s BC 150s BC Years: 205 BC 204 BC 203 BC 202 BC 201 BC - 200 BC - 199 BC 198 BC... Centuries: 2nd century BC - 1st century BC - 1st century Decades: 100s BC 90s BC 80s BC 70s BC 60s BC - 50s BC - 40s BC 30s BC 20s BC 10s BC 0s BC Years: 55 BC 54 BC 53 BC 52 BC 51 BC 50 BC 49 BC 48 BC 47... The Huns were a Turkic confederation of Central Asian equestrian nomads or semi-nomads. ... The Göktürks or Kök-Türks, known in medieval Chinese sources as Tujue (突厥 tú jué), under the leadership of Bumin/Tuman Khan/Khaghan (d. ... The Turkic languages constitute a language family of some thirty languages, spoken across a vast area from Eastern Europe to Siberia and Western China with an estimated 140 million native speakers and tens of millions of second-language speakers. ... Orhon (or Orkhon) inscriptions are the oldest known Turkic writings, which were erected near the Orhon River between 732 and 735 in honour of two Kokturk princes named Kul and Bilge. ... (7th century — 8th century — 9th century — other centuries) Events The Iberian peninsula is taken by Arab and Berber Muslims, thus ending the Visigothic rule, and starting almost 8 centuries of Muslim presence there. ...

The precise date of the initial expansion from the early homeland remains unknown. The first state known as "Turk", giving its name to the many states and peoples afterwards, was that of the Göktürks (gök = "blue" or "celestial") in the 6th century AD. The head of the Asena clan led his people from Li-jien (modern Zhelai Zhai) to the Rouran seeking inclusion in their confederacy and protection from China. His tribe were famed metal smiths and were granted land near a mountain quarry which looked like a helmet from which they got their name 突厥. A century later their power had increased such that they conquered the Rouruan and set about establishing their Gok Empire. The Göktürks or Kök-Türks were a Turkic people of ancient Central Asia and China. ... This Buddhist stela from China, Northern Wei period, was built in the early 6th century. ... Rouran (Chinese: ; Wade-Giles: Jou Jan, literally Soft-like), Juan Juan (Chinese: ; pinyin: , literally meaning the Wriggling Insects, a name given by the Toba ruling elites of northern China), or Ruru (Chinese: ; Wade-Giles: Ju Ju, literally meaning Fodder) was the name of a confederation of nomadic tribes on the...

Later Turkic peoples include the Karluks (mainly 8th century), Uyghurs, Kirghiz, Oghuz (or Guz, Uz, Ghuzz, e.t.c.) Turks, and Turkmens. As these peoples were founding states in the area between Mongolia and Transoxiana, they came into contact with Muslims, and most gradually adopted Islam. However, there were also (and still are) small groups of Turkic people belonging to other religions, including Christians, Jews (see Khazars), Buddhists, and Zoroastrians. The Qarluq (Karluk) were originally a nomadic turkic tribe based on the transoxania steppes (roughly east and south of the Aral Sea) in Central Asia. ... The Uyghur (also spelled Uighur; Uyghur: ئۇيغۇر; Simplified Chinese: ; Traditional Chinese: ; pinyin: ) are an ethnic group of Central Asia. ... A traditional Kyrgyz Manaschi performing part of the Manas epic poem at a yurt camp in Karakol Kyrgyz are a Turkic ethnic group found primarily in Kyrgyzstan. ... The Oghuz Turks (also with various alternate spellings, including Oguz, OÄŸuz, Ouz, Okuz, Oufoi, Guozz and Ghuzz) are regarded as one of the major branches of Turkic peoples. ... Map showing modern Transoxiana. ... Islam (Arabic:  ) is a monotheistic religion based upon the teachings of Muhammad, a 7th century Arab religious and political figure. ... Christianity is a monotheistic[1] religion centered on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as presented in the New Testament. ... The Khazars (Hebrew Kuzari כוזרי Kuzarim כוזרים; Turkish Hazar Hazarlar; Russian Хазары; Tatar sing Xäzär Xäzärlär; Crimean Tatar: ; Greek Χαζάροι/Χάζαροι; Arabic خزر; Persianخزر ; Latin Gazari or Cosri) were a semi-nomadic Turkic people from Central Asia, many of whom converted to Judaism. ... Buddhism is a dharmic, non-theistic religion, which is also a philosophy and a system of psychology. ... Zoroastrianism is the religion and philosophy based on the teachings ascribed to the prophet Zoroaster (Zarathustra, Zartosht). ...

Turkic soldiers in the army of the Abbasid caliphs emerged as the de facto rulers of much of the Muslim Middle East (apart from Syria and North Africa) from the 13th century. The Oghuz and other tribes captured and dominated various countries under the leadership of the Seljuk dynasty, and eventually captured the territories of the Abbasid dynasty and the Byzantine Empire. Abbasid (Arabic: العبّاسيّون, Abbāsīyūn) is the dynastic name generally given to the caliph of Baghdad, the second of the two great Sunni dynasties of the Arab Empire, that overthrew the Umayyad caliphs from all but Spain. ... The Caliphate (Arabic خلافة) is the theoretical federal government that would govern the Islamic world under Islamic law, ruled by a Caliph as head of state. ... The Oghuz Turks (also with various alternate spellings, including Oguz, Oğuz, Ouz, Okuz, Oufoi, Guozz and Ghuzz) are regarded as one of the major branches of Turkic peoples. ... The Seljuk coat of arms was a double headed eagle The Seljuk Turks (also Seldjuk, Seldjuq, Seljuq; in modern Turkish Selçuklular; in Persian سلجوقيان Saljūqiyān; in Arabic سلجوق Saljūq, or السلاجقة al-Salājiqa) were a major branch of the Oghuz Turks and a dynasty that ruled parts of... Byzantine Empire at its greatest extent c. ...

Meanwhile, the Kyrghyz and Uyghurs were struggling with one another and with the Chinese Empire. The Kyrghyz people ultimately settled in the region now referred to as Kyrgyzstan. The Tatar peoples conquered the Volga Bulgars in what is today Tatarstan, following the westward sweep of the Mongols under Genghis Khan in the 13th century. Other Bulgars settled in Europe in the 7-8th centuries, but were assimilated by the Slavs, giving the name to the Bulgarians and the Slavic Bulgarian language. Kirghiz (also Kyrgyz and Kirgiz) are a Turkic-Mongoloid ethnic group found primarily in Kyrgyzstan. ... Kirghiz (also Kyrgyz and Kirgiz) are a Turkic-Mongoloid ethnic group found primarily in Kyrgyzstan. ... Tatars or Tartars is a collective name applied to the Turkic-speaking people of Europe and Asia. ... The Volga Bulgars were a culture in southern modern Russia along the Volga River from approximately 900 to 1300 AD. They were related to the original Bulgars of Old Great Bulgaria which had existed in approximately the same region around 600 to 700. ... The Republic of Tatarstan (Russian: ; Tatar: ) is a federal subject of Russia (a republic). ... Mongols (Mongolian: Монгол Mongol, Turkish: Moğollar) are an ethnic group that originated in what is now Mongolia, Russia, and China or more specifically on the Central Asian plateau north of the Gobi desert and south of Siberia. ... For other uses, see Genghis Khan (disambiguation). ... Map showing the location of Bulgars, 650. ... The Slavic peoples are the most numerous ethnic and linguistic body of peoples in Europe. ... Bulgarian (Български език, Balgarski ezik) is an Indo-European language, a member of the Southern branch of the Slavic languages. ...

References

• Findley, Carter Vaughnm, The Turks in World History, Oxford University Press: Oxford (2005).
• Holster, Charles Warren, The Turks of Central Asia Praeger: Westport, CT (1993).

See also

• History of Central Asia
• Migration Period
• Rouran
• Uyghur Empire
• Huns
• Xiongnu
• Hephthalites
• Oghuz

Map of Central Asia showing three sets of possible boundaries for the region The history of Central Asia is defined primarily by the areas climate and geography. ... Human migration denotes any movement of groups of people from one locality to another, rather than of individual wanderers. ... Rouran (Chinese: ; Wade-Giles: Jou Jan, literally Soft-like), Juan Juan (Chinese: ; pinyin: , literally meaning the Wriggling Insects, a name given by the Toba ruling elites of northern China), or Ruru (Chinese: ; Wade-Giles: Ju Ju, literally meaning Fodder) was the name of a confederation of nomadic tribes on the... Map of the Uyghur Empire and areas under its dominion at its height, c. ... The Huns were a Turkic confederation of Central Asian equestrian nomads or semi-nomads. ... A Xiongnu belt buckle. ... The Hephthalites, also known as White Huns, were a nomadic people who lived across northern China, Central Asia, and northern India in the fourth through sixth centuries. ... For all Turkic groupings and Turkic history, see Turkic peoples. ...

External links

• The Turkic Expansion
• Great Steppe Empires of Asia