"Wild horses for the first time were tamed and domesticated by the Turks."
Recently it has been repeatedly proved that it is wrong to relate the Turkic nations to the last centuries of our era in pre-Asia and particularly in Azerbaijan, to consider them strangers in these territories, to wipe out our traces in the ancient layers of history.
The material and cultureal-spiritual monuments, elements of religion in these territories confirm that the proto-Azerbaijanis, proto-Turkic tribes populated these terrirories many-many centuries before our era.
The serious researches of the outstanding historians of the world refuse these mazes and pressures and introduce such a common view that it is wrong to say that the forefathers of the Turkic peoples, including those of Azerbaijanis, populated not only the orient. The ancient traces of the proto-Azerbaijanis, proto-Turkic nuclear, that is, the first steps to read the petroglyphs, inscriptions and pictures on the rocks reveal that our language, culture and myths are closely connected with those of the Sumerians, Akkadians, Hetts, Assyrians and Pelsags-Etrusks. Pior to these cultures there was a great culture and we are not alien to it; we are either its direct heirs, or our forefathers were among its creators.
The real scholars have not once confessed that the Sumerians are of Turani origin, that is, of the same origin with the peoples living in the territory known as Turan. Recently there have appeared half-scientific, half-dilettantish views about the Sumerian-Azerbaijani relations. Anyhow one can not deny the closeness of cultures, territories (perhaps closeness on the level of neighbourhood, coexistence and the same age).
I looked through many researches of the world historians in connection with these problems. Sometimes they complete and sometimes contradict each other. When all the views are clarified from nationalism and political pressures, there emereges quite a different sight which can not be denied because of its scientific substantiation.
Because of an established tendecy it is said that the motherland of the Turkic peoples is the territory between the Aral Sea and the Altai Mountains. This territory is extended sometimes towards the north of china and towards the Caspian basin. But many researches confess that the forefathers of the Turkic peoples lived in Azerbaijan, Sumer, even in the North Africa in the V-VI millenium before our era, the traces of the said are so conspicuous that one can not deny them. Therefore, some Azerbaijani and world scholars consider the Turks to be the most ancient etnos of the Caucasus and the adjoining territories. There are numerous material, cultural and linguistic monuments and source which prove that the Turkic speaking peoples and tribes populated Azerbaijan and the land around Urmia before the arrival of peoples speaking in the Indo-European languages. As the readers are aware of these researches, we do not think it to be necessary to repeat them again. But we have something to add to them. In the first place we want to remind some facts mentioned repeatedly by the scholars of the world which concern the role of the Turkic speaking nations, including that of Azerbaijan, in the history.
The most ancient cultural layers in the Central Asia and in the Caspian Basin, one of the first cradles of the world civilization, belong to the Turkic peoples. This ideas is supported by many researchers. Speaking about the ancinet history of Asia Minor and Azerbaijan, Pavel Vinogradov wrote, "Settled mannerr of life developed with the arrival of the Aryan peoples; they fought here with the local Turkic tribes, occupied some part of their lands and ousted a part of them to the north." (9)
According to many European scholars this great culture created in this vast and fertile territory was widely spread all around because of migrations which took place due to various reasons and pressures.
The archeological excavations discovered the traces of this culture on the shores of the Mediterranean Sea. The waves of migrations replaced each other , the strong flows of the Turkic tribes covered the North Africa, Egypt, Cypress, Rados, the Crete Islands and Greece.
The sholars think that the ancient states famous in Mesopotamia and along the River Nile were created by the local farmers engaged in husbandry and the migrant Turks who were the organizers.
Wild horses for the first time were tamed and domesticated by the Turks. It gave them the power to reign in the world. The Altai legends and Oghuz eposes mention the facts that the ancient Turks invented the wheel-carts and rafts; they were the first to fish with nets, make gunpowder, reed pipes and play in them.
The connoisseurs of the history of the ancient Egypt think that the nomadic culture, which wxisted along th Upper Nile in BC 2000, is alos connected with the Turks. A part of the nomadic Turks are still living in Altai.
The arrival of the turks in Sumer from the Central Asia and Altai (all the roads lay through Azerbaijan) took place in the VI millenium BC. Prof. Wilhelm Koppers writes like this in his book "The First Turkism and Indo-Germanism" : BC by the end of the IV millennium BC the nomadic tribes, who had horses at their disposal, began to appear at the doors of the ancient West very frequently, the proto-Turks brought with them the traditions of the Oriental culture and contributed to its development. It is not the product of somebody's fantasy, but a fact. Then he continues: "The first Indo-Germans owe the ancient Turks for the domesticated horse and shepherd culture". The traces of the said live in the German mythology, too.
Many other scholars also insist that the first inhabitants of Sumer came from the north-east. The scholars think that the Sumerian, Elamite and Hurrite cultures were created by mixed ethnoses, six nomadic proto-Turkic ethnoses with horses, they occupied a particular place among them. The archeological excavations prove it too. The ancient iron-smith forefathers of the Turks brought mining culutre to Sumer and this culture developed.
A part of the European historians think that the Sumerians are the proto-Turkic ethnoses; they try to substantiate this idea by finding similarity in customs, languages. For example, there are many identical words, words having the same meaning, similarity in endings, which denote the doer of the action, identity in the word order in the sentence, etc....
Mushiraddovla Pirniya in his book "The History of the Ancient Iran" writes that the Sumerian and Elamite languages are very close to the Turanian, Altaic, or to the Ural-Altaic languages.
The first volume of "The World History" published in Moscow writes that the ancient Sumerian epic songs speak of the travels of their heroes to the oriental countries behind seven mountains and of their friendship with the local population there.
Note: The same volume, speaks of the military marches of the Akkadians (in BC 2290-2254, during the reign of Naramsin) and mentions an inscription found on a clay dish. It says, "It is a trophy from the country of Magan." Because of unknown reasons the authors of the volume understand the word Magan as Mısır (Egypt). We think that this country must be looked for in the orient, perhaps in Azerbajian.
...As the scholars write, there were found beads made of amazonite in the grave of the rulers, when excavations were conducted in the ancient Sumerian town of Ur. The beads refer to twenty-eight centuries BC. This stone in general is found by Baikal Lake in the mountainous Altai. Thus, there remains nothing, but confess the relation of motherlands of the Sumerian and Turks.
Another example: "The History of the Eastern and Central Asian Peoples" writes about the last Neolithic monuments, petroglyphs on the rocks in theYenisey Basin. One of them describes a four-wheel cart drawn by oxen. It is noted that the said pictures are connected with the worship of the sun and lightning. The pictures of the sun there are connected with the Mesopotamian culture of the IV-III millenniums. We also shall speak of the pictures of the sun carved on the rocks in Gobustan. The outstanding traveller Thor Heyerdahl thinks of Gobustan as a relative of Mesopotamia. Thus, there appears a strange circle.
The roads which begin from the rivers of Tigris and Euphrates and lie along the rivers of Kura and Araks link us with the basins of Khan-Bayan and Orkhon-Yenisey. Comparisons with the Hettish, Urartian, Assyrian, Greek, Chinese, Korean languages and those of the local American peoples are very interesting for the demonstration of the role of the Azerbaijani-Turkic language and culture in the orient. The study of these relations creates a picture which can be measured only by oceans, which the human brain is unable to confine.
The ancient Greek-Etrusk-Turkic relations form one of the interesting pages of this history. The mythology and languages of the Etrusks and the ancient Greeks retain the traces of close relations with the Turks. Professor L.Rasho-nie comments on a number of proper names in the Roman sources borrowed from the proto-Turkic language.
Numerous research works have been devoted to these relations. Adile Ayda, a Turkish scholar, who was educated in Europe and occupied diplomatic posts in the European countries for many years, published the results of her researches conducted for many years. It is in French and titled "The Etrusks were Turks:Proofs". There also appeared books "Writings in proto-Turkic", "The Turks of Anatolia" by Kazim Mirsha. These books are very interesting from the aforesaid point of view and are based on the achievements of the latest researches.
As Adile Ayda shows, the form of Etrusk in the Greek sources, that is, the word Turhen has been also used in the form of Turhen-Pelasg in the works of many Greek writers.
Proceeding from the Greek and German sources, Adila Ayda shows that the Pelasgs (in some sources it is introduced as the Balasags) came to Greece in BC 3000; they were nomads, talanted craftsmen and builders. The languages of the Etrusks and Pelasgs did not resemble the Indo-European languages. It is impossible to deny the similarities of these languages with the proto-Turkic language. These peoples took also the names of their gods to their new lands from the Asia Minor. Turin Tarkhan, Alpan are some of them.
The Huns, Avars, Kumans, Pechenegs, Oghuzes followed the same road to the Balkans once traversed by the Etrusk-Pelasgs.
According to Herodotus, the ancient name of Greece was Pelasgia; when the Greeks came to their present lands, they encountered the Pelasgs.
When one follows these foggy and zig-zag roads, when one blows and ignites the extinguishing coals, the roots of misunderstanding connected with the links between the Azerbaijani and Greek mythologies become evident.
It is also known that the ancient Greeks considered the İskits (Scythians) to be the inhabitants of the Asia Minor and the peoples who populated the coast of the Black Sea. Much has been spoken about the Sags (Saka) - İskits (Scythians) who populated the Asia Minor since the ancient times.
Scythian/Sak (Sacae)-Turks / Berel Kurgan / Kazakhstan
The scholars have discovered identities in the topics and contents of the works of Homer and the Turkic eposes and traces of the orient in them. It is explained with the arrival of the İskits and Sags (Scythians and Saka/Sacae) at this territory.
Prof.Ali Sultanl compared the motif of Homer's "Odyssey" with the epos of "Dede Korkut" and sugested such a view that the plot of the Cyclop in "Dede Korkut" may be more ancient. But what he said hesitantingly then was proved by historical evidences.
The studies reveal that the İskits (Scythians) moved from their own lands towards the west because of the attacks of the Ar-maste tribes. The İskits (Scythians) regarded their enemies strange and cyclops. This "bitter memory" which followed them from their motherland, could be spread to the Asia Minor by the Sags (Saka) who created their states in Greece and Azerbaijan.
It is also interesting that the Germans call the Etrusks as Turks even now.
The main elements in the collections of the İskits and Sags were also Turkic. As an evidence of it such an example is demonstrated from "the İliad" of Homer. The XVII chapter of the book says that Zeus called the Troyans "the drinkers of the horse milk". It was said about 1300 BC. This war took place 1300 BC (Homer lived in the VIII century BC)
The ancient Byzantine source describe the İskits (Scythians) as Turks which also included the Kutigurs, Onogurs, Gahgays, Turks, Avars, Khazars, Bulgars, Ungars, Uzes, Pechenegs and Kumans, Seljuks and other peoples and tribes.
Since the III millennium BC the proto-Turks migrations covered the east and the south. The Turkic influence is also felt in the ancient Indian culutre. Buddhism has originated from Shamanism. The iron culture has also been brought by the smith Turks.
By the end of the III millennium and the beginning of the II millennium a group of the Altaic tribes migrated to Manchuria and Korea.
The roots of the Turkic-Chinese ralations are very deep, and unfortunately they have not been sufficiently studied. In a general form it is known that the colourful dishes found in the valleys along the rivers in China are thought to be brought there by the ancient Turks in Bc 2000. Those Turks came there on horseback and they also brought there a naturalist religion connected with the sun. They called their god Tanrı (Tengri). This religion was based on nonotheism. Thus, the monotheistic religion belongs to the Turks.
The Finnish scholar G.U.Ramstedt, who studied the ancient layers of the Chinese and Korean languages, suggest such an idea that the Turkic languages emerged in the same territory with those of Chinese and Korean. He thinks that the "the Korean language has derived from an ancient Turkic dialect."
The Japanese scholar S.Okava also speaks of the Turkic influence on China and proves with evidences that the people who ruled China between BC 1450-1117 were of the Turkic origin.
Nearly for a thousand years (BC 1116-247) China was again ruled by the ancient Turkic Chu tribes. There are numerous facts evidencing the influence of the Turkic culture on the Chinese language and culture.
There are also many words in the language of the local peoples of America living on the coasts facing Asia, which are similar to the Turkic words in form and meaning.
Digression: It is very interesting that among the Turkic words there are also Albanian ones in the language of the trbies, who are supposed to migrate from Asia to Alaska by crossing the frozen gulf about 30.000 to 32.000 years ago, who then scattered on the American continent. These words are still in use in their language. If we take into account that the word Tanri (Tengri), which is the name of an ethnos, and which originated from the Caucasian Albania, from the Etrusks, made suck a long road, then we find a mysterious historical relation, closeness, or tie in them.
These all do not only speak of the ethnoses, the most ancient inhabitants of the present Azerbaijan and of the adjoining lands, but also show the natural difficulties in the study of their history. The view, that there lived an ethnos by name of Azerbaijan in the territories populated by the forefathers of the Azerbaijanis, is widely spread.
The scholars are not unanimous in the approaches to the Azerbiajanis. Some scholars think them to belong to peoples speaking in the Iranian languages that Turkicized completely during the rule of the Gok Turks.
The scholars also find differences between the Azes and Uzes (as well as the Uzuns and later the Oghuzes). But we think that they may be of the same root. The Russians arrogantly called the Uzes "the Turks". They regarded the Uzes to be the neighbours of the Pecehenegs, the forefather of the Gok Turks, one of the main participants in their origin.
The Hettish texts of the Bronze Age speak also of the powerful Azzis who lived around Urmia and the highlands of Anatolia and bareed their marches towards the south-east. Some İranian scholars think that the Azeri language was also widely spread in the Caucasus.
In general, the Azi is one of the less studied peoples of the world, but the traces of this ethnos are observed in the vast territory from the sunrise to the sunset. They lived in the territory of Azerbaijan in the east of the lands inhabited by the Hetts and Gashgays. Their neighbours called them the Azzis, Azas, Azars (Azers). Strabo writes more clearly that the River ARaks runs along the walls of Artak-sat, crosses the Araks Valley and falls into the Caspian Sea. The name of this ethnos is frequently mentioned in the ancient Turkic Texts.
The name of the tribe As is also very ofthen mentioned among the Sags of Island, some sources say that they came from "the country of the Turks", some others tell of "their arrival from Troy". Though a long time has passed since the arrival of the Ases in Island, the traces of their previous language still have remained; they lived in the proper names till the Middle Ages when the Sags began to form an ethnos. Examples may serve the proper names of Gel, Anar, Torkel, Ate, Einar, Elli, Arp and others.
It seems that ar-er-ir initially meant er (man), later they began to mean multitude as word froming suffixes (it is interesting that the proper names in the languages of many world nations are decoded as man, male being). These suffixes are found in the roots of the names of many peoples, tribes, and dynasties, such as Suvar, Subar (or Sa-bir), Avar, Majar, Khazar, Gajar, Bulgar, Hungar, Tatar, etc.
The word Azer is simply the name of a people, of an ethnos connected with the word Az. It has emerged in compliance with the word building laws of the Turkic peoples. It is supposed that the word Az (Uz) meant man, craftsman in the ancient Turkic languages.
We also know that one of the meaning of the words bay, bayat is god in the most ancient Turkic languages.
If we take into account that the words kan-qan-can mean land, land of abundance in the ancient Turkic languages, then the meaning of Azerbaycan is simply the god of the people of Azer, the place of worship, the place where the Azers pilgrim, or the land inhabited by this people.
To leave these words and many other scientific historical evidences and claim that the word Azerbaycan has originated from Atropatena-Aturpatagan, to say that they have changed their forms under the influence of the Persian, Arabic, or some other languages, and to declare that all of them have taken place within 2.000 years of history are completely inconvincible. It all comes from the period of the Arab-Persian hegemony, and it is an absurd effort, non-scientific, groundless approach which sacrifices science to some blind ethnic interests.
"My Road of Life"
by Rustamkhanli Sabir Khudu
[Sabir Khudu oğlu Rüstəmxanlı (Rüstemhanlı)]
book
*philology department at Azerbaijan State University; PhD in philological sciences; national poet of Azerbaijan; rewarded with “Shohrat” (Fame) order; author of over 30 books; foreign languages: Russian and Persian.
Göktanrı - Sabir Rüstemhanlı
Göktanrı’da Türklerin İslamiyet öncesi ‘tek tanrı inancı’ arayışlarını ve yaşadıkları tarihi süreci destanlaştırarak anlatıyor. Oğuz Han’ın doğuşu etrafında gelişen tarihte, tüm Türk boylarının izini sürüyor ve Türklerin gittikleri tüm coğrafyalarda oluşturdukları medeniyeti ortaya çıkarıyor. Göktanrı, kendi alanında bir ilk eser ve bir başyapıt. Hem bir Türk mitolojisi, hem bir Türk tarihi, hem de modern döneme göndermeleriyle incelikli bir eser. (tanıtım)
*philology department at Azerbaijan State University; PhD in philological sciences; national poet of Azerbaijan; rewarded with “Shohrat” (Fame) order; author of over 30 books; foreign languages: Russian and Persian.
Göktanrı - Sabir Rüstemhanlı
Göktanrı’da Türklerin İslamiyet öncesi ‘tek tanrı inancı’ arayışlarını ve yaşadıkları tarihi süreci destanlaştırarak anlatıyor. Oğuz Han’ın doğuşu etrafında gelişen tarihte, tüm Türk boylarının izini sürüyor ve Türklerin gittikleri tüm coğrafyalarda oluşturdukları medeniyeti ortaya çıkarıyor. Göktanrı, kendi alanında bir ilk eser ve bir başyapıt. Hem bir Türk mitolojisi, hem bir Türk tarihi, hem de modern döneme göndermeleriyle incelikli bir eser. (tanıtım)
