#turkics

[sinoheritage]

Tian Shan 天山 (also known as Tengri Tagh or Tengir-Too) is a large system of mountain ranges in Western China and Central Asia (Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan)

Tian Shan is considered sacred in Tengrism, a religion originating in the Eurasian steppes. It was the prevailing religion of ancient nomadic groups like the Göktürks, Xianbei, Xiongnu, Mongolic peoples, and the Huns. As well as the state religion of several medieval states, such as the Turkic Khaganates and the Mongol Empire.

In Chinese mythology, it’s believed that Chinese gods dwell above Tian Shan when on heaven, and in Tian Shan when on earth.

[songs-of-the-east]

An elderly woman in a Kryashen headdress. The Kryashens are a sub-ethnic group of Volga Tatars who converted to Eastern Orthodox Christianity.

[historyfiles]

Pechenegs: it was the Pechenegs who were one of the main enemies of the early Magyars, with whom they fought and won, and with defeat for the Magyar resulting in outwards migration.

Kingdoms of Eastern Europe - Pechenegs / Patzinaks

Coverage of the various historical cultures, rulers, and states of Europe

[songs-of-the-east]

Photograph of Gagauz families from Moldavian/Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republics and People's Republic of Bulgaria during the 1960/70's - Colorized by Simon Stamatov

The Gagauz are a Turkic-speaking people whose origins lie in the historical interaction of native inhabitants of the Black Sea region, who were either assimilated or intermarried with Oghuz Turkic peoples.

Many scholars believe that the Oghuz Turks in question were the Pechenegs, who entered Eastern Europe via the Eurasian steppes of Ukraine. While most Pechenegs assimilated into the surrounding Slavic (Kievan Rus’ and Bulgarian), Hungarian, and Romanian populations, some groups preserved their distinct identity and language, absorbing local inhabitants into their communities rather than disappearing entirely. The Gagauz are thought to descend from these latter groups, who eventually settled in the Balkans, particularly in what is now Bulgaria.

Unlike most Turkic-speaking populations in Eurasia who are Muslim, the Gagauz are a predominately Eastern Orthodox population, similar to the Chuvash of Russia.

In the 18th and 19th centuries, many Gagauz migrated northward into southern Moldova and southwestern Ukraine, often encouraged by the Russian Empire to settle in newly acquired lands in Bessarabia. The majority of them now live in Gagauzia, a region of southern Moldova.

[songs-of-the-east]

A Tatar girl posing for a photo in front of her relatives (1989) - Rustam Mukhametzhanov

[songs-of-the-east]

Chuvash Girl. Russia.

[songs-of-the-east]

A Middle Lowland Chuvash Bridal Costume from the Volga, Russi