The Oghuz Turks were a western Turkic people who spoke the Oghuz branch of the Turkic language family. In the 8th century, they formed a tribal confederation conventionally named the Oghuz Yabgu State in Central Asia. Today, much of the populations of Turkey, Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan are descendants of Oghuz Turks. Byzantine sources call them Uzes. The term Oghuz was gradually supplanted by the terms Turkmen and Turcoman by 13th century.
The music of the nomadic and rural Turkmen people is closely related to Kyrgyz and Kazakh folk forms. Important musical traditions in Turkmen music include traveling singers and shamans called bakshy, who act as healers and magicians and sing either a cappella or with instruments such as the two-stringed lute called dutar.
Kyrgyz music is nomadic and rural, and is closely related to Turkmen and Kazakh folk forms. Kyrgyz folk music is characterized by the use of long, sustained pitches, with Russian elements also prominent.
The komuz or qomuz is an ancient fretless string instrument used in Central Asian music, related to certain other Turkic string instruments, the Mongolian tovshuur, and the lute. The instrument can be found in Turkic ethnic groups, from China to Turkey. Forms of this instrument are used in China by the Naxi people and are called Huobusi, Hebisi , and Hunbusi.
Azerbaijani literature is written in Azerbaijani, a Turkic language, which is the official state language of the Republic of Azerbaijan, where the North Azerbaijani variety is spoken. It is also natively spoken in Iran, where the South Azerbaijani variety is used, and is particularly spoken in the northwestern historic region of Azerbaijan. Azerbaijani is also spoken in Russia, Georgia and Turkey.
Turkmens are a Turkic ethnic group native to Central Asia, living mainly in Turkmenistan, northern and northeastern regions of Iran and north-western Afghanistan. Sizeable groups of Turkmens are found also in Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, and the North Caucasus. They speak the Turkmen language, which is classified as a part of the Eastern Oghuz branch of the Turkic languages.
The musical traditions of Central Asia mirror the immense diversity found in the cultures and populations residing in the region. Principal instrument types are two- or three-stringed lutes, the necks either fretted or fretless; fiddles made of horsehair; flutes, mostly sige at both ends and either end-blown or side-blown; and jew harps, mostly metal. Percussion instruments include frame drums, tambourines, and kettledrums. Instrumental polyphony is achieved primarily by lutes and fiddles.
The Book of Dede Korkut or Book of Korkut Ata is the most famous among the dastans or epic stories of the Oghuz Turks. The stories carry morals and values significant to the social lifestyle of the nomadic Turkic peoples and their pre-Islamic beliefs. The book's mythic narrative is part of the cultural heritage of the peoples of Oghuz origin, mainly of Azerbaijan, Turkey and Turkmenistan. Only two manuscripts of the text, one in the Vatican and one in Dresden, were known before a third manuscript was discovered in a private collection in Gonbad-e Kavus, Iran, in 2018.
The Kayı or Kayi tribe were an Oghuz Turkic people and a sub-branch of the Bozok tribal federation. In his Dīwān Lughāt al-Turk, the 11th century Kara-Khanid scholar Mahmud al-Kashgari cited Kayı as of one of 22 Oghuz tribes, saying that Oghuz were also called Turkomans. The name Kayı means "the one who has might and power by relationship" and the Turkmen proverb says that "people shall be led by Kayi and Bayat tribes".
The Epic of Koroghlu is a heroic legend prominent in the oral traditions of the Turkic peoples, mainly the Oghuz Turks. The legend typically describes a hero who seeks to avenge a wrong. It was often put to music and played at sporting events as an inspiration to the competing athletes. Koroghlu is the main hero of epic with the same name in Azerbaijani, Turkmen and Turkish as well as some other Turkic languages. The epic tells about the life and heroic deeds of Koroghlu as a hero of the people who struggled against unjust rulers. The epic combines the occasional romance with Robin Hood-like chivalry.
Dastan is an ornate form of oral history, an epic, from Central Asia, Iran, Turkey and Azerbaijan.
The bakshy are traditional Turkmen musicians. Historically, they have been traveling singers and shamans, acting as healers and spiritual figures, and also providing the music for celebrations of weddings, births, and other important life events. They sing either a cappella or to the accompaniment of traditional instruments. The Turkmen bakshy tradition is closely related to the larger Turkic Ashik tradition.
Azerbaijani folklore is the folk tradition of Azerbaijani people.
The temir komuz is a Kyrgyz jaw harp, while the komuz is a three-stringed fretless lute. As an instrument, the temir komuz is unrelated to the komuz in terms of style and structure; however, it takes its name from the other popular Turkic instrument.
Turkish folk literature is an oral tradition deeply rooted, in its form, in Anatolian traditions. However, in its themes, Turkish folk literature reflects the problems peculiar to a settling people who have abandoned the nomadic lifestyle. One example of this is the series of folktales surrounding the figure of Keloğlan, a young boy beset with the difficulties of finding a wife, helping his mother to keep the family house intact, and dealing with the problems caused by his neighbors. Another example is the rather mysterious figure of Nasreddin, a trickster figure who often plays jokes, of a sort, on his neighbors.
The dutar is a traditional Iranian long-necked two-stringed lute found in Iran and Central Asia. Its name comes from the Persian word for "two strings", دوتار do tār, although the Herati dutar of Afghanistan has fourteen strings. Dutar is very popular in Tajikistan and Khorasan province of Iran. When played, the strings are usually plucked by the Uyghurs of Western China and strummed and plucked by the Tajiks, Turkmen, Uzbeks. Related instruments include the Kazakh dombra. The Dutar is also an important instrument among the Kurds of Khorasan amongst whom Haj Ghorban Soleimani of Quchan was a noted virtuoso. In Kurdish one who plays the dutar is known as a bakci (bakhshi) similar to Turkmen bagşy, while in Azeri the term is ashiq. Khorasan bakhshi music is recognized on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.
Shajara-i Tarākima is a Chagatai-language historical work completed in 1659 by Khan of Khiva and historian Abu al-Ghazi Bahadur.
Turkoman, also known as Turcoman, was a term for the people of Oghuz Turkic origin, widely used during the Middle Ages. Oghuz Turks were a western Turkic people that, in the 8th century A.D, formed a tribal confederation in an area between the Aral and Caspian seas in Central Asia, and spoke the Oghuz branch of the Turkic language family.
Turkmen literature comprises oral compositions and written texts in the Old Oghuz Turkic and Turkmen languages. The Turkmens are direct descendants of the Oghuz Turks, who were a western Turkic people, who formed the Oghuz branch of the Turkic language family.
Boghach Khan Son of Dirse Khan is a part (boy) of the Book of Dede Korkut. In this boy, the relationships among the Oghuz Turks, their family values, and similar aspects are being discussed in the context of the broader Oghuz Turk community.
