VII. ULUSLARARASI TÜRK SANATI, TARİHİ ve FOLKLORU KONGRESİ/SANAT ETKİNLİKLERİ
319
early 1800s. Another period of history which he did much to illuminate is the
Turkman century, the 15th, in which he recognized the starting-point of many
important developments in Persia and Turkey
5
. Tribes and clans, including in
associations Kara-koyunly and Ak-koyunly, in the scientific literature are known
under the general name of "Turkmens". But, V.F. Minorsky to this list adds and
Sefevids, considering them « lineal heirs of Turkmen dynasties of Kara-koyunly
and Ak-koyunly with which they have consisted in versatile relationship». The
scholar states three stages of «Turkmen domination in Persia» (Seljuks, Kara-
koyunly and Ak-koyunly, Sefevids). Under "Turkmen" V.F. Minorsky understands of
all descendants of Turkic-oguz, including western “Turkmen” who since the 9
th
-
12
th
centuries were settled in the extensive region covering Asia Minor,
Transcaucasia, Iran and Central Asia. From them one group joined Turkmen
people (in Turkmenistan and northeast Iran), another part - in structure of
Azerbaijan people (in Transcaucasia and Iran), a part in structure of turkish people
(in Asia Minor). Some part of these "Turkmens" (or "turkmans") tilll present live in
compact groups in Iraq (basically in provinces Kerkuk, Diala, Irbil and Mosul). It is
curious to note, that kerkuds name themselves and Azerbaijanians by "turkmans".
And really, last researches have shown, that language of the Iraq Turkmens
concerns to southern group of dialects and dialects of the Azerbaijan language. In
1942 by an edition and translation of Sharaf al-Zaman Tahir MarvazI, On China,
the Turks and India, published by the James G. Forlong Fund of the Royal Asiatic
Society. Here and there, Minorsky's Arabic could occasionally be faulted by the
pundits, but in view of his vast output, this was perhaps unavoidable. As Dr. J.A.
Boyle remarks, ' the field of his historical and geographical investigations embraced
the whole of Eurasia from the Balkans to China with special emphasis on the
Caucasus area and, above all, Central Asia. V.Minorsky’s translations of and
commentaries on two geographical texts of the tenth and eleventh centuries
respectively are works of extraordinary erudition, and throw much new light on the
early history of the various Turkish peoples before their conversion to Islam'
6
.When
Professor V.F. Minorsky investigated the Manuscript of Marvazi (Sharaf al-Zaman
Tahir Marvazi on China, the Turks and India) he gave an English translation of the
Arabic text with commentary
7
.During the investigation of this manuscript V.F.
Minorsky notes, that Marvazi he was employed as a physican at the court of
Sultan Malik-shah, whose name appears several times in his text, and he probably
continued to serve under his successors down to Sanjar. The Turks are a great
people and consist of many kinds and varieties, tribes and sub-tribes. Some of
them dwell in towns and villages, and some of them in wastes and deserts. Of their
great tribes are the Ghuzz, who comprehend twelve tribes, and of these some are
called Toghuzghuzz, some Ūy-ghur, and some Ūch-ghur. Their king is called
Toghuz-khaqan, and he has numerous armies. The term Türkmän is first recorded
towards the end of the tenth century A.D. For practical purposes Türkmän is a later
synonym of Ghuz. The clear distinction which Marvazi draws in applying it only to
5
Ilya Gershevitch, JRAS- SJournal of the Royal Asiatic Society. , 1967, pp. 53-57
6
D. M. Lang,
BSO(A)S- Bulletin of the School of Oriental (and African) Studies 29, 1966,p.
686, pp. 694-99.
7
V. Minorsky. Sharaf al-Zaman Tahir Marvazi : on China, the Turks and India James G.
Forlong Fund, Vol. XXII. The Royal Asiatic Society, pp 170 (English) + 52 (Arabic).
VII. ULUSLARARASI TÜRK SANATI, TARİHİ ve FOLKLORU KONGRESİ/SANAT ETKİNLİKLERİ
320
the Muslim Ghuzz is curious; in fact, the spread of the term Türkmän coincides
with the Islamization of the Ghuz. In spite of the lack of positive proofs, we may
imagine that the Seljuks favoured a special denomination for their subjects, such
as would distinguish them both from the Ghuz hordes which raided Persia as
forerunners of the Seljuks, and from the tribes opposed to the Seljuks, such as, at
a later date, held Sultan Sanjar prisoner (from A.D. 1153 down to the end of
1156).V.F. Minorsky in his work - The Middle East in Western Politics in the
13
th
,14
th
and 15
th
centuries states that: The original from of the name Türkmän is
nothing but a derivation of Türk, to which the suffix - män gives an intensified
meaning, which in our days might be rendered as “hundred per cent. Turks
8
.” For
practical purposes Türkmän is a later synonym of Ghuz. The clear distinction which
Marvazi draws in applying it only to the Muslim Ghuzz is curious; in fact, the spread
of the term Türkmän coincides with the Islamization of the Ghuz. In spite of the lack
of positive proofs, we may imagine that the Seljuks favoured a special
denomination for their subjects, such as would distinguish them both from the
Ghuz hordes which raided Persia as forerunners of the Seljuks, and from the tribes
opposed to the Seljuks, such as, at a later date, held Sultan Sanjar prisoner (from
A.D. 1153 down to the end of 1156)
9
.The Turcomans were remnants of the Ghuz
tribes, which moved to the West in the eleventh century, during the great
migration led by the Seljuks. The Turcomans, with their families, children, herds,
and tents, occupied an enormous expanse of territory, from the north-western
province of Persia called Azerbayjan to Northern Syria and right up to the heart of
Asia Minor.
REFERENCES
1.Bibliography of the publications of professor V. Minorsky // BSOAS, vol. XIV, pp. 669–681,
1952
2. Bosworth E, ed., Iran and Islam: In Memory of the Late Vladimir Minorsky, Edinburgh,
1971, pp. v-ix.
3.Ilya Gershevitch, JRAS- SJournal of the Royal Asiatic Society. , 1967, pp. 53-57
4. Lang D. M., BSO(A)S- Bulletin of the School of Oriental (and African) Studies 29,
1966,p. 686, pp. 694-99.
5.Minorsky V.F., “Äḭnallu/Inallu,” in Rozc Orientalistyczny, Krakow, XVII/1-2, pp.1-11.
6.Minorsky V.F., The Turkish dialect of the Khalaj, BSOS, X/2, pp. 417-437
7.Minorsky V.F., Sharaf al-Zaman Tahir Marvazi : on China, the Turks and India James G.
Forlong Fund, Vol. XXII. The Royal Asiatic Society, pp. 170 (English) + 52 (Arabic).
8.Minorsky V.F. Iranica. Twenty articles. Publications of the University of Tehran Vol. 775,
1964 p.45.
9.Minorsky V. F. The Middle East in Western Politics in the 13
th
, 14
th
and 15
th
centuries. p.
431 JRAS, 1940
10.Minorsky V. F. Sharaf Al-Zamān Tāhir Marvazi: on China, The Turks and India,
11.Minorsky V. F. The Middle East in Western Politics in the 13
th
, 14
th
and 15
th
centuries. p.
431, JRAS, 1940
12.V.F.Minorsky. The Turkish dialect of the Khalaj, BSOS, X/2, pp. 417-437
8
Minorsky V. F. The Middle East in Western Politics in the 13
th
, 14
th
and 15
th
centuries. p.
431 JRAS, 1940
9
Minorsky V. F. Sharaf Al-Zamān Tāhir Marvazi: on China, The Turks and India, The Royal
Asiatic Society, pp. 170 (English) + 52 (Arabic).