Sources of Pre-Islamic Turkish History

Sources of Pre-Islamic Turkish History

Mangaltepe, İsmail

There are not too many sources about the historical events of the periods before the adoption of Islam of the Turks. Given the thousands years of the Turkish history, the fact that adequate written and archeological materials have not been left may be criticized. However, it may be understood if the role played by the Turks in the formation of a crucial stage of history is taken into consideration. Even though the number of the written sources left by the Turks, who achieved dominance in many geographical regions from Asia to Europe, is not high it is possible to shed light on the pre-Islamic history of the Turks thanks to the obtained archeological materials, oral sources and the information given by the people they were connected. In this study, we shall try to introduce Orkhon Inscriptions, which are the most significant written sources of the Turks, after giving brief information about the oral sources, archeological materials and written sources of the Turkish history.

Conference or Workshop Item
PeerReviewed

2009-06

359