Military Ranks and Titles From Old Turkic to Middle Turkic
This study determines the military-administrative ranks and titles in Old and Middle Turkic texts beginning with the Köktürk Inscriptions, monuments bearing the first known Turkic written alphabet and the Old Uighur documents created afterwards. It also aims to demonstrate how this system of military ranks and titles was transformed in Karakhanid, Khwarezm-Kipchak and Chaghatayid Turkic as the idioms of the first Islamic period of Turkic. In this context, it is established that in Old Turkic, the majority of the ranks and titles were of Turkic origin and only a limited number of the related vocabularies were of Chinese, Sanskrit and Iranian. This situation changed as Arabic and Persian words appeared in Kutadgu Bilig (11th century) for the first time as the first literary Islamic-Turkic work and as their number grew and replaced many Old Turkic ranks and titles in the following Khwarezm-Kipchak period during the 14- 15th centuries. In addition to Arabic and Persian loanwords, many Mongolian words were also used in Chaghatay Turkic, which became an advanced literary Turkic idiom in the second part of the 15th century, and all these lexical items consequently created a rich military terminology in that period.
Eski Türkçeden Orta Türkçeye Askeri Rütbe ve Unvanlar
Bu çalışmanın amacı Türkçenin ilk yazılı belgeleri olan Köktürk Yazıtları ile devamında oluşan Eski Uygurca ile yazılmış Eski Türkçe dönemi metinlerde askeri-idari rütbeler ile unvanların neler olduğunu belirlemek ve bu rütbe ve unvanların İslami dönem Türk lehçeleri olan Karahanlı, Harezm-Kıpçak ve Çağataycadan oluşan Orta Türkçe metinlerinde nasıl bir değişime uğradığını incelemektir. Bu bağlamda, büyük çoğunluğu Türkçe kökenli rütbe ve unvanlardan oluşan Eski Türkçe metinlerinde sınırlı sayıda Çince, Sanskritçe ve İrani dillerden geçen kelimelerin bulunduğu görülür. Türkçenin İslam medeniyeti içinde oluşturduğu ilk edebi metni olan Kutadgu Bilig’in yazıldığı Karahanlıca dönemiyle Arapça ve Farsça rütbe ve unvanların Türkçeye girdiği ve bu durumun 14-15. yüzyıllarda yazılmış Harezm ve Kıpçak dönemi metinlerde iyice belirginleşerek Eski Türkçe birçok rütbe ve unvanı unutturduğu gözlemlenir. 15. yüzyılın ikinci yarısında klasik bir edebiyat dili haline gelen Çağatay Türkçesinde Arapça ve Farsçanın yanı sıra Moğolcadan geçen birçok rütbe, unvan ve askeri sınıf ve görev ismi yaygınlık kazanır ve oldukça gelişmiş bir askeri terminolojiye dönüşür.
The purpose of this study is to determine the military-administrative ranks and titles in Old and Middle Turkic texts beginning with the Köktürk Inscriptions, monuments bearing the first known Turkic written alphabet and the Old Uighur documents created afterwards. It is also aimed at demonstrating how this system of military ranks and titles were transformed in Middle Turkic Karakhanid, Khwarezm-Kipchak and Chaghatay Turkic as the idioms of the Islamic period of Turkic. In this context, it is established that in Old Turkic, a majority of the ranks and titles were of Turkic origin and only a limited number of the related appellations were Chinese, Sanskrit and Iranian. In the Köktürk Inscriptions Tonyukuk, Kültigin, Bilge Kağan, Ongi and Küli Çor, the highest titles are ḳaġan (the great king), yabgu (secondary ruler) and tėgin (prince-commander), all of which have both administrative and military responsibilities, while the military ranks şad / şadapıt, tarḳan / tarḳat, boyla, buyruḳ, sañun / señün, ėlteber and çor stand as the high army positions. The titles çabış and ayġuçı are some of the highest ranks held by Tonyukuk the Vizier. The Chinese word totoḳ is used for Chinese and foreign military governors. Although their grades and degrees of responsibilities are not clearly shown, the ranks ınançu, baġa, çigşi, ışbara, ėrkin and yarġan were middle and lower ranks. The word sü had the denotation of both an army and a soldier. Çerig, er, eren, erat and yaġıçı mean a soldier, warrior and military personnel, while the word yaġı denotes an enemy. In Old Uighur texts, while many of the Köktürk ranks and titles continued as earlier, the title ėlig (the great king) became more common than kağan, but şad and şadapıt as high ranks disappeared. The nature of title and ranks changed in Middle Turkic as Arabic and Persian vocabularies appeared in Kutadgu Bilig (11th century) for the first time as the first literary Islamic-Turkic work. Their number grew and replaced many of Old Turkic equivalents in the following Khwarezm-Kipchak period during the 14-15th centuries. In Karakhanid Turkic, the titles ėlig, ḫāḳān, ḫān, erk, şāh, pādişāh, sulṭān, melik, ṣāḥib-ḳırān and rarely ajunçı denote a king, while the words yavgu, tėgin, tėgit,bėg, yuġruş, tügsin, çuvı, öge-tėgit, terken, ispehsalār, saġun, kökyuk, ınal are the high army ranks and ınanç, çaġrı, atlıġ, başġan, toña, sü başı and çavuş denoted the medium and lower ranks. In addition to Arabic and Persian loanwords, many Mongolian words were also used in Chaghatay Turkic, which became an advanced literary Turkic idiom in the second part of the 15th century, and all these lexical items consequently created a rich military terminology in that period. The most common titles for king in Chaghatay were ḫān, emīr, melik, sulṭān, şāh/şeh, pādişāh, ḫāḳān, ṣāḥib-ḳırān, emīrü’l-umerā, sulṭānü’s-selāṭīn, ḫāḳānü’l-ḫāḳān, sulṭān-ı ṣāḥib-ḳırān; titles for high administrative and army duties were bek/beg/bėg, mīr, mīrzā, şeyḫ, sipeh-büd, sipeh-dār and baḫşi; high army ranks were sipehsālār, çerik başlıḳ, serdār, noyan / noyun, tarḫan, topçı başı tümen başı, tümen begi, miñ başı, miñ begi and medium and lower army ranks were başlıġ, bekevül/bökevül, ėşik aġası, ḳor begi, ḳoşun begi, ḳuş bėgi, toġḳan ağası, on bėgi, on başı and tovaçı.
