Oghuz

(Ghuzz Turks; in Russian, oguzy), Turkic-speaking tribes in Central and Middle Asia.

At the beginning of the seventh century, a tribal union of the Toquz-Oghuz (literally, “the nine Oghuz”) arose within the Turkic Kaganate. It is most likely that the Uighurs held the dominant position in the alliance. Under pressure from the Kirghiz, the Oghuz settled in the ninth century in what is now Sinkiang Province and in the present-day province of Kansu in the People’s Republic of China. Here the name “Toquz-Oghuz” was gradually replaced by “Uighur.”

Between the end of the ninth century and the middle of the tenth, an Oghuz tribal union formed in the regions around the Aral and Caspian seas. In the tenth century, an Oghuz state with its center at Yänikänt was established along the lower course of the Syr Darya. In the middle of the 11th century, this state was destroyed by Kipchaks migrating from the east. Some Oghuz tribes moved westward and settled on the southern Russian steppe; others, under the leadership of the Seljuks, conquered the countries of Southwest Asia. Later, many states arose, including those of the Seljuks and Seljukids, as well as the Sultanate of Konya, a very important political unit. The Oghuz played a major role in the racial evolution of the Turkmens, Azerbaijanis, Turks, Gagauz, and Kara-Kalpaks.