Tell me more ×
History Stack Exchange is a question and answer site for historians and history buffs. It's 100% free, no registration required.
up vote 5 down vote favorite
2

How was Islam spread among Turkish population or in historical Turkey?

How did ethnic Turkish people embrace Islam?

share|improve this question
The definition "Turkish" came to mean an ethnic "Turk" professing Sunni Islam (see e.g. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/…). In this sense what we refer today as "ethnic Turkish" comprises many ethnic substrata, held together among all other things, by religion. Just for the record I would add "ancient Turkish people" or something similar. – astabada Dec 13 '12 at 14:05

1 Answer

up vote 4 down vote

When Turks arrived in what is modern-day Turkey, they were already Muslims. The Battle of Malazgirt/Manzikirt between the ancestors of modern Turks and the Byzantine Empire marks the start of this large-scale migration by Turkic tribes.

The various groups who constituted the migration were not homogeneous: there were Karakoyunlu, Akkoyunlu, Turkmen and so on. But they were Sunni Muslim by this point through long contact with the Islamic world following the Battle of Talas River in 751 in which an Arab army defeated the Chinese. This shifted the influence over Central Asia away from Christianity and Buddhism to Islam.

share|improve this answer
2  
This is not bad, but I wish the answer more-directly treated the details of that time in regard to how Asiatic descendants of Turks made the switch. Mass force-conversions, establishment of local religious leaders, etc. – NewAlexandria Oct 9 '12 at 15:42
Don't forget the "Shamanism" that was the traditional/autochthonous religion of many Turkic and Mongolian tribes in Central Asia before the arrival of any of these major religions. There were also Taoist influences too, for sure. – Noldorin Oct 12 '12 at 0:26
2  
@NewAlexandria The word "şamanizm" is also used in Turkish to describe their pre-Christian and pre-Islamic beliefs. – SigueSigueBen Nov 5 '12 at 5:40
1  
@NewAlexandria Sorry, I didn't mean to imply that şaman is a traditional Turkic word, but rather it is used in modern Turkish in this way. – SigueSigueBen Jan 6 at 20:16
1  
@NewAlexandria According to an etymological dictionary I have on hand, şaman was a borrowing from Sanskrit into Central Asian Turkic languages. Derivatives can be found in Uyghur and other languages. – SigueSigueBen Jan 6 at 20:22
show 4 more comments

Your Answer

 
discard

By posting your answer, you agree to the privacy policy and terms of service.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.