Göktürks

The Turks or the Kok Turks (Old Turkic: Chinese: 突厥; pinyin: Tūjué, Khotanese Saka Ttūrka, Ttrūka,Old Tibetan Drugu) and sometimes as its Anatolian Turkish form Göktürks (Celestial or Blue Turks), were a nomadic confederation of Turkic peoples in medieval Inner Asia. The Köktürks, under the leadership of Bumin Qaghan (d. 552) and his sons, succeeded the Rouran Khaganate as the main power in the region and established the Turkic Khaganate, one of several nomadic dynasties which would shape the future geolocation, culture, and dominant beliefs of Turkic peoples.

Etymology

The Old Turkic name of the Göktürks was Türük, Kök Türük, or Türk. They were known in Middle Chinese historical sources as the tɦutkyat (Chinese: 突厥; pinyin: Tūjué). According to Chinese sources, the meaning of the word Tujue was "combat helmet" (Chinese: 兜鍪; pinyin: Dōumóu; Wade–Giles: Tou¹-mou²), reportedly because the shape of the Altai Mountains where they lived, was similar to a combat helmet.

The name Göktürk is said to mean "Celestial Turks". This is consistent with "the cult of heavenly ordained rule" which was a recurrent element of Altaic political culture and as such may have been imbibed by the Göktürks from their predecessors in Mongolia. The name of the ruling Ashina clan may derive from the Khotanese Saka term for "deep blue", āššɪna.