The Turkish History Podcast

As the steppe world falls into chaos, the Oghuz Yabgu State begins to fall apart and a leader of the Kınık tribe of the Oghuz named Seljuk emerges.  Fleeing the chaos of the steppe world, Seljuk leads a small band of his followers south and establishes his people in the lands of Islam.  As more Oghuz flee south, they join with Seljuk and a new tribal confederation emerges, taking the name of the f...

The mass conversion of the Turks to Islam begins as the rise of the Samanid Emirate and its great Jihad transforms Central Asia.   On the steppe, the sophisticated Karakhanid Khanate emerges - the first Muslim Turkish state in history, with a state based on Islamic, Turkish and Chinese models of government.  Meanwhile, the Samanid Emirate starts falling apart, dismantled by its own Turkish slave g...

As the Caliphate splinters into a patchwork of emirates, a new emirate arises in the far north east of the lands of Islam, in the old Silk Road cities of Transoxiana.  Descended from an obscure Persian noble family with roots stretching back to the Sassanid Empire, the Samanid Emirate quickly becomes the most powerful Emirate in the Caliphate.  A golden age of science and Persian culture unfolds i...

The Anarchy continues to drag on after the Siege of Baghdad.  In the provinces, more and more power has fallen into the hands of the Emirs as the center has weakened.  Al-Mutazz briefly manages to restore the power of the Caliph for about a year, before he too is done in by the Turkish slave army.   A succession of puppet Caliphs follows him.  Out of the original leadership of the slave army, only...

The Anarchy at Samarra begins.  Following the assassination of Al-Mutawakkil by a desperate group of Turkish slave soldiers, a son of the late Caliph is put on the throne by the slave army.  But his reign proves short, and quickly divisions emerge between rival Turkish slave generals.  Eventually, following an outbreak of horrific violence, rival Turkish armies prop up competing Caliphs in Samarra...

An era of unprecedented intellectual and cultural flowering, the Golden Age of Islam, unfolds in the Abbasid Caliphate.  But fearful of an emerging dynasty of powerful Eastern governors, the Tahirid dynasty, the Abbasid Caliphs build a great Turkish slave army.  In order to house the Turkish slave army, a new capital city is constructed at Samarra.   In Samarra, the Turkish slave army becomes incr...

The Oghuz Turks emerge in the new steppe world created by the Battle of Talas and the An Lushan Rebellion.  As refugees fleeing the East, the Oghuz arrive in the lands around the Syr Darya River - and promptly ally with the Khazar Khanate to drive the local Pechenegs out.  Now secure in their new homeland, the Oghuz build their first state - the Oghuz Yabgu State on the borders of the Abbasid Cali...

The  internal political instability within the Tang Empire comes to an end in the reign of Emperor Xuanzong.  Now back on their feet, the Tang can look across their frontiers and begin to project Chinese power across Eurasia once again.  The Tang hobble the Türgesh Khanate, which has fallen into civil war after the death of Suluk Khan, break the Second Khanate under the tottering regency of El Bil...

On the eastern frontier of the Umayyad Caliphate, the state has become increasingly hated by the local Khorasani Arab settlers and the Mawali converts.  Al-Harith's message that there is no difference between Arab and non-Arab Muslims reverberates throughout the frontier region.  After the fall of Suluk Khan, the new governor of Khorasan, Nasr ibn Sayyar, attempts to stabilize the frontier re...

Following the Battle of the Defile, Suluk Khan reigns supreme in Transoxiana.  With his rule in Central Asia secure, Suluk turns east and spars with the Tang Dynasty.  Meanwhile, Umayyad attempts to deal with this mighty Türgesh Khan increasingly destabilize the eastern frontier of the Caliphate, sparking a revolution.  Suluk Khan returns to grapple with the Umayyads in alliance with the revolutio...

In the aftermath of the Day of Thirst, Suluk Khan acquires a new nickname from his Arab opponents - Abu Muzahim, meaning the Father of the Fight.   Suluk leads the Türgesh into war against the Umayyads, fighting a series of Arab governors of Khorasan in the field, besieging Umayyad garrisons and facing off against a great Umayyad invasion across the Amu Darya.   Meanwhile, the Umayyad attempts to...

After decades of fitna, the armies of the Umayyad Caliphate again begin marching forward.  Under the great general Qutayba and his successors, the Arabs invade Central Asia conquering all before them.   Meanwhile, in the heartland of the old Western Göktürk Khanate, the great Suluk rises from obscure origins to become the leader of the young Türgesh Khanate.  These two great powers collide, and Su...

The shocking conquests of the early Muslims ultimately lead to the outbreak of civil war in the victorious camp of Islam.  The Messenger's son-in-law Ali is opposed by Aisha,  the Mother of the Faithful, and by the cunning Muawiya.  A new civilization, based on a new faith and the heritage of Greek, Roman and Persian cultures begins to come into existence, and a second civil war tears the sta...

Far from Central Asia, a new religion arises in the deserts of Arabia.  The Prophet Muhammad's new faith unites the Arabs, and the conquests of the Armies of Islam shock the world.  Byzantium and Iran, horribly weakened by war, famine and disease are powerless in the face of these conquerors.  Iran falls, and the new religion of the Messenger is brought to the gates of the Turkish world. 

Fueled by a burning resentment against the Tang, the Second Khanate is born in the East.  Aiming to restore the glory of the First Göktürk Khanate, the Second Khanate launches a restorationist project to reconquer the whole steppe - before running up against the armies of conquest of a brand new religion.   But before its fall, the Second Khanate under the great Bilge Khan carves its story into st...

The Tang armies march west to take on the Western Khanate after defeating the Eastern Khanate, just after the assassination of Tong Yabgu Khan.   The Western Khanate faces this mighty new dynasty and is wracked by internal chaos and division.  And we finally close out the story of the Göktürk Khanate - the first Turkish state in history. 

In the East, the Sui Dynasty collapses and the Eastern Göktürk Khanate regains the top spot as the premier power in East Asia.  But out of the ashes of the Sui, a new dynasty arises - a powerful dynasty founded by Sinicized Turks.  And a dynamic Emperor of this new dynasty comes into conflict with a reforming Khan on the steppe to determine who will be the master of the East. 

In the aftermath of Tardu's death, the Göktürk Khanate is broken in two.  The Western half comes under the control of ten powerful tribes - the On Ok, meaning the Ten Arrows.  The Western Khanate invades Iran in alliance with Byzantium, bringing the Sassanid Dynasty to its knees.

Tardu succeeds his father Istami in the West as Taspar Khan dies in the East.  Tardu launches an invasion of Iran - and sparks a succession crisis which permanently breaks the Göktürk Khanate in two. 

Muqan Khan and Taspar Khan conquer in the East, and the Göktürk Khanate reaches the zenith of its power.  A powerful state of unseen sophistication for the steppe world is established.  Surely it's only onwards and upwards from here...

The new Göktürk Khanate rides West, inaugurating a series of stunning conquests, and bringing the Turks into contact and conflict with the Byzantine and Sassanid Empires.  

Welcome to the Turkish History Podcast.

The origins of the Turks and the world from which they emerged, ending with the revolt of the Turks and the establishment of the Göktürk Khanate - the first Turkish state.