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Why Turks has been historically powerful in terms of military?

If you come from a harsh land such as Central Asia, apart from the ability to endure physical hardships such as living on meagre rations for lengthy periods; you also acquire certain hunting skills which are very useful in war. The annual hunt where all the people of the tribe gathered to drive the prey into a limited area where it could be slaughtered for winter supplied made it necessary for every male child to able to ride and shoot from the horse back with near perfection.

Additionally, tough life of the steppes inculcated two essential qualities of a warrior. All those who helped the leader were rewarded generously and all those who opposed were ruthlessly crushed. This ruthless streak, though barbaric, was necessary for discipline and ensuring loyalty.

In my humble opinion, these qualities were what made the Steppe nomad, be it Mongol, Tartar, Turk or Turkmen; virtually unbeatable when confronted by the soldiers of the agricultural land of Iran, India and Europe. Besides their main weapons, bow & arrow were superior to that used by their opponents.

However, this superiority ended with the introduction of hand held guns and use of modern artillery on the battle field. Since then it is technology more than individual bravery that ruled the battlefield.
 
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If you come from a harsh land such as Central Asia, apart from the ability to endure physical hardships such as living on meagre rations for lengthy periods; you also acquire certain hunting skills which are very useful in war. The annual hunt where all the people of the tribe gathered to drive the prey into a limited area where it could be slaughtered for winter supplied made it necessary for every male child to able to ride and shoot from the horse back with near perfection.

Additionally, tough life of the steppes inculcated two essential qualities of a warrior. All those who helped the leader were rewarded generously and all those who opposed were ruthlessly crushed. This ruthless streak, though barbaric, was necessary for discipline and ensuring loyalty.

In my humble opinion, these qualities were what made the Steppe nomad, be it Mongol, Tartar, Turk or Turkmen; virtually unbeatable when confronted by the soldiers of the agricultural land of Iran, Indian and Europe. Besides their main weapons, bow & arrow were superior to that used by their opponents.

However, this superiority ended with the introduction of hand held guns and use of modern artillery on the battle field. Since then it is technology more than individual bravery that ruled the battlefield.

Just to your last part. It was the Turks/Ottomans who first used widespread firearms/muskets almost before nearly all Europeans and made use of it. This is the case for cannons etc too.
 
This is correct. Canons also played a large part in the conquest of Constantinople. I have heard of Orban, the Hungarian iron founder and military engineer who cast superguns for the siege of Constantinople in 1453 for Mehmet the Conqueror.

My point however remains that widespread use of firearms on the battlefield ended the supremacy of the nomads.
 
Here are all the informations you need.


Oghuz Turks - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia







Petroglyphs from Zavkhan Province, Mongolia, depicting Göktürks (6th-8th century).


Facial reconstruction of Gokturk by Russian anthropologist


kbpuf5.jpg


I know that all people are mix of races, Turkish and Mongolian languages are from same family but Turks nowhere look similar to Mongol. The central Asian Turkic people only look partially similar to Mongols.

Kazakhs, Northern Uzbeks, Altay, Kyrgyz, Karakalpak look at least 3/4 more similar to Mongols. Anyone who look at their pictures will agree.
 
Facial reconstruction of Gokturk by Russian anthropologist

IMAGE


Kazakhs, Northern Uzbeks, Altay, Kyrgyz, Karakalpak look at least 3/4 more similar to Mongols. Anyone who look at their pictures will agree.

Gokturk is a collective name. that face may belong to kipchak, kyrgyz, tokuz-oguz, tuba, chik, az, name what you want.

and on your other paragraph (though i don't know what you mean by northern uzbeks), kazakh and uzbek is also a collective name given to confederation of turkic and mongolic tribes. uzbek after uzbek-han, one of hans of golden horde and kazakh means "pirate, marauder, looter, raider". so it shouldn't come as surprise that they somehow resemble mongols, for they have turkified mongol elements within. though uzbeks have more mongol characteristics than kazakhs. and altays do not resemble mongols that much, because as a nation they formed much later after mongol invasions. all in all, i'd say 3/4 is an exagerration.
 
Your new Flame Nur Fettahoglu,looking at the surname.
Her ancestors come from Turkistan.
Turkistan (city) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
My fathers side is Turkmen they migrated in the Seljuk era from what is now called Turkmenistan,kazakhistan,to Mesopotamia,then in WWI to Turkey.
My mothers side came from the Caspian sea area in the Ottoman era.
So like many Turks,our ancestors are from the East.
 
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Your new Flame Nur Fettahoglu,looking at the surname.

Did you just call my pure love as simply a 'New Flame' ? :mad:

My fathers side is Turkmen they migrated in the Seljuk era from what is now called Turmenistan,kazakhistan,to Mesopotamia,then in WWI to Turkey.
My mothers side came from the Caspian sea area in the Ottoman era.
So like many Turks,our ancestors are from the East.

Cool ! :-)

But you're a Turk from both the maternal & paternal side....right ? :what:

Or are the people around the Caspian Sea considered a separate ethnic group ? :unsure:
 
We eat Turkey for Christmas here.

We put Turkey in an oven for several hours before we carve it up and dip it in cranberry sauce. The drumsticks are the tastiest. We make soup with the leftovers.

We call people who are not so clever Turkey.
 
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So @xenon54 @T-123456 @Sinan - What type of Turks are you ? :what:

Orguz Turks, Gokturk, Turkmen or other Central Asian Nations ? :unsure:

And which one is Nur Fettahoglu ! :ashamed:
Im am Oghuz Turk, but i cant say detailed where my ancestory came from like @T-123456, i just know that our ancestors lived more at eastern Black sea coast a century ago.
 
Did you just call my pure love as simply a 'New Flame' ? :mad:



Cool ! :-)

But you're a Turk from both the maternal & paternal side....right ? :what:

Or are the people around the Caspian Sea considered a separate ethnic group ? :unsure:
Yes Flame,i give it a month for you to come up with a new name.:smokin:
Only different Turkic tribes(there are so many)but who knows,its all vague.
Who knows how mixed,maybe i got a bigboned relative from Kashmir(hope not:suicide::suicide2:).
 
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We eat Turkey for Christmas here.

We put Turkey in an oven for several hours before we carve it up and dip it in cranberry sauce. The drumsticks are the tastiest. We make soup with the leftovers.

We call people who are not so clever Turkey.
We cook armchairs and feed them to the jackals,they eat them at a private place.
The left overs are for the rats.:coffee:
 

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