Page:Islam, Turkey, and Armenia, and How They Happened.djvu/106



1. The Origin of the Turks. The Turks are supposed to be identical with the many and extensive Tartaric tribes scattered over the plains and table-lands of Central and Western Asia, pastoral in their occupations, warlike in disposition, plundering in habits, and nomadic in their mode of life. Their ancestors appear to have been known to the ancients by the general name of Scythians.

Like most other nationalities, the Turkish tribe have a legendary history which goes back to remote antiquity. They claim to be descended from an individual named Turk, a supposed grandson of Japheth. But their authentic history commences at a more recent date; for it was not till the fifth or sixth century, A.D., that Europe had any knowledge of the name and nation of the Turk. About that period, having migrated westward from Central Asia, the barren table-lands of Mongolia, they spread over the vast steppes now bearing the name of Turkestan.

In connection with the Armenian history the name of Seljouk Tartars or Turks are mentioned, in order to distinguish them from the Ottoman or Osmanli Turk, the present nation designated by that name. The reader is requested to remember that the Seljouks were first settled in Khorasan, the Persian province,