The Migrations of the Oghuz in the Early Medieval Period: Causes, Directions and Consequences

Abstract

In the 10th to 11th centuries, the process of formation of the Oghuz tribes was under way in Central Asia. It was accompanied by the disintegration of kinship ties and the emergence of statehood. A new type of ethnic community was being formed, based on territorial and economic ties. The formation of the Oghuz Yabgu state with its political centre in the lower reaches of the Syr Darya 1 played an important role in this process. The Oghuz state, like many other nomadic empires, was not monolithic and its borders were not permanent or strictly defined. As a result of extended social conflict, the Syr Darian Yabgu state collapsed and did not withstand the attack of 1 A river in the territory of modern Kazakhstan.The Migrations of the Oghuz in the Early Medieval Period: Causes, Directions and ... 103 the neighbouring Kipchak tribes in the middle of the 11th century. This caused a new migration wave directed westward. The paper analyses the preconditions and peculiarities of the Oghuz tribes' westward migration. In addition, a comparative analysis of its economic and political consequences is carried out.