Asena
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Asena (asenā) is the name of one of the ten sons, whom mythical female wolf gave birth to, in old Turkic mythology.[1][2][3][4] It is associated with a Göktürk ethnogenic myth "full of shamanic symbolism".[5] But Ziya Gökalp mentioned to Asena in his article titled "Türk devletinin tekâmülü" (Küçük Mecmua magazine: that was published in 1922 in Diyarbakır) as follows: According to Chinese people, Asena means wolf.[6] In Turkey many people believe that Asena should be the name of female wolf.
[edit] The Grey Wolf Legend
The legend runs as follows. After a battle, only an injured young boy survives. A she-wolf finds the injured child and nurses him back to health. He subsequently impregnates the wolf which then gives birth to ten half-wolf, half-human boys. One of these, Ashina, becomes their leader and founds the Ashina clan that ruled the Göktürks and other Turkic nomadic empires.[7][8]
In 1930s when Turkish ethnic nationalism held its sway in Turkey, Bozkurt, Asena and Ergenekon were selected deliberately.[9] Mustafa Kemal (Atatürk) used the motif of this legend. For example, on February 13, 1931, in the speech at Türkocağı in Malatya, he said Turkish nation who will use railways [demiryolları], will have been honorable by showing the achievement of the first craftmanship and blacksmithy [demircilik] of its origin.[10]
[edit] See also
- Ashina (clan)
- Wusun
- Turanism
- Pan-Turkism
- Romulus and Remus, a similar legend concerning the foundation of Rome
[edit] References
- ^ Book of Zhou, Vo. 50. (Chinese)
- ^ History of Northern Dynasties, Vo. 99. (Chinese)
- ^ Book of Sui, Vol. 84. (Chinese)
- ^ Bozkurt Legend (Turkish)
- ^ André Wink. Al-Hind: The Making of the Indo-Islamic World. Brill Academic Publishers, 2002. ISBN 0391041738. Page 65.
- ^ Ziya Gökalp, transcription: Şahin Filiz, "Türk devletinin tekâmülü 12: Hakanlık Teşkilatı",Küçük Mecmua -II-, Bu da Çinlilere göre (Asena=Kurt) manasındadır (Turkish)
- ^ Findley, Carter Vaughin. The Turks in World History. Oxford University Press, 2005. ISBN 0195177266. Page 38.
- ^ Roxburgh, D. J. (ed.) Turks, A Journey of a Thousand Years. Royal Academy of Arts, London, 2005. Page 20.
- ^ Murat Arman, "The Sources of Banality In Transforming Turkish Nationalism", CEU Political Science Journal, issue: 2 (2007), p. 136.
- ^ Atatürk'ün Söylev ve Demeçleri II, Atatürk Kültür, Dil ve Tarih Yüksek Kurumu Atatürk Araştırma Merkezi, 1989, p. 301, Turkish text: Demiryollarını kullanacak olan Türk milleti menşeindeki ilk sanatkarlığına, demirciliğinin eserini tekrar göstermiş olmakla müftehir olacaktır. (Turkish)
