Seljuk (warlord)

Seljuk Beg (also romanized Saljūq, Seldjuk, Seldjuq, Seljuq; died 1007 or 1009) was an Oghuz Turkic warlord, eponymous founder of the Seljuk dynasty. The personal name Seljuk appears as "Selcük" in Mahmud al-Kashgari's Dīwān Lughāt al-Turk and the Book of Dede Korkut. There are different theories about the etymology of Seljuk: selçük, meaning "small flood" salçuk, meaning "small float" salçığ, meaning "disputant" According to Caferoğlu (1993), the name was derived from the root sil- in Old Uyghur, meaning "clean". Although, the root of sil- was transformed as i > e, and that the name was created by adding the diminutive of -çük. The meaning of the word could be interpreted as "pure", "clean", "honest" and "a man of his word". It is argued that it was a unisex name, given both to boys as well as girls in the past and that some of these traits were sought in women, thus it would make more sense to name girls after some of these qualities. According to Hungarian Turkologist László Rásonyi, his name should be read as Selcik. Josef Markwart proposed that the name should be read as Salçuk. Peter Benjamin Golden suggested the vocalization Salçuq ~ Saljuq, based on Islamic and Syriac transcriptions ', and saw a connection with root sal- "to move (something), to put into motion with some implication of violent motion", an etymology consistent with contemporary Turkic anthroponymy. Seljuk's name was written in various ways as "سلجوك" ,"سلجك" ,"سلچوق" ,"سلجوق" ,"سلجق" in Arabic and Persian sources. Seljuk was the son of Tuqaq or Tuqaq Beg (دوقاق دمور یالیق Dûqâq Demur Yalığ), known as Temür Yalığ (meaning "iron bow") because of his skills in his works. In Oghuz culture, arrow and bow are considered as a sign of sovereignty and considering Duqaq's nickname, he wasn't an ordinary soldier, but a sü-başı (commander-in-chief). According to various sources, Duqaq was a powerful statesman and possessed great power and influence in the Oghuz Yabgu State and passed away around 924.