Chepni (tribe)

For the village in Turkey, see Çepni, Tosya.

Oghuz Turkic tribe

Chepni

Tamgha of Chepni according Mahmud al-Kashgari[1]

Regions with significant populations
Iran (West Azerbaijan Province), Turkey (Black Sea Region)
Languages
Turkish (in Turkey)
Azerbaijani, Persian, Kurdish (in Iran)
Religion
Sunni Islam, Alevism[2]
Related ethnic groups
Oghuz Turks

Chepni (Azerbaijani: Çəpni; Turkish: Çepni; Turkmen: Çepni) is one of the 24 Oghuz Turkic tribes.[3]

## History[edit]

In the legend of Oghuz Qaghan, the Chepni was stated as one of the clans of the tribe of Gök Han that consists of Pecheneg (Beçenek), Bayandur (Bayındır), Chowdur (Çavuldur) and Chepni, a part of Üç-Oklar branch of the Oghuz Turks.[4] According to Mahmud al-Kashgari's Dīwān Lughāt al-Turk, it was the 21st tribe of the 22 Oghuz tribes.[1]

They had been converted to Islam (Sunni and Alevi). According to a Turkish historian, Faruk Sümer, the first murids of Haji Bektash Veli may have been the Chepni residents of Suluca Kara Üyük (now a town of Nevşehir Province in the Central Anatolia region of Turkey)[5] and some Turkish historians claim that Haji Bektash Veli may be of Chepni origin.[6] Chepni people had an important role in the conquest of Trebizond during the 15th century whereas they had already started to conquer the provinces of Samsun and Sinop in 13th centuries. Most of Turkish people who settle in Gümüşhane, Giresun, Ordu, Samsun and the west of Trabzon descend from Chepni people.[7] There are also people from Chepni descent mainly in the cities of Çanakkale, Balıkesir, İzmir, Gaziantep , Manisa and Denizli.

People with Chepni origin has also been called "Çetme", "Çetmi", "Çitme" in various regions of Anatolia where they named the villages they settled with these.

## Language[edit]

In the 1330s, some Turkmens appeared in the coastal regions of the Pontus. A remarkable feature of the Pontic situation is that some groups of nomads apparently wandered Trapezuntine territories as subjects of the Grand Komnenoi. In addition to the case of the Christian Çepni, this is substantiated by linguistic data. According to Brendemoen, by the 14th century, a group of Pontic Chepni nomads was bilingual and spoke both Turkic and Greek. Moreover, the earliest Turkic dialect of the Pontos was based on the Aqqoyunlu Turkic dialect under the influence of Pontic Greek.[8]

## Settlements[edit]

### Turkey[edit]

Chepni are mainly concentrated in the provinces of Giresun[9] and Ordu[2] in the Eastern Black Sea Region but also live in Gaziantep, Trabzon, and Balıkesir.[2]

### Turkmenistan[edit]

In Turkmenistan, Chepni is a clan among Geklen Turkmens living in the west of the country.[10]

## See also[edit]

* Küresünni
* Chepni of Rumkale

## References[edit]

1. ^ a b Besim Atalay (ed.), Divanü Lügati't - Türk, Cilt I, Türk Tarih Kurumu Basımevi, 2006, ISBN 975-16-0405-2, p. 57.
2. ^ a b c Şimşek Umaç, Zeynep (2010). "GAZİANTEP ÇEPNİ AĞZININ TÜRKİYE TÜRKÇESİ ANA AĞIZ GRUPLARINI BELİRLEYEN ÖZELLİKLER BAKIMINDAN DEĞERLENDİRİLMESİ". Journal of Turkish World Studies. 10 (1): 185–206. Retrieved 12 November 2022.
3. ^ Magnarella, Paul, Tradition and change in a Turkish town, Schenkman Pub. Co., 1981, p 35.
4. ^ Faruk Sümer, Oğuzlar: Türkmenler, Tarihleri, Boy Teşkilâtı, Destanları, Türk Dünyası Araştırmaları Vakfı, 1992, ISBN 978-975-498-048-6, p. 172.
5. ^ Faruk Sümer, Çepniler: Anadolu'daki Türk Yerleşmesinde Önemli Rol Oynayan Bir Oğuz Boyu, Türk Dünyası Araştırmaları Vakfı, 1992, ISBN 975-498-052-7, p. 22.
6. ^ Halil İbrahim Türkyılmaz, Dünden Yarına Tüm Yönleriyle Eynesil, Eynesilliler Kültür ve Yardımlaşma Derneği, 1995, p. 50.
7. ^ İnan, K. (2003), Trabzon'un Osmanlılar tarafından Fethi, Sosyal Bilimler Enstitüsü Dergisi, Sayı: 14, Yıl: 2013, Erciyes University, Turkey
8. ^ Rustam Shukurov (2016). The Byzantine Turks, 1204-1461. p. 289.
9. ^ Kulak, Aydın (24 September 2017). İmparatoriçe Livia'nın Parıldayan Cenneti: Görele/Liviopolis - The Shimmering Paradise of Empress Livia: Görele/Liviopolis: İmparatoriçe Livia'nın Parıldayan Cenneti: Görele/Liviopolis (in Turkish). p. 82. Retrieved 12 November 2022.
10. ^ Atanyýazov, Soltansha (1988). Словарь туркменских этнонимов [Dictionary of Turkmen Ethnonyms] (in Russian). ISBN 9785833800140.

* v
* t
* e

Oghuz tribes

Bozoks (Grey arrows)|

| Gün Han|

* Kayı
* Bayat
* Alkaevli
* Karaevli

|

Ay Han|

* Yazır
* Döger
* Dodurga
* Yaparlı

Yılduz Han|

* Afshar
* Kızık
* Begdili
* Kargın

Üçoks (Three arrows)|

| Gök Han|

* Bayandur
* Pecheneg
* Çavuldur
* Chepni

|

Tak Han|

* Salur
* Eymür
* Alayuntlu
* Yüreğir

Dingiz Han|

* Iğdır
* Büğdüz
* Yiwa
* Qiniq

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