Ersari baba

Ersari baba (

Lebap velayat of Turkmenistan and northern provinces of Afghanistan. "Ersari" literally means "yellow brave man" from Turkic (Turkmen

) "er" or "är" - brave man, and "sari" or "sary" - yellow.

Origin

Not much is known about the life or activities of Ersari baba or his historical prototype, information is acquired mostly through the historical work and literary masterpiece of the

Oghuz Khan

- Dag Khan.

It is also mentioned that Ersari baba had 3 sons: Eynel Ghazi, Zeynel Ghazi, Mustafa Ghazi and 1 daughter: Mamabiqah (Mamabike).

He had grandchildren through Eynel Ghazi: To're, Sokman, Layna and Charshangi; through Zeynel Ghazi: Bekevul and Gara, through Mustafa: Uludepe and Gunesh.

Nowadays, descendants of

Charshangi live in the vicinity which carries the same toponym. Gara and Bekevul live in Garabekewul etrap

of Lebap velayat (Turkmenistan), Gunesh and Uludepe are found in the northern provinces of Afghanistan.

Ersari baba is widely considered to be the founder of the Sayin Khan confederation, a loose confederation of Turkmen tribes living in Mangyshlak in XIII or XIV century, a period just after a catastrophic

Mongol invasion of Khwarazmian Empire. It is believed that he managed to assemble warring Turkmen tribes who stayed in Central Asia (others left for Anatolia and territories that today are part of Azerbaijan

) and put their differences aside to create a new yurt. He is celebrated among the Ersari people as a hero who played a prominent role in consolidation of Turkmen tribes at that arduous period in Central Asia.

The label Sayin Khan confederation was given by the

Safavids, who most probably referred to their emergence from the breakup of the Golden Horde.^[3]

References

^ "Society" (PDF). Country Profile: Turkmenistan. Library of Congress - Federal Research Division. Retrieved 27 February 2011.
^ Abu al-Ghazi (1958). "Genealogy of the Turkmens (in Russian)". Eastern Literature. Academy of Sciences of USSR.
^ Poullada, Peter. "A Note on Ersari Group Turkmen Weavings". San Francisco Bay Area Rug Society.

External links

[cpturkmenistan-1] "Society" (PDF). Country Profile: Turkmenistan. Library of Congress - Federal Research Division. Retrieved 27 February 2011.

[2] Abu al-Ghazi (1958). "Genealogy of the Turkmens (in Russian)". Eastern Literature. Academy of Sciences of USSR.

[rug-3] Poullada, Peter. "A Note on Ersari Group Turkmen Weavings". San Francisco Bay Area Rug Society.

[3]