Before they settled for good in this part of occidental
Asia to which they have given their name,Turkey,
the Turks lived in the countries near the
high plateaus from where they originate: Kırghızistan,
Turkmenistan, Chinese Turkestan, Ouzbekistan and
Kazakstan. The Mongols were their neighbours and
sometimes their rivals (both languages belong to
the same Ural-Altaic group). They lived tribal life,
and were Shamanistic in religion. These men were
tough, living in hard conditions under a severe
climate. They were nomads and did not possess houses
but "yurts", huge tents where the
whole family lived. Everything had to be carried
on horseback and so, should not be heavy nor bulky.
For this purpose they used kilims
which had many utilitarian fonctions.
Beeing in contact with other nations they learned
to be civilized and became conscious of their
potential power. They spread and conquered China
(joining forces with the Mongols), Central Asia,
Asia Minor, a part of Europe, strewing ethnic
and linguistic traces that still subsists nowadays.
During their stay in Persia where they founded
dynasties, they became converted to Islam. Finally,
at the end of the 11C., defeating the Byzantines,
the Turks overran and settled in Anatolia.