Gerontocratic Structure in Turks and Its Appearance in the Oghuz Khan Epicc / Türklerde Gerontokratik Yapı ve Bu Yapının Oğuz Kağan Destanı’nda Görünümü

Abstract

Gedness refers to a stage in life where various physical deficiencies and disorders are seen. However, agedness, in traditional societies, generally depicts individuals who transmit their knowledge and experiences. The elders have helped the people in their societies solve the social and political problems through mentoring. It is for these reasons that a gerontocratic structure forms by benefitting from the administrative experiences of the elders. Gerontocracy, which refers to the governing of social life by elders, is a social structure still dominant in various societies. In Turkish societies where it the eldest son who has a say in all family matters after the father, who is head of the household. Nevertheless, according to Chinese sources, more importance was placed on younger people among the Huns; hence the gerontocratic structure had not been formed. However, the existence of within this structure can be seen in the Oghuz Khan Epic, written in the Uighur language and during the Islamic period. While older people were not given much importance during the Hun era, due to nomadic lifestyle circumstances, the opposite can be seen in the above-mentioned epics where older people have a voice in society which is in line with the gerontocratic ruling style. In this study, formation of the gerontocratic structure in the Turkish culture was examined using associated literary and historical texts and the gerontocratic structure and its reflections in the epic were examined using historical method.

Keywords

• transformation
• epic
• gerontocracy
• old age
• oghuz khan