The Qiniq (; ; ; , also spelled Qïnïq, Qynyk or Qynyq) were an
Oghuz Turkic
The Oghuz languages are a sub-branch of the Turkic language family, spoken by approximately 108 million people. The three languages with the largest number of speakers are Turkish, Azerbaijani and Turkmen, which, combined, account for more ...
("Turkmen") tribe.
Oghuz tribes
Oghuz Turks were a branch of
Turkic peoples
Turkic peoples are a collection of diverse ethnic groups of West Asia, West, Central Asia, Central, East Asia, East, and North Asia as well as parts of Europe, who speak Turkic languages.. "Turkic peoples, any of various peoples whose members ...
. In the early
Medieval Ages
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...
, most of them were nomads and their political structure was tribal. There were 22 or 24 Oghuz tribes. The tribes were listed in a number of medieval books with Islamic sources calling Muslim Oghuzes as
Turkmen by the 10th century. They were also mentioned in
Oghuz legend. According to the myth, there were 24 tribes in two main groups. Each group was represented by three brothers and each brother was supposed to have four sons. In this classification Qiniq tribe is the descendant of Deniz Khan who in turn was in the group of Üçok.
Etymology
According to Islam Encyclopaedia, Kınık means "Great everywhere". In the 11th-century compendium of Turkic languages
Dīwānu l-Luġat al-Turk, produced by
Mahmud of Kashgar, the Qiniq tribe is listed first. However, in the list arranged by
Rashid-al-Din Hamadani in the 13th century, Qiniq comes last.
In his work ''
Shajara-i Tarākima'' (Genealogy of Turkmens),
Abul-Ghazi, the
khan and historian of the
Khanate of Khiva
The Khanate of Khiva (, , uz-Latn-Cyrl, Xiva xonligi, Хива хонлиги, , ) was a Central Asian polity that existed in the historical region of Khwarazm, Khorezm from 1511 to 1920, except for a period of Afsharid Iran, Afsharid occupat ...
, mentioned the Qiniq tribe as descendants of Tengiz Khan with the name of the tribe meaning "honourable".
However, according to Turkologist and professor emeritus
Peter B. Golden, the name comes from Turkic ''qın-'' "to long for, covet," in Oghuz ''qınıq-'' "to feel appetite, to desire ardently", or ''qınıq'' "greedy". Golden considers this one of the tribal names derived from terms expressing military power, force, and aggression (e.g.
Salğur,
Yagma).
Qiniq and the Seljuks

Qiniq is historically notable because the
Seljuk Empire
The Seljuk Empire, or the Great Seljuk Empire, was a High Middle Ages, high medieval, culturally Turco-Persian tradition, Turco-Persian, Sunni Islam, Sunni Muslim empire, established and ruled by the Qiniq (tribe), Qïnïq branch of Oghuz Turks. ...
was founded by the representatives of the Qiniq tribe.
In the 10th century the tribe leader was
Dukak (nicknamed , "with iron bow"). He was followed by his son
Seljuk and then grandson
Arslan Yabgu. The Seljuk Empire was founded by Arslan's nephews
Tughril and
Chagri . The
Seljuks of Anatolia, a branch of Seljuks, was founded by
Suleiman ibn Qutalmish
Suleiman Shah I ibn Qutalmish (; ; ) founded an independent Seljuk Turkish state in Anatolia and ruled as Seljuk Sultan of Rûm from 1077 until his death in 1086.
Life
Suleiman was the son of Qutalmish, who had struggled unsuccessfully agai ...
, Arslan Yabgu's grandson.
Abu al-Ghazi Bahadur wrote in his
Shajara-i Tarākima the following:
"When Seljuks became masters of the Muslim world, they said: "We are of the Kinik tribe of the Turkmens," and then they said, "We fled from Kay Khosrow, the son of Afrasiab, and became the Kinik tribe of the Turkmens." The Seljuks counted their fathers and stopped at Afrasiab after 35 generations, saying that they were the sons and descendants of Afrasiab."
Qiniq in Anatolia
Most of the Qiniq migrated to
Anatolia
Anatolia (), also known as Asia Minor, is a peninsula in West Asia that makes up the majority of the land area of Turkey. It is the westernmost protrusion of Asia and is geographically bounded by the Mediterranean Sea to the south, the Aegean ...
during the reign of the Seljuk Empire and the
Mongol Invasion
The Mongol invasions and conquests took place during the 13th and 14th centuries, creating history's largest contiguous empire, the Mongol Empire (1206–1368), which by 1260 covered large parts of Eurasia. Historians regard the Mongol devastati ...
in the 13th century. In the
Ottoman official records of the 16th century, there were 81 settlements named .
Although they have been largely absorbed by other
Oghuz tribes throughout the history, there are still many settlements which bear the name . For example, in
İzmir Province
İzmir Province () is a province and metropolitan municipality of Turkey in western Anatolia, situated along the Aegean coast. Its capital is the city of İzmir, which is in itself composed of the province's central 11 districts out of 30 in to ...
, is the name of one of the
ilçe
The Provinces of Turkey, 81 provinces of Turkey are divided into 973 districts (''ilçeler''; sing. ''ilçe''). In the Ottoman Empire and in the early Turkish Republic, the corresponding unit was the ''qadaa, kaza''.
Most provinces bear the s ...
(district) centers. There are also many villages. Currently, the total number of various towns and settlements in Turkey carrying the tribal name of is 28.
Settlements bearing the name
;Afyonkarahisar Province
*
Kınık, Dinar
*
Kınık, Sandıklı
*
Kınık, Sinanpaşa
;Ankara Province
*
Kınık, Kalecik
*
Kınık, Kazan
*
Kınık (Aşağı), Kızılcahamam
*
Kınık (Yukarı), Kızılcahamam
;Antalya Province
*
Kınık, Kaş
Kınık is a neighbourhood of the municipality and district of Kaş, Antalya Province, Turkey. Its population is 6,120 (2022). Before the 2013 Turkish local government reorganisation, 2013 reorganisation, it was a town (''belde'').
References ...
;Balıkesir Province
*
Kınık, Sındırgı
;Bilecik Province
*
Kınık, Bilecik After the fall of the Seljuk Sultanate of Rum, one of the Oghuz tribe's Kayi tribe bey Ertugrul fought with the Byzantines in the border region of Seljuk empire and the Niceae Empire called Soghut which is now located in the Bilecik province of Turkey. It is said that the Kayi tribe was given the responsibility of defence of western borders by Seljuk sultan, Kekubad. After the Mongol invasion of Anatolia, Ertugrul along with his Alps fought with the Byzantines from the west and established his own following. Later his son, Osman marked the beginning of great Ottoman Empire which ruled world for 600 years from 1299 to 1921 and gained peak in 1692.
*
Kınık, Pazaryeri
Qiniq in Turkmenistan
Descendants of the Qiniq tribe formed the and clans, which are now subdivisions of the
Teke tribe of Turkmens in
Turkmenistan
Turkmenistan is a landlocked country in Central Asia bordered by Kazakhstan to the northwest, Uzbekistan to the north, east and northeast, Afghanistan to the southeast, Iran to the south and southwest and the Caspian Sea to the west. Ash ...
.
The Turkmen clan called the Gabyrdy are believed to descend from
Qavurt, who belonged to the Qiniq and was a military commander and a son of
Chaghri Beg, the co-ruler of the early
Seljuk Empire
The Seljuk Empire, or the Great Seljuk Empire, was a High Middle Ages, high medieval, culturally Turco-Persian tradition, Turco-Persian, Sunni Islam, Sunni Muslim empire, established and ruled by the Qiniq (tribe), Qïnïq branch of Oghuz Turks. ...
.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kinik (tribe)
History of the Seljuk Empire
Oghuz tribes