Charles Norton Edgcumbe Eliot

“ But making allowance for the change of language by some tribes, the Finno-Ugrians form, with the striking exception of the Hungarians, a moderately homogeneous whole. They are nomads, but, unlike the Turks, Mongols and Manchus, have hardly ever shown themselves warlike and have no power of political organization. Those of them who have not come under European influence live under the simplest form of patriarchal government, and states, kings or even great chiefs are almost unknown among them. ”

“ Jenghiz Khan, the founder of the Mongol power, must have had large numbers of Turks in his armies, for the chief traces left in Europe of the Mongol invasions are the settlements of Turkish-speaking Tatars in Russia; and the name of his son, Jagatai,is commonly used for a Turkish dialect and khanate in the regions of the Oxus. In Central Asia the distinctions between tribes, nations and races are unusually fluid: we are dealing with predatory nomads for ever fighting with one another or with the settled populations round them. ”

“ The verb has two sets of terminations, according as it is transitive or intransitive, and the pronominal object is sometimes incorporated. Alone among Finno-Ugrian languages it has developed an article, and the adjective is inflected when used as a predicate though not as an attribute (Jó emberek, “good men,” but Az emberek jók, “the men are good”) . There is great freedom in the order of words and, as in Finnish, a tendency to form long compounds.
The Finnish languages are not divided from the Ugrian by any striking differences, but show greater resemblances to one another in details. ”

“ As one passes across Asia from the Yakuts, through Kashgar, Turkestan and Azerbaijan to Constantinople, the pronunciation of the Turkish languages becomes decidedly softer, the suffixes become more intimately united with the words to which they are appended (approaching though not attaining the unity of Finnish inflexions) , and the verbal forms grow more numerous and more complicated. ”

“ The warlike and vigorous temper of the Huns has led many writers to regard them as Turks. The Turks were perhaps not distinguished by name or institutions from other tribes before the 5th century, but the Huns may have been an earlier offshoot of the same stock. Apart from this the Hungarians may have received an infusion of Turkish blood not only from the Osmanlis but from the Kumans and other tribes who settled in the country. ”

“ Finn and Finnish are used not only of the inhabitants of Finland but also in a more extended sense of similar tribes found in Russia and sometimes called Baltic Finns and Volga Finns. In this sense the Esthonian tribes (Baltic) , the Laps, the Cheremis and Mordvins (Volga) , and the Permian tribes are all Finns. The name is not, however, extended to the Ostiaks, Voguls and Magyars, who, though allied, form a separate subdivision called Ugrian, a name derived from Yura or Ugra, the country on either side of the Ural Mountains, and first used by Castrén in a scientific sense. ”

“ III. Civilization and Religion.—The Finno-Ugric tribes have not been equally progressive; some, such as the Finns and Magyars, have adopted, at least in towns, the ordinary civilization of Europe; others are agriculturists; others still nomadic. The wilder tribes, such as the Ostiaks, Voguls and Lapps, mostly consist of one section which is nomadic and another which is settling down. ”

“ The Osmanlis, or house of Osman, the founders of the present Turkish Empire, appear to have been a clan similar to the early Seljuks or the present Turkomans of Transcaspia, who migrated into Asia Minor from Khorasan and made the neighbourhood of Brusa their headquarters. Their conspicuous position in history is mainly due to the fact that they attained pre-eminence very late and in districts very near Europe. Except for the invasion of Timur they did not suffer from the attacks of other Turks and they were able to concentrate their strength on the conquest of the decrepit Byzantine Empire. ”

“ The existence of the tombs and of inscriptions in Chinese characters as well as in an alphabet of Aramaic origin, and the mention of gold, silver, silk and precious objects show that the builders had looted, so to speak, a certain amount of fragmentary civilization from their neighbours. The chief deity is Heaven or Tangri (still used in Osmanli Turkish as the equivalent of Allah) , who gives the kingdom to the kagans and cares for the name and reputation of the Turkish people. There are also spirits of the earth and waters. All this is very like the earliest Chinese religion. ”

“ There is a considerable admixture of Swedish blood; the language is full of Swedish words; Christianity is universal; and the upper classes and townspeople are mainly Swedish in their habits and speech, though of late a persistent attempt has been made to Russify the country. The Finns have much the same mental and moral characteristics as the other allied tribes, but have reached a far higher intellectual and literary stage. ”

“ Again the Finnish languages spoken in various parts of Russia and more or less allied to Magyar must have spread gradually westwards from the Urals, and their development and diffusion seem to postulate a long period (for the history of the Finns shows that they were not mobile like the Turks and Mongols) , so that the ancestral language from which spring Finnish and Magyar can hardly have been brought across Asia after the Christian era. ”

“ Finnish and Hungarian together with Turkish are interesting examples of non-Aryan languages trying to participate, by both translation and imitation, in the literary life of Europe, but it may be doubted if the experiment is successful. The sense of effort is felt less in Hungarian than in the other languages ”

“ The Kudatku Bilik (about 1065) gives a picture of life in Eastern Turkestan after the conversion to Islam, but still showing many traces of Chinese influence. But after this period nearly all the Turks (except a few obscure tribes like the Yakuts) adopted the Perso-Arabic civilization. Some however, such as the Kirghiz, Turkomans and Yürüks of Asia Minor, have not yet abandoned the nomadic life. The Turks seem to be everywhere characterized by their innate sense of discipline and their submissiveness to their own authorities; councils or assemblies have rarely assumed importance among them ”

“ The Finno-Ugric tribes seem to shun the open steppes but are widely spread in the wooded country, especially on the banks of lakes and rivers. Their want of political influence renders them obscure, but they form a considerable element in the population of the northern, middle and eastern provinces of Russia, but are not found much to the south of Moscow (except in the east) or in the west (except in the Baltic provinces) . The difference of temperament between the Great Russians and the purer Slavs such as the Little Russians is partly due to an infusion of Finnish blood. ”

“ The conquerors enslaved the men and married the women of the conquered, a successful leader attracted round his standard men of different tribes and languages. The corps of janissaries instituted by the Turks in Europe is no doubt an illustration of what happened during many centuries in Asia. The Turks after taking Constantinople claimed from the Christian population a certain number of male children, who were brought up as Turkish soldiers with few ties or principles except obedience to their officers. ”

“ Several thousands of the Ostiaks, Voguls and Cheremiss are still unbaptized, and much paganism lingers among the nominal Christians, and in poetry such as the Kalewala. The deities are chiefly nature spirits and the importance of the several gods varies as the tribes are hunters, fishermen, &c. Sun or sky worship is found among the Samoyedes and Jumala, the Finnish word for god, seems originally to mean sky. The Ostiaks worship a water-spirit of the river Obi and also a thunder-god. We hear of a forest-god among the Finns, Lapps and Cheremiss. ”

“ A new Turkish power was founded by the khans of Khiva, who are known as the Khwarizm-shahs. They were originally vassals of the Seljuks, with the title of tasdar or ewer-bearer, but became independent and conquered Khorasan and Irak. They had, however, to contend with yet another new arrival from the east, the Kara-Kitais. These also were probably Turks, and were pushed westwards from China by the Kins. They conquered Kashgar, Khotan, Yarkand and later Transoxiana, pushing the Ghuzz tribes before them into Persia and Afghanistan. ”

“ The physical characteristics of these nomadic armies were very variable, since they continually increased their numbers by slaves, women and soldiers of fortune drawn from all the surrounding races. The language of the Magyars is Finno-Ugric and most nearly allied to the speech of the Ostiaks now found on the east of the Ural, but we have no warrant for assuming that the Huns, and still less that the Ephthalites and Hûnas, spoke the same language. Neither can we assume that the Huns and Hûnas are the same as the Hiung-nu Of the Chinese. ”

“ Samoyede is classed by some as a separate group and by some among the Finno-Ugrian languages, but it at any rate displays a far closer resemblance to them in both grammar and vocabulary than do any of the Turkish languages. The numerals are different, but the personal and interrogative pronouns and many common words (e.g. joha, “river,” Finn. joki; sava, “good,” Finn, hywä; kole, “fish,” Finn, kala) show a considerable resemblance. The inflection of nouns is very like that found in Finno-Ugrian but that of the verb differs, verb and noun being imperfectly differentiated. ”

“ Customs, Civilization, Religion, &c.—The Turks are imitative rather than original, and, in all their branches, have assimilated to some extent the nearest civilization whenever they have settled down. Up to the 7th century their only culture consisted of some scraps of Chinese and Indian civilization. Subsequently both the eastern and western states which they founded adopted Perso-Arabic civilization and Mahommedanism. ”

“ It is clear that this scientific activity, though animated by a patriotic Finnish spirit, owes much to Swedish training in the past. Besides the literary language there are several dialects, the most important of which is that of Savolaks.
The Karelians are not usually regarded as separate from the Finns, though they are a distinct tribe as much as the Vepsas and Votes. Living farther east they have come less under Swedish and more under Russian influence than the inhabitants of West Finland ”

“ The sovereign or kagan fights himself, and it is interesting to see that the names of the various chargers which he mounted are carefully recorded. The spirit of tribal patriotism and desire for glory which animate these compositions are very noticeable and also the implied obligation of the rulers to see to the prosperity of the people. ”

“ Few except the Hungarians have shown themselves warlike, though we read of conflicts with the Russians in the middle ages as they advanced among this older population. But most Finno-Ugrians are astute and persevering hunters, and the Ostiaks still shoot game with a bow. The tribes are divided into numerous small clans which are exogamous. Marriage by capture is said to survive among the Cheremiss, who are still polygamous in some districts, but purchase of the bride is the more general form. Women are treated as servants and often excluded from pagan religious ceremonies. ”

“ The accounts of the Ephthalites, especially those of the Indian Hūnas, dwell on their ferocity and cruelty. They are represented as delighting in massacres and torture, and it is said that popular tradition in India still retains the story that Mihiragula used to amuse himself by rolling elephants down a precipice and watching their agonies. ”

“ Greek writers give a more flattering account of the Ephthalites, which may perhaps be due to the fact that they were useful to the East Roman empire as enemies of Persia and also not dangerously near. Procopius says that they were far more civilized than the Huns of Attila, and the Turkish ambassador who was received by Justin is said to have described them as ἀστικοί, which may merely mean that they lived in the cities which they conquered. The Chinese writers say that their customs were like those of the Turks ”

“ In the Orkhon inscriptions of the early part of the 8th century a somewhat more civilized branch of the Turks gives an account of itself which tallies with the Chinese descriptions. No Turkish cities are mentioned, only tribes and localities. War is the national occupation. ”

“ Physically the Finno-Ugric races are as a rule solidly built and, though there is considerable variation in height and the cephalic index, are mostly of small or medium stature, somewhat squat, and brachy- or mesocephalic. As a rule the skin is greyish or olive coloured, the eyes grey or blue, the hair light, the beard scanty. Most of them seem deficient in energy and liveliness, both mental and physical; they are slow, heavy, conservative, somewhat suspicious and vindictive, inclined to be taciturn and melancholy. ”

“ The old Turkish characters bear a superficial resemblance to runes; the Yenisei letters have the simplest shapes, those of Kara-Balgassun the most complicated. But they are mostly traceable to Aramaic prototypes and have no connexion with Scandinavia. The vowels are generally omitted, even at the beginning of words, and, as in the modern Turkish method of using the Arabic alphabet, their quality is often indicated by the consonants, many of which have two forms, one used with soft the other with hard vowels. ”