A RELIGIOUS TERM IN THE OLD UYGHUR TURKIC TEXTS: ÄRDÖKTÄG

The Uyghurs, II. Kokturk Khaganate the political and cultural successors of the, had important positions in the geography where they lived by getting in touch with various cultures through activities such as agriculture and trade. The Uyghurs, who had a profound influence on the peoples they came into contact with, added richness to the Turkic language with the literary products they developed on the basis of religion. The Uyghurs who adopted the religions and teachings such as Buddhism, Manichaism, Christianity and Islam, in line with these religions and doctrines, translated the religious concepts of Buddhism and Manichaism into Turkic by means of the Uyghur priests who searched for Turkishization by using various methods. These methods include transferring the relevant religious terms using concepts belonging to the Old Turk faith, producing Turkic equivalents and using the synonym Turkic word and foreign religious term together. In the period of Orkhon Turkic in which the Turkic language was witnessed in writing, there was a discourse that focused on the “state” and “people “, while there was a vocabulary reflecting the metaphysical thought dimension in the Old Uyghur Turkic period. The fact that the Turkic language has the power to explain metaphysical doctrines such as Buddhism and Manichaism is remarkable in terms of the indication of the processing of this language. In this respect, Altun Yaruk, etc., who first explained the basic philosophy of Buddhism in the period of Old Uyghur Turkic term ärdöktäg, which we witness through texts, is one of the terms in the religious terminology of the Turkic language. In Buddhism, this term, which means asıl the essence of existence, the essence, refers only to the awakening of the difference to be achieved by the Buddha. In this study, the conceptual and linguistic value of the expression ärdöktäg witnessed in the Old Uyghur Turkic texts will be addressed and the importance of the term in Buddhism will be reflected in line with the texts witnessed.