Asena

Asena is the name of a she-wolf associated with the Oghuz Turkic foundation myth.[1][2] The ancestress of the Göktürks is also a she-wolf, mentioned yet unnamed in two different "Wolf Tales" recorded by Chinese chroniclers.[3]

This article is about Asena in Turkic mythology. For other uses, see Asena (disambiguation).
Coat of Arms of Turkey proposed in 1925 depicting Asena.
''Asenalar'' Turkish Air Force Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker filo.

Legend

The legend of Asena tells of a young boy who survived a battle; a female wolf finds the injured child and nurses him back to health. The she-wolf, impregnated by the boy, escapes her enemies by crossing the Western Sea to a cave near the Qocho mountains and a city of the Tocharians, giving birth to ten half-wolf, half-human boys. Of these, Yizhi Nishidu[4] becomes their leader and establishes the Ashina clan, which ruled over the Göktürk and other Turkic nomadic empires.[5][6]

Modern era

With the rise of Turkish ethnic nationalism in the 1930s, the veneration of figures of Turkic Mythology, such as Bozkurt, Asena and Ergenekon was resurgent.[7] The symbol of Asena is embossed on the stage of the personal theater of the first President of Turkey, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, at his residence in Ankara.[7] He also referenced the motif in his speeches, such as that of 13 February 1931 in Malatya titled Türk Ocağı.[8][9]

Also Turkish Air Force's Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker filo uses nickname as ''Asena's''

See also

References
  1. André Wink. Al-Hind: The Making of the Indo-Islamic World. Brill Academic Publishers, 2002. ISBN 0-391-04173-8. Page 65.
  2. Ziya Gökalp, transcription: Şahin Filiz, "Türk devletinin tekâmülü 12: Hakanlık Teşkilatı",Küçük Mecmua -II-, Bu da Çinlilere göre (Asena=Kurt) manasındadır (in Turkish)
  3. Golden, Peter B. (August 2018). "The Ethnogonic Tales of the Türks" in The Medieval History Journal, 21(2). 21 (2): 291–327
  4. Hongen, Niu; 牛鴻恩 (2015). Xin yi Yi Zhou shu. 袁宏. (Di 1 ban ed.). Taibei Shi: 三民書局. ISBN 9789571460192. OCLC 913445355.
  5. Findley, Carter Vaughin. The Turks in World History. Oxford University Press, 2005. ISBN 0-19-517726-6. Page 38.
  6. Roxburgh, D. J. (ed.) Turks, A Journey of a Thousand Years. Royal Academy of Arts, London, 2005. Page 20.
  7. Murat Arman, "The Sources of Banality In Transforming Turkish Nationalism", CEU Political Science Journal, issue: 2 (2007), p. 136.
  8. Atatürk'ün Söylev ve Demeçleri II, Atatürk Kültür, Dil ve Tarih Yüksek Kurumu Atatürk Araştırma Merkezi, 1989, p. 301, Turkish text: Demiryollarını kullanacak olan Türk milleti menşeindeki ilk sanatkarlığına, demirciliğinin eserini tekrar göstermiş olmakla müftehir olacaktır. (in Turkish)
  9. Mehmet Önder, Atatürk'ün Yurt Gezileri, Türkiye İş Bankası, 1975, p. 268.
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