Uzes were a group of medievalTurkic people in East Europe. They were known asTork in Russian chronicles.^[1] Like most medieval Turkic people, they wereTengrists.

The roots of Uzes can be traced back toOghuz Yabgu State (750-1055) located to the east ofCaspian Sea. Oghuz State was the neighbour of theKhazar Khaganate in the west and north of the Caspian Sea. Oghuz-Khazar relations were not stable. Oghuz State was sometimes an ally and sometimes an enemy of the powerful Khazar Khaganate. In the 10th century a group of Oghuz people fought in the Khazar army.^[2] (Dukak, the father ofSeljuk was one of them.) They fought mainly againstPechenegs, a rival Turkic people. After the Khazar Khaganate disintegrated, they had to move west because ofKypchaks raids from the east.^[3]

In 1054 they settled aroundDnieper river. However five years later they were defeated by theKievan Rus. They further moved west toDanube river where they were repelled by their old enemy the Pechenegs in 1065. After 1065 they paid homage toByzantine Empire and the Russian princes. Most of them converted to Christianity. They served as soldiers in the Byzantine Empire. During thebattle of Manzikert between the Byzantines and theSeljuks in 1071 they served in the right flank of the Byzantine army. However, according to some accounts they switched sides and contributed to the Seljuks victory.^[1]

Uzes settled in Marmara, Western Black Sea, Central Black Sea, Central Anatolia and Thrace, most of them hybrid with Turkmens and assimilated to Muslim Oghuz Turks.^{[4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][excessive citations]}

SomeTurkologists includingVasily Radlov proposed thatGagauz people and some of theManav People are descendant of Uzes.^{[19][20][21][22][23]} According to that view the origin of the name Gagauz isGök Oguz ("Sky Oghuz"). However this view is not universally accepted by other scholars.^[1]

• 11th century in Europe
• Extinct Turkic peoples

• CS1 Turkish-language sources (tr)
• Articles with short description
• Short description matches Wikidata
• Citation overkill
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