Education Among the Turks Before Islam

The Turks are one of the oldest societies among world cultures and civilizations. Living in a geography stretching from East China to Europe, Turks have a very ancient history. Establishing dozens of states over such a long period of time and keeping their culture and civilization alive have been possible due to their emphasis on different types of education. Throughout Turks’ long history, they can be seen to have had different religious beliefs, some of these being shamanism, the belief in the Gök Tengri (“Sky God”), Buddhism, and Judaism. Some Turkic societies changed their religion en masse over time. For example, after the collapse of the Gök-Türk state (552–744 AD), the Uyghurs who had established themselves in the same region converted to Buddhism en masse.