Ötüken or Otuken ( or 𐰵𐱅𐰜𐰤:𐰘𐰼, romanized: Ötüken jer, lit. 'land of Ötüken'; Old Uyghur: 𐰵𐱅𐰜𐰤:𐰘𐰃𐱁; ) was the capital of the First Turkic Khaganate, the Second Turkic Khaganate and the Uyghur Khaganate. It has an important place in Turkic mythology and Tengrism. Ötüken is located within the borders of the Arkhangai Province and Övörkhangai Province of present-day Mongolia.

Mountain

The word was used to describe the sacred mountain of the ancient Turks. It was mentioned by Bilge Khagan in the Orkhon inscriptions as "the place from where the tribes can be controlled". A force called qut was believed to emanate from this mountain, granting the local potentate the divine right to rule all the Turkic tribes. Although never identified precisely, Ötüken probably stretched "from the Khangai Range of Central Mongolia to the Sayan Mountains of Tuva, at the centre of which is the Orkhon Valley", which for centuries was regarded as the seat of the imperial power of the steppes.

Primary sources

Dīwān Lughāt al-Turk

Ötüken (اتوكان) in Mahmud al-Kashgari's Dīwān Lughāt al-Turk: "Name of a place in the deserts of Tatār near Uighur."

Tonyukuk inscriptions

The Tonyukuk inscriptions clearly show the sacred importance of the region, as evidenced by the statement of Tonyukuk: "If you stay in the land of the Ötüken, and send caravans from there, you will have no trouble. If you stay at the Ötüken Mountains, you will live forever dominating the tribes!"