Chepni (tribe)

In the legend of Oghuz Qaghan, the Chepni was stated as one of the clans of the tribe of Gök Han that consists of Pecheneg (Beçenek), Bayandur (Bayındır), Chowdur (Çavuldur) and Chepni, a part of Üç-Oklar branch of the Oghuz Turks.Faruk Sümer, Oğuzlar: Türkmenler, Tarihleri, Boy Teşkilâtı, Destanları, Türk Dünyası Araştırmaları Vakfı, 1992, {{ISBN|978-975-498-048-6}}, [https://books.google.com/books?id=2ZVtAAAAMAAJ&q=%C3%9C%C3%87-OKLAR+BAYINDIR+BE%C3%87ENEK p. 172.] According to Mahmud al-Kashgari's Dīwān Lughāt al-Turk, it was the 21st tribe of the 22 Oghuz tribes.Besim Atalay (ed.), Divanü Lügati't - Türk, Cilt I, Türk Tarih Kurumu Basımevi, 2006, {{ISBN|975-16-0405-2}}, p. 57.

They had been converted to Islam (Sunni and Alevi). According to a Turkish historian, Faruk Sümer, the first murids of Haji Bektash Veli may have been the Chepni residents of Suluca Kara Üyük (now a town of Nevşehir Province in the Central Anatolia region of Turkey)Faruk Sümer, Çepniler: Anadolu'daki Türk Yerleşmesinde Önemli Rol Oynayan Bir Oğuz Boyu, Türk Dünyası Araştırmaları Vakfı, 1992, {{ISBN|975-498-052-7}}, [https://books.google.com/books?id=kypIAAAAMAAJ&q=%22Suluca+Kara+%C3%9Cy%C3%BCk+(simdi+Haci+Bektas+sehri)+sakinleri+%C3%87epniler%27den+idiler%22 p. 22.] and some Turkish historians claim that Haji Bektash Veli may be of Chepni origin.Halil İbrahim Türkyılmaz, Dünden Yarına Tüm Yönleriyle Eynesil, Eynesilliler Kültür ve Yardımlaşma Derneği, 1995, [https://books.google.com/books?id=5TdIAAAAMAAJ&q=%22Hac%C4%B1+Bekta%C5%9F-%C4%B1+Veli%27nin+%C3%87epni+boyuna+mensup+olabilece%C4%9Fi%22 p. 50.]

In the 1330s, some Turkmens appeared in the coastal regions of the Pontus. A remarkable feature of the Pontic situation is that some groups of nomads apparently wandered Trapezuntine territories as subjects of the Grand Komnenoi. In addition to the case of the Christian Çepni, this is substantiated by linguistic data. According to Brendemoen, by the 14th century, a group of Pontic Chepni nomads was bilingual and spoke both Turkic and Greek. Moreover, the earliest Turkic dialect of the Pontos was based on the Aqqoyunlu Turkic dialect under the influence of Pontic Greek.{{cite book|title=The Byzantine Turks, 1204-1461|page=289|author=Rustam Shukurov|year=2016 |quote=significant group of Pontic nomads was bilingual and spoke both Turkic and Greek. Moreover, the earliest Turkic dialect of the Pontos was based on the Aqquyunlu Turkic dialect under the influence of Pontic Greek.207 This implies that the Aqquyunlu stayed long enough on predominantly Greek-speaking territories in relatively peaceful contact with local Greeks to form a new Turkic dialect}} Historian Michael Meeker states that the linguistic Hellenization of some Turks who settled in the region is not "altogether improbable".{{cite web |last1=Meeker |first1=Michael E. |title=The Black Sea Turks: Some Aspects of Their Ethnic and Cultural Background |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/162721 |website=International Journal of Middle East Studies |pages=318–345 |date=1971 |quote=That some Turks who settled in the Pontos may have become Greek-speaking does not seem altogether improbable. Eventually the Greek-speakers could claim that they were better Muslims than the Turkish-speakers, since their villages became the most famous producers of religious teachers. Even today some of these teachers tutor their students using Pontic Greek as a language of instruction.}}

Giresun province and its region is known as Chepni province in history.{{Cite web |title=ÇEPNİ |url=https://islamansiklopedisi.org.tr/cepni |access-date=2024-06-27 |website=TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi |language=tr}} Chepni are mainly concentrated in the provinces of Giresun{{cite book |last1=Kulak |first1=Aydın |title=İmparatoriçe Livia'nın Parıldayan Cenneti: Görele/Liviopolis - The Shimmering Paradise of Empress Livia: Görele/Liviopolis: İmparatoriçe Livia'nın Parıldayan Cenneti: Görele/Liviopolis |date=24 September 2017 |page=82 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=n6Y2DwAAQBAJ&q=%C3%87epnilerin%20b%C3%B6lgeye%20yay%C4%B1l%C4%B1%C5%9F%C4%B1nda%20ba%C5%9F%C4%B1%20%C3%A7eken%20yerler%20ise%20Giresun%20ve%20G%C3%B6rele%20co%C4%9Frafyas%C4%B1d%C4%B1r%20ki |access-date=12 November 2022 |language=tr}} and Ordu{{cite journal |last1=Şimşek Umaç |first1=Zeynep |title=Gaziantep Çepni Ağzının Türkiye Türkçesi Ana Ağız Gruplarını Belirleyen Özellikler Bakımından Değerlendirilmesi |journal=Journal of Turkish World Studies |date=2010 |volume=10 |issue=1 |pages=185–206 |url=https://dergipark.org.tr/tr/download/article-file/406592 |access-date=12 November 2022}} in the Eastern Black Sea Region but also live in Gaziantep, Trabzon, and Balıkesir.

In Turkmenistan, Chepni is a clan among Geklen Turkmens living in the west of the country.{{Cite book|last=Atanyýazov|first=Soltansha|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ju3UAAAAMAAJ|title=Словарь туркменских этнонимов|date=1988|isbn=9785833800140|language=ru|trans-title=Dictionary of Turkmen Ethnonyms |page=129 }}

• Küresünni
• Chepni of Rumkale

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{{Oghuz tribes}}

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Category:Chepni people

Category:Turkomans in Turkey

Category:Oghuz tribes