It Barak in Turkish Mythology

Barak has been used throughout history both as a term denoting a type of furry hunting dog and as a folk name appearing in Turkic mythology. This concept holds significant importance in the oral and written cultures of various Turkic tribes, both linguistically and culturally.

Representation of It Baraks (Generated by Artificial Intelligence)

Etimology and Linguistic Usage

Although there are various views regarding its origin, it is known that the word barak in Old Turkic meant “furry dog.” In Kâşgarlı Mahmud’s work Dîvânu Lugâti’t-Türk, barak is recorded with the meaning “furry dog.” Similar meanings are found in Middle Turkic and various Turkic dialects:

• Karakalpak: barak – furry (dog), hairy (person)
• Kazakh: barak – a type of dog
• Kyrgyz: barak – furry, bristly
• Uzbek: barak – furry, bristly, hairy
• New Uyghur: barak – furry, bristly

According to Edward J. Dankoff, barak derives from an Avestan-origin Persian word. In Iranian languages such as Saka and Sogdian, forms like bāraa and bārak appear with meanings such as “pack animal,” “driver,” or “rider.” In this context, it is believed that the term entered Turkic via Persian and gradually transformed into an image of a furry, powerful animal. In Middle Persian, bārak referred to a mythical mount and has also been associated with the Arabic Burāq, the sacred creature upon which the Prophet Muhammad rode during the Miʿrāj.

Barak in Mythological and Historical Context

The concept of Barak was not limited to a mere animal definition; in mythological and historical texts, it appears as a tribal name in expressions such as It Barak or Kıl Barak. In this context, the Baraks constitute a semi-legendary group described in the Oghuz Epic, Abul-Ghazi Bahadur Khan’s Şecere-i Terakime, and Persian Oğuznâmeler.

In these accounts, the men of the It Barak are described as having faces resembling dogs, while the beauty of their women is particularly emphasized. The warrior nature of the It Barak people, including their practice of applying two-colored sticky substances to their bodies before battle to render themselves impervious to arrows, contributed to their perception as a semi-supernatural tribe. According to legend, Oghuz Khan fought this tribe three times: he was defeated in the first battle, victorious in the second, and in the third campaign, he converted the people to Islam and brought them under his dominion.

Although these narratives are mythological, they also contain symbolic explanations regarding the origins of the Kipchaks. Statements suggesting that the Kipchak lineage emerged from relationships between Oghuz Khan’s soldiers and It Barak women may have been constructed to explain historical ethnic mixing or cultural convergence.

Baraks in History

The name Barak did not remain confined to legends but also persisted as part of the names of various Turkic tribes throughout history. The Barak Turkmens who settled in Anatolia represent a living ethnographic extension of this name. However, this group has no direct connection to the mythological It Baraks.

Cultural Interpretations and Layers of Meaning

The word barak and its associated mythological elements serve as symbolic devices in Turkic culture for expressing the relationship between humans and animals and for describing enemies or neighboring peoples endowed with supernatural qualities. The motif of dog-faced humans can be interpreted as a mythological image used both to alienate and to define a people deeply intertwined with nature. The narrative of the It Barak people, whose women’s beauty attracted warriors, has also been regarded as a mythologized reflection of historical cultural interactions that occurred over time.