| Chepni youth[1] from Ağasar Valley, Şalpazarı, Trabzon Province dancing to Kemençe music. To maintain these type of traditional dresses in Ağasar, every year, traditional festivals are held by the people of Şalpazarı. | |||||||||||||||||||||
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The Chepni (Turkish: Çepni (pronounced [tʃepni], Ottoman Turkish: چپنى [8], Çepniler, Çepni boyu, Çepni oymağı, Romeika: Τζαπνήδες , Tzapnēdes,[2] Old Uyghur Turkic in Arabic script: جآپنِ[9]) or Chepni Turkmens[10] are a Turkish boy or oymak (clan).[2][11]
They live in the Eastern Black Sea region (primarily in Trabzon Province, Giresun Province and Ordu Province[note 2]) of Turkey and some other communities of Chepni live in Balıkesir Province.[2]
In the legend of Oghuz Qaghan, the Chepni was one of the clans of the tribe of Gök Han that consists of Pecheneg (Beçenek ), Bayandur (Bayındır ), Chavuldur (Çavuldur ) and Chepni, a part of Üç-Oklar branch of Oghuz Turks.[12] According to Mahmud al-Kashgari's Diwan Lugat at-Turk (Arabic: ديوان لغات الترك, "Compendium of Turkic Dialects"), it was 21st tribe of the 22 tribes.[9]
Their religion is Islam (Sunni and Alevi). According to a Turkish historian Faruk Sümer, first murids of Hajji Bektash were Chepni residents of Suluca Kara Üyük (now a town of Nevşehir Province in the Central Anatolia region of Turkey)[13] and some Turkish historians claim that Hajj Bektash was Chepni origin.[14]
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Chepnis are originally a part of Oghuz confederacy during Göktürk period. With other Turkoman tribes, they migrated to Anatolia from Khorasan during 13th century. In 1277, they settled the city of Giresun and they built ships there. They fought against the Empire of Trebizond. Following the conquest of Trabzon by Mehmed II, they settled Trabzon, Rize and Batumi.[2] During both 16th and 17th centuries, Chepnis were among Ottoman sipahis who fought against Holy Roman Empire (Habsburgs). During the reign of Murad IV, the Ottoman government wanted some of Chepni to leave Safavid borders, and some Chepnis migrated to Aleppo.
Some scholars think that some tribes in Turkmenistan and some Turkish communities in Dobrudja region of Bulgaria may have assimilated Chepni elements.[2][3]
Chepnis are believed to be one of the most important tribes of the Oghuz confederacy because of their colonies in eastern Black Sea region.[2][3]
The traditional Chepni Turkish instrument is Kemençe. Picoğlu Osman, who is a Chepni, is among the best virtuosi of Kemençe.
Chepni folk dance is called Horon, which is also the common dance style of the Eastern Black Sea region of Turkey.
Mount Sis Festival is also an important festival that takes place in the cultural life of Chepnis.
with the name of Vilayet-i Çepni was a vilayet in the Eastern Black Sea Region during the reign of Selim I of the Ottoman Empire.
Chepnis speak a variant of Turkish language. The usage of velar nasal is common amongst them unlike Istanbul dialect. Some Old Turkic words including "bıldır" ("last year" in old Turkic) are still known.[15] This dialect also has a few borrowed words from Romeika language. Görele, Çanakçı and Şalpazarı are the towns where this dialect has many speakers.
Other Chepni communities in the city centres of Trabzon and Rize speak Black Sea accent also known as Laz dialect of the Turkish language (not to be confused with the Laz language).