nomadic confederation · Central Asia and the Steppe
Torks
Origins
The Torks were Oghuz Turks who moved west from the Aral and Caspian steppes in the late 10th century, part of the westward migrations that followed the collapse of the Oghuz Yabgu State. Byzantine writers called them Uzes. In 985 they appear as allies of Prince Vladimir of Kiev in his campaign against the Volga Bulgars.
Rule and society
The Torks were pastoral nomads organised in clans under chiefs, with no strong central power. They competed with the Pechenegs for the steppe north of the Black Sea and raided both Rus' and the Byzantine Balkans; a large Uz horde crossed the Danube in 1064 before being destroyed by disease and Bulgarian attacks.
Decline and legacy
In 1060 a combined Rus' army defeated the Torks, and the arrival of the Cumans soon after forced them from the steppe. Many settled as allies of the Kievan princes along the Ros River, among the Chorni Klobuky, 'Black Hats', who guarded the frontier.
Few sources survive for this state; details are uncertain.
Lineage
On the connections map
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- Torks was conquered by Cumania1065 CE
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Cite this page
- APA
- The Epoch Institute. (2026). Torks. In The Epoch Institute States Register. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/torks
- MLA
- “Torks.” The Epoch Institute States Register, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/torks. Accessed .
- Chicago
- The Epoch Institute. “Torks.” The Epoch Institute States Register. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/torks.
- Harvard
- The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Torks’, The Epoch Institute States Register. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/torks (Accessed: ).
Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻