Khan’s Den Podcast

King of Turks: First Look

Here's a first preview for a novel that I've been keeping under the wraps for 10 years. Now, I feel that the right time has come to unveil it to the public. In this video, you'll experience some first impressions with the core story, its protagonists and antagonists, and imagery that I saw fit in style. The story is, for the first time in a long time, narrated by myself.
 
STORY SYNOPSIS:"Only those who know their history can determine their future. Only then can power be obtained. But with great power comes great responsibility. Soon, the entire world will feel the wrath of the Kalın tribe as Izzet Yangın declares himself King of all Turkish tribes. 
"As droughts and economic troubles cause great upset among the mainstream elites, Izzet – with the help of mysterious foreign powers – legitimizes his rule by noble lineage. More importantly, he promises the Turks and other peoples wealth and glory in battle. But many Turkish tribes resist his rule. As Izzet declares war on them and plunges all of Türkland into chaos, only a select few remain who can end this destructive conflict. 
"Led by Eren Kayra, a young prince of the extinct Bayundur tribe, a group of ambitious and tenacious outsiders embarks on a journey through divided Turkish society to end Izzet’s rule and save Türkland from devastation. On their way, these young men and women experience first-hand that the ancient stories of the Turks—all those mythical tales and legends that they were told as children—were as real as they could get …"

Right Questions, False Narratives

In this episode, Emre explains how he became a YouTuber, how his experience at University shaped his thought process about history and why he started making videos and writing books about the Turks in the first place. 
Support our cause by becoming a member on Patreon! Check out our page on patreon.com/khansdenThere, you can join one of the four Patron tiers. Each tier grants individual benefits, including name mentions and the end of our videos on YouTube as well as behind-the-scenes footage, voting power and more.

Turko-Roman War vs. Persia (627-628)

In the second episode, Emre takes you on a journey to the Caucasus, where, in the middle of winter, a Turkic Khagan from the east and a Greaco-Roman emperor from the west meet in an army camp. They greet each other, exchange gifts, and hold a fest for both of their armies. This unlikely event indeed took place, and was the culmination of the ancient Turko-Persian alliance. For the very last time, both Turks and Romans tried to fight alongside on the battlefield. And finally, they succeeded. Support our cause by becoming a member on Patreon! Check out our page on patreon.com/thekhansdenThere, you can join one of the four Patron tiers. Each tier grants individual benefits, including name mentions and the end of our videos on YouTube as well as behind-the-scenes footage, voting power and more.

The New and Improved Podcast and the ancient Turko-Roman Alliance

In this first episode of 2024, Emre-E. Yavuz introduces himself for the first time as the host of the KHAN's DEN Podcast and explores the fascinating topic of the Byzantine-Göktürk alliance of the 6th century.Support our cause by becoming a member on Patreon! Check out our page on patreon.com/thekhansdenThere, you can join one of the four Patron tiers. Each tier grants individual benefits, including name mentions and the end of our videos on YouTube as well as behind-the-scenes footage, voting power and more.

The Khazar Empire: Origins, Rise and Legacy

In this episode, we discover one of the successor states of the Göktürk Empires, and arguably the most interesting of them all: the Empire of the Khazars (turkish: Hazarlar). This state was founded by remnants of the Western Göktürk Empire between 630 and 650 CE. The Ashina dynasty quickly took control over large parts of the Ponto-Caspian steppe, and their empire expanded well into Europe, the Caucasus and even Kazakhstan. However, apart from their military prowess and economic capacities, the most interesting aspect of the Khazars was their conversion to Judaism. Thus, the Khazar Khaganate became the only Jewish state of their time, and the last one until the creation of Israel in 1948.Yet, it is not known how many of the Turkic people within the empire actually converted from Tengrism or Christianity to Judaism, and the hypothesis of the Turkic Khazars being the actual ancestors of the later Jews in Central and Eastern Europe has been very controversially debated for the past hundred years.How should we deal with the Khazar legacy, then? We suggest that by analyzing not only the rise to power and their domination in the Ponto-Caspian steppe but also their origins and the socioeconomic changes taking place over the course of three centuries, we are going to be able to understand the legacy of these Turkic steppe warriors – both for Turkic and general Eurasian history. Because unlike some conspiracy theories or political ideologues might suggest, the Turkic Khazars were indeed of upmost geopolitical importance on the grand chess board of the early and high Middle Ages.Support our cause by becoming a member on Patreon! Check out our page on patreon.com/thekhansdenThere, you can join one of the four Patron tiers. Each tier grants individual benefits, including name mentions and the end of our videos on YouTube as well as behind-the-scenes footage, voting power and more.

The Mamluk Sultanate: Kipchak-Turkic Rule over Egypt

The used to be two Turkic dynasties that ruled over Egypt. One of them was the Ottoman Dynasty, which after the conquests of Selim I. conquered Egypt and its surroundings in one swift stroke. But nearly three centuries prior to Ottoman expansion, another Turkic peoples reigned supreme: the Kipchaks. Sold from the steppes of Ukraine and Russia to the Near East, many Kipchak Turks became slaves and were used by local rulers as bodyguards. In time, these so-called "Mamluks" rose to higher ranks. By the time of Sultan Saladin of the Ayyubid Dynasty, many high officers of his empire were already of Turkic Kipchak origin. But long after Saladin's death, his empire crumbled. When the Mamluks took power by military force, they commanded a large army with highly skilled elite horse archers, most of them being also of Kipchak origin. However, the new Mamluk Sultanate was soon confronted by internal strife, Crusades from the West and the Mongol Invasions from the East. Support our cause by becoming a member on Patreon! Check out our page on patreon.com/thekhansdenThere, you can join one of the four Patron tiers. Each tier grants individual benefits, including name mentions and the end of our videos on YouTube as well as behind-the-scenes footage, voting power and more.

Journey of the Turk: A Poem

Experience and relieve 5000 years of Turkic and Turkish history in this one spectacle of a poem.Support our cause by becoming a member on Patreon! Check out our page on patreon.com/thekhansdenThere, you can join one of the four Patron tiers. Each tier grants individual benefits, including name mentions and the end of our videos on YouTube as well as behind-the-scenes footage, voting power and more.

Daily Lives of the Ancient Turks

In this episode, we take a deeper look into the preconditions of Turkic history prior to the arrival of the Seljuks and other Turkish tribes in Anatolia, and focus on the economy, societal structure and traditions of the Turkic peoples of Eurasia just before the establishment of the Göktürk Empire.Support our cause by becoming a member on Patreon! Check out our page on patreon.com/thekhansdenThere, you can join one of the four Patron tiers. Each tier grants individual benefits, including name mentions and the end of our videos on YouTube as well as behind-the-scenes footage, voting power and more.

”The Göktürks” Audiobook Preview

While we are in preparation for our next projects, we have decided to publish a preview for the audiobook of "The Göktürks: Origins, Religion and Rapid Rise of the First Turkic Empire". This is a historical book released by Emre-E. Yavuz, founder of Khan's Den, nearly a year ago. While the audiobook is still in production, we'd like to present you its very first chapter. Who were these "Celestial Turks" anyway? Who were Bumin and Istemi? And were they related to the Xiongnu Huns? Take a listen!Support our cause by becoming a member on Patreon! Check out our page on patreon.com/thekhansdenThere, you can join one of the four Patron tiers. Each tier grants individual benefits, including name mentions and the end of our videos on YouTube as well as behind-the-scenes footage, voting power and more.

He Has A Story To Tell You

This week, we are taking a break from the usual topics and instead divert your attention to a personal story of Emre, the founder of Khan's Den and Khan's Podcast. Three years after beginning his journey, he has a story to tell you.Support our cause by becoming a member on Patreon! Check out our page on patreon.com/thekhansdenThere, you can join one of the four Patron tiers. Each tier grants individual benefits, including name mentions and the end of our videos on YouTube as well as behind-the-scenes footage, voting power and more.