Archive of. From Late Latin archiva and Ancient Greek ἀρχαῖα meaning "state-related". With the Turkish possessive suffix  "-i ".

Turkish poetry, initially emerged from religious ceremonies and later continued its development in non-religious subjects. These initial religious poems are known as "yır" in the oral tradition. The first written record of poetry however was encountered in the Orkhon inscriptions in today's Mongolia. The Göktürks, one of the earliest nomadic Turkic khaganates, erected around the years 720s and 730s a series of artifacts where, through the utilization of versification, the khagan and various other political figures gave advice on conflict experience, sovereignty. As Talat S. Halman puts it, these texts gave the Turkic peoples a cultural authenticity, a quasi-national consciousness.

Poetry that emerged, in Central Asia initially wasn't written down. Most poetic pieces we have of the early Turks are found in Chinese translations. These epigrammatic poems reveal a refined and subtle poetic sense.

Young girls are weaving cloth,
I can't hear the sound of the loom 
But I hear those girls breathing.

Among Uyghur Turks, especially, many accomplished poets reigned, such as Arpın Çor Tigin whose works were written down.

Gods of light, grant me this bliss
Let my soft gentle darling an I
Join our lives forever.

Mighty angels, give us power 
So that my dark eyed sweet heart and I 
Can live and laugh together.

In settled communities, epics and long lyrical songs helped preserve the nomadic cultural and historical record of the Turks. The Oğuzname, although not fully intact, presents us with a panorama of the lives of Turks before Islam.

The early epics of the Turks are quite rich, encompassing a diverse amount of themes such as gods, cosmology, migration, victory, defeat, etc. These epics survived thanks to the ozans and bahşıs, early Turkic poets. The legend of "Yaradılış," creation, traces its origins of the universe to a single creator, a god named Kara Han (the Dark King), who first creates Man which in return attempts to soar higher than his creator. Consequently, Man is deprived of the power to fly and remains condemned to an earthbound life.

Early Turks believed in "Tengri," a supernatural god who, along with a myriad of other deities, reigned over everything natural. It would be wrong to assume that this took the form of an organized religion, but it was a distinct sub-branch of shamanism.

The Ergenekon epic describes the Turkic people escaping extinction thanks to procreation and the protection of a totem-god, the Gray Wolf.

Poetry in early Turkic culture was an art of ritual, performed before hunts (sığır) or after hunt festivities (şölen). It was also a vital ingredient of memorial services (yuğ), where elegies called sagu were recited.

Divan-ı Lugat-ı Türk, an encyclopedia of Turkish language and culture from the 11th century, contains many lyrics of love, sorrow, hero worship, and lament. One of these poems that is especially known and loved by the Turkish public today is: 

Is Alp Er Tunga dead and gone
While the evil world lives on?
Has time's vengeance begun
Now hearts are torn to shreds.

In Divan-ı Lugat-ı Türk, the author Kaşgarlı Mahmud cites an apocryphal hadith (saying attributed to Prophet Muhammad) conferring God's blessing on the military and political power of the Turks: "God Almighty said: I have an army to which I gave the name Turk. I had them settle in the east. Whenever a nation displeases me, I send them against that nation." Mahmud also stated: "Learn Turkish, for Turkish sultans will rule for many years to come." And he was right. Around 1020 A.D., a Turkic boy (tribe/familly) from the Oguz confederacy invaded Iran and conquered most of its territories.

With this conquest by the Seljuk Turks, many administrative, literary, and cultural traditions of the Persians were adopted by the Turkic ruling class. The old Turkic script was replaced by the Persian one, and Persian poetic narrative forms such as "mesnevi" ("mesnâ" in Persian, meaning in duos) were introduced. Some of the most important works of Turkish literature were published in this format. For example, the "Kutadgu Bilig" by Yûsuf Has Hâcib’in (1077), written in Middle Turkic, is a monumental philosophical treatise in verse on government, justice, and ethics.

During this era, a notable schism emerged in the literary language employed by the ruling elite and the common populace. This divergence was spurred by Persian influence on the ruling class and Arabic influence on the clergy.

This divide delineates the realms of "Halk" literature and "Divan" literature. The former embodies the oral tradition perpetuated by the populace, characterized by its distinct linguistic traits (less influenced by Persian and Arabic, more grounded in Turkic) and form (utilization of the "hece" meter, an ancestral meter employed by Turkic tribes). In contrast, the latter represented a Perso-Arabic form of literature characterized by rigid metric rules (aruz meter), a narrower range of subject matter, and widespread incorporation of foreign vocabulary. "Divan" literature is also called Classic Turkish literature.

The entry of the Seljuks into Anatolia heralded the beginning of a new era. On one hand, the nomadic Turkic culture east of Persia had waned in influence, leading to a disconnect between the Turks of the east and west, despite many Turkic tribes in Anatolia continuing their nomadic lifestyles for the following centuries. On the other hand, the migration to the land of the “Romans” created a separation between the Turks ruling Persia and the Middle East from those now governing Anatolia. Thus, from this new political and cultural separation a new contender to the Persian and Arabic Divan literature, had emerged: the Turkish branch.

In early 13th century the Mongols swiftly conquered most of Asia, including the Turkic and Persian worlds. This led to a radical shift in the political landscape, marking the onset of the “second” beylik (turkic principalities) period in Anatolia, during which small Turkic warlords governed fragmented territories. During this period, the Turkic people of Anatolia found cultural expression in “Halk” literature, exemplified notably by the great poet Yûnus Emre. Alternatively, they were influenced by Persian poet Rumi, who migrated to Konya, the capital of the Rûm Sultanate, before the Mongol Conquest, and primarily composed works in Persian, but occasionally also in Middle Turkic, Arabic, or Byzantine Greek.

Rumi, although of Persian origin, is probably the most loved and influential figure of the period known as “Seljuk Sufism.” Mystics, experience a sublime love that remains unrequited until they suffer intensely in their spiritual exile. Eventually, they reach the blissful state of submerging their selfhood, the death of their ego.

This is such a day the sun is dazzling twice as before
A day beyond all days, unlike all others- say no more...
Lovers, I have great news for you: from the heavens above
This day of love brings songs and flowers in a downpour.

His love and relation to religion can be summarized with these verses:

The religion of love is apart from all religions;
The lovers of God have no religion but God alone.

or

I searched for God among the Christians and on the Cross and therein I found Him not.
I went into the ancient temples of idolatry; no trace of Him was there.
I entered the mountain cave of Hira and then went as far as Qandhar but God I found not.
With set purpose I fared to the summit of Mount Caucasus and found there only 'anqa's habitation.
Then I directed my search to the Kaaba, the resort of old and young; God was not there even.
Turning to philosophy I inquired about him from ibn Sina but found Him not within his range.
I fared then to the scene of the Prophet's experience of a great divine manifestation only a "two bow-lengths' distance from him" but God was not there even in that exalted court.
Finally, I looked into my own heart and there I saw Him; He was nowhere else.

To be continued…