Hi, I’m Emre-E. Yavuz, a historian, author, and the creator of Khan’s Den.

I created the Turkic Atlas because I wanted to make the history I care about easier for others to discover. It is an online encyclopedia of the old Turkic steppe empires, from the Xiongnu and the Huns to the Göktürks, the Uyghurs and the Yenisei Kyrgyz, from 221 BC to 924 AD: close to a thousand articles, maps across all periods, the Orkhon inscriptions and many more sources. ALL of it in five languages: English, Turkish, Spanish, Japanese and German.

Every article is researched with care against its sources: the Chinese annals, the Byzantine historians, the inscriptions of the Göktürks themselves. Where the sources speak, the article says which one. Where they are silent, it says so as well. And you'll read theories by the creator of the Atlas, yours truly, here and there, but always as implications or theories.

So if you’ve ever come across the name of a forgotten Turkic steppe empire and wondered who its people were, where they lived, or how their story connects to the wider world, this project is for you.

The Atlas brings together research articles, historical sources, and interactive maps to explore this fascinating topic of the Eurasian Steppe.

You don’t need an academic background to explore it, really. Just curiosity.

Why I’m asking for your help

Behind every article are hours (in fact, years) of reading, comparing sources, writing, and revising. There are also practical costs: keeping the website running and obtaining the books and source editions that this research depends on. History is, unfortunately, an expensive business.

Regardless, I want the Turkic Atlas to remain freely accessible, without any paywall whatsoever. Your support would help me keep that promise while continuing to develop the project.

What your contribution will support (cost breakdown):

• Website hosting, domain, and technical running costs.

• Scholarly books and editions of historical sources.

• The research, writing, and revision of articles.

• Further development, including audio versions of articles with professional narration.

The Atlas is already taking shape, and there is still much to do. Your contribution supports that ongoing work: expanding its coverage, improving existing articles, and making this history easier to explore.

If the Atlas has helped you learn something new — or if you would like a resource like this to exist — I'd be very grateful for your support.

And if donating isn’t possible, sharing the Turkic Atlas or this campaign with someone who might enjoy it would help too.

Thank you for taking an interest in this almost-forgotten part of history and the work behind it.

Emre-E. Yavuz

Creator of Khan’s Den and the Turkic Atlas

Explore the project: https://turkicatlas.org