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Xiongnu (Hun) expansion driven by need of nomads to resist Chinese expansion after China’s unification 
We now know from DNA studies that Rouran and Avars were the same people - ruling an empire from Mongolia to the Danube
The migration of the Huns and their Turkic allies westwards was the beginning of the end of the Iranian steppe tribes
Turks claimed ancestry from a clan of werewolves
Sogdian merchants had great influence over the First Turk Empire’s foreign policy, and were used by the government to collect taxes.
Control of a holy mountain - possibly an old iron mine - gave Turkish rulers legitimacy
As usual, the Sogdians took over middle management of the Uyghur Empire, and changed their culture
Nice translation of a Chinese princess’ lament of being married off to a Turkish chieftan
Ascetic Islamic radicals in Anatolia often had wealthy backgrounds
Seljuk Turks started as a deracinated mass, but under external pressure came together and conquered. Local Arab leaders cooperated with Turks to restore their diminished authority. In turn, they gave Turk rulers legitimacy.
Decadent globalist ruling classes preferring foreign servants is an old error. As is their underestimation of the capability of those foreigners to topple them.
Detribalization in late middle ages was partly due to military changes requiring heavy cavalry.
Mongols chose their variant of Islam the way they chose their military leaders.
Russian settlement in Central Asia was similar in effects to American settlement of Great Plains in closing off nomads’ migration paths
Seldom discussed anti-Russian rebellion in Central Asia during WWI. The Bolsheviks naturally tried to embrace the Turkic rebels after they had been slaughtering Slavs.
Sense of shared ethnic identity for the various Turkic and Iranian groups in Central Asia and the Volga came about only in the early 20th century
18th century roots of China’s Uyghur Question
Ottomans had difficulty establishing secular law due to conflicts with the extant system based on sharia
Armenians took their bloody revenge on the Azeris through the Bolsheviks
Higher birth rates led to various Turkic groups in the USSR to regain power in their regions
Turkish government solidified its hold on power in the 20s after Kurdish unrest with repression and purges
Turkey had a Greek style language reform in the 30s, purifying their language. Also seems like everyone in the 30s was embracing “We Wuz Kangz” type archaeology theories.
Turkish economic statism starting in the 1920s was quite effective for the first few decades
