Kayı (tribe)
Kayı | |
|---|---|
| Regions with significant populations | |
| Turkey, Turkmenistan | |
| Languages | |
| Turkish, Turkmen | |
| Religion | |
| Sunni Islam | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Oghuz Turks |
The Kayı (Karakhanid: قَيِغْ, romanized: qayïġ; Turkish: Kayı boyu, Turkmen: Gaýy taýpasy) were an Oghuz Turkic ethnic group and a sub-branch of the Bozok tribal federation. In his Dīwān Lughāt al-Turk, the 11th century Kara-Khanid scholar Mahmud al-Kashgari cited Kayı as of one of 24 Oghuz tribes, saying that Oghuz were also called Turkomans.
The name Kayı means "the one who has might and power by relationship" and a Turkmen proverb says that "the people shall be governed by Kayı and Bayat tribes" (Turkmen: Il başy - gaýy-baýat).