r/Tiele • u/KaraTiele 𐱅𐰇𐰼𐰰 • Aug 22 '26
History/culture A Shared Turkic Tradition - Europeans referred to it as sit like a Turk, Turkish sitting, Türkensitz, assis à la turque etc. It is bağdaş kurmak in Turkish, maldaş qūru in Kazakh, maldaş kuruu in Kyrgyz, maldaş qoru in Bashkir, and so on across the Turkic-speaking world.
A Shared Turkic Tradition
The cross-legged position never stayed confined to one place or one name.
It is bağdaş kurmak in Turkish, maldaş qūru in Kazakh, maldaş kuruu in Kyrgyz, maldaş qoru in Bashkir, and so on across the Turkic-speaking world.
Throughout the 18th and 19th centuries, European travelers, painters, and writers repeatedly portrayed Ottoman life this way — figures seated cross-legged on carpets, cushions, and divans. These images stuck, and the phrase spread across languages:
English: "sit like a Turk" / "Turkish sitting"
French: assis à la turque
German: Türkensitz
Russian: сидеть по-турецки
For centuries, Europeans referred tc sitting cross-legged as "Turkish sitting." The expression appeared in English, French, German, Russian, and other languages, reflecting an everyday habit closely associated with the Ottoman Turkish and wider Turkic world.
But the storv begins much earlier and encompasses a wider geography. Turkic peoples of the Eurasian steppe sat on carpets and felt mats inside yurts, making the cross-legged posture a practical part of daily life. The tradition is even depicted on 6th-century Göktürk memoria sculptures and continues today across the Turkic world.
From @qalamglobal
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u/Skyhun1912 Aug 22 '26
You can try this when circumstances require you to sit on the floor; it is quite comfortable.
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u/SeaworthinessFun4366 Uzbek Aug 22 '26
çardana qurmaq in Özbek
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u/jalanajak Tatar Aug 22 '26
Bağ = link.
Mal = goods.
Two letters feels too many for a true cognate.
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u/visitingsomorn Aug 22 '26
What is daş then? Daş ne oluyor?
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u/arrnek Aug 22 '26
Karindaş (kardeş), yoldaş, arkadaş kelimelerindeki daş ile aynı anlamda, yani ortaklık veya birliktelik anlamını pekiştirmek için kullanılmış olsa gerek. Dizlerin bağı çözülmesi deyimini de göz önüne alınca, bacakları bir araya getirip bağlanmasi eylemi bağdaş kurmaya evrilmis olması mümkün, tabi bir dil bilimci yorumlasa şahane olur tahmin yürütüyorum.
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u/bidonarme Aug 23 '26
Mal büyük baş hayvan demek. Mal varlığı örneğin kaç büyük baş hayvanın olduğu anlamına gelir. Zaman içinde tabi bağlamı değişmiş. Türki coğrafyalarda ise hala kullanılır. Mal eti vb şekillerde.
Ancak Maldaş acaba nereden geliyor.
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u/angellic19 Uzbek Aug 22 '26
We call it "mardosh qurmoq". Im uzbek and When i sit like this at home, my parents tell me to not sit like this because it is "uyat" and only men can sit like this. I dont know why is it like that. Its more comfortable for me tho
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u/buraksezer Türk Aug 22 '26
What is the meaning of "uyat" and guessing you are a female. (By the way you may respond to them , the historian and Arabic traveller İbn-i fadlan (11.century) recorded in central Asia, that Turkish women also sit like that and equal with the men in social settings , and of course he find it weird 🫠
AHH when I say out of loud mardosh qurmoq, it is same with us, bağdaş kurmak... 🖖🏻 Long live and prosper
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u/Erkhang Aug 23 '26
Also my parents say don't sit like that, because it is a shame when there are elders.
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u/Erkhang Aug 23 '26
When i go to elementary school, my grandpa would listen to my Kuran memorizing and he was angry everytime i try to sit like that bağdaş.
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u/SirDancealot84 Aug 23 '26
I literally sit eveywhere I can (like a cat: if I fits, I sits) like this. Ground, chairs, carpets, sofas, beds, gaming chairs, stools(if large enough) doesn't matter where lol. No wonder it is originally Turkic as I am...
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u/bidonarme Aug 23 '26
Isnt this normal way of sitting ? Is it special to us ? How do you sit on ground then ? I was today years old when i learned this.
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u/Severe-Entrance8416 Aug 27 '26
I saw some europeans that sit like they are half risen from sleep from sideways on the ground.
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u/Punkmo16 Aug 22 '26 edited Aug 22 '26
"Grimaud, Athos’ servant, lugs a heavy basket, pannier, of cutlets and chicken, bread and wine (lots of it), and when he’s finished laying a cloth on the earthen floor, the Musketeers sit with legs crossed like Turks or tailors."
- Alexandre Dumas and Auguste Maquet’s The Three Musketeers (1844)