Chepni people

The Chepni were an ancient Turkic boy or oymak (clan).

In the legend of Oghuz Qaghan, the Chepni was stated as one of the clans of the tribe of Gök Han that consists of Pecheneg (Beçenek ), Bayandur (Bayındır ), Chavuldur (Çavuldur ) and Chepni, a part of Üç-Oklar branch of Oghuz Turks. According to Mahmud al-Kashgari's Diwan Lugat at-Turk (Arabic: ديوان لغات الترك, "Compendium of Turkic Dialects"), it was 21st tribe of the 22 tribes.

They had been converted to Islam (Sunni and Alevi). According to a Turkish historian, Faruk Sümer, the first murids of Hajji Bektash may be the Chepni residents of Suluca Kara Üyük (now a town of Nevşehir Province in the Central Anatolia region of Turkey) and some Turkish historians claim that Hajj Bektash may be of Chepni origin. Chepni people had an important role in the conquest of Trebizond during the 15th century whereas they had already started to conquer the provinces of Samsun and Sinop in 13th centuries. Most of Turkish people who settle in Trabzon, Gümüşhane, Giresun, Ordu and Samsun descend from Chepni people.

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