[Journal of American Studies of Turkey 6 (1997) : 89]
Most Americans tend to think that the Turkish Republic is named
after a bird. As one result, quite a few Turks in the US, at one
time or other, had to answer the question "What do you Turks eat
during Thanksgiving?" This query is especially heard during
November of each year, as Americans prepare to observe the
quintessentially American holiday.
The homeland of the fowl known as Meleagris gallopavo or
americana sybestris auis, is the North American continent. The
1494 Tordesillas treaty, forged by the Pope in Rome, granted the
monopoly of commerce originating from the newly discovered
continent to the Portuguese (as opposed to the Spanish). The
Portuguese brought this fowl to their Goa colony in India. Circa
1615, Cihangir (a direct descendent of the founder
of the Mughal empire in India, Babur [1483-1530] himself a
grandson of Timur [d. 1405] wrote his Tuzuk-u Jahangiri
(Institutes of Cihangir). In his book, Cihangir also described
this fowl in detail replete with a color drawing. Since
Meleagris gallopavo resembled the Meleagris Numida commonly found
in Africa (especially in Guinea), and already known in India, the
former became known in British India as the "Guinea Fowl" (see O.
Caroe, "Why Turkey." Asian Affairs. October 1970). Meleagris
gallopavo was then introduced to Egypt, a province of the Ottoman
empire and entered the Turkish language as "hindi" (from India).
When traders took a breeding stock from Ottoman ("Turkish") Egypt
to Spain and the British Isles, the bird was designated "Turkey."
As a result, the pilgrims landing on Plymouth Rock in 1620 were
familiar with "Turkey" when they encountered it in their new
home. After the 1776 Declaration of Independence, Benjamin
Franklin suggested that "turkey," native of the land be
designated as the symbol of the young American republic. Instead,
Haliaeetus Leucocephalus (Bald Eagle) was given this honor.
