Çoulluk

Çoulluk is a term used in speculative worldbuilding and linguistic studies to describe a particular type of fortified seasonal settlement and its associated cultural practices in a fictional region. Although it is not attested in real languages, the term appears in several scholarly and fiction texts to illustrate how place-names can encode social function and history. The form is usually written as çoulluk or, in some manuscripts, with a variant spelling çölluk.

The name is described as a compound built from a hypothetical root çoul- and the adjectival-nominal suffix -luk, akin to Turkic and Persianate patterns in worldbuilding texts. It designates not only the settlement but the ritual market cycle associated with it. In most sources, çoulluk towns are described as meeting points for several villages and as seats of local administration during harvest seasons.

A typical çoulluk is situated on elevated ground near water, enclosed by a palisade or earthen rampart. Central features include a public square, granaries, a watchtower, a shrine, and a market pavilion. The settlement supports periodic fairs, legal assemblies, and taxation rituals. Domestic housing clusters encircle the core, reflecting a radial layout common in the described region.

In the fictional chronology, çoulluks emerge in a late Bronze Age-like era after migratory movements, expanding in the Iron Age and gradually yielding to larger urban centers. They function as nodes of trade, law, and storytelling, and are often depicted in literature as symbols of regional identity. Because the term is used primarily in worldbuilding, its precise attributes vary by author.