Mahmud al-Kashgari (1029/1038 – 1101) – an outstanding scientist, a philosopher of the XI century, the author of the first encyclopaedic edition of the dictionary of Turkic dialects “The Divan Lugat at Turk”. based on a comparative analysis of the materials used among the Turkic-speaking tribes that inhabited the territory of Turkestan, most of which was the territory of modern Kazakhstan from the Irtysh to the Syr Darya inclusive.
Biography
He was born in the city of Kashgar (1029/1038), but had ties to the city of Barshan, which was associated with his father Hussein B. Muhammad Chagri Tegin, who ruled the Karakhanid state and was a descendant of the ruling dynasty of Karakhanids (992-1212) of Bogra Khans/Ilek Khans. Kashgar was one of the centers of the Eastern Khaganate. Barshan was a city on the coast of Issyk Kul, near Kashgar, where the Karluks and Uighurs lived. In the work of al-Masudi in the 10th century it is mentioned that the city of Barshan was the territory of the Chigil people. Initial education M. Kashgari received from his mother, Bubi Rabiya, an educated daughter Hodja Sayf ad-Din Subsequently, he continued his education in Bukhara, Samarkand, Baghdad and Merv, Nishapur, in the intellectual centers of the Arab world. and received early education from his mother Bubi Rabiya, daughter of Khoja Sayyf al-Din.
Merits
“Divan Lugat at Turk” (1072) created by Mahmud Kashgari.is based on a comparative analysis of the materials used among the Turkic-speaking tribes that inhabited the territory of Turkestan, most of which was the territory of modern Kazakhstan from the Irtysh to the Syr Darya inclusive. The merit of Mahmud Kashgari is mention of the fact that the Turkic tribes of Yagma, Chigil, Tuhsi used the written-literary language of the epoch, which he calls the language “khakania”. The language of “khakania” spoke Turkic social elite in their ethnic environment. Sequential flowering of language khakania was the formation of the written literary language of the Kipchak and Karluk-Kypchak languages. The only copy of the manuscript of the dictionary “Diwan Lugat at Turk” is stored in Istanbul and consists of 1 volume (319 p.). The dictionary reflects the vocabulary of 31 Turkic dialect that was common in XI century in areas where Mahmud Kashgari was collecting materials for the dictionary. On the basis of theoretical and methodological analysis, it is possible to establish the features of the development of Kipchak written monuments in mutual connection with the process of formation of the ethnic culture of the Turkic peoples.
A priceless monument of Turkic writing is the work of Mahmud Kashgari “Divan Luhat at-Turk” (1072-1074 уy.) based on a comparative analysis of materials used among the Turkic-speaking peoples inhabiting the territory of Turkestan, most of which was the territory of modern East Turkestan, Kazakhstan from Irtysh to Syr – Darya and area of Issyk Kul inclusive. In the X-XI centuries, in connection with the creation of the state of the Karakhanids and the Seljuk Empire and their influence, the beginning of a new period in the history of Central Asia and the Middle East was connected. The active interaction of the Turks with the Arab world, the entry into the orbit of Islam, confronts them with the need to comply with the dictates of modern times. The authors believe that “Al-Kashgari creates a work that reflects the image of the Turks, the powerful “Rulers of the Century”, who, apart from military powers and a rich culture, are little known to Muslims. According to al-Kashgari, this is a people that embodies the best human qualities … the Türks highly honor their language and show a special disposition to those who speak Turkic” [1, p. 24-25]. In other examples, M. Kashgari emphasizing that “the pinnacle of virtue in the language” and “Turkic dialects go along with the Arabic language, like two horses at a jump” introduces Turkic languages into the world of modern Islamic civilization [1, p. 24-26].
According to the information provided by the author, creating his work, he went through all the steppes and cities of the Türks, but the analysis of the data presented in the “Dictionary …” indicates that the spatial boundaries of the Turkic world M. Kashgari were outlined by the borders of the Karakhanid state, within the regions close to the Syr Darya oasis, the upper river of Ili and Kashgar and its Oguz-Seljuk neighbors. The authors believe that the scientist’s native language could be the Khakani-Chigil dialect and the Karluk or mixed Karluk-Chigil dialects. However, Kashgari notes that the most correct languages are Yagma and Tukhsi, which inhabit the lands along Ili, Irtysh, Yamar and Atil (Volga). And the most elegant dialect was the language of the Karakhanid rulers [2, p. 508].
The desire of Mahmud Kashgari, who had excellent education, received in the best cultural centers of the Middle East (Bukhara, Samarkand, Merv, Baghdad) to acquaint the modern world around him with the virtues of the Turkic peoples, among which the main is knowledge of the language, is explained as the activity of a person with state thinking. The content of the encyclopedic work of M. Kashgari illustrates the level of his historical self-consciousness with stated thoughts that correspond to the civilization that was created in such a difficult era [3, p. 192-193].
The methods used by scientists to convey the basic values of the Turks are striking in their breadth and versatility, in which “in addition to the richest linguistic material, ethnographic information is also concentrated: about the songs that accompanied the calendar and family rites, the themes of lyric songs, fairy tales and heroic legends (more than 400 examples); everyday concepts, terms used in medicine and astrology, crafts and agriculture, the names of natural phenomena, folk concepts that define the space-time framework, etc .; about ethics and morality; about worldview and many others [4, p. 46; 5, p. 58-69; 6, p. 269-271].
Information on the toponymical nomenclature presented in the “Dictionary …” is also of interest, among which are mentioned not only the names of water sources, but also the names of settlements, among which are the cities of Balasagun, Taraz, Ispidzhab Shash, Kashkar and others [3, p. 197]. Barskhan, the name of the settlement in Issyk Kul, with which M. Kashgari’s life was directly related, Lake Issyk Kul, mentioned in the “Dictionary …”, are preserved in the contemporary place names of Kyrgyzstan [7, p. 166].
The map of Turkic World of Mahmud Kashgari
In the description of the Turkic peoples, the author divides them into northern and southern and listing them from east to west, among the northern ones he writes about the Pechenegs, Kypchaks, Oguzes, Yemeks, Bashgurts, Basmyls, Kai, Yabaku, Tatars, and Kyrgyz. In the southern group he describes the tribes: Chigil, Tukhsi, Yagma, Igrak, Charuk, Zhumul, Uygur [4, p. 47] (see the author’s map of M. Kashgari).
The merit of Mahmud Kashgari is the mention that the Turkic tribes Yagma, Chigil, Tukhsi used the written and literary language of the era, which he calls the language “Khakanya”. The language of “Khakanya” was spoken by the Turkic social elite in their ethnic environment. The ruling elite, court circles always and everywhere preferred to speak either a foreign language or their native language, but using a high style, far from the spoken language. This is the language of hacking, which the author often mentions. The consecutive flowering of the Khakanya language served as the formation of the written literary language of the Kypchaks and the Karluk-Kypchak languages [8, p. 32-45]. Noting the unsurpassed value of the encyclopedic publication as a monument to the historical dialectology of Turkic languages, analyzing the work of Mahmud Kashgari N. Baskakov writes that “the languages of the Oghuzs and Kipchaks are characterized by dialectical features of the transition i ˃ j, m ˃ b, t ˃ d at the beginning of words and to k ˃ x in other positions. The languages of the Kypchaks, Tukhsi and Yagma … already at that time did not have the phoneme ch, which corresponded to the sound sh in them, which is also characteristic of modern Kazakh, Karakalpak and Nogai languages” [4, p. 47].
The only copy of the manuscript of the dictionary “Divan Lugat at-Turk” is stored in Istanbul and consists of 1 volume (319 p.). The list of vocals that has reached us is the first copy of the Arabic script, made by Muhammad bin Abu Bekr at-Damashki, an Iranian by origin. It was removed from the original 200 years after its writing. The dictionary in Arabic was first published in 1915-1917 in Turkey (in three volumes). Subsequently, the dictionary was translated by B. Atalay into Turkish and published: vol. 1 – in 1939, vol. 2 – in 1940, vol. 3 – in 1941. The dictionary contains many grammatical and dialectological remarks on the languages of the Turkic tribes; it contains 291 proverbs and sayings and about 300 passages of songs of various contents, as well as quatrains. The dictionary was first studied by K. Brockelman, who in 1928 published a volume of Turkic words selected from it. The dictionary reflects the vocabulary of 31 Turkic dialects that were common in the 11th century in those areas where Mahmud Kashgari collected materials for the dictionary [8, p. 32].
In total there are 414 signs, of which only 21 signs indicate one dialect. The dictionary contains 10 words marked “Uyghur”. According to Mahmud Kashgari, although the Uyghurs spoke Turkic, they also had a language in which they spoke to each other and used a special letter consisting of 24 characters. According to Mahmud Kashgari, the easiest language is the language of the Oghuz tribes, and the most correct are the languages of Tukhsy and Yagma: only with 12 words is the litter “Yagma” and with five “Tukhsy”. This indicates that representatives of these tribes already had an established language. In all likelihood, this mixed language formed the basis of the literary language of the state of Karakhanids. There were few Arabic and Persian elements in this language, complex Arabic-Persian turns and combinations, but it was replete with archaisms. Many of them were the property of only the literary language [8, p. 32-33].
The period of the formation of the Oguz language occurred in the Karluk-Karakhanid era. The Oguz written language included the dialects of the Kypchaks, Yemeks, Pechenegs and Bulgars as full-fledged components. Oguz written language was also mixed. Signs made by Mahmud Kashgari to the Turkic words indicate that the author lived and collected his materials where the Oguz tribes predominated, in the vicinity of which Karluks, Chigils, Argu, Kypchaks were compactly settled. The interpretation of the remaining litters shows that such clans and tribes as Yagma, Yabaku, Yemek, Tukhsi, Kai, in the territory where Mahmud Kashgari traveled, did not constitute a compact mass of the population and were largely mixed with the main population and … their dialects almost merged with the Oguz , Kypchak, Chigil, Argu dialects. It is noteworthy that the tribes called by the thinker, even during the heyday of the Western Turkic Haganate in the VI-VIII centuries and in the periods of the IX-X centuries, were already known to Arab authors before the creation of the state of the Karakhanids [2, p. 508-510].
The main part of the Oguz tribes inhabited the territory from the lower Syr Darya to the Aral Sea and further, covering Khorezm, the lower reaches of the Amu Darya River, right up to the Caspian Sea. The Oguzes were neighbors of the Kypchak tribes, which often mixed with the Oguzes. Materials on Oguz dialects M. Kashgari collected among the Oguz tribes … mainly from the lower reaches of the Syr Darya to the Aral Sea. Kipchak tribes in this period inhabited the territory from the Irtysh River in the east to the lower reaches of the Syr Darya. Chigils occupied the territory north of lake Issyk Kul to the river and further west to the Chu River. Their neighbors in the south were Karluk tribes, whose territory extended to Taraz-Talas, and in the north to Chu River. For example, “Many of the words quoted by M. Kashgari were not preserved, but preserved: қum – sand; oң – right; sіz – you are labeled “chigil” in the dictionary [8, p. 32-45].
The cultural center of the described period – Balasagun, was located in the center of the settlement of the tribes of Argu, Chigil, Karluk. The very fact that these tribes inhabited the territory where a mixed literary language was formed, different from not only Old Uigur, but also New Uigur, suggests that the languages of the Chigil and Karluk tribes made a significant contribution to this literary language. A large number of litter “argu” testifies that M. Kashgari, apparently, lived and collected materials among the tribe of Argu. According to him, the Argu lived on the territory between Ispidzhab and Balasagun, in the middle course of the rivers Talas and Chu. The cities of Balasagun, Merke, Talas were inhabited to some extent by an Argu and … it can be assumed that the territory occupied by the tribes of the Argu extended to the middle reaches of the Syr Darya, where Oguz tribes lived [8, p. 43].
In connection with the topic of kinship between the Oghuz and the Kipchaks, one should turn to the legendary legends and epic works about the origin of the Kipchaks preserved in a number of sources. According to the version recorded by the Mongolian historian physician Fazlallah Rashid ad-Din in the work “Jami at-tavarikh” (“Collection of Chronicles”), the genealogical history of the Kypchaks is directly related to the Oguzes and the eponym “Kypchak” was a consequence of the name designation by the legendary Oguz kagan itself. The birth of a boy on an island formed by the flow of two rivers, in the hollow of a tree called in the Turkic “Kypchak” and which served as the reason for his name as a Khan, is also described by another author, Abulgazi Khan Khivinsky. The relationship between the name of the Kypchaks and the history of their participation in the life events of the Oghuz and Oguz Khan, as well as the name of Onym Kipchak and the tree, is also described in the Uyghur manuscript “Oguzname” [9, p. 24].
Information on the ideological complex of the Kypchaks, containing valuable information about the ethnonyms, tamgas (own sign of tribe) and urans (battle cry) of the Kypchaks, is contained in ethnographic sources. In Chinese sources and in the Turkic runic Ongins inscription, seven Se-yanto tribes are called Jeti eren “Seven mens of leaders” [10, p. 17]. The seven-star constellation of Pleiades patronized these tribes. In the work of Mahmud Kashgari and in the “Collection of Annals” of Rashid ad-Din, the tribe with the same name is indicated on the same list of Oguz tribes. Analyzing the tamga of this tribe, G.N. Potanin noted that her “drawing is three obliquely spaced lines ending at the top with a stylized image of stars. To their left is an image of a bow. This picture coincides with a number of rock paintings”. The name of the tribe corresponded to that given by M. Kashgari the Urker, meaning “moose”. The “Bayterek” was the uran (battle cry) of the Kypchaks, which is a symbol of the tree in which the ancestor of the Kypchaks was born [10, p. 18].
The content of the encyclopedic work of the thinker M. Kashgari also allows us to address the topic of the connection of the collective designation of all Turkic tribes named in the “Dictionary …” with the word Turk with their ideological, traditional worldview complex. Listing the cities and steppes of the Türks, naming their tribal names, M. Kashgari testifies that they understood each other and spoke among themselves in related languages and to the question who are you? They answered – I am Turk [2, p. 506]. Among a large number of authoritative opinions on the etymology of the term Turk, attention is drawn to the opinion that it “is explained as a collective name whose meaning was understandable on a large territory and which united many tribes of different ethnic origin” [11, p. 129-130]. Referring to the opinion of Professor A.N. Baskakov, the author also accepts his arguments that the basis of the word Türk could occur “according to the name of kinship relations of a property, for example, Turkun, Turk, in the sense of the parents and relatives of a married woman” [11, p. 130-131].
There is no doubt that the names bearing information about the women of the Turkic society in the “Dictionary …”: “Kayin – relatives on the female side”; “Katun – the title of all daughters and continuers of the Afrasiab clan”, “Turkun – the gathering place of the tribe, parental home” [1, p. 71; from. 386; from. 413] contain a certain semantic load. A comparative analysis of the described terms with data from other sources affects our idea of their connection with the ideological complex of the Turks. For example, the shape of the tamga of the Kypchaks in the form of two vertical lines is actually the designation of two trees: Kain and Karagay. Kazakh қain / birch, in the ancient Turkic and now preserved in the Yakut language – Katyn, meaning “mistress”. In Kazakh vocabulary, the term “kain jurt” (relatives from side of birch) is still used to refer to relatives by the wife.
The historical projection of the term Katyn / Khain, preserved in the designation of tamga Kypchaks, gives rise to many fundamental conclusions on the history of Turkic peoples as a whole. Türkic toponyms are an important source for historical reconstruction and allow revealing the features of the development of the language, material, spiritual culture of the peoples who inhabited certain territories. In different Turkic languages, the word “katun”, katyn means “woman”; in Altai Kadyn, the meaning is “woman, mistress.” In the Mongolian language, however, a semantic shift is observed: “princess, mistress, hansha, mistress.” In Evenki language, Katun is “a fairy-tale heroine, the wife of a hero, a lady”. Meanwhile, this is usually the way (lady, mistress) the name of the Altai river Katun is explained.
In the toponymy of Asia, many similar geographical names are found Hatan-Bulak in Mongolia, Hatunhe – the left tributary of the river Tuminjiang in Northeast China, r. Katanza – the left tributary of the river. Kazyra in the Western Sayan Mountains. Khanty called the Irtysh River – Katanas and Katon-Karagai in Altai in the East Kazakhstan region [12, p. 190-191]. The second meaning of the ancient Türkic word Katyn, Hatan is now the lost “river”. In this sense, it is used in the Yenisei runic rock inscriptions [13, p. 179].
A comprehensive analysis of sources helps to identify the true meaning of the toponym Katun / Katyn from the point of view of the development of the spiritual culture of the Turks. In a description of the events of the creation of the Turkic Kaganate, Chinese sources indicate that the first Turkic Kagan Bumyn adopted the throne name of Ili Kagan, meaning that his possessions are located on the Ili River, and his wife was named Katun / Katyn [14, p. 228].
In the VII – VIII centuries. in the Tashkent oasis, coins were distributed with the image of two rulers, a kagan and a katun, with inscriptions in the Sogdian and Turkic languages on the obverse [15, 119 p.]. On the reverse of the coins are the patrimonial tamgas of the rulers. The iconographic style of the portraits of the depicted rulers is similar to the portraits of the Turks on stone sculptures and frescoes from medieval cities from the territory of Central Asia and Kazakhstan (Panjakent in Uzbekistan, Kuyruk tobe in South Kazakhstan). An analysis of Turkic paired male and female statues on the monuments of the Merke and Zhaisan sanctuaries, together with the data from the above sources, allows reconstruction of the worldview of ancient Turkic society [16, p. 54-67].
Probably, the development of the Turkic toponym, preserved in the name of the Katun River, together with the name of the Biya River, reflect the foundations of the ideological complex of the Turks, an important element of which was the worldview of the unity of the deities of the Turkic pantheon Tengri and Jer-Su, one of the symbols of which was water, the river called in antiquity by the word Katyn.
The toponym Katon-Karagai in Altai in the East Kazakhstan region, in reality, without distortion, it will be correct to write Қatyn-Қaragay, which corresponds to the tamga designation of the Kypchaks, indicating the initial area of their resettlement. Moreover, in the tamgas symbolism of the Kypchaks in the form of a unity of two different tree species, a true, deeply historical, event-important combination of traditional world outlook principles of representatives of the eastern and western areas of the great Turkic world is hidden for all Turkic peoples.
On the other hand, the main features of the ideological complex of the medieval Türks, which later formed the basic spiritual guidelines of the Kypchaks – Polovtsians, were reflected in all kinds of sources, chronicles, manuscripts, monumental art and much more. But the whole variety of forms of informative materials requires consideration in the general context of the development of the history of the Turkic peoples as a whole, taking into account the emphasis on the formation of a spiritual culture based on ideological values. Therefore, the etymology of the term Turk can be based on the idea of a higher pantheon of deities of the Turkic world, traditionally believing in the sanctity of their inhabited space and worshiping Jer-Su / Earth and Water and honoring their kindred roots in the person of maternal relatives.
Memory
The content of the dictionary of Turkic dialects is still relevant and in demand in all areas of Humanities. The encyclopedia has been reprinted in many languages of the Turkic and European peoples and is in demand as an invaluable source on the history of the language and literature of the Turkic peoples.
The historical development of the spiritual culture of each nation is reflected in the language, history of culture and geographical space. In the formation of the onomastic, its etymology, the whole spectrum of the prevailing traditional ideas associated with life, development conditions and achievements of the people is reflected for centuries. The lexicological and etymological studies of the names of geographical toponyms and anthroponyms of Kazakhstan and Eurasia are important evidence of the development of not only the language of the Turkic peoples, Kazakhs, but also their rich historical past.
Based on the theoretical and methodological analysis, it is possible to establish the features of the development of the written monuments of the Kypchaks in interconnection with the process of formation of the ethnic culture of the Turkic peoples [12, p. 122]. The contribution of Mahmud Kashgari to the establishment of Turkology, philological studies of the Turkic language group, Eastern religious studies and lexicography is invaluable. The author of the “Dictionary of Turkic dialects” ahead of European science of language for several centuries.
References:
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