Mahmud al-Kashgari
| Maḥmūd al-Kāšġarī محمود الكاشغري  |
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|---|---|
| Born | 1005 Kashgar, Qara-Khanid Khaqanate |
| Died | 1102 Upal, southwest of Kashgar, Qara-Khanid Khaqanate |
| Residence | Kashgar |
| Fields | Linguistics, Lexicography, Turkology |
Mahmud ibn Hussayn ibn Muhammad al-Kashgari (Uyghur: مەھمۇد قەشقىرى Mehmud Qeshqiri, Turkish: Kaşgarlı Mahmut, Arabic: محمود بن الحسين بن محمد الكاشغري - Maḥmūd ibnu 'l-Ḥussayn ibn Muḥammad al-Kāšġarī) (Mahmûd Qašqarî) was an 11th century Turkic scholar and lexicographer of Turkic languages from Kashgar.
His father, Hussayn, was the mayor of Barsgan, a town in eastern-southern part of Issyk-Kul lake (nowadays village of Barskoon in Northern Kyrgyzstan's Issyk-Kul region) and related to the Qara-Khanid ruling dynasty. Some modern writers think that his mother, Bibi Rābiy'a al-Basrī, was allegedly of Arab origin.
Al-Kashgari studied the Turkic dialects of his time and wrote the first comprehensive dictionary of Turkic languages, the Dīwānu l-Luġat al-Turk (Arabic: "Compendium of the languages of the Turks") in 1072-74.[1] It was intended for use by the Caliphs of Baghdad, the new, Arabic allies of the Turks. Mahmud Kashgari's comprehensive dictionary contains specimens of old Turkic poetry in the typical form of quatrains (Persio-Arabic رباعیات rubāiyāt; Turkish: dörtlük), representing all the principal genres: epic, pastoral, didactic, lyric, and elegiac. His book also included the first known map of the areas inhabited by Turkic peoples. This map is housed at the National Library in Istanbul.[2]
Some researchers think that Mahmud al-Kashgari died in 1102 at the age of 97 in Upal, a small city southwest of Kashgar, and was buried there. There is now a mausoleum erected on his gravesite. But some modern authors reject such a data, saying that the date of his death is just unknown.
He is remembered by Turkic people, including Uyghurs, Kyrgyz, Kazakhs etc. as a prominent Turkic scholar.[3]
An oriental study university, situated in the capital city of Bishkek in post-Soviet Kyrgyzstan, was named after Makhmud Kashghari, in the 1990s.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ Kemal H. Karpat, Studies on Turkish Politics and Society:Selected Articles and Essays, (Brill, 2004), 441.
- ^ Roudik, Peter, The History of the Central Asian Republics, (Greenwood Press, 2007), 175.
- ^ But some Uyghur authors consider him a member of their own ethnic group. Makhmud Kashghari himself considered the Uyghurs of hiw own time as the eastern neighbours of his country (the Qarakhanid khanate). See, for example, Dwyer, Arienne (2005). The Xinjiang Conflict: Uyghur Identity, Language Policy, and Political Discourse. Political Studies 15. Washington: East-West Center. p. 73. ISBN 1-932728-29-5. http://www.eastwestcenter.org/fileadmin/stored/pdfs/PS015.pdf: "the Uzbeks, Uyghurs, and Kyrgyz all claim Mahmud al-Kashgari, the well-known 11th century scholar, as their own."
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