11TH CENTURY TURKIC COMMUNITIES FROM KASHGARI’S PERSPECTIVE
KAŞGARLI MAHMUT'A GÖRE 11. YÜZYIL TÜRK YURTLARI

Author : Akartürk KARAHAN
Number of pages : 117-126

Abstract

Diwanu Lugati’t-Turk [The Compendium of the Turkic Dialects], complied by Mahmud Kashgari between 1072 and 1077, is the oldest known and most famous dictionary of Turkic. Mahmud Kashgari gives us much valuable information such as the geography of the Turkic tribes, court customs and popular beliefs, social life, ethnic structuring, tribal organisation, language, dialectal usages, cultural status, history etc. throughout the 11th century. The work of Kashgari is a unique source for Turkology with all these aspects. In his work, Kashgari states that, “I have travelled throughout their cities and steppes, and have learned their dialects and their rhymes; those of the Turks, the Turkmen-Oghuz, the Chigil, the Yagma, and the Qirqiz”. According to the information which Kashgari stated about Turkic homelands, his work can be characterized as a book of travel. In this article, Kashgari is studied as a traveller and how he draws the borders of the 11th century Turkic world.

Keywords

Mahmud Kashgari, Diwanu Lugati’t-Turk, Old Turkic Communities

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