MAHMUD KASHGARI'S “DIWAN LUGHAT AL-TURK” AS A PRIMARY SOURCE FOR THE ETHNOGRAPHIC STUDY OF TURKIC PEOPLES

Authors

  • Azimova Zebiniso Karimovna

    Master's student at Asia International University

    Author

Keywords:
Array
Abstract

This article analyses the significance of Mahmud Kashgari's Diwan Lughat al-Turk (compiled c. 1072–1074) as a primary source for the ethnographic study of Turkic peoples. Although structured as a comparative lexicon of Turkic dialects compiled for an Arabic-speaking audience, the work contains an exceptional density of ethnographic data encompassing material culture, social organisation, religious beliefs, oral literature, and ecological knowledge. The study employs systematic textual analysis to identify, classify, and quantify ethnographic information units embedded across the three volumes of the compilation. A total of 1,842 ethnographically relevant lexical items were identified from a corpus of more than 7,500 entries, representing 24.6 per cent of the total lexical stock. Data were organised into six thematic categories and subjected to comparative analysis against other eleventh–thirteenth-century Turkic literary sources and contemporary ethnographic field data. The analysis demonstrates a 62.2 per cent lexical-cultural continuity between the text and living Uzbek, Kazakh, and Kyrgyz ethnographic traditions. The article argues that Kashgari's work constitutes an irreplaceable, multi-layered ethnographic record and offers methodological recommendations for its systematic integration into contemporary Central Asian ethnography, digital humanities, and interdisciplinary heritage studies.

Downloads
Download data is not yet available.
References

1. Abdullayev, A. (2005). Devonu lug'atit turk tilshunosligi masalalari [Linguistic issues in the Diwan Lughat al-Turk]. Tashkent: O'zFA nashriyoti. 188 p.

2. Basilov, V.N. (1992). Shamanstvo u narodov Sredney Azii i Kazakhstana [Shamanism among the peoples of Central Asia and Kazakhstan]. Moscow: Nauka. 344 p.

3. Bazin, L. (1994). Les turcs, des mots, des hommes. Paris: Société d'édition Les Belles Lettres. 312 p.

4. Bilge, K.R. (Ed.). (1915–1917). Divânü Lügati't-Türk (3 vols.). Istanbul: Matbaa-i Âmire.

5. Clauson, G. (1972). An Etymological Dictionary of Pre-Thirteenth-Century Turkish. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 989 p.

6. Dankoff, R., & Kelly, J. (1982–1985). Mahmud al-Kashgari: Compendium of the Turkic Dialects (Diwan Lughat al-Turk) (3 vols.). Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

7. DeWeese, D. (1994). Islamization and Native Religion in the Golden Horde: Baba Tükles and Conversion to Islam in Historical and Epic Tradition. University Park: Penn State University Press. 638 p.

8. Ember, C.R., & Ember, M. (2009). Cross-Cultural Research Methods (2nd ed.). Lanham: AltaMira Press. 248 p.

9. Golden, P.B. (1992). An Introduction to the History of the Turkic Peoples: Ethnogenesis and State-Formation in Medieval and Early Modern Eurasia and the Middle East. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz. 483 p.

10. Institute of Ethnography, Academy of Sciences of Uzbekistan. (2022). Field Expedition Database 2010–2022 (EI-2022/7). Tashkent: O'zFA. [Manuscript archive].

11. Karimov, G'. (2012). XI asr turkiy leksikografiyasi va uning manbashunoslik ahamiyati [11th-century Turkic lexicography and its significance for source studies]. Tashkent: Fan. 224 p.

12. Murdock, G.P., Ford, C.S., Hudson, A.E., Kennedy, R., Simmons, L.W., & Whiting, J.W.M. (2004). Outline of Cultural Materials (5th rev. ed.). New Haven: Human Relations Area Files.

13. Mutallibova, S.M. (Trans.). (1960–1963). Mahmud Koshg'ariy: Devonu lug'atit turk (3 vols.). Tashkent: O'zSSR FA nashriyoti.

14. Olmez, M. (2017). Kaşgarlı Mahmut: Divanü Lügati't-Türk'te Yer Alan Etnografik Veriler [Ethnographic data in the Diwan Lughat al-Turk]. Istanbul: Türk Dilleri Araştırmaları. 210 p.

15. Rimi, S. (2019). Central Asian Ethnography: Sources and Methods. Almaty: Dauir. 276 p.

16. Schamiloglu, U. (1993). Tribal politics and social organisation in the Golden Horde. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Columbia University, New York.

17. Sertkaya, O.F. (2011). Kaşgarlı Mahmud'un Dîvânü Lügati't-Türk'teki etnik ve kültürel bilgiler üzerine [On ethnic and cultural data in Kashgari's DLT]. Türk Dünyası Araştırmaları, 192, 1–24.

18. UNESCO. (2014). Memory of the World Register: Diwan Lughat al-Turk Nomination File. Paris: UNESCO.

19. World Bank. (2020). Uzbekistan Human Capital Review (Report No. ACS23400). Washington, DC: World Bank.

20. Yo'ldoshev, M. (2019). "Devonu lug'atit turk" dagi folklor namunalari va ularning etnografik qimmati [Folkloric specimens in the DLT and their ethnographic value]. O'zbek tili va adabiyoti, 3, 44–57.

21. Yusupova, D.A. (2021). O'rta Osiyo xalqlari madaniyati [Culture of the Peoples of Central Asia]. Tashkent: O'zbekiston. 340 p.

Cover Image
Downloads
Published
2026-06-02
Issue
Vol. 14 No. 05 (2026): IFSMRC African International Journal of Research in Management (AIJRM)
Section
Articles
License
Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

All articles published in the IFSMRC African International Journal of Research in Management (AIJRM) are licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0). Authors retain full copyright of their work without restriction. By publishing in AIJRM, authors grant the journal the right to publish and distribute the article as the original publisher. This license permits users to read, download, copy, share, and adapt the work for lawful purposes with proper attribution to the author(s) and the journal. All reuse must appropriately acknowledge the original source of publication.

How to Cite

Azimova Zebiniso Karimovna. (2026). MAHMUD KASHGARI’S “DIWAN LUGHAT AL-TURK” AS A PRIMARY SOURCE FOR THE ETHNOGRAPHIC STUDY OF TURKIC PEOPLES. IFSMRC African International Journal of Research in Management, 14(05), 946-953. https://ifsmrc.org/index.php/aijrm/article/view/295

Similar Articles

11-20 of 374

You may also start an advanced similarity search for this article.