Over 15 ancient manuscripts about Kazakhs' history brought to Kazakhstan from abroad
A research expedition of the National Center for Manuscripts and Rare Books brought to Kazakhstan the copies of the oldest books about the country’s history and gathered in regions the copies of the books written in the Middle Ages, Kazinform News Agency reports.
Today, the National Center for Manuscripts and Rare Books showcased the results of the expedition in Astana. The members of the expedition traveled around Kazakhstan’s Zhambyl, Kyzylorda, Turkistan, and Abai regions, as well as visited the John Rylands Research Institute and Library in Manchester, Bodleian Library of the University of Oxford, and British Library in London. The expedition gathered more than 15 manuscripts and about 500 archival materials.
“We’ve brought from abroad valuable manuscripts about cultural history of the Kazakh people, the texts dating back to the 12th century, and the publications dating back to the 19th-20th centuries, in particular, one of the rare books by Abu Nasr al-Farabi on philosophy, “The Diwan-i Hikmat” by Ahmad Yasawi and “and his student Suleimen Bakyrgani’s books, the works of Sûfî Allahyâr and much more,” says Almat Absalikov, chief expert of the Research Department of the Center for Manuscripts and Rare Books.
According to him, some exhibits at today’s exhibition are primary sources revealing the Kazakhs’ history.
"For example, the book by Gardizi, written in the 11th century, (one of two only books in the world) provides very valuable information about the life of Turkic tribes in Central Asia in the 10th-11th centuries. There is still no complete translation of this text, so much still needs to be translated, studied in detail, and digitized. The books are mainly in Turkic, Persian and Arabic languages,” he notes.
One of the valuable manuscripts found in Manchester is the holy book of Quran, first translated into Turkic in the 10th-12th centuries, in the era of Karakhanid State. The Turkic translation of this book is very close to the language of translation of Kutadgu Bilig by Yūsuf Balasaguni. The book is of great value for Turkic-Islamic culture.
