Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-fscjk Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-31T03:21:32.926Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The Turkish Yarkand documents

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 December 2009

Marcel Erdal
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

The land sale contracts of the late eleventh century published here are important for several reasons. First, they are the oldest known legal documents written in Turkish. Very many Uighur-Turkish civil documents were found in the more eastern parts of the Tarim basin, but none of those appear to be older than the thirteenth century. On the other hand, there are Central Asian legal documents in several non-Turkish languages from as early as the first centuries of our era. After the Turks had penetrated the area in alternately warlike and peaceful manner and become owners of land, they may have gone on using the local vernaculars for such purposes, as they adopted many other facets of local life. The present texts have a fairly rigid structure, but this should not be taken as an indication that they were preceded by a Turkish legal tradition: the Persian text of A.D. 1107 published by Minorsky (1942) shows a rather similar form, which may simply have been borrowed by the Turks. Formally, our documents differ from the non-Muslim deeds of land sale in Turkish, which appear to follow Chinese models; this also speaks against a common Turkish tradition. There is nothing surprising about this: the Turks were probably relatively new both to the area and the occupation.

Type
Articles
Information
Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies , Volume 47 , Issue 2 , June 1984 , pp. 260 - 301
Copyright
Copyright © School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London 1984

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

References and Abbreviations

D., Ayalon 1975. ‘Names, titles and “nisbas” of the Mamlūks’, Israel Oriental Studies, v, 189–232.Google Scholar
de Meynard, Barbier, C. A. 1861. Dictionnaire gėographique et littéraire de la Perse et des conlrés adjacents. Extrait du Mo'djem el-Bouldan de Yaquout … Paris: Imprimerie Impériale. (Repr. Amsterdam, 1970.)Google Scholar
Barthold, [W.]. 1923. ‘The Bughra Khan mentioned in the Qudatqu Bilik’, BSOS, III, 1: 151–8.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
W., Barthold 1928. Turkestan down to the Mongol invasion. (2nd ed.) (E. J. W. Gibb Memorial Series.) London: Gibb Memorial Trust.Google Scholar
L., Bazin 1974. Les calendriers turcs anciens et médiévaux. Thèse présentée devant I'Université de Paris III, Lille.Google Scholar
L., Bazin 1978. ‘Notes d'anthroponymie: noms d'esclaves tatares et turcs vendus sur les marchés Chrétiens au Moyen Age’, in Başgöz, I. and Glazer, M. (ed.), Studies in Turkish folklore in honor of Pertev N. Boratav. (Indiana University, Turkish Studies, 1.) Bloomington: Indiana University Press: 46–60.Google Scholar
C., Broekelmann 1951–1954. Osttürkische Grammatik der islamischen Litteratursprachen Mittelasiens. Leiden: E. J. Brill.Google Scholar
L. V., Clark 1975. Introduction to the Uyghur civil documents of East Turkestan. Unpublished Ph.D. thesis, University of IndianaGoogle Scholar
R., Dankoff 1982. Wisdom of royal glory (kutadgu bilig). Chicago and London: University of Chicago PressGoogle Scholar
R., Dankoff and Kelly, J. (ed. and tr.). 1982–. Maḥmūd al-Kasyarl, Compendium of the Turkic dialects (Dīwan Luyāt at-Turk). (Sources of Oriental Languages and Literatures. Turkish Sources VII.) Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University PressGoogle Scholar
G., Doerfer 1975. ‘Mongolica aux Ardabil’, ZaS, 9: 186–263Google Scholar
G., Doerfer 1983. ‘Turkolojide elestiri sorunlari’, TDAYB, 1980–1981: 87–99Google Scholar
DTS = Nad'elyaev, V. M. etal., Drevnetjurkskij slovar' Leningrad, 1969Google Scholar
J., Eckmann 1976. Middle Turkic glosses of the Rylands interlinear Koran translation. Budapest: Akadèmia KiadóGoogle Scholar
EDPT = Sir Clauson, Gerard, An etymological dictionary of pre-thirteenth-century Turkish. Oxford 1972Google Scholar
El = The encyclopaedia of Islam (2nd ed.) Leiden/London 1960–Google Scholar
M., Erdal 1979. ‘The chronological classification of Old Turkish texts’, CAJ, XXIII 151–75Google Scholar
M., Erdal (Forthcoming.) Word formation and its functions in Old Turkish. WiesbadenGoogle Scholar
A. von., Gabain 1973. Das Leben im uigurischen Kōnigreich von Qočo (850–1250). Wiesbaden: Otto HarrassowitzGoogle Scholar
A. von., Gabain 1976. ‘Alt-türkische Texte in sogdischer Schrift’ in Káldy-Nagy, Gy. (ed.) Hungaro-Turcica: studies in honour of Julius Nèmeth. Budapest: Akadèmia Kiadó: 69–77Google Scholar
I., Gershevitch 1954. A grammar of Manichean Sogdian. (Publications of the Philological Society.) Oxford: BlackwellGoogle Scholar
A., Grohmann 1934–1936. Arabic papyri in the Egyptian Library [Arabic]. Vols. I–II. Cairo: Dār al-KutubGoogle Scholar
K., Granbech 1942. Komanisches Wōrterbuch: türkischer Wortindex zu Codex Cumanicus. (Monumenta Linguarum Asiae Maioris. Subsidia 1.) Kopenhagen: E. MunksgaardGoogle Scholar
J., Hamilton 1969. ‘Un acte ouïgour de vente de terrain provenant de Yar-Khoto’, Turcica, i, 26–52Google Scholar
J., Hamilton 1977. ‘Nasales instables en turc khotanais du xe siécle’, BSOAS, XL, 3: 508–21Google Scholar
S. A., Hedin 1903. Im Herzen von Asien, zehntausend Kilometer auf unbekannten Pfaden. Bd. I. Leipzig: F. A. BrockhausGoogle Scholar
W., Hinz 1970. Islamische Masse und Gewichte, umgerechnet ins metrische System. (Handbuch der Orientalistik, 1. Abt., Erganzungsbd. I, Ht. 1.) Leiden/Köln: E. J. BrillGoogle Scholar
M. Th., Houtsma 1894. Ein tilrkisch-arabisches Glossar nach der Leidener Handschrift hrsg. und erläutert. Leiden: E. J. BrillGoogle Scholar
E., Hovdhaugen 1971. ‘Turkish words in Khotanese texts: a linguistic analysis’, Norsk Tidsskrift for Sprogvidenskap, XXIV, 163–209Google Scholar
Cl., Huart 1914. ‘Trois actes notariès arabes de Yârkend’, JA, IV, XIe sèrie 607–27Google Scholar
IA = Islam Ansiklopedisi, Istanbul, 1965–Google Scholar
G., Jarring 1964. An Eastern Turki-English dialect dictionary. (Lunds Universitets Arsskrift. N.F. Avd. 1, Bd. 56, Nr. 4.) Lund: GWK GleerupGoogle Scholar
F., Justi 1895. Iranisches Namenbuch. Marburg: N. G. Elwert (Repr. Hildesheim, 1963.)Google Scholar
M., Khadr 1967. ‘Deux actes de wakf d'un Qarahanide d'Asie Centrale’, JA, 255, 3—4; 305–34.Google Scholar
Lane = E. W., Lane, An Arabic English lexicon, Book I, Part 2, London, 1865Google Scholar
Mansuroğlu, M. 1959. ‘Das Karakhanidische’, in Deny, J. et al. (èd.), Philologise turcicse fundamenta, I. Wiesbaden: Franz Steiner: 87–112.Google Scholar
F., Meier 1981. ‘Aussprachefragen des alteren Neupersisch’, Oriens, XXVII–XXVIII, 70–176Google Scholar
K. H., Menges 1955. Glossar zu den volkskundlichen Texten aus Ost-Tilrkistan. (Akademie der Wissenschaft und der Literatur. Abh. der Geistes- und Sozialwissenschaftlichen Klasse. Jg. 1954, Nr. 14.) Wiesbaden: Franz SteinerGoogle Scholar
Meninski = Mesgnien, Fr. a, Lexicon Arabico-persico-lurcicum, vols. I–IV, Viennae, 1780–1801.Google Scholar
M. = V., Minorsky, ‘Some early documents in Persian (I)’, JBAS, 1942, 181–94CrossRefGoogle Scholar
MK. [Maḥmūd al-Kāšgarī] = the first volume of Dankoff and Kelly (1982) and Atalay, B., Divanü lûgat-i-türk, vols. I–V (Translation, 3 vols.; Index, 1 vol.; Facsimiles, 1 vol.), Ankara, 1939–1943Google Scholar
QB[Yūsuf Ḫāṣṣ Ḥāğagib's Quiadgu Bilig] = Arat, R. Rahmeti (ed.), Kutadgu Bilig. Text, Istanbul, 1947; Translation, Ankara, 1974; Index, Istanbul, 1979.Google Scholar
V., Radlov 1893–1911. Versuch eines Wörterbuches der Türk-Dialecte. St. Pètersbourg: Commissionaires de I'Acadèmie Impèriale des Sciences. (Repr. 's-Gravenhage, 1960.)Google Scholar
M., Räsänen 1969. Versuch eines etymologischen Wörterbuchs der Tūrksprachen. (Lexica Societatis Fenno-Ugricae, XVII.) Helsinki: Suomalais Ugrilainen Seura.Google Scholar
J. W., Redhouse 1890. A Turkish and English Lexikon. Constantinople: The American MissionGoogle Scholar
W., Samolin 1964. East Turkestan in the twelfth century: a brief political survey. The Hague: MoutonGoogle Scholar
J., Sauvaget 1950. ‘Noms et surnoms de Mamlouks’, JA, 238/1: 31–58Google Scholar
J., Schacht 1964. An introduction to Islamic law. Oxford: Clarendon PressGoogle Scholar
P., Schwarz 1896. Iran im Mittelalter nach den arabischen Geographen. Leipzig: Otto Harrassowitz. (Repr. Hildesheim, 1969.)Google Scholar
B., Spuler 1961. Wöstenfeld-Mahler'sche Vergleichungs-Tabellenzurmuslimischenundiranischen Zeitrechnung … Wiesbaden: Deutsche Morgenländische GesellschaftGoogle Scholar
B., Spuler 1966. ‘Mittelasien seit dem Auftreten der Tüken.’ (Handbuch der Orientalistik. 1. Abt., 5. Bd., 5. Abschn., 123–310.) Leiden/Köln: E. J. BrillGoogle Scholar
F., Steingass 1892. A comprehensive Persian-English dictionary. London: K. Paul, Trench, Trubner. (Repr. London, 1963; Beirut, 1970.)Google Scholar
W., Sundermann 1981. ‘Nachlese zu F. W. K. Müllers “Soghdischen Texten I”’, AoF, VII, 169–225Google Scholar
T. = S., Tekin,‘Bilinen en eski Islami Türkçe metinler: Uygur harfleriyle yazilmiş Karahanlilar devrine âit tarla satiş senetleri’, Selçuklu Araştirmalan Dergisi, IV, 1975, 157–86Google Scholar
Ş., Tekin 1979–1980. ‘A Qaraḫanid document of A.D. 1121 (A.H. 515) from Yarkand’, in Eucharisterion: essays presented to Omeljan Pritsak (Harvard Ukrainian Studies, III–iv, 2: 868–83.)Google Scholar
T., Tekin 1968. A grammar of Orkhon Turkic. (Indiana University Publications. Uralic Altaic Series, Vol. 69.) Bloomington: Indiana University; The Hague: MoutonGoogle Scholar
S., Tezcan 1981. ‘Kutadgu Bilig dizini üzerine’, Belleten, XLV, 2: 23–78Google Scholar
TMEN = G., DoerferTürkische und mongolische Elemente im Neupersischen, vols. I–IV. Wiesbaden: Franz Steiner, 1963–1975Google Scholar
UW = K., RöhrbornUigurisches Wōrterbuch, Lief. 1–3, Wiesbaden, Franz Steiner, 1977–1981Google Scholar
P., Zieme 1976. ‘Zum Handel im uigurischen Reich von Qočo’, AoF, IV, 235–49Google Scholar
P., Zieme 1981. ‘Uigurische Steuerbefreiungsurkunden für buddhistische KIöster’, AoF, VIII, 237–63Google Scholar