Ottoman Studies at the IOM 1956-2005The Department of Turkic and Mongolian Studies of the IOM is a recognized center for the study of Turkey from the Middle Ages up to the present. The Memorial library of acad. A.N.Kononov is located in the department. This internationally-renowned Turkic scholar, A.N.Kononov (1906-86) worked here for a long time, being the author of many fundamental works, including Grammar of Turkish [Грамматика турецкого языка] (1941) and Grammar of Modern Turkish [Грамматика современного турецкого языка] (1956). His research into the history of Turkic studies resulted in two major monographs, The History of the Studies of the Turkic Languages in Russia [История изучения тюркских языков в России. Дооктябрьский период] (published twice, in 1972 and 1986) and The Bibliographic Dictionary of Russian Turkic Scholars. The Pre-Revolutionary Period [Библиографический словарь отечественных тюркологов. Дооктябрьский период] (1974, 1989).
The A.N.Kononov personal library of academic books which was passed to the library after his death, consists of more than 5,000 books and off-prints. By now, half of them, around 2,500 titles in Russian and Western European languages, have been numbered and catalogued. The rest of the library, consisting of books in Turkish and other Turkic languages, has still to be processed.
In the 1970s and 1980s, A.N.Kononov edited the Turcologica series. Some of these were entirely dedicated to Ottoman studies.
Ottoman manuscripts make up a considerable part of the Turkic manuscripts collection kept at the IOM. It began to be compiled from the very foundation of the AM at St Petersburg in 1818. Among the texts on Ottoman historiography there are not only some well-known chronicles such as those by Saadeddin, Mustafa Selanika and also rare treatises, for example the chronicle by K.Husein from the 17th century. Some poetic collections are of considerable artistic value, for example a 16th century manuscript of the poem Khosrov and Shirin by Sheykhi, written in Naskh calligraphy and decorated with color ornamentation, illustrated manuscripts of Ahmedi’s Iskender-name dated from the 15th and 16th centuries, etc.
In 2002, the first reference book was published on the entire Turkic manuscript collection kept at the IOM, being based on the thematic principle, so that its entries are put alphabetically within thematic groups, - L.V.Dmitrieva. The Catalogue of Turkic Manuscripts Kept at the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences [Каталог тюркских рукописей Института востоковедения Российской Академии наук]. Ed. by O.F.Akimushkin. Moscow, Vostochnaya Literatura Publishers 2002. 616 p. The catalogue contains data on 2,432 manuscripts for 1,674 texts. It reworked and partly cited three previously-published issues of The Description of Turkic Manuscripts Kept at the Institute of Oriental Studies. Pt. 1: History, by L.V.Dmitrieva, A.M.Muginov, S.N.Muratov. Moscow 1956; Pt. 2: History, Acts, Bibliography, Encyclopedias, Geography, Calendars, by L.V.Dmitrieva, S.N.Muratov. Moscow 1975; Pt. 3: Poetry and Commentaries to Poetry, Poetics, by L.V.Dmitrieva. Moscow 1980. [Описание тюркских рукописей Института востоковедения: Вып. I. История; Вып. II. История, акты, библиография, энциклопедии, география, календари; Вып. III. Поэзия и комментарии к поэтическим сочинениям, поэтика].
In recent years, a number of manuscripts from the IOM’s collection was edited. In 1961, the edition of a rare manuscript of the text by a Turkish historian from the first half of the 17th century, Kodja Husein, that is the fullest history of the state of Osman Turks beginning from its appearance in 1520, Husein. Beda’i ul-veka’i. Great Events [Хюсейн. Беда’и ул-века’и «Удивительные события»]. Ed., with introduction by A.S.Tveritinova. Annotated contents and indices by Y.A.Petrosyan. Pt. 1-2. Moscow 1961.
In 1987, I.E.Petrosyan edited and translated the Ottoman historical text from the early 17th century, The History of the Janissary Corps' Regulations. Written in 1606 as a history of the creation and organization of Janissary corps, this treatise is of a great interest. On the one hand, it is a valuable source on the history of one of the most important military and social-political institutions of the Ottoman State, on the other hand, it is one of the early critical texts of Ottoman literature the authors of which tried to analyze the unsatisfying situation of State affairs at the Ottoman Empire at the end of the 16th to the first halа of the 17th centuries, - Mebde-i kanun-i yeniceri ocagy tarihi (The History of the Janissary Corps' Regulations) [Мебде-и канун-и йеничери оджгары тарихи (История происхождения законов янычарского корпуса)]. Tr. from Turkish, with introduction, commentaries and indices by I. E. Petrosyan. Moscow 1987.
When the Leningrad Branch of the Institute of Oriental Studies was formed in 1956, it began possible to revive the direction of historical Ottoman studies initiated at the Soviet time such as the study of reform movement in Turkey from the second half of the 19th century to the beginning of the 20th century.
In recent decades, a number of monographs on the matter appeared written by the Institute’s researchers such as Y.A.Petrosyan, N.A.Dulina, I.E.Fadeeva (Petrosyan):
1. Y.A.Petrosyan. “New Ottomans” and the Struggle for the Constitution 1876 in Turkey [«Новые османы» и борьба за конституцию 1876 г. в Турции]. Moscow, Leningrad 1958.
2. Y.A.Petrosyan. The Young Ottoman Movement, from the Second Half of the 19th to the Beginning of the 20th Century [Младотурецкое движение (вторая половина XIX — начало XX вв.)]. Moscow 1971.
3. Y.A.Petrosyan. Turkish Social and Political Journalism during the Reform Period in the Ottoman Empire, from the End of the 18th to the Beginning of the 20th Century [Турецкая публицистика эпохи реформ в Османской империи (конец XVIII — начало XX вв.)]. Moscow 1985.
4. A.D.Zheltyakov, Y.A.Petrosyan. The History of Enlightenment in Turkey, from the End of the 18th to the Beginning of the 20th Century [История просвещения в Турции (конец XVIII — начало XX вв.)]. Moscow 1965.
5. I.E.Fadeeva. Midhat Pasha. Life and Activities [Мидхат-паша. Жизнь и деятельность]. Moscow 1977.
6. N.A.Dulina. The Ottoman Empire in International Relations, in the 1830-40s [Османская империя в международных отношениях (30 –40-е гг. XIX в.)]. Moscow 1980.
7. N.A.Dulina. The Tanzimat and Mustafa Reshid Pasha [Танзимат и Мустафа Решид-паша]. Moscow 1984.
The research of this area carried out from the standpoint of Marxist historiography resulted in the book, Y.A.Petrosyan, I.E.Petrosyan. The Ottoman Empire: Reforms and Reformers, from the End of the 18th to the Beginning of the 20th Century [Османская империя: реформы и реформаторы (конец XVIII — начало XX вв.)]. Moscow 1993.
Y.A.Petrosyan, who headed the Leningrad/St Petersburg Branch of the IOS from 1963 to 1996, wrote also the monograph The Ottoman Empire: Power and Downfall. Historical Essays [Османская империя: могущество и гибель. Исторические очерки] (Moscow 1990), the book of memoirs, Meetings and Partings. Notes of an Orientalist [Встречи и расставания. Записки востоковеда] (St Petersburg 2002), a number of semi-popular books such as The City on Two Continents [Город на двух континентах] (along with A.R.Yusupov; Moscow 1981, the 2nd edition) and some other publications.
Another branch of the studies at the Department was research into Early Mediaeval Turkish poetry. It resulted in the monograph by M.S.Fomkin, Sultan Veled and His Turkish Poetry [Султан Велед и его тюркская поэзия] (Moscow 1994).
K.A.Zhukov, who now works at St Petersburg University, wrote a book on the history of Turkey before the conquest of Constantinople, The Aegean Emirates in the 14th through 15th Century [Эгейские эмираты в XIV — XV вв.]. Moscow 1988. In the book he scrutinized Seljuk and Ottoman chronicles, treatises by Byzantine and Western European authors, published Venetian archival documents, data of epigraphic and numismatic studies and gave an account of political and social-economic history of Karesi, Mentese, Aydin and Saruhan Emirates. A special attention was paid to economic relations with Venice and Genoa, and one of the essays was dedicated to culture of the Emirates.
K.A.Zhukov also published the book, The Eastern Question in the Historiosophic Conception of K.N.Leontiev [Восточный вопрос в историософской концепции К.Н.Леонтьева], St Petersburg 2006. The book is dedicated to the Turkish period of life of K.N.Leontiev (1863-74), a preeminent Russian thinker.
At the moment, there is one scholar at the Department who has studied the culture and history of the Ottoman Empire, A.V.Vitol who wrote a monograph K.N.Leontiev The Ottoman Empire at the Beginning of the18th Century [Османская империя (начало XVIII в.)], Moscow 1987. This book addresses the prehistory of the Turkish reform movement. The focus of the book is on the deepening contacts with European nations, early Turkish book printing, and the genesis of Ottoman society to share in the European experience.
Dr K.A.Zhukov Translated by A.Zorin; proofread by S.Wickham-Smith
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