— The Department of Turkic and Mongolian Studies —

When the Institute of Oriental Studies (now the Institute of Oriental Manuscripts) was established in 1930, there were three departments for Turkic and Mongolian studies: the Turkic Department, Central Asian Department and Mongolian Department. In 1956, the Department of Turkic and Mongolian Studies was formed on their basis. Acad. A.N. Kononov served as its Chairman from 1956 to 1964. He was succeeded by the current Chairman Dr S.G. Klyashtornyj.

There are several principal aspects of the academic activities carried out by scholars of the Department.

Turkic and Mongolian archaeography. In 2004, the long project of providing academic descriptions and cataloguing the Turkic and Mongolian collections kept at the Institute was completed. The following catalogues have been published: 1) L.V. Dmitrieva, A.M. Muginov, S.N. Muratov, Description of the Turkic Manuscripts Kept At the Institute of Oriental Studies, in 3 vols, Moscow 1965, 1975, 1980; 2) L.V. Dmitrieva, Catalogue of Turkic Manuscripts Kept At the Institute of Oriental Studies, Moscow 2002; 3) I.V. Kulganek, Catalogue Of Mongolian Folk Materials In the Orientalists’ Archives At the St Petersburg Branch of the Institute of Oriental Studies, St Petersburg 2000; 4) A.G. Sazykin, Catalogue of Mongolian Manuscripts And Xylographs of the Institute of Oriental Studies, in 3 vols, Moscow 1988, 2001, 2003; 5) A.G. Sazykin, Catalogue Of the Buryat Xylographs And Lithographs Preserved In St Petersburg Collections, Kyoto 2004.

Turkic and Mongolian textological studies. From 1956 to 2002, a lot of manuscript and epigraphic texts in Mongolian, Turkish, Old Uigur and Old Turkic were published (in both facsimile and critical editions), scrutinised and translated. The most important papers (mostly in Russian) are as follows: Alisher Navoi, Diwan, Edition of the text, introduction and indices by L.V. Dmitrieva, Мoscow 1964; T.J. Evdokimova, Jatakas by Arya Shura In a Mongolian Collection Of Fairy Tales From the 19th Century, — in Turkic and Mongolian Written Monuments. Textological and Cultural Aspects of Their Studies, Moscow, 1992; I.V. Kulganek, The World of Mongolian Folk Songs, St Petersburg 2001; Mebde-i kanun-i yeniceri ocagy tarihi (The History of the Janissary Corps' Regulations), Introduction, translation from Turkish, commentaries and indices by I. E. Petrosyan, Moscow 1987; Husein. Beda’i ul-veka’i’ (Miraculous Events), ed. by A.S. Tveritinova, Y.A.Petrosyan, in 2 parts, Moscow 1961; The Story of Choijid-dagini, Facsimile edition, transliteration, translation from Mongolian, Introduction and Notes by A.G. Sazykin, Moscow 1990; Ratnabhadra, The Moon’s Light: a Biography of Rabjam Zaya-pandita, Facsimile edition, translation from Oirat by G.N. Rumyantsev and A.G. Sazykin, transliteration, introduction, notes by A.G. Sazykin, St Petersburg 1999; A.G. Sazykin, The Fifth (Anonymous) Mongolian Translation Of the Diamond Sutra, — in Acta Orientalia Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae, T. 52, No 2, Budapest 1999; Agvan Dorjiev, The Amusing Story About the Journey Around the World (Autobiography) , Facsimile edition, translation by A.D. Tsendina, transliteration, notes, glossary by A.G. Sazykin, A.D. Tsendina, Moscow 2003; Visions of the Buddhist Hell, introduction, translation, notes, glossary by A.G. Sazykin, St Petersburg 2004; L.Y. Tugusheva, The Fragments Of Uigur Biography of Xuan Zang, Moscow 1980; L.Y. Tugusheva, The Uigur Biography of Xuan Zang, Moscow 1991; L.Y. Tugusheva, The Uigur Version of Dasakarmapathavadanamala, Kyoto 1998 (in cooperation with M. Shogaito and S. Fujishiro); N.S. Yakhontova, The Oirat Version of „The Story of Molon-toyn“, St Petersburg 1999; N.S. Yakhontova, The „Oyun tülkigür“ or „Key to Wisdom“: Text and translation based on the MSS in the Institute for Oriental Studies at St.Petersburg, — in Mongolian Studies (Bloomington),Vol. 23, 2000.

The history and culture of the Ottoman Empire (Turkey) in both the Middle Ages and Modern Times. The following papers should be mentioned here: A.V. Vitol, The Ottoman Empire At the Beginning of the 18th Century, Мoscow 1987; N.A. Dulina, Tanzimat and Mustafa Reshid Pasha, Moscow 1984; K.A. Zhukov, The Aegean Emirates In the 14th and 15th Centuries, Moscow 1988; K.A. Zhukov, Börklüce Mustafa, was he another Mazdak? — in Collection Turcica, Vol. IX, Paris, 2005; I.E. Petrosyan (Fadeeva), Midhat Pasha. His Life and Activities, Moscow 1977; I.E. Petrosyan, J.A. Petrosyan, The Ottoman Empire: Reforms and Reformers From the End of the 13th Century To the Beginning of the 20th, Moscow 1993; J.A. Petrosyan, The Young Turk Movement During the Second Half Of the 19th Century Trough the Beginning Of the 20th, Moscow 1971; J.A. Petrosyan, The Ancient City On the Shore of the Bosphorus, Moscow 1991; M.S. Fomkin, Sultan Veled And His Poetry In Turkish, Moscow 1994.

The history and culture of the Turks of Central Asia in both Ancient Times and Middle Ages. The most important monographs are as follows: S.G. Klyashtornyj, The Ancient Turkic Runic Texts As a Source On the History of Central Asia, Moscow 1964 (published also in Chinese, Harbin 1991, and in Uigur, Urumchi 2000); S.G. Klyashtornyj, A.A. Kolesnikov, Eastern Turkestan As Seen By Russian Travelers Of the Latter Half Of the 19th Century, Alma-Ata 1988; S.G. Klyashtornyj, A.A. Kolesnikov, M.S. Baskhanov, Eastern Turkestan As Seen By European Travelers, Alma-Ata 1991; S.G. Klyashtornyj, T.I. Sultanov, Kazakhstan. The Chronicle of the Three Millennia Kazakhstan, Alma-Ata 1992; S.G. Klyashtornyj, D.G. Savinov, The Steppe Empires of Eurasia, St Petersburg 1994; S.G. Klyashtornyj, T.I. Sultanov, States And Peoples of Eurasian Steppes. The Ancient Time And Middle Ages, St Petersburg 2000; S.G. Klyashtornyj, T.I. Sultanov, The History of Central Asia And Runic Texts, St Petersburg 2003 (the second edition St Petersburg 2004).

Linguistic studies of different Turkic languages and Mongolian. There are following principal monographs by linguists of the Department: L.V. Dmitrieva, The Language of the Barabin Tatars, Leningrad 1981; A. N. Kononov, The Grammar Of Modern Written Turkish, Moscow—Leningrad 1956; A.N. Kononov, The Grammar Of Turkic Runic Texts of the 7th—9th Centuries, Leningrad 1980; The Dictionary of Old Turkic, by a group of authors, including L.Y. Tugusheva, Leningrad 1969; L.Y. Tugusheva, Literary Turkic Of the Early Middle Ages, St Petersburg 2001; N.S. Yakhontova, Literary Oirat Of the 17th Century, Moscow 1996.

The history of Russian Turkic and Mongolian studies. The theme was developed in the following publications: A.N. Kononov, The History Of The Academic Study of the Turkic Languages in Russia Until the Revolution Of 1917, Leningrad 1972; A.N. Kononov, The Sketch Of the History Of The Academic Study of Turkish, Leningrad 1976; A.N. Kononov, I.I.Iorish, Leningrad Oriental Institute. To the History of the Soviet Oriental Studies, Moscow 1977; One’s Own Soul Is the Measure Of the World. The Diaries of A. Kondratiev, a Participant of the P.K. Kozlov Expedition of 1923—1926, edited by I.V. Kulganek and D.D. Vassiliev, Moscow 2000; The Diaries of Ts. Zhamtsarano of 1903—1906, edited by I.V. Kulganek, Ts.P. Vanchikova, V.Ts. Lyksokova, Ulan-Ude 2001; The Life And Academic Activities Of the Mongolist O.M. Kovalevsky, with three chapters by I.V. Kulganek, Kazan 2004.

The Department has published two periodicals: Turkologicheskij Sbornik / Turcologica (ed. by S.G. Klyashtorny, there are 14 issues published in 1966—2005) and Mongolica (ed. by S.G. Klyashtorny and I.V. Kulganek, seven issues have been published since 1986).