Old Turkic is the earliest, directly attested Turkic language. This original work describes the grammar of Old Turkic. The language is documented in inscriptions in the 'runic' script in Mongolia and the Yenisey basin, from the seventh to the tenth century; in Uygur manuscripts from Chinese Turkestan in Uygur, and in runic and other scripts (comprising religious - mostly Buddhist -, legal, literary, medical, folkloric, astrological and personal material), from the ninth to the thirteenth century; and in eleventh-century Qarakhanid texts, mostly in Arabic writing. All aspects of Old Turkic are...

The first exhaustive key to the sources to, and the proper names of the Alans. The scattered nature of sources and their dispersion in time, space and intermediary languages may explain the lack of a true comprehensive guide to this important ancient people, a nomadic tribe of Iranian stock, living from one end of the Eurasian steppes to the other. Documents from ancient up to medieval times regularly make, in a wide variety of languages, mention of the Alans. With his Sources on the Alans Agusti Alemany now provides us for the first time with a reliable and exhaustive handbook by...

Yuri Bregel's Atlas provides us with a bird's eye view of the complicated history of this important part of the Islamic world, which is closely connected with the history of Iran, Afghanistan, China, and Russia; at different times parts of this region were included in these neighboring states, and since 1991 five new independent states emerged in Central Asia: Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan. Covering the 4th century B.C. to the present, the maps show the various political entities, their approximate borders, the major ethnic groups and their...

This up-to-date, comprehensive, thematically indexed bibliography devoted to Afghanistan now and yesterday will help readers to efficiently find their way in the massive secondary literature available. Following the pattern established by one of its major data sources, viz. the acclaimed Index Islamicus, both journal articles and book publications are included and expertly indexed. An indispensable entry for all those taking professional or personal interest in a nation so much the focus of attention today.

Evidence of old Georgian, the only written language in the South Caucasian family for many centuries, presents us with a unique source of knowledge for this region; history, law, religion. This dictionary of old-Georgian by Professors Fahnrich and Sardshweladse (+) fills a long-felt hiatus and opens up for the first time the lexicon of its first seven centuries, viz. the 4th to the 11th centuries A.D. The explanatory language is German. All old Georgian words and word meanings are accompanied by ample evidence from the texts themselves, the result of painstaking research over many decades. A...

During the last couple of decades Afghanistan's cultural heritage has faced exceptional challenges. Looting of the National Museum, 'Kabul Museum', the neglect of monuments and extensive illegal excavations have taken place. However, what really shook the world was the destruction of the Buddhas of Bamiyan in March 2001. This volume focuses on Afghanistan's cultural heritage protection. Its purpose is threefold. To provide an overview of the diversity of activities undertaken in the cultural heritage field. To change public opinion into a more positive one. And to serve as an example for...

This dictionary, the first of its kind in Turkological studies, will prove to be an invaluable research tool for those studying the Crimea, Ukraine, as well as Eurasian Nomadism. It is the result of year-long painstaking research into the etymology of Crimean pre-Russian habitation names, providing insight into the Turkic, Greek, Caucasian place-names in a comparative context, as well as the histories of these cities, towns and villages themselves. The dictionary contains approximately 1,500 entries, preceded by an introduction with notes on the history of the Crimea and the structure of...

The Kitan language and script have disappeared from history for more than 800 years. Recent research has partially deciphered a number of Kitan inscriptions, reveal significantly more of its lexicon and morphology. This book summarises the current state of research.