Home

alKashgari

alKashgari, also spelled al-Kashgari or Kashgari, and best known by the name Mahmud al-Kashgari, was an 11th-century Turkic scholar and lexicographer from Kashgar in the region of Xinjiang (present-day China). Details of his life are scant, but he is generally dated to the 11th century.

He is best known for Diwan Lughat al-Turk (Compendium of the Turkic Dialects), a work written in

Significance: The Diwan Lughat al-Turk is regarded as one of the foundational sources for Turkic linguistics

Name variants and legacy: The scholar is known under several spellings in Latin transliteration, including Kasgarī

Arabic
that
serves
as
a
dictionary
and
ethnographic
compendium
of
Turkic
languages.
The
Diwan
collects
words,
phrases,
and
glosses
from
various
Turkic
dialects
and
tribes,
and
includes
proverbs,
poetry,
and
notes
on
pronunciation,
culture,
and
religion.
It
records
linguistic
material
from
broadly
defined
Turkic
groups
such
as
Karluk,
Oghuz,
Kipchak,
Uyghur,
and
others,
and
provides
early
evidence
of
Turkic
phonology
and
grammar.
and
ethnography.
It
remains
a
primary
reference
for
scholars
studying
Old
Turkic,
Central
Asian
history,
and
the
linguistic
diversity
of
the
Turkic
world,
and
it
influenced
later
Turkish,
Central
Asian,
and
Islamic
scholarship.
and
Kasgharī.
His
work
continues
to
be
cited
in
modern
Turkic
studies,
and
his
name
is
attached
to
academic
societies,
programs,
and
scholarly
editions
of
the
Diwan.