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ANCIENT TOPONYMS IN THE WORKS OF ABU RAYKHAN BERUNI
Usmonaliev Isroiljon Ibrokhimjon ugli
Teacher of Namangan state university
https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.14642976
Annotation:
This article provides detailed information about the life,
scientific activity of Abu Raykhan Beruni, as well as the formation of the
toponymic history of Central Asian cities and their naming in his works.
Keywords:
encyclopedist, work, analysis, toponomics, territory, city,
science, activity, river, history, scientific, natural sciences.
Annotatsiya:
Mazkur maqolada Abu Rayhon Beruniyning hayoti, ilmiy
faoliyati hamda uning asarlarida O‘rta Osiyo shaxarlarining toponimik tarixining
shakllanishi va ularning nomlanishi haqida batafsil ma’lumot berilgan.
Kalit so‘zlar:
qomusiy olim, asar, tahlil, toponomika, hudud, shahar, fan,
faoliyat, daryo, tarix, ilmiy, tabiiy fanlar.
Аннотация:
В статье дается подробная информация о жизни и
научной деятельности Абу Райхана Беруни, а также о формировании
топонимической истории городов Средней Азии и их наименовании в его
трудах.
Ключевые слова:
энциклопедист, труд, анализ, топономика,
территория, город, наука, деятельность, река, история, научный,
естественные науки.
One of the encyclopedists, Abu Raykhan al-Biruni, was one of the great
encyclopedists of the Middle Ages. His greatness is reflected in the unique
scientific heritage he contributed to almost all sciences of that era.
He was engaged not only in astronomy and other natural sciences, but also
in history and the history of religion. With more than 160 works written by the
scientist, he made a huge contribution to the development of astronomy,
astrology, mathematics, geography, geodesy, geology, mineralogy, arithmetic,
medicine. history, philology and other sciences.[1]
In addition to his native Khorezm language, Beruni knew Persian, Arabic,
Greek, Hebrew and Syriac, and at the age of 50 he learned Sanskrit. Abu Raykhan
Beruni provided information about the cities of Central Asia and Khorasan in his
works. He wrote works such as “Monuments of Ancient Peoples”, “Geodesy”,
“Masud’s Law”, “Mineralogy”, “Pharmacognosy”, “Kitab at-Tafkhim”,
“Understanding Astrology”, “History of Khorezm”. [2]
Almost all of his works mention the cities of Central Asia, describing either
their history, climate or population. Beruni mentioned more than 400 villages,
mountains, rivers, cities and islands in his work “Saydana”, and more than 600
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place names in his book “Masud’s Law”. Of these, 85 belong to Central Asia and
Khurosan. The book “Masud’s Law” shows the longitudes and latitudes of these
places and gives a brief explanation of almost all of them. Balkh - the ancient
name is Bomi. Obiskur - on the (Caspian) sea, the port of the city of Jurjan, in the
Jurjan province. On the Kalif-Jaykhun river, in the Khurosan province. Maymana
- now Jahudon, in the Khorasan province.
Wakhan - on the border of the ruby deposits, in the Khorasan province.
Bolkhan - here the Jaykhun river turns and flows into the Jurjan sea, in the
Ghuzia province. Jurjaniya - one of the cities of Khurosan, west of Jaykhun. [3]
Kot - the second city (of Khorasan), on the eastern bank of Jaykhun, in the
Khorasan province. Omuyya - the place where (Khorasan) crosses to
Movuraunnakhr, in the Khorasan province. Tawvis - a place where there is an
annual market. In the Khorasan province. Barskhan - next to Issyk-Kul, this is a
hot lake.
In the Turkestan region, Abu Raykhan Beruni in his work “Masud’s Law”
listed the cities of Central Asia in a table format and gave toponymic information
about them. In particular, Tashkent is mentioned as follows: “Binkat is one of the
cities of Shash, in Turkish Tashkent. This is the Burj al-Hijra fortress of Greek
authors”.
In addition, the following territories are also named differently in the work:
Baykand (Poykand) - a city located southwest of Bukhara. Ruins near the
current Yakkatut station. It was also called Badzarubai. Kesh (Kitab and
Shahrisabz) - called Majam at in Persian. Sutkent - a city on the Khasart River.
Karyat al-Hadisa - near the confluence of the Khasart River, near Lake Khorezm,
Guzlar region. Yangikent - in the foothills of the Syrdarya River (opposite the
current city of Kazalinsk, ruins on the left side of the river). Yangikent - Janikent
in Turks, “Kariyat al-Hadisa” in Arabs (qariyat - village, khodiza - new, i.e. “new
village”) and “Madinat al-Jadida” (madina - city. jadida - New city) and Tajiks
wrote Dekhinav (dekh - village, nav - new, New village). In addition, the scientist
also cited the names of rivers in his works. One of them is Syrdarya. Syrdarya -
Hasart. In his works in Greek, it is given as Yaksart. [4] But this is not the Greek
name of Syrdarya, but the name Hasart (or Kasart) was corrupted in Greek and
took the form of Yaksart. 120 years ago, the Polish orientalist I. Lelewellyn
managed to compile a map of Central Asia based on the Beruniy table. He wrote
the names of 40 cities and rivers and 8 regions on his map.
Abu Raykhan Beruni’s geographical and toponymic heritage is presented in
the works “History of India”, “Al-Osarul Bakiya”, “Masud’s Law”. The scientist
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said that among the Khorezmians, Vakhsh was the name of a goddess who
controlled the waters, including the Jaykhun River. [5] Therefore, toponyms
such as Vakhsh, a right tributary of the Amu Darya, and Vakhshivardara in the
Surkhandarya region, are a reflection of the name of that mermaid. In the work
“Geodesy”, Beruni called the Sarikamisli commune of that time Khiz Tengiz, that
is, “Maiden Sea”. The scientist expressed a number of opinions regarding the
laws of toponymy, for example, he says that the meaning of a number of words
changed as a result of the Greeks and Arabs distorting and pronouncing Turkic
words to suit their own languages.
In conclusion, it should be said that Abu Raykhan Beruni, in his works, fully
described and analyzed the toponymic names of cities, regions, and rivers in
Central Asia.
References:
1.Madrakhimov Z. Historical toponymy (study guide) – T: “Navruz”, 2017. – P.
25.
2. Korayev S. Toponomics. -Tashkent., 2006. – P. 50.
3. Dusimov Kh. Brief explanatory dictionary of place names - T.: Teacher, 1977. –
P 55.
4. Shoniyozov K. The process of formation of the Uzbek people. - T.: West, 2001.
– P 74.
5. Бабабеков X. История Коканда. - Тошкент: Фан, 2006. - 29 с.
