Movarounnahr’s in the dictionary of countries

In cooperation with the Institute of Asia-Africa Studies at the University of Hamburg, Germany, an online seminar was held in the series “Cultural treasures of the Zarafshan Oasis” at the Imam Bukhari International Research Center. Employees of the Center, researchers of scientific institutions of our country and abroad, as well as scientists from Germany, Austria and the USA took part in it.

At the seminar, professor Kurt Franz, researcher of the Prospective Research Center of the Institute of Asian-African Studies at the University of Hamburg, gave a lecture on the topic “Movarounnahr in Yaqut Hamavi’s work “Mojamul Buldon”.

The speaker informed that the etymology of the word “Movarounnahr” was described in various aspects and noted that the author had the necessary skills and abilities to adequately cover the region.
Hamavi give more information about Bukhara, Turkestan, Khurasan, Khorezm and Samarkand (6 pages), and about Akhsikat, Asfijab, Ferghana, Termiz, Jayhun River, Ash-Shasha, i.e. Shosh, very little information (4 and a half pages). There are also places where one-line information is given. For the author, he prefers to address the product on paper instead of leaving the address.
Professor Franz focused on the article about Ash-Shasha. Hamavi provides philological comments on the name of the city, its geographical location, terrain, inhabitants, as well as information about the scribes who grew up from the old Shosh.
In general, the description of Movarounnahr in the work shows the region from the most advanced parts of the world as a country that rightfully ranks among the major cultural centers of that time.

Manuscript copies of the work, which are now kept in the libraries of European and Middle Eastern countries, are considered an important source for the study of geography, literature, language, and history of the period up to the 13th century.

The seminar continued with intense questions and answers.