LITERARY COVERAGE OF LIFE AND CREATIVE ACTIVITY OF XVIII CENTURY CRIMEAN HISTORIAN ABDULGHAFFAR KYRYMI: HISTORY AND PROSPECTS OF THE RESEARCH

Abstract

The proposed article is devoted to the work of a prominent crimeantatar historian and writer of the eighteenth century. To date, little is preserved about his life and creative activity. Abdulghaffar Kyrymi is best known as the author of the historical work Umdat ul-Ahbar (full title: Umdat al-Ahbar Fi tarih at-Tatar). The life and work of Abdulghaffar Kyrymi were studied by such researchers as N. Seityagyaev, R. Fazilov, M.T. Bursali, F. Koprulu, Y. Schamiloglu, D. Derin, and M. Yakubovich. His work is considered a literary monument of the XVIII century. According to researchers, Turkic manuscripts of that time were the early steps of prose pieces. Thus, the chronicles of the XVIII century, written on the territory of the Crimean Khanate are the first prose narratives of that time. The work Umdet ul-Ahbar was written in Ottoman. Until the end of the 18th century, as is known, the Ottoman (Turkic) language was used as the state language and the language of the classical literature of Crimea. The manuscript consists of several parts; it presents information on world history, the history of the prophets, the history of the Seljuks and the Ottomans, and the main part is concerned with the Golden Horde (starting with Genghis Khan and his descendants). It is believed that the work of Abdulghaffar Kyrymi presents the full history of the Golden Horde, so there is no surprise that this work is one of the most frequently used sources of the history of the Crimean Khanate and the Golden Horde. To make a thorough study of the work of Abdulghaffar Kyrymi, it is necessary, firstly, to transcribe and publish the text “Murshid al-An’am il Shiraat al-Islam”, and secondly, to consider “Umdat ul-Ahbar” a historical and biographical work that represents a prose monument of the XVIII century. This will increase the readership and become the subject of research, both the history and the history of crimeantatar literary studies.