Zeki Velidi Togan

Zeki Velidi Togan (Bashkir: "Әхмәтзәки Вәлиди", sometimes also Validi) (1890– Istanbul 1970) was a historian, Turkologist, and leader of the Bashkir revolutionary and liberation movement.

Biography

He was born Äxmätzäki Wälidi(ev) Äxmätşa ulı ("Вәлиди(ев) Әхмәтзәки Әхмәтша(һ) улы") in Koedhoen (Bashkir: unicode|Көҙән) village of Sterlitamak uyezd, today Bashkortostan.

From 1912–1915 Velidi taught in the madrassa (school) in Kazan (Qasímiä), and from 1915 to 1917 he was a member of bureau, supporting Muslim deputies at the State Duma. In 1917 he was elected to Millät Mäclese, and with Ş. Manatov he organized the Bashkir Shura (Council). The Bashkir Congress at Orenburg in November–December 1917, of which Velidi was chairman, declared Bashkortostan's Independence.

In 1918 and 1919 Velidi's Bashkir troops first fought under Ataman Alexander Dutov, then under Admiral Kolchak against Bolshevik forces. After the RSFSR promised autonomy to Bashkirs, Velidi switched allegiance, fighting with the Bolsheviks.

From February 1919 to June 1920, he was chairman of the "Bashrevkom" (Bashkir Revolutionary Committee). Feeling the Bolsheviks had broken their promises, he became disillusioned with Bolshevism and moved to Central Asia.

In Turkistan, Velidi became a leader of the National Liberation Movement, referred to as the anti-Soviet Basmachi Movement by the Russians Harvard citation|Paksoy|1992. From 1920 to 1923 he was chairman of the "National Union of Turkistan". In 1923 Validi emigrated, after discovering original manuscripts of Ahmad ibn Fadlan in Iran.

From 1925 Velidi lived in Turkey, becoming a teacher and professor at Istanbul University. He gained a doctor of philosophy in 1935 at the University of Vienna. Later he was a professor at Bonn University (1935-1937) and Göttingen University (1938-1939). In 1953 he became organizer of the İslam Tetkikleri Enstitüsü (Institute for Islamic Studies) at Istanbul University. In 1967, he was given an honorary doctorate from the University of Manchester.

At the same time he contributed to the "Encyclopedia of Turkic Peoples". His articles about culture, language and history of Turkic peoples have been translated into many languages.

References

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* [http://www.spongobongo.com/zy9857.htm Z.V.Togan. MEMOIRES: Struggle for National and Cultural Independence of the Turkistan and other Moslem Eastern Turks]

External links