Kazakhstan Receives Rare Map Reproduction Highlighting Oghuz Capital Jankent

A rare artifact has been added to the collection of the National Center of Manuscripts and Rare Books, Orda.kz reports, citing the Ministry of Culture and Information.

The British Embassy donated a reproduction of a Central Asia map from sheet 44a of manuscript MS. Arab. c. 90, preserved in the Bodleian Library at Oxford. The map belongs to the anonymous work Kitab gharaib al-funun wa mulah al-uyun (The Book of Wonderful Sciences and Delights of the Eye), created in Egypt during the 12th–13th centuries.

According to the ministry, the map is of particular interest to Kazakhstan as it depicts Jankent, the capital of the Oghuz state in the 8th–11th centuries. In Arabic sources, it is referred to as Al-qaria al-hadith (“Jana Qala”). The map also marks major cities in southern Kazakhstan.

Digitized in 2002, the manuscript has since become a key source for the study of Islamic geography and medieval book culture. The Ministry of Culture noted that the reproduction carries significant scientific, cultural, and national value.

Original Author: Ruslan Loginov