THE PATRIARCH OF RUSSIAN ORIENTALISM

The recent war between Israel and Palestine demonstrated once again the vulnerability of the current world order in the face of the conflict between civilizations. No appeal, peace initiative or sanction prevented the bloodshed in the Gaza Strip. The worst thing is that the Middle East is not the only point of conflict between civilizations - this phenomenon is at the root of all problems currently gripping the world. The way out of the current situation is to step up the dialogue between cultures and civilizations - both at state and international level and with the involvement of the scientific community.

Mirza Aleksandr

In this respect, the Azerbaijani people have always been rightfully proud of their scientists, enlighteners and public and political figures, who have made considerable contributions to the development of intercultural dialogue. One such scientist and enlightener was Mirza Mahammadali Kazimbay. His works on issues of politics, philosophy and law have entered the golden treasury of science both in the East and the West. Russians regard Mirza Kazimbay as a prominent representative of advanced public opinion. A member of various scientific societies in Russia, the USA, Britain, France, Germany and Holland, Kazim-bay is known in the world of science as a researcher into the history, philosophy, politics, law and literature of Middle Eastern peoples and as a connoisseur of Islam and Islamic law. Living far from his homeland, Kazimbay never forgot it and loved it to his last breath.

Kazimbay's father, Haci Maham-mad Qasim, was finance minister to the well-known ruler of the Quba Khanate, Fatali Khan and, from 1807-1820, he was sheikh ul-Islam of Derbent. During a pilgrimage to holy places linked to the Prophet Muhammad, he married the daughter of Mirbaqir Khan, governor of the Iranian city of Rasht, where Kazimbay was born on 22 June 1802. In 1811, the nine-year-old Kazimbay and his mother moved to his father's place in Derbent.

Having a great thirst for knowledge from childhood, Kazimbay studied a full course in Islamic law with his father's help and learnt Azerbaijani, Tatar and Persian. At the same time, he learnt Arabic, Turkish and Russian. At 17, Kazimbay wrote his first work in Arabic - "Experience of Arabic Grammar".

Rejoicing at the inspirational intelligence of his son and seeing him as a worthy successor, Haci Mahammad intended to send Kazimbay to Iran and Arabia to develop his religious knowledge. However, these dreams were not fated to come true. Following a plot, the tsarist government accused Haci Mahammad Qasim of treason against Russia on behalf of Iran and removed him from the post of sheikh ul-Islam. A court ruling exiled him to Astrakhan. Another reason for such unfair treatment was that his wife was originally from Persia.

In Derbent, Kazimbay became friendly with some of his father's acquaintances - Scottish missionaries. In his conversations with them, he urged them to benefit from the advantages of Islam. At the same time, in trying to understand the essence of Christianity, Kazimbay began learning Hebrew and English. In 1821, he went to Astrakhan in order to see his exiled father. From Astrakhan, he was planning to go to eastern countries and complete his education. In Astrakhan, Kazimbay again met the Christian missionaries and started teaching them oriental languages. In turn, they taught him European languages. Remaining loyal to their missionary activity, the Scots tried to convert the young, inexperienced Muslim and achieved their goal in the end - a fanatical Muslim, Mahammadali finally adopted Protestantism (a Christian denomination common in England and America). From then onwards, he was known by the name Mirza Aleksandr Kazimbay. Kazimbay's parents and other Muslims turned their back on him, as they considered him to be an infidel. But this did not interfere with his research into Islam and the East at large.

During his four years' stay in Astrakhan, Kazimbay learnt English, French, German and some Hebrew. In general he read, wrote and spoke in six languages. In order to improve his knowledge of European sciences, he was invited to England in 1824. However, fearing that the English might use the young man for their own purposes, the tsarist government decided to isolate him from them. On the basis of a report from A. P. Yermolov, commander-in-chief in the Caucasus, Kazimbay was sent to Omsk and appointed a teacher of the Tatar language in a cadet corps; this was actually tantamount to exile.

On his way to Omsk in early 1926, Kazimbay fell sick and decided to stay in Kazan. The rector of Kazan University, K. F. Fuks, invited Kazimbay to be his guest. Amazed by the young man's talent, the professor introduced him to the most respected people of the city and, at the request of Kazan scientists, Kazimbay was appointed a lecturer (senior teacher) in the Arabic and Persian languages in the university in October 1926.

A highly erudite scientist

At 26, Kazimbay was elected an active member of the London Royal Asiatic Society and two years later he was granted a master's degree in oriental linguistics for his work on Arabic philology in Persian. Documents show that when Kazimbay was appointed lecturer he was not very proficient in Russian, which is why he decided to learn the language properly. He was soon delivering his lectures in Russian. At the same time, Kazimbay took on a very difficult task - he began translating Sa'adi's work "Gulistan" into Russian, finishing it at the end of 1829. In parallel with his work at the university, Kazimbay also engaged in serious scientific researches. Having completed his "Dissertation on Arabic Literature", he also completed his work of historical research, "Assab as-Sayab or Seven Stars", on the Crimean Khanate.

Known in Russian scientific circles as a highly erudite scientist, Kazimbay was elected a corresponding member of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

The 20 years of Kazimbay's tenure as a professor at Kazan University were marked by effective scientific and pedagogical work. His contribution to the study of the Azerbaijani language is especially notable. He developed the main grammatical principles of the language and was the first to publicize the scientific foundation of the term "Azerbaijani language".

Having set off to Saint Petersburg at the official invitation of Saint Petersburg University, Kazimbay began teaching Persian and Arabic in the department of oriental studies. In 1850, he was elected an active member of the Russian Geographic Society and, some time later, he prepared his research "Derbentname" on the ancient history of Sirvan and Derbent. During his 12 years' work on the project Kazimbay used information not only from the manuscripts he knew, but also from the works of Western European authors. For this research, which had great repercussions in Russia and Western Europe, he was granted the very prestigious Demidov Prize of the Saint Petersburg Academy of Sciences and was then awarded a medal by the queen of England. Continuing his work at Saint Petersburg University, Kazimbay also gave lectures on the Turkish language to officers of the Imperial Military Academy and even developed a textbook for the course, which is why he was again awarded the Demidov Prize. Following the reorganisation of the department of oriental languages into a faculty in 1854, Kazimbay was elected its first dean. At his proposal, courses in ancient and modern Arabic, Persian, Turkish (Ottoman), Azerbaijani, Jagatay, Mongol, Kalmyk, Manchurian, Chinese, ancient and modern Hebrew and Georgian and its dialects were launched in the faculty. Nothing of the sort had been done before in any Western European country. Moreover, Kazimbay secured the teaching of international relations, political economics, civil and criminal law, Latin and pedagogy in the faculty of oriental languages.

During those years, Kazimbay prepared his "Full Concordance of the Koran" (concordance is a long established and traditional method of studying the Koran which had not been fully assessed) upon which he had begun work in Kazan. It should be noted that Kazimbay dedicated 25 years of his life to this work. The magazine of the Ministry of People's Education wrote of the concordance: "The Islamic world and the orientalists from every country who study this world are extremely grateful to Kazimbay for this work."

Kazimbay researched into the sources of Arabic, Persian, Turkish and Azerbaijani literary works and their mutual links. His works cover Arabic literature from the period of early Islam, Persian literature from Firdausi to the early 19th century and Azerbaijani literature from the great Nizami to Mirza Fatali Axundov.

In Saint Petersburg, Kazimbay expanded his scientific activity even further, publishing works on Turkology and the history and religions of the East. The "Textbook of the Turkish Language", which was published in 1854, included a brief grammatical essay on the Turkish language, various texts written in the Ottoman Empire and a dictionary with translations of more than 6,700 Russian words. His article "The interpretation of Russian words which resemble words from oriental languages", which was published in the same year, was dedicated to the methodology of studying orientalisms in Russian dictionaries.

The establishment of political philosophy in Russia in the 19th century was also linked to Kazimbay. His political views were reflected in the works "Muridism and Shamil" and "Bab and Babists". "Muridism and Shamil" was a great contribution to the study of the anti-tsarist movement of Caucasian highlanders. Kazimbay described it not only as a religious movement, but also as one which occurred under political banners, and he linked it to domestic events in Russia. The author clearly demonstrated that it was impossible to conquer a freedom-loving people by means of force. The Caucasus could be conquered only via nobility, unselfish bravery and justice. Two meetings with Shamil, who was under arrest in Saint Petersburg, expanded considerably Kazimbay's ideas about the liberation movement of the Caucasus highlanders. Shamil told Kazimbay many interesting stories. With typical far-sightedness, Kazimbay recorded that the movement of mountain people had not yet run its course and might flare up at any time. A copious work by Kazimbay, published in 1865, was dedicated to the Babist's uprising in Iran and their leader and sect-founder, Seyyed Ali Mohammad Babi (bab means 'door' in Arabic). In the introduction, the author wrote that "Islam is a religion that does not hinder civilization". A graphic example of this was the transportation, under the Abbasid dynasty, of all sources of Greek culture to the then capital of Islam, Baghdad, and the further spread of all spheres of scientific and artistic achievement to the whole of Europe. Kazimbay made a great contribution to, and played a leading role in, the development of the world's scientific knowledge of the East. The best traditions of the scientific school he established in this sphere have come down to the present time. Kazimbay was an orientalist of world renown and the founder of the Russian school of orientalism.

Kazimbay's tireless and titanic work allowed him to secure outstanding achievements in science, but undermined his health. After a sudden deterioration in his health, a decision was made to send him abroad for treatment. He took treatment for several months in Germany, Paris and London, and continued his scientific activity at the same time.

The outstanding scientist died on 27 November 1869 and was buried in the Pavlov graveyard in Saint Petersburg.

Kazimbay has gone down in history as an outstanding scientist and researcher into Islam and Islamic law and as the patriarch of Russian orientalism.