Institute of Oriental Studies (Tashkent)

Institute of Oriental Studies (Tashkent)
Name	Institute of Oriental Studies (Tashkent)
Native name	Институт востоковедения (Ташкент)
Established	1943
Type	Research institute
Location	Tashkent, Uzbekistan
Affiliations	Academy of Sciences of Uzbekistan

Institute of Oriental Studies (Tashkent) is a central research institute in Tashkent dedicated to the study of Asia, the Middle East, and Africa, with historical roots in Soviet-era orientalism and contemporary ties to international scholarship on Central Asia, South Asia, and the Muslim world. It functions within Uzbekistan's scholarly architecture and engages with institutions across Eurasia, the Middle East, and beyond, producing research on languages, histories, religions, and cultures.

History

Founded in 1943 amid World War II and the restructuring of scholarly institutions in the Soviet Union, the institute succeeded earlier research units associated with the Academy of Sciences of the Uzbek SSR, the State Hermitage Museum’s Oriental collections, and regional centers formed under the Soviet Union. During the postwar period the institute interacted with institutes such as the Institute of Oriental Manuscripts and the Institute of Oriental Studies (Moscow), contributing to projects on manuscripts linked to Samarkand, Bukhara, and the Timurid Empire. In the 1960s–1980s its researchers collaborated with scholars from the Russian Academy of Sciences, the Moscow State University, the Institute of Oriental Studies (St. Petersburg), and the Institute of History of Uzbekistan. After Uzbek independence in 1991 the institute reoriented toward national historiography linked to figures like Amir Timur, Babur, and Alisher Navoi, while expanding contacts with the British Museum, the Bibliothèque nationale de France, the Suleymaniye Library, and universities such as Harvard University, SOAS University of London, Leiden University, and Columbia University.

Mission and Research Focus

The institute's mission emphasizes historical, philological, and cultural studies of regions including Central Asia, South Asia, East Asia, the Middle East, and North Africa. Research programs center on manuscript studies related to collections from Samarkand, archaeological ties to sites like Merv and Afrasiab, and Islamic intellectual history concerning scholars such as Al-Ghazali, Ibn Sina, Al-Biruni, and Imam al-Bukhari. Comparative projects address linguistic families including Turkic languages, Persian language, and Sanskrit, and examine religious traditions tied to Sufism, Shi'a Islam, Sunni Islam, and Buddhism. The institute also investigates material culture connected to the Silk Road, trade networks involving Persia, Ming dynasty, and the Ottoman Empire, and diplomatic histories referencing treaties like the Treaty of Gulistan era dynamics.

Academic Programs and Training

The institute provides postgraduate and doctoral supervision in collaboration with the Academy of Sciences of Uzbekistan, offering PhD programs in areas such as Turkology, Iranian studies, Indology, Sinology, and Arabic studies. Training includes palaeography courses referencing scripts such as Arabic script, Perso-Arabic script, Cyrillic script, and Old Uyghur alphabet, and methodological seminars inspired by scholars linked to Vladimir Lenin University networks and later exchange with departments at University of Oxford, University of Cambridge, Leiden University, and Saint Petersburg State University. It hosts visiting fellows from institutions like Cairo University, Beijing University, Jadavpur University, and American University in Cairo.

Research Centers and Publications

Internal centers specialize in manuscript studies, Turkology, Iranian studies, South Asian studies, Islamic studies, and Silk Road archaeology; these centers compare work with journals such as Journal of Asian Studies, Central Asian Survey, Iran and the Caucasus, Indian Economic and Social History Review, and Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society. The institute publishes monographs and periodicals featuring research on Baburnama manuscripts, Timurid numismatics, and Persianate literature including works by Firdawsi and Rumi. Editorial projects have involved cataloguing collections related to Chagatai language texts and coordinating conservation efforts with the International Council on Monuments and Sites and the UNESCO cultural heritage programs.

Collaborations and International Relations

The institute maintains bilateral and multilateral links with the Russian Academy of Sciences, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Turkish Historical Society, Iranian Cultural Heritage Organization, French National Centre for Scientific Research, and the German Archaeological Institute. Collaborative projects include joint expeditions with archaeologists from Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, palaeographic exchanges with the Bodleian Libraries, and digitization initiatives in partnership with World Digital Library, the Library of Congress, and the National Library of Uzbekistan. It participates in regional networks encompassing Central Asian Studies Association, Eurasian National Universities Consortium, and academic forums such as conferences hosted by UNESCO and the International Congress of Orientalists.

Facilities and Collections

Facilities include specialized reading rooms, conservation laboratories equipped for paper and textile preservation, and an archival repository holding manuscripts, rare maps, coin collections, and photographic archives from excavations at sites like Afrasiab, Gurganj, and Termez. Notable holdings are fragments linked to the Tashkent Codex, Persian and Chagatai manuscripts, early Qur'anic codices, and correspondence tied to figures such as Mirza Muhammad Taraghay (Babur). The institute's numismatic collection complements holdings in museums such as the State Museum of History of Uzbekistan and the National Museum of Afghanistan; its map collections include charts referencing the Mughal Empire, Safavid Iran, and routes of the Silk Road.

Notable Scholars and Alumni

Prominent scholars affiliated with the institute have included specialists in Turkic philology, Iranian studies, and Central Asian history who have collaborated with or studied alongside figures from Suleyman Demirel University, Tashkent State University of Oriental Studies, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Noor Muhammad Taraki-era academics, and international researchers from Princeton University, University of Chicago, Yonsei University, and Moscow State Institute of International Relations. Alumni serve in cultural institutions such as the National Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Uzbekistan, the State Committee of the Republic of Uzbekistan on Statistics, and museums like the State Museum of the Amir Temur. Their work appears in outlets linked to Anthropology Today, Asian Affairs, and regional publishing houses in Tashkent, Samarkand, Bukhara, and Almaty.

Category:Research institutes in Uzbekistan Category:Asian studies