Shajara-i Tarākima

Shajara-i Tarākima
Michel Bakni · Public domain · source
Name	Shajara-i Tarākima

Shajara-i Tarākima is a medieval genealogical compendium associated with the Turkic peoples, presenting lineages, origin narratives, and tribal histories tied to Central Asian polities and dynasties. The work is cited in relation to the Seljuk Empire, Kipchak Khanate, Khwarazmian dynasty, and various Iranian, Turkic, and Mongol sources, and it has influenced later chronicles, travel narratives, and ethnographic accounts. Its contents intersect with records from the Timurid Empire, Ilkhanate, Mamluk Sultanate, and sources preserved in repositories linked to the Topkapı Palace, British Library, and Bibliothèque nationale de France.

Introduction

The compilation is presented as a genealogical tree tracing the lineages of the Turkic peoples, Oghuz Turks, Seljuks, Karakhanids, and allied clans, and engages with narratives found in the Shahnama, Persian literature, and Arab historiography. It functions alongside works such as the Hudud al-'Alam, Tarikh-i Sistan, Ibn al-Athir's histories, and the accounts of Al-Biruni, Yaqut al-Hamawi, and Ibn Khordadbeh in reconstructing medieval Central Asian ethnogenesis. The compendium is often compared to genealogical tracts used by the Ottoman Empire, Safavid dynasty, and court chroniclers in legitimization projects.

Authorship and Date

Scholars attribute the text to an anonymous compiler active in the later medieval period, with proposed composition dates ranging from the 12th to the 15th century CE, based on cross-references to events recorded by Rashid al-Din, Juvayni, Ibn al-Jawzi, and entries in the Tarikh-i Bayhaqi. Internal references to dynastic genealogies link the work to milieus influenced by the Ghaznavid dynasty, Kara-Khanid Khanate, and later Timurid patronage networks. Comparative philology with manuscripts collected by Vasily Bartold, Edward G. Browne, and Franz Rosenthal informs dating hypotheses, while citations in Ottoman archival catalogues and travelogues of Ibn Battuta and Marco Polo provide terminus ante quem markers.

Historical Context and Purpose

The compendium emerges in a period of dynastic change involving the Seljuk Empire, Khwarezm Shahs, Mongol Empire, and successor states such as the Ilkhanate and Chaghatai Khanate. It served functions similar to genealogical works in the courts of the Abbasid Caliphate, Fatimid Caliphate, and Samanid dynasty by providing legitimacy narratives for khans, sultans, and princes, and by interfacing with Persianate historiography exemplified by the Shahnameh and the historiographical methods of Persian chroniclers. The text reflects interactions among diplomats, such as envoys of the Byzantine Empire and merchants from Venice and Genoa, whose contacts with Central Asia are recorded in contemporary chronicles.

Content and Structure

The work organizes material into successive genealogical branches, origin myths, migratory accounts, and brief biographical sketches of notable figures tied to the Oghuz Yabghu, Kimek confederation, Kangly, and other tribal confederations. It parallels material found in the Dīwān Lughāt al-Turk and in the annals preserved by Mahmud al-Kashgari while incorporating toponyms linked to Transoxiana, Khorasan, Khorezm, Anatolia, and the Caucasus. The structure alternates between stemma diagrams and narrative paragraphs, echoing the format used by court historians in the Ilkhanid and Timurid chancelleries.

Genealogical Claims and Lineages

The compendium advances genealogies connecting prominent houses such as the Seljuks, Afsharids, Qajar dynasty precursors, and regional chiefs to mythic or semi-historical ancestors, invoking figures comparable to those in the genealogical schemata of the Khazars, Magyars, and Bulgar chronicles. It posits links between Turkic lineages and legendary progenitors found in the Persian epic tradition and in Turkic oral epics documented by later ethnographers like Nikolai Marr and A. Th. Vambery. These claims were used in diplomatic correspondence with the Mamluk Sultanate and in legitimating marriages with the Ilkhanid and Ottoman elites.

Influence and Reception

The compilation influenced Ottoman, Safavid, and Central Asian historiography and appears in citations by chroniclers associated with the Safavid dynasty, Ottoman Empire, Khanate of Bukhara, and Russian Empire scholars during the 18th and 19th centuries. European orientalists such as William Jones, Sir William Ouseley, Gerard Clauson, and Vladimir Minorsky engaged with its themes when reconstructing Turkic ethnogenesis, while archival interest by the British Museum, Russian State Library, and collectors like Alexander Polovtsov preserved manuscript copies.

Manuscripts and Editions

Extant manuscripts reside in collections at the Topkapı Palace, British Library, Bibliothèque nationale de France, State Hermitage Museum, and regional repositories in Tashkent, Bukhara, and Samarkand. Critical editions and translations have been attempted by scholars affiliated with institutions such as St. Petersburg University, Dar al-Mustafa, and the École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales, while catalogues produced by Ignacio Anjum and cataloguing projects at the Vatican Library list variant copies. Paleographic comparisons with codices from the Aqquyunlu and Qara Qoyunlu courts assist in establishing recension families.

Legacy and Modern Scholarship

Modern scholarship situates the compilation within debates on Central Asian identity, state formation, and the use of genealogical narratives in legitimization, engaging methodologies from comparative historiography used by Marshall Hodgson, Richard Frye, Peter Golden, and Thomas Barfield. Recent work by researchers at SOAS, Harvard University, Institute of Oriental Manuscripts (St Petersburg), and the Max Planck Institute employs digital humanities, codicology, and interdisciplinary approaches, comparing the text with sources such as Rashid al-Din's Jami' al-tawarikh, the Khwaday-Namag, and regional oral traditions collected by Vladimir Propp-influenced scholars. The compendium remains a touchstone for reconstructing medieval Turkic social networks, even as debates continue over its historicity and narrative strategies.

Category:Medieval manuscripts Category:Central Asian literature Category:Genealogy