Karaimistyka jako nieodłączny element turkologii w Wilnie

Abstract

The main aim of this article is to describe the role played of two Turkic communities residing in the territory of the Great Duchy of Lithuania from the 14th century onwards – the Karaims and the Tatars – in the appearance and development of oriental and Turkological studies in Vilnius. A short overview of the state of Oriental Studies in Vilnius, in particular in Vilnius University in the 18th–19th centuries, and its correlation with the local “Orient”, is given in the first part of the article. Most of the article focuses on the period between the two world wars, when Karaim and Tatar scholars, educationists and spiritual leaders took a very active role in investigating and popularising their own cultural heritage and Turkic culture in general. Through publications in magazines, the activities of societies and communities, an available pool of effective and skilled experts Karaim and Tatars courses emerged in Vilnius as an equivalent subject to traditional Oriental Studies and Turkology. Their achievements paved the way for the great resurgence in national identity and the revival academic research and teaching on Lithuania’s national heritage after it regained its independence in 1990. Research on the Oriental heritage of the Lithuanian Grand Duchy was out of the question during the Soviet period. Today when linguistic and cultural studies and research on Karaim and Tatar culture have become an important feature of Turkology, the Oriental studies programme in Vilnius constitutes a relevant part of professional academic life.