WORKS OF FOREIGN TOURISTS VISITING CENTRAL ASIA IN THE XIX CENTURY AS A SOURCE IN THE STUDY OF REGIONAL ETHNOTOPONYMS

Abstract

This article classifies and analyzes the ethnotoponyms of the region, which are found in “travelogues” created based on travel memoirs of foreign tourists and officials of the countries who visited Central Asia in the XIX century. We know that ethnotoponyms are place names associated with "ethnos", which reflect the composition of the population of a particular area and the socio-economic processes associated with them, as well as traditions and values. One of the most important issues of historical toponymy is the comparative analysis of ethnotoponyms based on known sources, the study of the ethnic composition of the population of the region, demographic processes and factors influencing them in terms of sourceology and historiography. In this regard, the study of place names in the khanates based on travelogues of foreign tourists visiting the Central Asian khanates, which are planned to be disclosed in the article, serves to fill in some gaps not mentioned in local sources. The main purpose of the study is to recognize the source significance of travelogues in the study of Central Asian ethnotoponyms, and by determining the weight of ethnotoponyms in them, the general purpose of travelogues is to reveal their differences and similarities and to develop the principle of classification according to certain criteria. The article used research methods such as systematic analysis, chronology, problem-chronological, as well as toponymic stratification of place names, genetic analysis, used in historical research. As a result of the research, the role of travelogues as a common source and the total weight of ethnotoponyms of Central Asia in them were shown. The classification of existing ethnotoponyms, peculiarities of their emergence, theoretical and practical aspects of the study of ethnoponyms in the socio-economic and ethnic history of the khanate was analyzed.