Turkology (or Turcology. Turkic studies or Turkish studies) is a complex of humanities sciences studying languages, history, literature, folklore, culture, and ethnology of people speaking Turkic languages and the Turkic peoples in chronological and comparative context. That includes ethnic groups from the Sakha, in eastern Siberia, to the Turks in the Balkans and the Gagauz, in Moldova.
History Ethnological information on Turkic tribes for the first time was systemized by the 11th-century Turkic philologist Mahmud al-Kashgari in the Dīwān ul-Lughat it-Turk (Dictionary of Turkic language). Multi-lingual dictionaries were compiled from the late 13th century for the practical application of participants in international trade and political life. One notable such dictionary is the Codex Cumanicus, which contains information for Cuman, Persian, Latin, and German. There are also bilingual dictionaries for Kipchak and Armenian. as well as Kipchak and Russian.
In the Middle Ages, Turkology was centered on Byzantine/Greek historians, ambassadors and travelers, and geographers. In the 15th to the 17th centuries the main subject of Turkology was the study of the Ottoman Empire, the Turkish language, and the Turkic languages of Eastern Europe and Western Asia. In 1533 a first hand-written primer appeared, and by 1612 a printed grammar by Jerome Megizer was published, followed by F. Mesgnien-Meninski's four-volume published in 1680.
Peter Simon Pallas initiated a more scientific approach to Turkology with his Comparative dictionaries of all languages and dialects (1787) which included lexical materials from Tatar, Mishar, Nogai, Bashkir, and other Turkic languages. In the 19th century, Turkology was further developed by M. A. Kazembek's Grammar of the Turkish-Tatar language (1839), O. N. Betlingk Grammar of the Yakut language (1851). A major achievement was the deciphering at the end of the 19th century of the Early Middle Age Orkhon inscriptions by V. Thomsen and W. W. Radloff (1895). By the late 19th century, Turkology had developed into a complex discipline that included linguistics, history, ethnology, archeology, arts and literature.
In the 20th century, the Turkology complex included physical anthropology, numismatics, genetics, ancient Turkic alphabetic scripts, typology, genesis, and etymology, onomastics and toponymy. The appearance of (1905–1927) inaugurated specialised periodicals, followed by (1921–1926). Scientific developments allowed calibrated dating, dendrochronology, metallurgy, chemistry, textile, and other specialized disciplines, which contributed to the development of the Turkological studies. Deeper study of the ancient sources allowed better understanding of economical, social, mythological and cultural forces of the sedentary and nomadic societies. Linguistic studies uncovered preliterate symbioses and mutual influences between different peoples.
Turkology in Germany The beginnings of modern Turkology and Turkish studies in German-speaking regions can be considered part of the broader field of Oriental studies. In Austria and Germany—especially in imperial centers like Vienna—political interest in the Turkish language led to its institutionalized study. In 1754, Maria Theresa founded the Oriental Academy (Orientalische Akademie) in Vienna, which, although not part of the university, focused heavily on Turkish and French due to political needs. One of its most famous graduates was Joseph von Hammer-Purgstall. During this early period, Turkish was usually studied alongside other Oriental languages or for practical purposes.
In Germany, the Seminary for Oriental Languages (SOS) was established in Berlin in 1887, led by Orientalist Eduard Sachau and supported by both the Prussian state and the German Empire. The institution aimed to train specialists for diplomatic and commercial roles, with Ottoman Turkish being one of the most popular languages. Notable scholars such as Friedrich Giese also taught there. However, after World War I, interest in learning Turkish declined sharply, resulting in the non-renewal of contracts for Turkish instructors at some universities. Although there was some continuity in academic careers after World War II, the influence of the philological tradition gradually weakened toward the end of the 20th century. Today, Ottoman and Turkish studies have become part of an international academic field, with English and Turkish as the main languages of scholarship. The relatively limited international recognition of German-language research is partly due to this shift.
Turkology in France The tradition of studying the Turkish language and the history, civilization, and institutions of the Turkish and Ottoman worlds in France dates back to the 16th century. This development began during the period when diplomatic relations were established between the Kingdom of France and the Ottoman Empire. These relations encouraged the introduction of the Turkish world from the perspective of political alliance.
Two major innovations supported the early progress of these studies: the foundation of the Collège Royal (later known as Collège de France), where Turkish and Arabic languages were taught, and the collection of Ottoman manuscripts and texts in the Bibliothèque Royale (later Bibliothèque Nationale).The opening of the French Embassy in Istanbul and the establishment of consulates in major Ottoman ports further strengthened ties with the Turkish world. One important institution was the Jeunes de Langues school, founded in 1669 within the French Embassy in Istanbul. This school trained many translators and later formed the foundation of the École des Langues Orientales, founded in Paris in 1795 (today known as INALCO – National Institute for Oriental Languages and Civilizations).
In the 19th century, as knowledge about the Turkish world increased, scientific research in Oriental and Turkic studies began to develop. After World War II, the death of Paul Pelliot in 1945 and the retirement of Jean Deny in 1949 marked the beginning of a new generation of Turkologists. In 1950, the École Pratique des Hautes Études in Paris established a department for Turkish History and Philology, led by Louis Bazin. In 1961, a Chair of Turkish Language and Civilization was founded at the Faculty of Letters in Aix-en-Provence, headed by Robert Mantran. A similar department was created at the University of Strasbourg in 1962, first led by René Giraud and later by Irène Mélikoff. Around these academic centers, research groups were formed with the financial and institutional support of French universities and the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS). Louis Bazin, in particular, led research in Paris on pre-Islamic Turkish history and Turkic inscriptions.
Persecution in Soviet Russia
On 9 August 1944, the Central Committee of the Soviet Communist Party, published an edict prohibiting "ancientization" of Turkic history. The edict was followed by a consecutive wave of mass arrests, imprisoning and killing of the Turkology intelligentsia, massive creation of replacement scientists, and rewriting of history pages on an industrial scale.
Many Turkology scholars in the Soviet Union were persecuted or imprisoned by Joseph Stalin's political oppression movement, the Great Purge, during the 1930s and the 1940s, on the basis of disputed Islamic writings and publications. Other cultural Scholars, such as Egyptologists and Japanologists were also subject to the political repression, in Stalin's movement to cleanse Communist Russia of ethnic minorities that posed opposition to Communism.
Most Oriental and other cultural scholars that had been repressed in the 1930s and 1940s, as well as their respective scientific works, were, however, officially rehabilitated in or after 1956.
On the other hand, the edict brought unintended benefits to Turkology. One was the nearly immediate linguistic development of an alternate lexicon, which replaced the nouns and adjectives containing the word Türk by a wealth of euphemisms: "nomads, Siberians, Paleosiberians, Middle Asians, Scythians, Altaians, Tuvians", etc. that filled scientific publications. The other was "writing into a drawer", when results of the years of fruitful work were written down for future publication. When the bonds relaxed, the publications exploded. Another was a flight of scientists from European Russia into remote areas, which brought first class scientists to many intellectually starved outlying areas of Central Asia. Another one was connected with the statewide efforts to re-invent the history, when a wealth of Turkological facts were found in the process of search for "correct" history. And another one was a built-up of the public interest for the forbidden subjects, that resulted that no print size could satisfy the demand. L.N.Gumilev and O.Suleimenov inflamed a surge in the new generation of Turkology scholars.
With the physical culling of the scholars from the society, an organized a total extermination of all their published and unpublished works took place concurrently. Their books were removed from the libraries and destroyed from private collections by an intimidated population, articles and publications were culled, published photographs were retouched, private photographs were destroyed, published scientific references were erased, and publications with undesired references were destroyed. Very few of the early 20th century expedition diaries, ethnographical notes, reports and drafts for publications were ever recovered.
Turkology scholars persecuted in 20th-century Soviet Union