Manuscripts in the Berlin State Library‌‌

After 1817 they were acquired by various emissaries, scholars, booksellers or antique dealers. Already at the beginning of the 20th century, the Berlin State Library had about 170 Chagatai manuscripts. Subsequently, the collection hardly expanded: at the end of the 20th century. Only one manuscript in this language was acquired.

Turkologists have divided the development of Chagatai into three periods.

I. The pre-classical period spans the greater part of the 15th century (1400 – 1465). Only one Chagatai manuscript held in Berlin comes from this early period, the Makhzan al-asrar or “Treasury of Secrets”. The manuscript is remarkable in that the language is Chagatai but it was written in the pre-Islamic ancient Uyghur script. It is very rare to find Islamic material conveyed in an ancient script. There are only a few works in the world that display this combination of old-style writing and a new religious creed, such as the Bahtiyar-name or the Miraj-name.

II. The classical period (1465 – 1600) follows the pre-classical. Poets like Mir Alisher Navoi, Husayn Bayqara and Babur characterize the literary creativity of the time. Typical examples are the Kulliyat of Navoi or the Diwan of Sultan Husayn Bayqara and the Diwan of Alisher Navoi. Most of the works from this era have not been preserved as autographs, however, only as copies.

III. The post-classical period extends into the early 20th century (1600 – 1921). Unfortunately only a few of the works that can be definitely assigned to this period are of a literary nature. Most of what has come down to us contains secular subject matter, such as a record of court proceedings from 1892 or a trading book from 1903.

You can learn more about the topic in the book-album "Collections of the Federal Republic of Germany" (volume XI) in the series "Cultural Legacy of Uzbekistan in the World Collections".

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