Dīwān ul-Lughat al-Turk

Dīwān Lughāt al-Turk ديوان لغات الترك
National Library of Turkey
Map from Mahmud al-Kashgari's Dīwān (11th century)
Type	dictionary
Date	1072-74
Place of origin	Baghdad
Language(s)	Turkish, Arabic
Scribe(s)	Muhammed al-Dameshqi
Author(s)	Mahmud al-Kashgari
Material	first comprehensive dictionary of Turkic languages
Discovered	Ali_Amiri

The Turkic scholar Mahmud Kashgari studied the Turkic languages of his time and wrote the first comprehensive dictionary of Turkic languages, ديوان لغات الترك Dīwān Lughāt al-Turk (Arabic: "Compendium of the languages of the Turks") in 1072-74. It was intended for use by the Caliphs of Baghdad, who were controlled by the Seljuk Turks. Mahmud al-Kashgari's comprehensive dictionary, later edited by the Turkish historian, Ali Amiri, contains specimens of old Turkic poetry in the typical form of quatrains of (Perso-Arabic literature, Azerbaijani: dördəm, رباعیات rubāiyāt; Turkish: dörtlük), representing all the principal genres: epic, pastoral, didactic, lyric, and elegiac. His book also included the first known map of the areas inhabited by Turkic peoples. This map is housed at the National Library in Istanbul.