Azerbaijani Turkish as a potential common
language for Turkistan
Of course, I remembered O’Donovan’s dash into Merv.
His book was not ready, I think, when I left England, nor did I ever meet Mr. O’Donovan;
but I wrote to ask him for useful hints. He afterwards perished with the army
of Hicks Pasha in the Soudan; but his reply is before me, and I take pleasure
in recording the kindness with which he sent me a letter of three sheets
answering my questions.
Some parts of his letter are of sufficient general
interest to warrant my printing them. He wrote from “Dinard, Ile et Vilaine,
France, 17th June, 1882,” and said: ―
“When I was at Merv, I bought from a Jewish merchant
of the place, named Matthi, a copy of the New Testament printed by one of the
Bible Societies in the language of the nomadic Turkomans ― Jagatai Tatar. I
believe you can get any number of them in London, for it was there that the
copy I saw was printed. For general distribution in Central Asia, the
Scriptures printed in the Turkish of Azerbaijan (West Caspian provinces), and
which resembles as nearly as possible the language of Bokhara, would be requisite.”
Henry Lansdell, Through Central Asia. With a Map and Appendix on the
Diplomacy and Delimitation of the Russo-Afghan Frontier. — London: Sampson
& Low, Marston, Searle, and Rivington, 1887. Pp. 588―589.
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