History of the university

HISTORY OF TSUOS

   The Turkestan Institute of Oriental Studies was organized in November 1918 in Tashkent. This institute was the first oriental higher educational institution in Central Asia, which began to train qualified specialists in various fields of oriental studies, both for Turkestan and for neighboring countries. This university taught in such subjects as history, ethnography, geography, local history of Turkestan and neighboring foreign Eastern countries, the history and law of Islam, languages and literature of Eastern peoples.

    In that year, in 1918, 234 students were accepted to the first academic year. Oriental languages like Arabic, Persian, Chinese, Pashto, Urdu, Turkish were taught at the institute, from local languages Uzbek, Tajik, Kyrgyz, Turkmen, Tatar, from European – English, German and French. Along with this, the geography of Afghanistan, India, Iran, East and West Turkestan, Bukhara; ethnography of the Uzbek, Kyrgyz, Persian, Tajik, Kazakh, Afghan, Karakalpak peoples; history of Central Asia, Iran, Afghanistan, India and the ancient world, history of Islam, Shariah law was studied.

Starting from the 3rd year of study, depending on their specialization, students studied the following specialties: Turkic languages, Iranian philology, Arabic studies and Islamic studies. Along with these specialties, the institute prepared native language and history teachers for local schools. According to official information, 210 students studied at the Turkestan Institute of Oriental Studies in the 1922-1923 academic year, of which only 16% were local residents.

 At the institute, 5 professors, 21 teachers, several lecturers and trainees conducted educational work. By 1922, the Institute’s library already had 5,300 volumes of books and over 200 manuscripts.

In 1924 the Turkestan Institute of Oriental Studies was annexed to the Central Asian State University as a faculty. The first dean of the Oriental faculty was A.E. Schmidt. The faculty did not implement its activity for long. In 1930, the faculty was transformed into a pedagogical, and in 1930 it was completely closed.

Although the oriental activity of the faculty was short-lived, in a short time qualified personnel were trained here, including such well-known linguistic scholars as A.K. Borovkov, V.V. Reshetov, K. Yudakhin, I. A. Kissen, R .L.Nemenova, famous historians and ethnographers P.P. Ivanov, M.R. Ivanova, M. Masson, V.A. Shiglkin, O.A. Sukharev, writers Mukhtar Avezov, Sotim Ulugzoda, orientalist D.G. Vronsky.

 In 1944, at the Central Asian State University (currently the National University of Uzbekistan), the eastern faculty was reopened. The dean of this faculty was a scientist, oriental historian Abdurahmon Khamroev.

According to the curriculum, the faculty taught History and Economics, languages and literature of the peoples of the Near and Middle East. In 1947, graduate school was organized at the faculty.

Many young specialists graduated from graduate school in such central cities as Moscow and Leningrad, received a Ph.D. degree, returned to their native faculty and began to work instead of Russian Oriental scholars who left for their homeland.

They taught in various fields of oriental studies. In the years 1944-1947, the faculty consisted of four departments: the Department of Iranian Philology (since 1955 it was renamed the Department of Iran-Afghanistan Philology), the Department of North Indian Philology (later the Indian Language, now the Department of Languages of South Asia), the Department of East Turkestan Philology, Department of History of the Near and Middle East.

In 1949, the first students completed their studies and received tickets to life. There were 41 first cohorts, today most of them are famous scientists known throughout the republic. From day to day, the faculty expanded and improved. Along with teaching Arabic, Persian, Pashto, Hindi, Urdu, Chinese, Uyghur, Turkish, great importance was attached to the study of English, Russian and Uzbek.

In order to more deeply educate students on the subject of classical and modern literature of the peoples of the East, in 1965, a department of literature of Eastern countries was specially created.

 After some time, the Department of Western European Languages was organized, as a result of which the teaching of European languages was provided at the faculty.

At the same time, in order to improve the teaching of Oriental languages and improve the speech skills of students, teachers from Iran, Afghanistan, India and the Arab countries began to be invited.

For 1-2 years, they conducted classes, as a result of which they greatly assisted in the formation of students’ practical skills. All this, together, made it possible for students to deeply master the theoretical and practical aspects of the language.

Only from 1960 to 1970, 10 specialists from foreign eastern countries were invited to teach. In turn, teachers and students of the faculty were sent to advanced training and study in foreign countries, where they studied at universities and institutes.

In 1990, on the basis of the Eastern Faculty of Tashkent State University the Institute of Oriental Studies at the University was established. On July 15, 1991, this institute was reorganized into the Tashkent State Institute of Oriental Studies by the Decree of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan Islam Karimov.

Taking into account the modern needs of our republic for specialists, the institute has further expanded its specialties and areas of the oriental branch. If the faculty of Eastern philology trained specialists in philology, history and economics, then the institute began training specialists in 12 areas.

If there were 7 departments at the faculty initially, then there were 28 departments in the TSIOS. After the institute was organized, along with such oriental languages as Arabic, Persian, Dari, Hindi, Urdu, Pashto, Chinese and Uyghur languages, Japanese, Korean, Turkish languages and literature began to be taught.

 In order to develop the skills of in-depth study of manuscripts and scientific research on written sources by students, the Institute organized the Department of Source Studies and Textology. In addition, for a deeper study of the economic ties of foreign eastern countries, departments of international economic relations were organized, as well as international relations and political science.

 Departments were also created in such specialties as the Economies of the countries of Central Asia, the foreign East, the History of the countries of Central Asia, Marketing and Management. During such a short period of time, leading specialists were trained for various sectors of the national economy, personnel for research institutes, teachers for schools and lyceums, translators and diplomatic staff to work abroad.

We are really proud of the scientists, government and diplomatic workers who studied here. Full member of the Crimean Academy of Sciences Aydar Memetov, Honored Scientist of the Republic of Tajikistan, famous writer, translator and scientist Rasul Khodizoda, Ambassador of the Republic of Georgia to the Islamic Republic of Iran J.Sh. Giunashvili were our students.

It should also be noted that our graduates work as Ambassadors Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Uzbekistan to such large and authoritative countries of the world as the USA, Great Britain, Germany, Japan, Turkey, Belgium, Israel, India, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Egypt.

The activities of the Institute of Oriental Studies are directly related to the development and improvement of the science of Oriental Studies in Uzbekistan. Over the past period, the Institute has trained more than 400 candidates of science and 80 doctors of science. 8 of our scientists were elected as full members of the Academy of Sciences of Uzbekistan.

14 oriental scientists are honored scientists of the Republic of Uzbekistan, 12 – laureates of the state prize named after Beruni and Khamza, 7 – winners of such international awards as the Firdousi Prize, Ahmad Yassawi, Mahmud Kashgari, Jawaharlal Nehru and Imam al-Bukhari. In addition, a number of oriental scientists have been awarded the honorary titles of “Honored Worker of Culture of the Republic of Uzbekistan” and “Honored Mentor of Youth of the Republic of Uzbekistan”. 8 oriental scholars were awarded the orders of El-Yurt Khurmati (Honor of the People), Buyuk Hizmati Uchun (For Great Merit) and Mehnat Shukhrati (Labor Glory).

If you glance at the history of the Institute of Oriental Studies, we will witness the great and glorious path of development of the Institute. During this period, it was formed as the only major educational and scientific center in Central Asia.

Tashkent State Institute of Oriental Studies, which is almost the same age as the independence of the Republic of Uzbekistan until 2020 as an independent institution of higher education, it implemented the tasks assigned to it with honor.

According to the development strategy of the new Uzbekistan, large-scale transformations began in the entire system of higher education, including new horizons for Oriental Science and education, and the Decree of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan “On measures to radically improve the training system and increase the scientific potential in the field of Oriental Studies” No. PP-4680 dated April 16, 2020, the Tashkent State University of Oriental Studies was established on the basis of the Tashkent State Institute of Oriental Studies.

30.08.2023, 10:24 30622 Print version