TRANSOXIANA AND KHWARAZM IN THE WORKS OF ARAB GEOGRAPHERS: A HISTORIOGRAPHIC ANALYSIS OF WESTERN STUDIES

Abstract. The main objective of this article is to examine how the works and geographical concepts of Arab scholars and travelers of the Middle Ages (9th-15th centuries) were received, interpreted, and integrated into Western European geography and cartography during the late Middle Ages and early modern periods, as well as to trace their reflection in modern Western geographic historiography. This study is relevant because it helps overcome a Eurocentric approach to the history of geography, emphasizing the fundamental contribution of the Islamic world to the preservation of classical heritage and its further development. The works of scholars such as al-Idrisi, Ibn Battuta, Ibn Hawqal, and Abu al-Fida contained the most accurate and extensive descriptions of the known world of their time, which was crucial for the European Age of Discovery and the development of modern cartography. The objectives of this study include examining one of the works of the Arab geographer Abu al-Fida, Taqwim al-Buldan; analyzing the nature and scope of geographical information (toponymy, cartography, climatic zones) in the territories of Transoxiana and Khorezm; assessing the degree of recognition and citation of Arab authors in Western scholarly materials from different historical periods; and exploring the evolution of the perception of Arab geography in modern Western historiography. The study uses a historical-comparative method to compare Arabic primary sources with early European maps and geographical treatises. Content analysis of Western scholarly literature is applied to quantitatively and qualitatively evaluate references and interpretations of Arab geographers. A biographical method is used to study the lives and academic careers of key Arab and Western scholars. The valuable data of "Taqwim al-Buldan," namely the study of descriptions of cities, villages, and their locations based on comprehensive research of written, archaeological, oral, and other sources, provides a foundation for interpreting various accounts of the medieval history of Kazakhstan and Central Asia. Acknowledgments: The article was prepared within the framework of the program-targeted funding of the project of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Republic of Kazakhstan “Early and Medieval History and Culture of the Turkic World Based on New Valuable Materials from the Vatican and Western European Countries” (Grant No. BR24993132).