Tumanskiy, Aleksandr Grigorevich (Russian: Туманский, Александр Григорьевич) (1861–1920) was an orientalist, military interpreter, and Major General of the

Imperial Russian Army The Imperial Russian Army () was the army of the Russian Empire, active from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was organized into a standing army and a state militia. The standing army consisted of Regular army, regular troops and ...

, belonging to an ancient Ukrainian

aristocratic Aristocracy (; ) is a form of government that places power in the hands of a small, privileged ruling class, the aristocrats. Across Europe, the aristocracy exercised immense economic, political, and social influence. In Western Christian co ...

family.

Biography

Aleksandr Grigorevich Tumanskiy (Toumansky) (Tumansky) was born on 23 September 1861. From 1888 to 1891 Tumansky, then an officer in the Imperial Russian Army, received his Oriental education at the Officers' Courses of Oriental Languages organized by the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He studied

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

, Turkish and Persian; in all he spoke eleven languages. From 1891 to 1895 Tumansky was stationed in Central Asia. In 1894 he was responsible for establishing communications with

Persia Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

. Between 1900 and 1905 he served as the Russian

vice consul A consul is an official representative of a government who resides in a foreign country to assist and protect citizens of the consul's country, and to promote and facilitate commercial and diplomatic relations between the two countries. A consu ...

in Van,

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

. From 1908 to 1909 he was ordered to Persia again to resume his diplomatic duties. In 1911 he was appointed the head of the officers' Oriental language preparatory school in

Tiflis Tbilisi ( ; ka, თბილისი, ), in some languages still known by its pre-1936 name Tiflis ( ), ( ka, ტფილისი, tr ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Georgia (country), largest city of Georgia ( ...

(

Tbilisi Tbilisi ( ; ka, თბილისი, ), in some languages still known by its pre-1936 name Tiflis ( ), ( ka, ტფილისი, tr ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Georgia (country), largest city of Georgia ( ...

), which functioned under the

Headquarters Headquarters (often referred to as HQ) notes the location where most or all of the important functions of an organization are coordinated. The term is used in a wide variety of situations, including private sector corporations, non-profits, mil ...

of the Caucasian Military Command. In March 1917, Tumansky retired from the military service with the rank of Major-General. He left Russia after the

October Revolution The October Revolution, also known as the Great October Socialist Revolution (in Historiography in the Soviet Union, Soviet historiography), October coup, Bolshevik coup, or Bolshevik revolution, was the second of Russian Revolution, two r ...

in 1917 and died in

Constantinople Constantinople (#Names of Constantinople, see other names) was a historical city located on the Bosporus that served as the capital of the Roman Empire, Roman, Byzantine Empire, Byzantine, Latin Empire, Latin, and Ottoman Empire, Ottoman empire ...

(

Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...

) on 1 December 1920.'Худуд аль-алам': рукописи Туманского , введение и содержание В.В. Бартольда, Ленинград, 1930 (факсимиле. издание).

Scientific activity

Tumansky is one of the first Russian-language scholars to investigate

Bábism Bábism () is a Messianism, messianic movement founded in 1844 by Báb, the Báb ( 'Ali Muhammad). The Báb, an Iranian merchant-turned-prophet, professed that there is one incorporeal, unknown, and incomprehensible GodEdward Granville Browne ...

in Persia in the middle of the 19th century and the first followers of the

Baháʼí Faith The Baháʼí Faith is a religion founded in the 19th century that teaches the Baháʼí Faith and the unity of religion, essential worth of all religions and Baháʼí Faith and the unity of humanity, the unity of all people. Established by ...

in the East. He befriended the Baháʼís in

Ashgabat Ashgabat (Turkmen language, Turkmen: ''Aşgabat'') is the capital city, capital and largest city of Turkmenistan. It lies between the Karakum Desert and the Kopet Dag, Kopetdag mountain range in Central Asia, approximately 50 km (30 ...

where Mirza Abu'l-Faḍl wrote for him the ''Risáliy-i Iskandaríyyh'', a summary of the life of the founder of the Baháʼí Faith. In 1899 he discovered the ''

Kitáb-i-Aqdas The ''Kitáb-i-Aqdas'' () is the central religious text of the Baháʼí Faith, written by Baháʼu'lláh, the founder of the religion, in 1873. Though it is the main source of Baháʼí laws and practices, much of the content deals with other ...

'' by

Baháʼu'lláh Baháʼu'lláh (, born Ḥusayn-ʻAlí; 12 November 1817 – 29 May 1892) was an Iranian religious leader who founded the Baháʼí Faith. He was born to an aristocratic family in Iran and was exiled due to his adherence to the messianic Báb ...

and translated it into Russian. Now the ''Kitáb-i-Aqdas'' is generally known, but in that time it was an epochal discovery. During his research of the Bábí movement Tumansky corresponded with E.G. Browne through Baron Victor Romanovich Rosen. Another of his discoveries was a lost work of Ulugh-Beg, an ancient manuscript entitled "Olus-e-Arbaa", part of which, "Hudud ul-alam", was published in 1930 and in 1937. Being a military man, he wrote a book entitled ''Military Art of the Ancient Arabs'' in 1897.

Opinions and memories about A.G. Tumansky

Russian Orientalist I. U. Krachkovskiy (1883–1951) wrote that Tumansky was one of the rare orientalists by his calling but not by his profession.И.Ю. Крачковский, "А.Г. Туманский" �екролог 'Новый Восток', блокнот 1, Москва и Петроград, 1922, стр. 112.

Bibliography

# Russian State Archive of Literature and Art, case 777, dos'e 87, sheets 7, 8 # Full service record of Colonel A.G. Tumansky in March 1917, Russian State Military-Historical Archive, fond 409, opis' 1, case 148-610 (1917 year) # И.Ю. Крачковский, "А.Г. Туманский" �екролог 'Новый Восток', блокнот 1, Москва и Петроград, 1922, стр. 112. # 'Худуд аль-алам': рукописи Туманского, введение и содержание В.В. Бартольда, Ленинград, 1930 (факсимиле. издание). # Hudüd al-Ālam: 'The Regions of the World', A Persian Geography 372 A.H. — 982 A.D., ed. and tr. V.Minorsky, London, 1937. # Н.А. Кузнецова ''К истории изучения Бабизма и Бахаизма в России,'' Иранский сборник 6, Москва, 1963 г., стр. 90–91 # Hudüd al-Ālam: 'The Regions of the World', A Persian Geography 372 A.H. — 982 A.D., 2nd ed. pref. V.V.Barthold, ed. C.E. Bosworth, London, 1970. # Идем (Рай), Иран в период революции XIX века, 1983 г., стр. 199–231. # Дж. Дорри, "Proceedings of a Seminar on Nabil-i-Aʻzam-i-Zarandi" Wienacht, Switzerland, 1996, pp. 125–50. # Абу'ль-хази Бахадор Хан, Родословная Туркмен (Генеалогическое древо туркменского народа), перевод А.Г. Туманского, Ашхабад, 1897 г. # М.К. Басханов, "Русские военные востоковеды до 1917 года: библиографический словарь", Москва, 2005, стр. 242–243.

Notes

References