The Karsakpay inscription (also called the Timur's stone)[1] is a message carved on April 28, 1391[2] into a fragment of rock in Ulu Tagh mountainside near the
Karsakpay mines, Kazakhstan. It was found in 1935.[2][3] It consists of three lines in
Arabic, and eight lines in
Chagatai, written in the
Old Uyghur alphabet.[4]
After its discovery, the Karsakpay inscription was taken to the
Hermitage Museum in Leningrad (now
Saint Petersburg) in 1936,[2] where it is today.[5][6] The inscription mentions how
Timur is asking to those reading the inscription to remember him with a prayer.[7]
The inscription was researched and published by
Nicholas Poppe in 1940, and later researched by Napil Bazilhan,
Hasan Eren, Olga Borisovna Frolova, A. P. Grigoryev, N.N. Telitsyn, A.N. Ponomarev and
Zeki Velidi Togan.[3]
Measurements
The inscription measures 80x40 centimeters. The depth of the carvings are within 1.5–2 millimeters. The distance between Arabic and Chagatai lines are 18 centimeters.[2]
Description
The inscription notes the crossing of Timur, a
Turco-Mongol conqueror, and his 200,000 men in pursuit of
campaign against
Tokhtamysh, a ruler of the
Golden Horde from 1378 to 1395, and the route that passed through the semi-desert regions of
Betpak-Dala.[6]
In Zafarnama (Book of Victories), written in the first quarter of the 15th century, its author
Sharaf ad-Din Ali Yazdi gives one historical event of that campaign:
For a joyful survey of that steppe, Timur ascended to the top of the mountain, the whole plain was all green. He stayed there that day, (then) a high order came out, so that the soldiers brought stones and a high sign, like a lighthouse was put in that place. Master stonecutters inscribed on it the date of that day, so that to leave the reminder on the face of time.[8]
Complete text
Arabic
Arabic transliteration: (by the International Turkic Academy)[3]