Baymirza Hayit

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Baymirza Hayit
Born	December 17, 1917(1917-12-17) Namangan, Russia
Died	October 31, 2006 (aged 88) Germany
Occupation	Historian, Orientalist

Baymirza Hayit (December 17, 1917 – October 31, 2006), also spelled Boymirza Hayit, was a historian and orientalist who specialized in the history of Turkestan and Central Asia.

Contents 1 Life 2 Partial list of published works 2.1 Books 2.2 Articles 3 References

[edit] Life

Baymirza Hayit was born in Yargorgan, a village in the province of Namangan, located on Uzbek territory. Hayit was one of nine children raised by his mother Rabiya Hayit and his father Mirza Mahmutmirzaoğlu in a family of Uzbek origin. As an adolescent Hayit already showed interest in literature and arts. Despite the deprivations of the 1930s he graduated from Tashkent University in 1939. The same year he was called into the Russian army, where he served as a lieutenant. Hayit left Namangan in December 1939 and was stationed in Poland as a squadron tank commander.^[1] During World War II Hayit fought in the Red Army until he got into German war captivity in 1941. Then he served as an officer in the Turkestan Legion of the German Wehrmacht. While serving in the legion he met the legendary Turkistani nationalist Mustafa Chokaev.^[1][2][3]

After the war Hayit settled down in West Germany, where he enrolled in the subjects science of history, orientalism and islamic sciences at the University of Münster . Since then he was committed to the studies about his home region Turkestan. He received his PhD Doctor of Philosophy in 1950 and published his thesis “Die Nationalen Regierungen von Kokand und der Alasch Orda.” He married a young doctor from Cologne named Ruth in the same year. The couple got two sons, Ertay and Mirza, and a daughter, Dilber.^[1][2] From the 1950s until his death Hayit wrote dozens of articles and fifteen acclaimed books in German, English, and Turkish on the history of Turkestan ( the now independent republics of Turkmenistan, Tadzhikistan, Kyrgyztan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and the Chinese province of Sinkiang).

His major works are „Turkestan im XX. Jahrhundert, Darmstadt 1956“, „Sowjetrussische Orientpolitik am Beispiel Turkestans, Köln-Berlin 1962“, „Die Wirtschaftsprobleme Turkestans, Ankara 1968“, „Turkestan zwischen Russland und China, Amsterdam 1971“ and „Basmatschi: Nationaler Kampf Turkestans in den Jahren 1917 bis 1934, Köln 1992“.

Hayit taught at several universities around the world. He worked as an assistant at the University of London, and he worked as a lecturer at Harvard University, Hacettepe University in Ankara, University of Istanbul and Marmara University in Istanbul.^[2]

Hayit was a strong advocate for the independence and unification of the Soviet and Chinese-controlled parts of Central Asia.^[4] His work was vilified in the Soviet Union.^[1] Even in independent Uzbekistan it was discussed controversial.

In other parts of the world his work was appreciated because of the huge political and historical relevance of his theses. Hayit was one of the very few historians who was addicted to Turkesanian history at large. Especially in the Turkish-speaking world he gained a high reputation. In 2004 he was decorated with the honorary doctor title for his lifetime work by the Technical University of Istanbul.

Hayit died at the age of 88 in Cologne on October 31, 2006 .

[edit] Partial list of published works

Works were published under the names Baymirza Hayit and B. Hayit.

[edit] Books

• “Die Nationalen Regierungen von Kokand und der Alasch Orda.” Ph.D. thesis for University of Münster, Munich, 1950.
• “Sowjetrußische Orientpolitik am Beispiel Turkestan.” Köln-Berlin: Kiepenhauer & Witsch, 1956
• “Documents: Soviet Russia's Anti-Islam-Policy in Turkestan.” Düsseldorf: Gerhard von Mende, 2 vols, 1958.
• “Turkestan im XX Jahrhundert.” Darmstadt: Leske, 1956
• “Turkestan Zwischen Russland Und China.” Amsterdam: Philo Press, 1971
• “Some thoughts on the problem of Turkestan”, Institute of Turkestan Research, 1984
• “Islam and Turkestan Under Russian Rule.” Istanbul: Can Matbaa, 1987.
• “Basmatschi: Nationaler Kampf Turkestans in den Jahren 1917 bis 1934.” Köln: Dreisam-Verlag, 1993. ISBN 3894523735; ISBN 3896070800.
• “Yeni Çag Türkistan tarihi kaynaklar.” Turan Kültür Vakf¸ 2000 ISBN 975-7893-28-5
• “Berichte und Forschungen über Turkestan.” Köln. 1997.
• "Turkestan. Im Herzen Euroasiens". Studienverlag, 1980. ISBN 3922145507.

[edit] Articles

• “The Communist Party in Turkestan” London: Central Asian Review, 1957.
• “Turkestan as an Example of Soviet Colonialism” Studies on the Soviet Union. pp. 78–95 1961
• “Sowjetrußische Kolonialismus und Imperialismus in Turkestan.” Oosterhout. 1962
• “Turkistanda Emir haqqinda yeni fikir carayanlari.” Milli Turkistan. No. 126. 1969.
• “Der Islam und die anti-islamische Bewegung in der Sowjetunion.” Osteuropa 22(2). 114–118. 1972
• “Turkistan: A case for national independence.” Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs. 1. pp. 38–50. 1979.
• “Turkestan im Herzen Euroasiens.” Studienverlag (1), 1980.
• “Western Turkestan: The Russian dilemma.” Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs. 6 (I) pp. 137–51. 1985
• “Turkestan als historischer Faktor und politische Idee.” Studienverlag 17 1988

[edit] References

Persondata
NAME	Hayit, Baymirza
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Hayit, Boymirza
SHORT DESCRIPTION	Uzbek 20th century historian of Turkestan and Central Asia
DATE OF BIRTH	December 17, 1917
PLACE OF BIRTH	Namangan, Russian Empire
DATE OF DEATH	October 31, 2006
PLACE OF DEATH	Germany