Mahmud ibn Hussayn ibn Muhammed al-Kashgari (1005-1102 CE) is most famous as a linguist and compiler of the different versions of Turkic languages. His map highlights the locations of the Turkic speaking peoples of Asia.
Turkic Languages
Western and Central Asian languages, including Turkish, Azerbaijani, Kazakh, Kyrgyz, Uighur, Uzbek, and Tatar. A linguistic study by John M. Clifton, “Alphabets of ten Turkic languages” appeared in 2002.
Kashgar Today
Kashgar has been the scene of several uprisings by the local Uighur population. On my last trip to China, Kashgar and the surrounding territory was off limits to foreign visitors. A recent Chinese visitor to Kashgar described the city for the English-language Chinese media.
The author’s name identifies him as from the province of Kashgar (pink region on map). Areas identified in red (east of the Caspian Sea) were under Turkic rule.
To see the area’s many mountains (colored red on original map), check the terrain view.
View Turkic World Map (al-Kashgari) in a larger map