RELATIONS OF UKRAINE WITH EASTERN COUNTRIES IN THE WORKS OF AGATANGEL KRYMSKY

Abstract

The article is devoted to the study of the topic of Ukraine’s relations with the countries of the East through the prism of the scientific and literary heritage of the outstanding ukrainian orientalist, oriental- ist, historian, philologist and writer Agatangel Krymsky (1871–1942). The purpose of the article is to consider the contribution of Agatangel Krymsky to the study of ukrainian-eastern relations, focusing on his works onoriental studies, which go beyond the known philological activities of the scientist; to systematize the eastern heritage of A. Krymsky; to analyze ukrainian-turkish relations; to highlight the scientist’s research on other eastern peoples; to contextualize A. Krymsky’s ukrainian and oriental studies activities. The methodologi- cal basis of the work is the principles of objectivity and historicism and general scientific, special-historical research methods. The scientific novelty lies in the attempt to carry out for the first time a comprehensive andsystematic analysis of the works of the outstanding ukrainian orientalist and philologist Agatangel Krymsky with an emphasis on ukrainian-eastern relations (Ukraine – Turkey, Kyivan Rus – Persia, Khazaria, otherturkic peoples). To investigate the scientist’s contribution to the study of these relations as a holistic, albeitmulti-vector, problematic, and not only as fragments of his philological or historical works. Conclusions. The study of A. Krymsky’s works testifies to his exceptional contribution not only to philology and ukrainian studies, but also to oriental studies, in particular to the study of the history of ukraine’s relations with the countriesof the east. Agatangel Krymsky studied the ukrainian language, its history, and the ethnogenesis of ukrainians.He actively debated with russian historians, successfully refuting the “pogodin concept” about the settlement of Kyivan Rus by the “great Russians”. The scientist supported the popular theory of the origin of all slavs from one family at that time, emphasizing the initial closeness of slavic languages. Agatangel Krymsky paid considerable attention to the complex and diverse relations of Ukraine with the states of the east (trade, culture, conflicts, wars and slavery), which was reflected in his numerous works on oriental studies. In the work“History of Turkey” A. Krymsky analyzes in detail the struggle of the ukrainian people for freedom in the con-text of relations with the Ottoman empire and the Crimean khanate. The scientist touches on the trade relationsof Kyivan Rus with Iran, using, in particular, russian manuscripts. Agatangel Krymsky studied the history of the huns-proto-bulgarians, khazars, turks and polovtsians (kipchaks), whose history was closely intertwinedwith the history of ukrainian lands. A significant, although partly unpublished work, is the «History of the khazars» (two volumes), written on the basis of an analysis of multilingual eastern and western sources. Thiswork covers the problems of ethnogenesis and cultural relations over a large territory, demonstrating the deep erudition and pioneering approach of the researcher. Thus, the works of A. Krymsky are an invaluable contri-bution to history, linguistics and oriental studies, which demonstrate a deep interest and scientific soundness in the study of long-term, complex and defining relations of Ukraine with the states of the East.