Kayraks from the Northern Shore of Lake Issyk-Kul

Tombstones with Arabic Inscriptions

In the first half of the 1980s, reports began to appear in literature about the discovery of tombstones with Arabic inscriptions on the northern shore of Issyk-Kul, near the Kungey-Ak-Suu River. Scholars and travelers wrote about these monuments. Currently, the location of almost all the kairaks from this area is unknown. According to some data, part of them was taken to Verny (now Almaty), Przhevalsk, and Russia as early as the late 19th century.

More than 60 inscriptions from these kairaks were published by N. N. Pantusov. Five of them were accompanied by photographs. We reproduce only these monuments (Table XXII, Figures 1—5), although the other inscriptions also deserve to be included in the unified collection of monuments of Arabic writing in Kyrgyzstan.

In 1985, two more stones with well-preserved inscriptions were found in the village of Temirovka. As it turned out, one of them belongs to the group of monuments published by N. N. Pantusov. The text on the second stone is standard — verses from the Quran, so we do not provide its translation, limiting ourselves to a photograph.

MONUMENT NO. 1


Translation:
Kuli, daughter of Khadicha. Allah bears witness that there is no god but Him, no other worthy of worship, and also the angels and knowledgeable people, being firm in the truth, profess: there is no one worthy of worship but Him, the Strong, the Wise. Truly, piety before God is submission (Islam).

MONUMENT NO. 2


Translation:
Ayyub-Khusni. I seek refuge with Allah from the accursed [literally "stoned"] devil. In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful [then the same verses 16 and 17 of Surah III of the Quran]. May Allah make happy, may Allah bless the Prophet — peace be upon him!

MONUMENT NO. 3


(1) The owner of the grave, the crown of the Quran scholars by heart [Qari] —
(2) Ahmad, son of Affan of Kergiz. (3—5) May Allah forgive [the sins of] him and his parents, by His mercy, O Most Merciful of the merciful. In the year five hundred eighty-two [1184 AD].

MONUMENT NO. 4


Translation:
(1) Abbas, son of (2) Jabbar, son of Abdullah. (3—8) Allah bears witness that there is no other worthy of worship but Him, and also the angels and knowledgeable people, being firm in the truth, profess: there is no one worthy of worship but Him, the Strong, the Wise. Truly, piety before Allah is submission (Islam).

MONUMENT NO. 5


Translation:
Gentle Fatima. In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. There is no god but Allah. He is the owner of the truth, undeniable. There is no god but Allah; He is the god of all angels and people.

This monument can be attributed to the same group. According to a photograph sent by priest D. P. Rozhdestvensky, V.V. Bartold provided a translation of the text and noted that "the last three words are apparently distorted and cannot be deciphered." Below are the reading and translation by V. V. Bartold. The location is unknown.

MONUMENT NO. 6


Translation:
I seek refuge with God from Satan. In the name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. God has borne witness that there is no god but Him, and the angels and knowledgeable people, upholding justice [profess]: there is no god but Him, the Almighty, the Wise; truly [the true] faith before God is Islam. May God bless Muhammad, the Prophet...