A.N. Bernstein's Interest in the History and Ethnography of Turkic Peoples
A.N. Bernstein - an orientalist, archaeologist, and ethnographer - was a scholar of broad profile, vast horizons, and extraordinary determination. He belonged to that brilliant cohort of young scholars whose scientific growth occurred during the formation of Soviet historical science. The turbulent discussions of the 1930s, the fascination with sociological constructs, the categorical nature and dogmatism of judgments - this was the environment in which Alexander Natanovich began his path as a scholar. In the 1930s, he wrote works such as "On the Role of Conquests in Karl Marx's Historical Concept," "Lenin and the History of the Peoples of the Soviet East," "The Problem of the Disintegration of Clan Relations among the Nomads of Asia," and others. However, A.N. Bernstein's main scientific interest - his interest in the history and ethnography of Turkic peoples - manifested itself much earlier.
A.N. Bernstein was born in 1910 in Kerch. From his school years, he participated in local history work, and it was natural for him to publish an article at the age of 19 titled "On the Methodology of Constructing Archaeological Departments in Local History Museums." In 1928, he became a student in the ethnography department of the geography faculty at Leningrad State University. His initial scientific interests were related to the ethnography of the Crimean Tatars and Turkmen.
In 1931, his works "Housing of the Crimean Foothills" and "Turkmen Kin and Collective Farms" were published. This marked the beginning of his research on Turkic peoples.
The talented young scholar was retained in graduate school, and from 1931 to 1934, under the guidance of such Turkologists as S.E. Malov and A.I. Samoylovich, he mastered the reading of ancient Turkic runic texts. He approached the analysis of these texts from the perspective of Marxist historical science, tracing the development of socio-economic relations from the time of the establishment of the Orkhon-Yenisei Turkic state to its disintegration. He viewed this state as "a stage in the history of nomadic peoples," calling for a systematic study of the sociological structure of various nomadic communities in the East, believing that only in this way could the specific historical reasons for events such as the "great migration of peoples," "Tatar invasion," and so on be illuminated. The result of such research was his candidate dissertation (1935), and later the monograph "The Socio-Economic Structure of the Orkhon-Yenisei Turks in the VI-VIII Centuries" (1946).
Following his set task, A.N. Bernstein turned to the study of an even older society, that of the Huns. This topic, which he began in the late 1930s, logically followed from his previous research on Turkic society of the VI-VIII centuries and became one of the main themes of his scientific life. Years would pass, and the Hun theme would find its culmination in the book "An Outline of the History of the Huns" (1951), which became the first summary in Soviet historical science of written and archaeological sources about the Huns from the time of their appearance on the borders of China to the fall of Rome. This work was largely foundational and sparked discussion. The main thesis - about the objectively progressive significance of the Hun conquests coinciding with the collapse of slave-owning societies - was not accepted by Soviet scholars. The question of attributing a number of Central Asian burial grounds, such as the Kenkol burial ground, to the Huns proved to be much more complex. However, this monograph, dedicated to the Hunnic problem, is undoubtedly a significant milestone in the study of the history of nomads.
A.N. Bernstein's archaeological activity began in 1933, when he took a trip to Central Asia to specialize in the history of the Turkic nomads. On assignment from the Eastern Department of the State Hermitage, A.N. Bernstein collected collections on the archaeology of the Semirechye Turks of the VI-VIII centuries.
From 1938 to 1941, he headed the Semirechye archaeological expedition, conducting excavations at the now widely known Kenkol burial ground on behalf of the Hermitage, and surveyed the valleys of the Chu, Ili, and Talas rivers to identify and partially study archaeological monuments. In 1941, A.N. Bernstein led an expedition for archaeological supervision during the construction of the Big Chui Canal. The results of all these works were summarized in his books "Archaeological Monuments of Northern Kyrgyzstan" (1941), "Monuments of Antiquity in the Talas Valley" (1941), "The Historical and Cultural Past of Northern Kyrgyzstan Based on Materials from the Big Chui Canal" (1943), and later in the works of the Semirechye expedition "Chui Valley" (1950) (another volume of materials from the expedition "Talas Valley," prepared by him, remained unpublished).
In the first two monographs, A.N. Bernstein summarizes the research and provides the first historical and cultural overview of Northern Kyrgyzstan, based on archaeological materials from ancient times to the late Middle Ages, complementing and developing the well-known work of V.V. Bartold "Essays on the History of Semirechye." Here, for the first time, a characterization of the Bronze Age culture is given, and its belonging to the circle of steppe cultures is noted, along with its connection to the ancient Kazakh metallurgical center. At that time, A.N. Bernstein also first addressed the monuments of nomads - the Saka and Usun, dedicating many of his subsequent works to the study of their culture.
The Semirechye expedition conducted the first excavations at such settlements as Krasnorechenskoe, Ak-Beshim, and others, which allowed the question of the emergence and development of agricultural settlements in Northern Kyrgyzstan to be raised. This is inextricably linked to the question of Sogdian colonization of Semirechye, which was first raised with the involvement of archaeological materials. Believing that the beginning of the Sogdian penetration into Semirechye dates back to no earlier than the 5th century AD (a position accepted and confirmed later by other researchers), A.N. Bernstein notes the syncretism of the culture of this time in Northern Kyrgyzstan, conditioned by close contacts between the Sogdians and nomads. At that time, he also first ventured into the regions of Southern Kyrgyzstan, into Fergana, where he surveyed settlements and proposed their chronological periodization; later, A.N. Bernstein would return to the history of ancient Fergana more than once.
The collections obtained as a result of the expeditions from 1938 to 1941 became the basis for the creation of the funds of the historical and archaeological department of the Kyrgyz State Historical Museum in the city of Frunze, which was opened with the active participation of A.N. Bernstein in 1941.
A.N. BERNSTEIN - researcher of ancient cultures of Central Asia. Part - 2