Zolotoordynskoe Obozrenie (Sep 2014)
Development of the Philosophical Thought in Crimea during the Golden Horde Period: Sharaf al-Qrimi
Abstract
In most of contemporary studies on Islamic Philosophy, the main attention is concerned with the Classical Age (from the eighth up to the thirteenth century). It is worthy to mention that many late medieval Arabic sources still remain out of the real scholarly interest. In turn, the author of this article emphasizes that the philosophical and scientific heritage of the Crimean Khanate represents now a vital interest to researchers, above all, due to the fact that there was a significant flourishing of cultural life on the territory of Crimea and other regions of the Northern Black Sea in the 15th–17th centuries. Among other things, it should be paid special attention to the study of the development of “rational sciences”, including philosophical knowledge. In this context, the author refers to the heritage of the scholar from the Golden Horde, namely Sharaf al-Qrimi (d. 1440). His life falls on a very interesting and, in general, poorly studied period in the history of the Crimea, namely, at a time when the Crimean Yurt (Qırım Yurtu) had not yet been an independent State and was a part of the Golden Horde. Creative heyday of this scientist coincided with the age of the weakening of the Golden Horde power in the Crimean yurt, which stood out in an independent State (“Khanate”, hanlığı) only in 1441, during the reign of Haji Giray (d. 1466). The works of Sharaf al-Qrimi dedicated to the hermeneutics, provides a clear picture not only of some issues of Post-Classical Islamic thought, but also the development of Islamic knowledge in the Eastern European lands (in particular, in Crimea, which experienced the intensive inter-cultural transmission during the Golden Horde times). It is argued, that Sharaf al-Qrimi was under the influence of the Central Asian and Persian philosophical theology, inspired by the works of Abu ‘Ali ibn Sina and his followers. It is showed that in Crimean (and also early Ottoman) context Islamic Philosophy continued its development in the form of synthesis between various patterns of rationalism. Further studies in this area may show new lines of the interaction between the Crimean schools of philosophy and other part of the late medieval Islamic world.
