Zeki Velidi Togan

Zeki Velidi Togan (Bashkir: Әхмәтзәки Вәлиди, sometimes also Validi) (1890–1970) was a historian, turkolog, and leader of the Bashkir revolutionary and liberation movement.

He was born Äxmätzäki Wälidi(ev) Äxmätşa ulı (Вәлиди(ев) Әхмәтзәки Әхмәтша улы). After his emigration to Turkey, this was turkicized as Zeki Validi Toğan (in the Arabic script used by both languages - at that time there was no difference between the two).

From 1912–1915 Veledi taught in the madrassa in Kazan (Qasímiä), and from 1915–1917 he was a member of bureau, supporting Muslim deputies at the State Duma. In 1917 he was elected to Millät Mäcles, and with Ş. Manatov he organized the Bashkir Shura (Council). The Bashkir Congress at [[Orenburg] in November–December 1917], of which Validi was chairman, declared Bashkortostan's Independence.

In 1918–1919 Velidi's Bashkir troops first fought under ataman Dutov, then under Admiral Kolchak against Bolshevik forces. After the RSFSR promised autonomy to Bashkirs, he switched allegiance, fighting with the Bolsheviks.

From February 1919 to June 1920, he was a chairman of Bashrevkom (Bashkir Revolutionary Committee). Feeling the Bolsheviks had broke all promises, he became disillusioned with in Bolshevism and moved to Central Asia.

In Turkistan, Velidi participated in the local anti-Soviet movement, later becoming one of its leaders. From 1920–1923 he was chairman of the "National Union of Turkistan". In 1923 Validi emigrated, after discovering original manuscripts of Ahmad ibn Fadlan in Iran.

From 1925 Velidi lived in Turkey, becoming a teacher and professor at Istanbul University. He gained a doctor of philosophy in 1935. Later he was a professor at Bonn University (1935-1937) and Göttingen University (1938-1939). In 1953 he became organizer of the Institute of Studying of Islamic World at Istanbul University. In 1967, he was given an honorary doctorate from the University of Manchester.

At the same time he contributed to the Encyclopedia of Turkic Peoples. His articles about culture, language and history of Turkic peoples have been translated into many languages.