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) in Bashkurt-Eli, near Isterlitamak . After his emigration to Turkey, his name 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 Velidi taught in the madrassa (school) in Kazan (Qasímiä), and from 1915 to 1917 he was a member of bureau, supporting Muslim deputies at the State Duma. In 1917 he was elected to Millät Mäclese, 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 and 1919 Velidi's Bashkir troops first fought under Ataman Alexander Dutov, then under Admiral Kolchak against Bolshevik forces. After the RSFSR promised autonomy to Bashkirs, Velidi switched allegiance, fighting with the Bolsheviks.

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

In Turkistan, Velidi became a leader of the National Liberation Movement, referred to as the anti-Soviet Basmachi Movement by the Russians . From 1920 to 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.

References

• .

• .

Historians | Central Asia | History of Central Asia | Khazar studies | Central Asian Studies | 1890 births | 1970 deaths

Zeki Velidi Togan | Валиди, Ахмад-Заки Ахметшахович | Äxmätzäki Wälidi | Zeki Velidi Togan | 泽基·瓦利迪·托甘