Occupations Mentioned In The “Sihâhul-Furs” Dictionary

Since the beginning of the world, the environment in which people live, their thoughts, beliefs, lifestyle, outlook, etc. are reasons that have led to the emergence of various professional fields. Over time, the occupations people engaged in resulted in the formation of social classes, class societies, states, and empires. Although numerous professions that have arisen throughout history have been forgotten for various reasons, some of the professions that have a history of thousands of years still remain. After the discovery of writing, with the ancient people’s lifestyle, important information about the various professions they were engaged in began to be recorded. The development of written culture accelerated scientific progress and sociocultural segregation among people. The improvement of the composed culture of the people and societies of the world incorporates books, dictionaries, reference books, andhas increased the historical significance of scientific resources. Dictionaries are one of the scientific sources that best reflect the periods of the scientific, cultural, economic, and social development of society. The dictionary “Sihâhul-Furs” of the Azerbaijani linguist and eminent socio-political personality Muhammad ibn Hindushah Nâkhchîvanî, who lived at the end of the 12th century to the beginning of the 13th century, contains very valuable information about the professions of ancient people living in the world. This dictionary, written during the Ilkhanid dynasty, reflects the social, political and cultural life of that period. Nowadays, numerous occupations and arts related to Persian, Arabic, Turkish, Pahlavi, Sumerian, etc. languages have been forgotten. Some of the types of professions recorded in the “Sihâhul-Furs” dictionary still exist in the world. Consequently, this paper, which explores the various types of occupations in the “Sihâhul-Furs” dictionary, is a valuable contribution to Oriental Studies.