Dr Boris
D. Kochnev
30 October
1940 — 3 March 2002*
With infinite grief and
sorrow I have to announce the demise of my dear, good friend, pre-eminent
specialist in mediaeval Central Asian numismatics, Dr Boris D. Kochnev.
He passed away on the evening of 3 March 2002 in Rambam Hospital, Haifa,
after a year of desperate struggle against an insidious and merciless disease.
Right up to his last day, overcoming anguish and fainting, Boris was labouring
to finish his sizeable Numismatic History of the Qarakhanid Kaganate
(991-1209). It was not before the final full stop had been placed in his
main work that he allowed himself to depart.
Boris Dmitrievich Kochnev was born in 1940. At the age of 6, he moved
with his family from Moscow to Kirghizia where he had his first archaeological
experience and fell in love with the ancient history of Central Asia. So it was
quite natural that, after leaving school, he should enter the historical
faculty of the Kirghiz State University. Yet his real development as an
archaeologist began a while later when he moved to Tashkent, Uzbekistan, to
continue his studies in the department headed by the renowned Prof. M. E.
Masson.
In 1971 Boris defended a Ph. D. thesis on the Islamic cult buildings (‘musalla’)
in mediaeval Central Asia, and in the same year he started work in the
Institute of Archaeology, Uzbekistan Academy of Sciences. From then till his
last days, his life and scientific activity were connected with that
establishment. He took part in many field expeditions to different regions of
Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and Kirghizia, where numerous remnants of ancient
settlements were inspected and investigated, often for the first time. Some of
them were identified as certain towns and localities mentioned in mediaeval
written sources as a result of his direct involvement — in particular, Afarun
and Bashtan villages in the vicinity of ancient Nakhsheb. Boris was among the
main authors of the voluminous Corpus of Archaeological Monuments of the Qarshi
Oasis in South Uzbekistan.
Nonetheless, he realised very soon that his vocation was not ‘pure’
archaeology. One day, having noticed several enigmatic ancient coins with quite
incomprehensible Arabic legends, Boris once and for all ‘fell victim’ to the
rich and multifarious Islamic coinage of Central Asia. And, as fate would have
it, he became an ardent devotee, after a while becoming one of the most
competent and widely recognised experts in the very complicated field of
Qarakhanid numismatics.
In the opinion of most orientalists and Central Asian scholars, the
history of the Qarakhanid state (late 10th – early 13th
centuries ad) could never have
been reconstructed to its present state without his profound and omnilateral
research of many thousands of fulus, dirhams and dinars issued by numerous
rulers and dignitaries related to or acting under that dynasty of Turkic
origin.
It is worth mentioning that Boris Kochnev became a world leader in this
most complicated field of numismatics without having previously acquired a
regular knowledge of the disciplines of oriental studies nor of the Arabic
language; yet he mastered all those on his own, as a self-taught person. This
is all the more remarkable when one considers his voluminous output on the subject.
More than 150 articles and about 200 newspaper essays were
brought into the world by his fertile pen. His principal work
entitled Qarakhanid Coins: Research into Sources and History and
defended as a full doctorate in Moscow in 1993 has become a prominent milestone
on the way of oriental numismatics, enabling many t’s in the study of the
political, economic, social and cultural history of mediaeval Mawara’annahr and
Turkestan to be crossed.
One would perhaps believe on reading these words that Dr Kochnev is the
only real expert in Qarakhanid history. But this is not the case; his abundant
and successful work in this field was a sequel to the efforts of his elder
fellows, with Academician Mikhail E. Masson and especially Prof. Elena A.
Davidovich being among the most revered to whom Boris would always pay respect
as his teachers and preceptors. On the other hand, his scientific progress
could hardly have taken place if he had not worked simultaneously, sometimes in
parallel, sometimes in rivalry with Prof. Mikhail N. Fedorov — one more of M.
E. Masson’s disciples whose equally abundant but mostly questionable
publications on the same topic served as an incessant stimulant and challenge
in the quest for everlasting scientific growth and self-perfection.
The prolific activity and numerous discoveries made by Boris in this
field of knowledge, naturally, could not escape the sight of his colleagues all
over the world, so it was only just that, in 1994, the French Academy of
Sciences awarded him the Drouin Prize.
Boris was a grand master of Qarakhanid numismatics, but no less great
was he as a man — smart, courteous, invariably benevolent and responsive, a
genuine friend towards his friends. He was never alien to ordinary, earthly
joies de vivre; passionate highland traveller and sparkling raconteur, deftly combining
a moderate drink with a surprisingly profound philosophic discourse — such will
he remain in the memories of all those who knew him closely, who had the honour
of his friendship, and who will miss him so much…
May his memory live for ever!
Dr Vladimir N. Nastich