Özet:

Chinese sources are main sources for Turkic history. Because they are sometimes only sources, these have mostly no facility to compare with other sources. Despite Chinese annals are seen as the most reputable sources, encyclopedic, historical, geographical, philosophical, judicial etc. books written in the relevant times are also so important. Again, travelogues have a separate place. Although travelogues often contain personal observations of the traveler and not have deep knowledge, they are the only source for many historical and cultural truths. It is necessary to read travelogues carefully and to compare with other sources in the relevant times. On this occasion, Turkestan observations of Buddhist pilgrim Fa Hsien who is one of the most important travelers of Turkestan history are noteworthy. His trip began from Chinese capital, passed Turkestan and ended in India. As a cleric, Fa Hsien mostly chooses to talk about Buddhism of his observed places such as other Buddhists and lively describe daily life and religious attitude in Turkestan cities in the beginning of fifth century. It is so natural that the traveler does not touch of political events. We have tried to present the text word by word about Turkestan of old Chinese verificated and annotated copy of “Fa Hsien Travelogue”, to reflect vitality of imageries and to provide of exact control of the Chinese expressions. We made a comparison with the other main sources for explaining some necessary points in text. Although it is so difficult, we tried to make an itinerary map. Our purpose is to provide a studied and criticized main source for the studies about Turkestan

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