Abstract
The purpose of the article is to conduct a research devoted to the study of the role of the outstanding Kazakh Arabist, academician of the National Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Kazakhstan B.E. Kumekov in the development of the problems of Kazakh Arabistics. The idea of the article is that the orientalist made a significant contribution to the development of Kazakh Arabistics. Scientific significance of the work consists in studying the history of domestic Arabistics. Practical significance is connected with the possibility of writing a monograph devoted to the scientist. The methodological basis of the research is the position about the growth of national self-consciousness of Kazakh ethnos and its bright expression in the Soviet time in scientific activity, and B.E. Kumekov is one of the bright representatives of this process. The main results of the work are presented by the consideration of the biography of the scientist in the process of studying Arabistics and the formation of his own scientific path in historical science. It was revealed that the scientist took an active part in the realization of large-scale scientific projects to write a fundamental history of the Kazakh SSR and the publication of the collection of works of the first Kazakh scientist Ch. Valikhanov. The field of scientific interests of the researcher in Arabistics is connected with source analysis of Arabic written sources containing unique information on history, culture and historical geography of Kazakhstan and neighboring territories. The work proved that Academician B.E. Kumekov is the first professional Arabist in historical science in Kazakhstan. The works of the scientist opened to the world the state of Kimek - Kimek Kaganate, thus it was proved that there was a center of statehood in the Kazakh steppes during the early Middle Ages.