For the general reader with little or no knowledge of Oriental Studies, the literature of the Turks probably means no more than the literature of the Ottomans and of modern Turkey. In reality this literature arose long before the birth of the Ottoman Empire, in the eighth century in Mongolia; and it flourished for the most part in Central Asia. In defense of the general reader, it must be stated, however, that facts such as these have come to light slowly, since the end of the last century and through documents that no one but the specialist can handle; and it is only today that we can trace, at all fully, the development literature underwent among the Turks in an area well beyond the bounds once attributed to it.