Mahmud Kashgari ibn Husayn ibn Muhammad was born in Kashi, China (short for Kashgari). His father, Husayn was the mayor of Barsgan, his mother, Bubi Rabiya Basri, was an intelligent woman. He studied Turkic dialects and wrote about them in Divanü Lügat-it-Türk in 1072. It was intended for use by the Caliphs of Baghdad, the new, Arabic allies of the Turks. He included the first known Turkish map in his book.
     The map is different from other Islamic maps. The individual elements of the map, symbols, and so forth, are all very much the same as those that appear on any other map, but its sense of location and size is different. It is a map of the world, centered on the Turkish-speaking areas of Central Asia, the area on the border between Kyrghizstan and Xinjang province in China. The yellow dot in the center of the map represents the location of Balasaghun, while the one to the right is Kashgar which is in China and is the village from which Mahmud took his name.. The scale  is reduced as one gets nearer the edge of the map. The colors are described in the original as gray for rivers, green for seas, light yellow for deserts, red for mountains, and yellow for cities and towns. The map is oriented with East at the top.  
     The map is in the Millet Genel Kütüphanesi (the General National Library), Istanbul.