Berdakh, pseudonym of Berdimurat son of Gargabay ( Karakalpak: ''Бердақ; Бердимурат Ғарғабай улы,'' 1827–1900) was a Karakalpak poet. He was born in

Karakalpakstan Karakalpakstan, officially the Republic of Karakalpakstan, is an autonomous republic and part of Uzbekistan. It spans the northwestern portion of Uzbekistan. Its capital is Nukus (' / ). Karakalpakstan has an area of , and has a population of a ...

, in a remote village near modern-day Muynak. His father was a poor fisherman and his mother, who gave him the nickname Berdakh, died when he was 10 years old. His father also died while Berdakh was still a child, and so Berdakh became an orphan. Berdakh studied in a

mektep A kuttab ( ''kuttāb'', plural: ''kataatiib'', ) or maktab () is a type of elementary school in the Muslim world. Though the ''kuttab'' was primarily used for teaching children in reading, writing, grammar, and Islamic studies, such as memorizing ...

and at the same time he grazed his fellow villagers' cattle. His brother helped him to go to Karakum madrasah, a

Muslim Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

religious school A religious school is a school that either has a religious component in its operations or its curriculum, or exists primarily for the purpose of teaching aspects of a particular religion. For children A 2002 study in the United States found highe ...

, but Berdakh dropped out from the school because of his

freethinking Freethought (sometimes spelled free thought) is an unorthodox attitude or belief. A freethinker holds that beliefs should not be formed on the basis of authority, tradition, revelation, or dogma, and should instead be reached by other meth ...

poetry. The young poet began to study folk poetry and narrative classical masterpieces of the East. His tutor Kunxoja (1799–1880), who was famous for his folk poetry, helped him with his poetry. Ajinyaz (1824–1878) another famous poet of that time, also played a significant role in Berdakh's life. For a long time Berdakh had to earn money playing the

dutar The ''dutar'' (also ''Dotara, dotar''; ; ; ; ; ; ; ) is a traditional Iranian long-necked two-stringed lute found in Iran and Central Asia. Its name comes from the Persian language, Persian word for "two strings", دوتار ''do tār'' (< � ...

at weddings. He sang his songs at weddings and different festive occasions. His songs were about the fate of a deprived man whose life was very hard. His most famous poems are: ''Ahmaq patsha'' (''Tsar Samodur in Russian)'' that shows his life and poetic experience and lyrical ''Bolģan emes','' which describes the struggles and hardships of Karakalpak people. His other poems included ''Xalıq ushın'' (''For the people)'', ''Amangeldi'', ''Aydosbiy'', and ''Ernazarbiy''. During Berdakh's lifetime there was a rise in national

liberation movement A liberation movement is an organization or political movement leading a rebellion, or a non-violent social movement, against a colonial power or national government, often seeking independence based on a nationalist identity and an anti-imperiali ...

s among the nations of the

Aral Sea The Aral Sea () was an endorheic lake lying between Kazakhstan to its north and Uzbekistan to its south, which began shrinking in the 1960s and had largely dried up into desert by the 2010s. It was in the Aktobe and Kyzylorda regions of Kazakhst ...

territory, especially among the Karakalpaks. Karakalpakia became a hotspot of discord among those nations. The

khanate of Khiva The Khanate of Khiva (, , uz-Latn-Cyrl, Xiva xonligi, Хива хонлиги, , ) was a Central Asian polity that existed in the historical region of Khwarazm, Khorezm from 1511 to 1920, except for a period of Afsharid Iran, Afsharid occupat ...

considered Karakalpakia to be a

nabob A nabob is a conspicuously wealthy man deriving his fortune in the east, especially in India during the 18th century with the privately held East India Company. Etymology ''Nabob'' is an Anglo-Indian term that came to English from Urdu, poss ...

and was constantly imposed duties on its people. The

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

n Empire was also interested in Karakalpakia as it was a gateway to

Central Asia Central Asia is a region of Asia consisting of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. The countries as a group are also colloquially referred to as the "-stans" as all have names ending with the Persian language, Pers ...

. Berdakh wrote not only about social problems but also about the protection of

women's rights Women's rights are the rights and Entitlement (fair division), entitlements claimed for women and girls worldwide. They formed the basis for the women's rights movement in the 19th century and the feminist movements during the 20th and 21st c ...

and dignity. He propagated equality and women's rights. His dream was to unite nations which were separated by different wars.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Berdakh 1827 births 1900 deaths People from Karakalpakstan