Zokirjon Xolmuhammad oʻgʻli () (1859–1909), better known by his pen name Furqat, was an Uzbek author, poet, and political activist. He had a major influence on the development of modern Uzbek literature. He wrote one of the earliest

pamphlet A pamphlet is an unbound book (that is, without a Hardcover, hard cover or Bookbinding, binding). Pamphlets may consist of a single sheet of paper that is printed on both sides and folded in half, in thirds, or in fourths, called a ''leaflet'' ...

s and

satirical Satire is a genre of the visual arts, visual, literature, literary, and performing arts, usually in the form of fiction and less frequently Nonfiction, non-fiction, in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, ...

articles in Uzbek. Furqat, like may other writers of the

tsar Tsar (; also spelled ''czar'', ''tzar'', or ''csar''; ; ; sr-Cyrl-Latn, цар, car) is a title historically used by Slavic monarchs. The term is derived from the Latin word '' caesar'', which was intended to mean ''emperor'' in the Euro ...

ist colonial period, was forced to praise the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

and its culture in his work. When he started to write poems that were critical of the cruelty of Russian rule, he was exiled to

Chinese Turkestan Chinese Turkestan or Chinese Turkistan, is a geographical term or historical region corresponding to the region of the Tarim Basin in Southern Xinjiang (south of the Tian Shan mountain range) or Xinjiang as a whole which was under the rule of ...

Life

Zokirjon Xolmuhammad oʻgʻli was born in 1859 in

Kokand Kokand ( ) is a city in Fergana Region in eastern Uzbekistan, at the southwestern edge of the Fergana Valley. Administratively, Kokand is a district-level city, that includes the urban-type settlement Muqimiy. The population of Kokand was ap ...

. He was sent to a

madrasa Madrasa (, also , ; Arabic: مدرسة , ), sometimes Romanization of Arabic, romanized as madrasah or madrassa, is the Arabic word for any Educational institution, type of educational institution, secular or religious (of any religion), whet ...

at the age of fourteen. At the madrasa, Xolmuhammad oʻgʻli learned Arabic and

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

and became interested in Oriental literature. In 1876, he moved to

Margilan Margilan (, ; ) is a city (2024 pop. 253,500) in eastern Uzbekistan's Fergana Region. Margilan is located in the south of the Fergana Valley, where trade caravans from China traveled westwards and vice versa during the days of the Silk Road. Margi ...

to work for his uncle who had a shop. In 1880, Xolmuhammad oʻgʻli returned to Kokand and got married. In 1889, he moved to

Tashkent Tashkent (), also known as Toshkent, is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Uzbekistan, largest city of Uzbekistan. It is the most populous city in Central Asia, with a population of more than 3 million people as of April 1, 2024. I ...

. Starting from 1891, Xolmuhammad oʻgʻli traveled extensively to many countries, including

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan, officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, is a Boundaries between the continents, transcontinental and landlocked country at the boundary of West Asia and Eastern Europe. It is a part of the South Caucasus region and is bounded by ...

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in West Asia. Located in the centre of the Middle East, it covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries ...

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...

, and India. He was exiled to

after he started to criticize the cruelty of Russian rule in his works. He arrived in Yarkant in 1893 and stayed there until his death in 1909.

Work

Zokirjon Xolmuhammad oʻgʻli started writing poetry at a young age under the pen name "Furqat" which means "separation". He also wrote under the pen name "Farhat" which means "joy." In his works, Furqat praised human dignity and was an opponent of religion and

asceticism Asceticism is a lifestyle characterized by abstinence from worldly pleasures through self-discipline, self-imposed poverty, and simple living, often for the purpose of pursuing Spirituality, spiritual goals. Ascetics may withdraw from the world ...

. In 1891, he wrote his autobiographical book ''Sarguzashtnoma'' (''The Adventure Book''). This book is also called ''Furqatnoma.'' Furqat's other works include ''Gimnaziya'' (''The Gymnasium School''), ''Ilm xosiyati'' (''The Benefits of Education''), ''Vistavka xususida'' (''About Exhibitions''), ''Akt majlisi xususida'' (''About the Session on Statements''), ''Nagʻma bazmi xususida'' (''About a Music Party''), ''Adashganman'' (''Made a Mistake''), ''Fasli navbahor oʻldi...'' (''The Spring has Died''), ''Sayding qoʻya ber, sayyod...'' (''Leave Your Game, Hunter''), ''Kelinchak'' (''The Bride''), ''Sabogʻa xitob'' (''An Appeal to the Morning Breeze''), ''Bormasmiz'' (''We Won't Go'') and many others. Some of Furqat's works, such as ''Devon'' (''Diwan''), ''Hammomi xayol'' (''The Bathhouse of Thoughts''), ''Chor darvesh'' (''Four Dervishes''), ''Noʻh manzar'' (''Nine Aspects''), did not survive.

Life

Work

References

Further reading