Khurshidbanu Natavan (; 6 August 1832 – 2 October 1897) was an Azerbaijani poet and

philanthropist Philanthropy is a form of altruism that consists of "private initiatives for the public good, focusing on quality of life". Philanthropy contrasts with business initiatives, which are private initiatives for private good, focusing on material ...

. She is considered one of the best lyrical poets of

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 ...

. Her poems are in either Azerbaijani or

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 she was most notable for her lyrical

ghazals ''Ghazal'' is a form of amatory poem or ode, originating in Arabic poetry that often deals with topics of spiritual and romantic love. It may be understood as a poetic expression of both the pain of loss, or separation from the beloved, and t ...

. Natavan was the daughter of Mehdigulu Khan, the last ruler of the

Karabakh Khanate The Karabakh Khanate (also spelled Qarabagh; ; ) was a Khanates of the Caucasus, khanate under History of Iran, Iranian and later Russian Empire, Russian suzerainty, which controlled the historical region of Karabakh, now divided between modern ...

(1748–1822).

Life

Natavan was born on 5 August 1832 in

Shusha Shusha (, ) or Shushi () is a city in Azerbaijan, in the region of Nagorno-Karabakh. Situated at an altitude of 1,400–1,800 metres (4,600–5,900 ft) in the Karabakh mountains, the city was a mountain resort in the Soviet Union, Soviet ...

, a town in present-day Azerbaijan, in

Karabakh Karabakh ( ; ) is a geographic region in southwestern Azerbaijan and eastern Armenia, extending from the highlands of the Lesser Caucasus down to the lowlands between the rivers Kura and Aras. It is divided into three regions: Highland Kara ...

region, to Mehdigulu Khan (1763–1845) and Badir Jahan Begüm (1802-1861). Being the only child in the family and descending from

Panah Ali Khan Panah Ali Khan Javanshir (; ; 1693 – 1759 or 1763) was the founder and first ruler of the Karabakh Khanate under Persian suzerainty. Ancestry Panah Ali Khan was from the Sarijali branch of the Javanshir clan, who with their associate clan of ...

, she was the only heir of the Karabakh khan, known to the general public as the "daughter of the khan" (). Her name Khurshid Banu () is from Persian and means "Lady Sun". Her

pen name A pen name or nom-de-plume is a pseudonym (or, in some cases, a variant form of a real name) adopted by an author and printed on the title page or by-line of their works in place of their real name. A pen name may be used to make the author's na ...

''Natavan'' () is also from

and means ''powerless''. She was named after her grandmother - Khurshud Begüm, daughter of

Javad Khan Javad Khan (); 1748 – 1804) was a member of Ziyadoghlu Qajar, a clan of the Qajars (tribe), Qajar tribe, as well as the sixth and the last Khan (title), khan of the Ganja Khanate from 1786 to 1804 before it was lost to Russian Empire, Russia. ...

. After her father's death, she inherited vast amounts of land from her father including 1,315 households, 41 nomadic territories and seven villages, aged 14. She was put in the care of her aunt Gawhar agha who taught her music, poetry and painting. She probably married Kumyk noble Khasay Utsmiev in 1847. She inherited an additional nine villages from her mother Badir Jahan Begüm in 1861 after her death. She founded and sponsored the first literary societies in Shusha and in the whole of Azerbaijan. One of them called ''Majlis-i Uns'' ("Society of Friends") founded in 1864 became especially popular and concentrated major poetic-intellectual forces of Karabakh of that time. Natavan was closely engaged in philanthropy, promoting the social and cultural development of Karabakh. Among her famous deeds was a

water main A water distribution system is a part of water supply network with components that carry potable water from a centralized treatment plant or wells to consumers to satisfy residential, commercial, industrial and fire fighting requirements. Defi ...

that was first laid down in Shusha in 1872, thus solving the water problem of the townsfolk. The local Russian "Kavkaz" newspaper wrote at the time: "Khurshud Banu-Begum left an eternal mark in the memories of the Shushavians and her glory will pass on from generation to generation". The aqueduct built by Natavan from famous Shusha white stones were called by the townsfolks "Natavan springs" and were also considered historical monuments under protection. Natavan also did a lot for the development and popularization of the famous breed of

Karabakh horse The Karabakh () is a mountain-steppe racing and riding horse breed. It is named after the Karabakh region, from which the breed originates. The breed is noted for its good temperament and speed; in 2004, a Karabakh horse named Kishmish from an ...

s. Natavan's Karabakh horses took part in the

Exposition Universelle (1867) The of 1867 (), better known in English as the 1867 Paris Exposition, was a world's fair held in Paris, Second French Empire, France, from 1 April to 3 November 1867. It was the List of world expositions, second of ten major expositions held i ...

, agricultural exhibition in

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

(1869), in

Tbilisi Tbilisi ( ; ka, თბილისი, ), in some languages still known by its pre-1936 name Tiflis ( ), ( ka, ტფილისი, tr ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Georgia (country), largest city of Georgia ( ...

(1882) and were awarded golden medals and certificates of honour. Karabakh horses were also awarded at the Second All-Russian Exhibition in 1869: Meymun - silver medal, Tokmak - bronze medal. At the

in Paris, Khan got a silver medal. Humanism, kindness, friendship and love were the main themes of Natavan's

and ruba'yat. These sentimental romantic poems express the feelings and sufferings of a woman who was not happy in her family life and who lost her son. Many of these poems are used in

folk song Folk music is a music genre that includes #Traditional folk music, traditional folk music and the Contemporary folk music, contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be ca ...

s nowadays.

Khurshidbanu Natavans Tomb

Natavan died in Shusha on 2 October 1897. She was buried in

Aghdam Aghdam () is a town and the nominal capital of the Aghdam District of Azerbaijan. Founded in the 18th century, it was granted city status in 1828 and grew considerably during the Soviet period. Aghdam lies from Stepanakert at the eastern foot ...

in the Imarat Cemetery. After the occupation of

Agdam District Aghdam District () is one of the 66 administrative divisions of Azerbaijan. It is located in the west of the country and belongs to the Karabakh Economic Region. The district borders the districts of Khojaly, Kalbajar, Tartar, Khojavend, A ...

by Armenian forces following the

First Nagorno-Karabakh war The First Nagorno-Karabakh War was an ethnic conflict, ethnic and territorial conflict that took place from February 1988 to May 1994, in the enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh in southwestern Azerbaijan, between the majority ethnic Armenians of Nag ...

, her tomb was damaged. In January 2021, after control of the district was returned to Azerbaijan following the

2020 Nagorno-Karabakh war The Second Nagorno-Karabakh War was an armed conflict in 2020 that took place in the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding occupied territories. It was a major escalation of an unresolved conflict over the region, involvi ...

, French-Iranian Azerbaijani

photojournalist Photojournalism is journalism that uses images to tell a news story. It usually only refers to still images, but can also refer to video used in broadcast journalism. Photojournalism is distinguished from other close branches of photography (suc ...

Reza Deghati Reza Deghati (; born July 26, 1952) is an Iranians in France, Iranian-French photojournalism, photojournalist. Early life Reza was born in Tabriz, Iran. He is ethnically Azerbaijanis, Azerbaijani.

Monument in Shusha

According to the Azerbaijani government, a Soviet-era monument of Natavan in

by sculptor Hayat Abdullayeva, and other famous monuments of Karabakh Azerbaijanis including Hajibekov and

Bulbul The bulbuls are members of a family, Pycnonotidae, of medium-sized passerine songbirds, which also includes greenbuls, brownbuls, leafloves, and bristlebills. The family is distributed across most of Africa and into the Middle East, tropic ...

, which once decorated the central streets of Shusha, were severely damaged and dismantled by Armenian forces. Polad Bulbuloghlu, then the Minister of Culture of Azerbaijan bought the bronze busts from a Georgian scrap metal yard and transported them to Baku.

Thomas de Waal Thomas Patrick Lowndes de Waal (born 1966) is a British journalist and writer on the Caucasus. He is a senior fellow at Carnegie Europe. He is best known for his 2003 book '' Black Garden: Armenia and Azerbaijan Through Peace and War''. Li ...

who saw the monuments in Baku, wrote: "I saw the three bronze heads, forlorn and pocked with bullets, lying in the courtyard of the headquarters of the

Red Cross The organized International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a Humanitarianism, humanitarian movement with approximately 16million volunteering, volunteers, members, and staff worldwide. It was founded to protect human life and health, to ...

in the center of Baku: the poet Natevan, an earnest girl in a head scarf reading a book, missing a thumb; the composer Hajibekov, a bullet-ridden gentleman in double-breasted suit and broken spectacles; and Bul Bul, a famous singer with a serious domed bronze forehead". The monuments were kept in the yard of the Azerbaijani Museum of Arts in

Baku Baku (, ; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Azerbaijan, largest city of Azerbaijan, as well as the largest city on the Caspian Sea and in the Caucasus region. Baku is below sea level, which makes it the List of capital ci ...

for many years, with Natavan's bust returning to Shusha on 16 January 2021 after the city's recapture by Azerbaijan.

Family

She probably married Kumyk nobleman, Khasay Utsmiev, in 1847 and had two children with him: * Mehdigulu Khan Vafa — Poet, lieutenant-colonel of

Imperial Russian Army The Imperial Russian Army () was the army of the Russian Empire, active from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was organized into a standing army and a state militia. The standing army consisted of Regular army, regular troops and ...

* Khanbike Khanum (1856–1921) — Poet She later married a commoner named Seyyid Huseyn Agamirov (1833–1891) in 1866 with whom she had five children: *Mir Abbas Agha (1868–1885) *Mir Hasan Agha (1870–1903) *Mir Jabbar Agha (?–1914) *Sara Begum *Hajar Bike (1869–?)

References

External links