Zokirjon Xolmuhammad oʻgʻli ( uz, Zokirjon Xolmuhammad oʻgʻli, Зокиржон Ҳолмуҳаммад ўғли) (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 hard cover or 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'' or it may consist of a ...

s and

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

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

tsar Tsar ( or ), also spelled ''czar'', ''tzar'', or ''csar'', is a title used by East Slavs, East and South Slavs, South Slavic monarchs. The term is derived from the Latin word ''Caesar (title), caesar'', which was intended to mean "emperor" i ...

ist colonial period, was forced to praise the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...

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 Xinjiang, SASM/GNC romanization, SASM/GNC: ''Xinjang''; zh, c=, p=Xīnjiāng; Chinese postal romanization, formerly romanized as Sinkiang (, ), officially the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (XUAR), is an Autonomous regions of China, autono ...

Life

Zokirjon Xolmuhammad oʻgʻli was born in 1859 in

Kokand Kokand ( uz, Qo‘qon/Қўқон/قوقان, ; russian: Кока́нд; fa, خوقند, Xuqand; Chagatai: خوقند, ''Xuqand''; ky, Кокон, Kokon; tg, Хӯқанд, Xöqand) is a city in Fergana Region in eastern Uzbekistan, at the sou ...

. He was sent to a

madrasa Madrasa (, also , ; Arabic: مدرسة , pl. , ) is the Arabic word for any type of educational institution, secular or religious (of any religion), whether for elementary instruction or higher learning. The word is variously transliterated '' ...

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 ( uz, Marg‘ilon/Марғилон, ; russian: Маргилан) is a city (2022 pop. 242,500) in Fergana Region in eastern Uzbekistan. Administratively, Margilan is a district-level city, that includes the urban-type settlement Yangi Marg ...

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 (, uz, Toshkent, Тошкент/, ) (from russian: Ташкент), or Toshkent (; ), also historically known as Chach is the capital and largest city of Uzbekistan. It is the most populous city in Central Asia, with a population of ...

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

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan (, ; az, Azərbaycan ), officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, , also sometimes officially called the Azerbaijan Republic is a transcontinental country located at the boundary of Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is a part of th ...

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the A ...

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedon ...

, 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 (; from the el, ἄσκησις, áskesis, exercise', 'training) is a lifestyle characterized by abstinence from sensual pleasures, often for the purpose of pursuing spiritual goals. Ascetics may withdraw from the world for their p ...

. 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