Mohlaroyim ( uz, Mohlaroyim, Моҳларойим; 1792–1842), most commonly known by her pen name Nodira, was an Uzbek poet and stateswoman. She functioned as regent of the

Khanate of Kokand The Khanate of Kokand ( fa, ; ''Khānneshin-e Khoqand'', chg, ''Khoqand Khānligi'') was a Central Asian polity in the Fergana Valley centred on the city of Kokand between 1709 and 1876. Its territory is today divided between Uzbekistan, Ky ...

during the minority of her son from 1822. Nodira is generally regarded as one of the most outstanding Uzbek poets. She wrote poetry in Uzbek 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 ...

. Nodira also used other pennames, such as Komila and Maknuna. Many of her diwans have survived and consist of more than 10,000 lines of poetry.

Biography

Nodira was the wife of

Muhammad Umar Khan Muhammad Umar Khan was the Khan of Khanate of Kokand, Kokand from until his subsequent illness and death in . He studied at a Madrasa, madrassa after completing his primary education before seizing power from his brother Alim Khan (Kokand), Alim ...

who ruled the

from c. 1810 until his death in 1822. Following her husband's death, Nodira became the de facto ruler of Kokand since her son Muhammad Ali Khan was only a teenager when he was crowned Khan; she continued to be a

regent A regent (from Latin : ruling, governing) is a person appointed to govern a state '' pro tempore'' (Latin: 'for the time being') because the monarch is a minor, absent, incapacitated or unable to discharge the powers and duties of the monarchy ...

and advisor to him throughout his reign. She was also poetess who knew Persian and Uzbek and would write her poetry both in Uzbek and Persian. Her work consisted of 10,000

hemistich A hemistich (; via Latin from Greek , from "half" and "verse") is a half-line of verse, followed and preceded by a caesura, that makes up a single overall prosodic or verse unit. In Latin and Greek poetry, the hemistich is generally confined to ...

es. Despite her attempts to instill somewhat more socially liberal values into her son, Madali grew to employ expansionist policies that lead to a war with the rival

Emirate of Bukhara The Emirate of Bukhara ( fa, , Amārat-e Bokhārā, chg, , Bukhārā Amirligi) was a Muslim polity in Central Asia that existed from 1785 to 1920 in what is modern-day Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan. It occupied the lan ...

. Her poetry was frowned upon by the

ulama In Islam, the ''ulama'' (; ar, علماء ', singular ', "scholar", literally "the learned ones", also spelled ''ulema''; feminine: ''alimah'' ingularand ''aalimath'' lural are the guardians, transmitters, and interpreters of religious ...

and was deemed "inappropriate", with her writing often bringing up taboo topics and bemoaning the suffering women faced in Central Asia in that time period. She was hanged on the order of Emir Nasrullah Khan of Bukhara in April 1842 along with her sons during the Kokand-Bukhara wars. It was reported Nasrullah was reportedly furious that she refused to marry him.

Legacy

Long after her death in 1842 Nodira was promoted in the Soviet era as a national heroine of the Uzbek SSR and enjoyed a status similar to other murdered women such as

Nurkhon Yuldasheva Nurkhon Yuldashkhojayeva ( uz, Nurxon Yoʻldoshxoʻjayeva, often anglicized as ''Nurkhon Yuldasheva'') was one of the first Uzbek women to dance onstage without a paranja Paranja, veil. She was born in 1913 in Margilan, a city in Fergana Province ...

. In the public eye she is a

martyr A martyr (, ''mártys'', "witness", or , ''marturia'', stem , ''martyr-'') is someone who suffers persecution and death for advocating, renouncing, or refusing to renounce or advocate, a religious belief or other cause as demanded by an externa ...

and national heroine, and 200 years after her birth, the first national postage stamp of newly independent

Uzbekistan Uzbekistan (, ; uz, Ozbekiston, italic=yes / , ; russian: Узбекистан), officially the Republic of Uzbekistan ( uz, Ozbekiston Respublikasi, italic=yes / ; russian: Республика Узбекистан), is a doubly landlocked cou ...

featured her portrait.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nodira, Mohlaroyim 1792 births 1842 deaths 19th-century women rulers 19th-century Uzbekistani poets 19th-century women writers Uzbeks People from Andijan Persian-language poets Uzbekistani women poets 19th-century Uzbekistani women 19th-century Uzbekistani people