Toktogul Satylganov ( ky, Токтогул Сатылган уулу, translit=Toktogul Satylgan uulu,

Perso-Arabic The Persian alphabet ( fa, الفبای فارسی, Alefbâye Fârsi) is a writing system that is a version of the Arabic script used for the Persian language spoken in Iran ( Western Persian) and Afghanistan (Dari Persian) since the 7th cen ...

: توقتوعۇل ساتىلعان ۇۇلۇ; russian: Токтогул Сатылганов, translit=Toktogul Satylganov; 25 October 1864 – 17 February 1933) was the most famous of the Kyrgyz

Akyn Akyns, or aqyns ( kk, ақын, ky, акын, ; both transcribed as ''aqın'' or ''اقىن''), are improvising poets and singers in the Kazakh and Kyrgyz cultures. Akyns differ from the or , who are song performers or epic storytellers. In ...

s –

improvising Improvisation is the activity of making or doing something not planned beforehand, using whatever can be found. Improvisation in the performing arts is a very spontaneous performance without specific or scripted preparation. The skills of impr ...

poets and singers. The Kyrgyz town of Toktogul in the Jalal-Abad Region is named in his honor. Toktogul was born in Kushchusu, a village now submerged in the

Toktogul Reservoir Toktogul ( ky, Toктогул, known until 31 July 1957 as ''Muztör'' ()), is a city (since 2012) in Jalal-Abad Region of Kyrgyzstan. Its population was 20,577 in 2021. It is the administrative seat of Toktogul District. It is named after its mos ...

Career

Toktogul was a well-known poet and composer with democratic views even during the Tsarist Russia's colonial era in Southern Kyrgyzstan (1876–1917). On the eve of the revolt led by Muhammad Ali Madali, the Sufi ishan, Toktogul was harshly criticizing local Kyrgyz lords in Ketmen-Tobe valley. Madali ishan, seeking to rid the area of the Russians and restore the formerly independent khanate of Khokand, called for "holy war", and led 2,000 men against Tsarist Russia on 17–18 May 1898 (30–31 May 1898 in the Gregorian calendar). However, his force was blocked outside the city on Andijan by the Russian 20th Line Battalion and defeated. Of those 2,000, 546 were put on trial, and Madali and five of his lieutenants hanged.Edward Allworth
Central Asia, 130 years of Russian dominance: a historical overview
Duke University Press, 1994. , Most of the sentenced people were Kyrgyz people in the Ferghana valley and mountainous areas in Chatkal, Aksy and Ketmen-Tobe in what is now southern

Kyrgyzstan Kyrgyzstan,, pronounced or the Kyrgyz Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Asia. Kyrgyzstan is bordered by Kazakhstan to the north, Uzbekistan to the west, Tajikistan to the south, and the People's Republic of China to the east. ...

. Among them was prominent poet-improviser and composer Toktogul, who was jailed by a false accusation by his political foes in the Ketmen-Tobe valley about his alleged participation in the revolt. He returned from

Siberia Siberia ( ; rus, Сибирь, r=Sibir', p=sʲɪˈbʲirʲ, a=Ru-Сибирь.ogg) is an extensive geographical region, constituting all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has been a part of ...

jail (in the village of Kuitun near the town of

Irkutsk Irkutsk ( ; rus, Иркутск, p=ɪrˈkutsk; Buryat language, Buryat and mn, Эрхүү, ''Erhüü'', ) is the largest city and administrative center of Irkutsk Oblast, Russia. With a population of 617,473 as of the 2010 Census, Irkutsk is ...

) in 1905. His fame reached a high point in the Soviet era when his works were promoted by the state as a musician of the people and he was known throughout

simply as "Toktogul". This distinction was founded largely on his works in the pre-revolutionary era which were interpreted as reflecting the

class struggle Class conflict, also referred to as class struggle and class warfare, is the political tension and economic antagonism that exists in society because of socio-economic competition among the social classes or between rich and poor. The forms ...

. Modern interpretations, however, suggest that they had more to do with clan rivalries. Despite this, he welcomed the revolution, writing "''What woman gave a birth to such a person like Lenin?''" in celebration. Even after the fall of the Soviet Union Toktogul's songs remain popular among Kyrgyz performers, and many streets, parks, schools, and even his home town are named after him.

References

External links

Toktogul
a
Welcome to KYRGYZMUSIC.COM
(includes a downloadable song)

{{DEFAULTSORT:Satylganov, Toktogul 1864 births 1933 deaths Kyrgyzstani poets Kyrgyzstani folk singers Kyrgyzstani male singers 20th-century Kyrgyzstani writers