Zahiriddin Muhammad Bobur: life and legacy

Zahiriddin Muhammad Bobur, a Timurid prince, was born in Andijan on 14 February 1483; he was a writer, historian, scholar, commander and statesman. When his father Umarshayx mirza died unexpectedly Bobur was 12, and with this his independent political activity began. He took his grandfather Amir Temur’s capital Samarkand several times but could not hold it. His main aim was to build a large centralised state; this was achieved not in Mawarannahr but in India. Bobur left his divans, the “Boburnoma”, the Uzbek translation of Khoja Ubaydulloh’s “Risolayi volidiya”, the ethical masnavi “Mubayyin” and the script “Xatti Boburiy”, which he invented. He died in Agra on 26 December 1530 aged 47; in 1539, according to his will, his remains were brought to Kabul and laid in the “Bog‘i Bobur”. After independence, Andijan has a university, theatre, library, national garden and the museum “Bobur and world culture” named after Bobur; the International Bobur Foundation was founded on 23 December 1993.