☰ Contents · Literature

About the “Boburnoma”

Lessons 17 · 1 lessons · B. To‘xliyev, B. Karimov, K. Usmonova. Literature: textbook-collection for Grade 10 of secondary schools and for students of secondary specialised and vocational institutions, Parts 1–2. 1st edition. “O‘zbekiston milliy ensiklopediyasi” State Scientific Publishing House, Tashkent, 2017
17

About the “Boburnoma”

Textbook: Part 1, pp. 149–153
GoalKnow the historical and literary importance of the “Boburnoma”, its content and the sides of Bobur’s personality revealed in it.
New words
prose · nasrchronicle · solnomacomparison · qiyoslashtruthfulness · rostgo‘ylik
Explanation

According to the textbook, the “Boburnoma” is a work of literary and historical importance: it gathers the mountains, rivers, climate, population and social-political situation of medieval Asia and the experiences of many people. The work covers about 50 years of events from Andijan, Samarkand, Khujand and Herat to Kabul and Agra, but events of 1508–1520, 1525 and 1530 are not reflected in it. Bobur at first called his work “Vaqoyi’” (“Events”); after the samples of prose from the time of Yusuf Khos Hajib and Rabghuzi and the prose that Navoiy raised higher, the “Boburnoma” became a distinctive discovery in Uzbek prose. Events are told precisely, concisely and in keeping with life’s truth; the author pays great attention to nature, to descriptions of places and people. Bobur assesses rulers such as Amir Temur, Ulugh Beg, Husayn Boyqaro and Shaybani Khan, as well as poets, painters and musicians, including Navoiy, Behzod and Jami. Truthfulness, courage, love of justice, kindness and strictness appear in Bobur’s character; he tried not to hide even his own mistakes.

Worked examples
Example: Bobur gives a frank opinion on Hasan Ya‘qub’s verse – weak and unpleasant, better unwritten than written so – showing his literary criticism and honesty.
Example: for the events of 909 (1503–1504) Bobur writes that he took firm measures against the violence of Khusraw Shah’s men – he kept the standard of justice even in war.
Class activity

The class builds a classification of the “Boburnoma”: 4 columns – history, nature, descriptions of people, literature/art; find one example for each.

Practice
1
What was the original name of the “Boburnoma” and how many years of events does it cover?
2
Which years’ events are not reflected in the work?
3
What place does the “Boburnoma” hold in Uzbek prose?
4
Why can Bobur’s recording of his own mistakes be called loyalty to truth? Explain.