37
Maxtumquli
Textbook: pp. 241–244
GoalGet to know Maxtumquli’s life and work.
New words
Turkmen · turkmangoldsmithing, jewellery craft · zargarlikpoetic contest · aytishuvpen name · taxallus
Explanation
Maxtumquli is a great poet of the Turkmen people, born in 1733 in the village of Hojigovshon on the Atrak River. His father Davlatmamad was an educated man who wrote poems under the pen name “Ozodiy”. Maxtumquli studied at madrasas, including ones in Bukhara and Khiva, and learned goldsmithing; from the age of nine he began to compose songs, sometimes using the pen name “Firog‘iy”. He travelled to Afghanistan, Iran, India, Azerbaijan and to places such as Samarkand and Tashkent. His output exceeds ten thousand lines; it contains the life of the people, calls for unity and moral advice, and he died in 1791.
Worked examples
Example: in the poem “Turkman binosi” the poet celebrates the pride and unity of the Turkmen people.
Example: because he wrote in the tunes of folk songs, his poems are set to music and sung by singers.
Class activity
Find the places Maxtumquli travelled to on a map and write which present-day countries they belong to.
Practice
1
When and where was Maxtumquli born?
In 1733 in Hojigovshon on the Atrak.
2
What was his father’s pen name?
Ozodiy.
3
What craft did he learn?
Goldsmithing.
4
Why is Maxtumquli also a close poet for Uzbeks?
His poems were translated into Uzbek and he became spiritual property of all Turkic peoples.