Hoji Kiromiy

Biography

Hoji Kiromiy (late 19th – early 20th century) was a lyric poet, calligrapher and educator who wrote in the Fergana Valley, and above all in the Kokand literary circle. He wrote equally in Uzbek and in Persian-Tajik and carried on the traditions of classical literature. Hoji Kiromiy lived in the second half of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century; he was educated in a madrasa and gained a firm command of classical Eastern literature, of Arabic and Persian grammar and of the aruz metre. The title Hoji in his pen name testifies that he had made the pilgrimage to the holy cities of Mecca and Medina and belonged among the educated, respected and enlightened men of his day. He took an active part in the literary assemblies and poetic contests of Kokand and the Fergana Valley and was in close contact with the other poets and writers of the age. Under the pen name Kiromiy — Arabic for 'generous', 'noble', 'honoured' — he created lyric work: chiefly love ghazals, muhammas and ruba'is. Classical love experience, Sufi and gnostic meanings and the ideals of enlightenment lead in his poetry. He composed muhammas and taxmis on the ghazals of such classic masters as Alisher Navoiy, Fuzuliy and Bedil. Although no separately printed divan of Hoji Kiromiy circulated widely, many of his ghazals and muhammas were taken into the literary bayaz anthologies and manuscript compilations made in the Fergana Valley in the late 19th and early 20th century. These manuscript sources are kept in the manuscript fonds of the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Academy of Sciences of Uzbekistan and in the archives of local museums.

Works

• Oshiqona g'azallar
• Muxammaslar
• Ruboiylar
• Mumtoz ustozlar g'azallariga taxmislar
• Bayoz va qo'lyozma majmualardagi she'rlar