Husaynbek Miriy

Biography

Husaynbek Miriy (late 19th – early 20th century) was a poet, educator and calligrapher who wrote in the Fergana Valley, and above all in Kokand and the literary circle around it. He wrote in Uzbek and in Persian-Tajik and carried on the traditions of classical verse. The pen name Miriy points to his belonging to an official, mirza or noble household, and to the fact that he served to some degree in state and chancery affairs. He lived through the transitional years of the second half of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century, in difficult social and political conditions: the rule of the Russian empire had been established, and tsarist policy and the Jadid movement ran side by side. He was educated in a madrasa and gained a firm command of classical Eastern literature, of the aruz metre and of the art of calligraphy. Miriy wrote chiefly ghazals of love and philosophy, muhammas and ruba'is; the influence of the traditions of Navoiy, Fuzuliy and Bedil is felt in his ghazals. In the works written in the early 20th century there are social motifs as well — the failings of the time, an appeal for learning and enlightenment, and criticism of ignorance. Alongside Uzbek he composed accomplished verse in Persian too. Although no separately printed divan of his circulated widely, his ghazals and muhammas were taken into the literary bayaz anthologies and collections compiled in the Fergana Valley in the late 19th and early 20th century. His manuscripts and specimens of his verse 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

• G'azallar
• Muxammaslar
• Ruboiylar
• Fors tilidagi she'rlar
• Bayozlarda saqlangan qo'lyozma asarlar