Qalandar

Biography

Qalandar (late 18th – first half of the 19th century) was an accomplished and highly individual classical poet of the literary circle of the Kokand khanate. He lived and wrote actively under Umarkhan of Kokand and afterwards under Muhammad Alikhan. The sources record that at Umarkhan's court Qalandar was granted the title 'Malik ush-shuaro' (chief of poets), and Fazliy Namangoniy's tazkira 'Majmuat ush-shuaro' speaks highly of his work and standing. He wrote in the classical forms of the ghazal, muhammas, musaddas and tarji'band. His verse is distinguished by its lustrous language and by the depth of its Sufi and amatory meanings. Qalandar was renowned not only as a poet but as a calligrapher: both his own divan and manuscript copies he made of contemporaries' works survive. Human feeling, the torments of love, the transience of the world and Sufi-philosophical reflection hold the central place in his poetry. His works were included in many of the bayaz anthologies and collections compiled in the Fergana Valley during the 19th century, and his manuscript divan is held in the Manuscript Fund of the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Academy of Sciences of Uzbekistan.

Works

• Devon (qo'lyozma)
• G'azal, muxammas, musaddas va tarje'bandlar
• Zamondosh shoirlar asarlarining xattotlik nusxalari