Xislat (Otaqo'zi Tillaxo'jaev)

Biography

Xislat — his given name was Otaqo'zi Tillaxo'jaev and his pen name Xislat Xo'qandiy (1880–1945) — was a gifted Uzbek poet and calligrapher who lived and wrote in the late 19th and the early 20th century. He was born in 1880 in the city of Kokand, into an educated family. After a first schooling at home and in the local maktab he studied in the famous madrasas of Kokand, and gained a perfect command of Arabic and Persian and of classical literature. He was not only a poet but a master calligrapher too: in his day he copied and circulated rare manuscripts and practised the art of the pen. Xislat was formed by the Kokand literary circle, and the influence on his work of such great masters as Muqimiy and Furqat was especially strong. In his ghazals and musaddas the poet sang of fidelity, devotion, sincere love and human virtue; at the same time he turned his satire on the social inequality and the hardships of life in his time. Xislat's ghazals were remarkably fluent, musical and close to the people, and so both in his lifetime and afterwards they were sung by many hofiz singers — Jo'raxon Sultonov, Ma'murjon Uzoqov and others. His works were printed in various bayaz anthologies and in the periodical press, and manuscript collections such as the Devoni Xislat have come down to us. The poet Xislat carried the traditions of classical Uzbek literature into the early 20th century and remains in history as one of the brightest representatives of the Kokand literary circle.

Works

• “Devoni Xislat”
• G'azallar
• Musaddaslar
• Ashula qilib kuylangan she'rlar
• Ko'chirilgan nodir qo'lyozmalar