Ziynat Shoir (Toshxo'ja)

Biography

Ziynat Shoir — his given name was Toshxo'ja — was one of the notable representatives of classical Uzbek literature, living and writing in the Khanate of Kokand in the second half of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century. He was not only a poet but also an accomplished calligrapher and educator of his day. Toshxo'ja studied in the madrasas of Kokand; a perfect command of Arabic and Persian gave him a thorough grasp of classical Eastern poetics and of the rules of calligraphy. He took an active part in literary gatherings and poetic contests with such well-known writers as Muqimiy, Furqat, Muhyi, Nisbat and Haziniy. Among his contemporaries he was known as a poet of fine sensibility and ready wit and as a master of the beautiful hand. He wrote ghazals, muhammas, murabba's and chronograms; much of his work survives in manuscript bayaz anthologies of the late 19th and early 20th century. He wrote fluently in various metres of the aruz, and above all in the ramal and hazaj measures. Eastern themes of love, fidelity, separation and human perfection hold the central place in Ziynat's poetry.

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Works

• G'azallar
• Muxammas va murabba'lar
• Ta'rixlar
• Bayozlarda saqlangan she'rlar