Asiri, Toshkhodzha

Born 1864, in Khodzhent; died Mar. 3, 1916. Tadzhik poet.

Asiri studied in a Muslim school from 1882 to 1890. Until the end of his life he worked as a master millstone carver. Asiri was friendly with S. Aini, Mukimi, Furkat, Khislat, and other Tadzhik and Uzbek poets. The basic content of Asiri’s work is the propagation of learning and science and the condemnation of ignorance and obscurantism. This is seen in the poems “What Is Being Humane?” and “A Defense,” the narrative poem On the Bekabad Canal (1913), and others. He also wrote in Uzbek.