Donish, Akhmad Makhdum Bin Nosir

Donish, Akhmad Makhdum Bin Nosir

 

(called Kalla,“Head”). Born 1827 in Bukhara; died there in 1897. Tadzhik writer and philosopher; the leader of a 19th-century Tadzhik Enlightenment circle.

The son of a poor imam, Donish studied at a Muslim college and was the most educated man in the khanate of Bukhara, participating in the emir’s embassies to St. Petersburg of November 1857, October 1869, and January 1874. He pressed for the study of Russian language and culture and worked out a program of reforms for the khanate. Donish placed his hopes for their realization in an enlightened emir, whose power was to be limited by a consultative body. His works A Short History of the Mangyt Emirs of Noble Bukhara (1860-65) and Rare Events (1875-82) are the most important source for 19th-century Bukharan history. Donish’s works had a noticeable influence on the development of the new literature of the Central Asian peoples, including the work of M. Khairat and S. Aini.

WORKS

Asarkhoi muntakhab. [Dushanbe] 1959.
In Russian translation:
Puteshestvie iz Bukhary v Peterburg. [Dushanbe] 1960.

REFERENCES

Mirzoev, A. “Pervaia redaktsiia ’Navodir-ul-vakoe’ i vremia ee sostavleniia.” Tr. AN Tadzh. SSR, 1953, vol. 17.
Rajabov, Z. Sh. Maorifparvar Akhmadi Donish. [Dushanbe] 1964.