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(1792-1842), Transoxianan poetess of Ḵᵛoqand, who wrote in both Persian–with the pen name Maknuna–and Čaḡatāy under the pseudonyms of Nādera and Kāmela. NĀDERA (b. Andejān 1792; d. Ḵᵛoqand 1842) Transoxianan poetess of Ḵᵛoqand, who wrote in both Persian–with the pen name Maknuna–and Čaḡatāy (see CHAGHATAY LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE) under the pseudonyms of Nādera and Kāmela. Nādera’s real name was Māhlar-āyim, but she is better known as Nādera. She was born into the family of the governor of Andejān, Raḥmānqulibi (Nazirov, p. 471), who was the uncle of…

the National Library of Tajikistan. With its 28-stack rooms, the library has a capacity for ten million books. Manuscript holdings span seven centuries (13th-19th centuries) and include the works of outstanding Persian classical authors. A version of this article is available in print Volume XVI, Fascicle 4, pp. 366-368 KETĀB-ḴĀNA-YE MELLI‑E TĀJIKESTĀN (Taj. Kitobḵonai millii Tojikiston), the Tajikistan National Library (PLATE I), located in Dushanbe. The Tajikistan National Library was established on 1 January 1933 on the groundwork of the Dushanbe city libr…

Šams-al-Din Maḵdum (b. Bukhara, 1859; d. Qarši 1894), Bukharan Tajik poet and satirist. The only child of Mollā Amān, Šams-al-Din Maḵdum Šāhin was born when his father was in his seventies (Hodizoda, 2006, p. 7). The main source for his biography is Ṣadr-al-Din ʿAyni, according to whom Šams-al-Din’s father came from Kulāb; in the 1820s, Mollā Amān emigrated to Samarqand, and then to Bukhara, where his son was born (ʿAyni, p. 361). Šams-al-Din received his early education at a girls’ primary school ( maktab) in Bukhara, before attending a local madrasa. The young man had to leave the …

(1932-1993), Soviet Tajik poetess, editor, and dramatist. Her poetry consists mainly of lyric miniatures on the theme of love and all manifestations of the natural world, from the Pamir mountains to the simplest flower plucked in a park in the suburbs of Dushanbe. ḤAKIMOVA, MAWJUDA, Soviet Tajik poetess (b. 5 May 1932, Khujand; d. 1993, Khujand). Mawjuda Ḥakimova, also referred to as Mawjuda, was born in into a family of workers (Figure 1). She received her higher education from the Tajikistan State University in Dushanbe, where she graduated in 19…

(1800-1905), Tajik educator, historian, and poetess bilingual in Persian and Chaghatay Turkish. DELŠĀD BARNĀ, Tajik educator, historian, and poetess bilingual in Persian and Chaghatay Turkish (b. Ura Tepe, 1800; d. Ḵˇoqand, 1905). Delšād, who signed her poetry also with the pen name of Barnā, was born in Ura Tepe (historical Osrušana), in present-day northern Tajikistan. The main source for her biography is her own historical-biographical treatise Taʾriḵ-e mohājerān, as well as some verses included in her divān. According to Delšād’s own account, she lost both her paren…

(1925-2012), Tajik scholar and literary critic. From the late 1980s, in the milieu of glasnost, he cultivated an interest in the theory of modern Tajik culture, and he published copiously on the issues of the history and contemporary conditions of Tajik language, literature, and culture during the independence period after 1991. ŠOKUROV, MOḤAMMADJĀN (Taj. Muhammadjon Šukurov; also Šakuri), Tajik scholar and literary critic (b. February 1925, Bukhara; d. 16 September 2012, Dushanbe; Figure 1, Figure 2). Moḥammadjān Šokurov was born to the family of Šarifjān Maḵdum Ṣadr-e…