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Khurshidbanu Natavan

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Khurshidbanu Natavan
Khurshidbanu Natavan
Khurshidbanu Natavan
BornKhurshidbanu Utsmiyeva
(1832-08-15)August 15, 1832
Shusha, Elisabethpol Governorate, Caucasus Viceroyalty, Russian Empire
DiedSeptember–October 1897 (age of 65)
Shusha, Elisabethpol Governorate, Caucasus Viceroyalty, Russian Empire
Resting placeAgdam
LanguagePersian
Azerbaijani
Genre
SpouseKhasay Khan Utsmiyev
RelativesMehdigulu Khan Javanshir

Khurshidbanu Natavan (Template:Lang-fa, Template:Lang-az; 15 August 1832 – September or October 1897) was a female poet and philanthropist. She is considered one of the best lyrical poets of Nagorno-Karabakh.[1] Her poems are in either Persian or Azerbaijani, and she was most notable for her lyrical ghazals.

Natavan was also the daughter of Mehdigulu Khan, the final ruler of the Karabakh Khanate (1748–1822).

Life

Khurshidbanu Natavan with her children from first marriage

Natavan was born on August 15, 1832 in Shusha—also known as Shushi—to Mehdigulu Khan (1763-1845) and Badir Jahan Begum (1802-1861). Being the only child in the family and descending from Panah Ali Khan, she was the only heir of the Karabakh khan, known to general public as the "daughter of the khan". Her name Khurshid Banu (خورشیدبانو) is from Persian and means "Lady Sun". Her nom de plume Natavan (ناتوان) is also from Persian and means powerless.[2] She was named after her grandmother—Khurshud Begum, the daughter of Javad Khan.

After her father's death, she inherited vast amounts of lands from her father including 1,315 households, 41 nomadic territories and 7 villages at age of 14. She was put in care of her aunt Gawhar Agha who taught her music, poetry and painting.[3] She probably married Kumyk noble Khasay Utsmiev in 1847. She inherited additional number of 9 villages from her mother Badir Jahan Begum in 1861 after her death.[4] She founded and sponsored the first literary societies in Nagorno-Karabakh. One of them called Majlis-i Uns ("Society of Friends")[1] founded in 1864 became especially popular and concentrated major poetic-intellectual forces of Karabakh of that time.[5]

Natavan was closely engaged in philanthropy, promoting the social and cultural development of Karabakh. Among her famous deeds was a water main that was first laid down in Shusha in 1872, thus solving the water problem of the townsfolk. A local Russian newspaper named Kavkaz wrote at the time, "Khurshud Banu-Begum left an eternal mark in the memories of the Shushavians and her glory will pass on from generation to generation".[6] The aqueduct built by Natavan from famous Shusha white stones were called by the townsfolks "Natavan springs" and were also considered historical monuments under protection.

Natavan also did a lot for the development and popularization of the famous breed of Karabakh horses.[citation needed] Natavan's Karabakh horses took part in the Exposition Universelle (1867), agricultural exhibition in Moscow (1869), in Tbilisi (1882) and were awarded golden medals and certificates of honour. Karabakh horses were also awarded at the Second All-Russian Exhibition in 1869: Meymun - silver medal, Tokmak - bronze medal. At the Exposition Universelle (1867) in Paris, Khan got a silver medal.[7]

Humanism, kindness, friendship and love were the main themes of Natavan's ghazals and ruba'yat. These sentimental romantic poems express the feelings and sufferings of a woman who was not happy in her family life and who lost her son. Many of these poems are used in folk songs nowadays.

Natavan died in Shusha in 1897. She was buried in Agdam in a family burial vault. Her sons Mehdigulu Khan and Mir Hasan Ağa Mir both left a collection of poems in Persian.[citation needed]

Monument in Shusha

According to the Azerbaijani government, a Soviet-era monument of Natavan in Shusha[8] by sculptress Hayat Abdullayeva, and other famous monuments of Nagorno-Karabakh poets including Hajibekov and Bulbul, which once decorated the central streets of Shusha (or Shushi), purportedly came under fire during the First Nagorno-Karabakh War.[better source needed]

Thomas de Waal who saw the monuments in Baku, wrote:

"I saw the three bronze heads, forlorn and pocked with bullets, lying in the courtyard of the headquarters of the Red Cross in the center of Baku: the poet Natevan, an earnest girl in a head scarf reading a book, missing a thumb; the composer Hajibekov, a bullet-ridden gentleman in double-breasted suit and broken spectacles; and Bul Bul, a famous singer with a serious domed bronze forehead".[9]

The monuments were kept in the yard of the Azerbaijani Museum of Arts in Baku for many years,[10][11] with Natavan's bust returning to Shusha on 16 January 2021.[12]

Family

She probably married Kumyk nobleman, Khasay Utsmiev, in 1847 and had two children with him:

She later married a commoner named Seyyid Huseyn Agamirov (1833-1891) in 1866 with whom she had 5 children:

  • Mir Abbas Agha (1868-1885)
  • Mir Hasan Agha (1870-1903)
  • Mir Jabbar Agha (?-1914?)
  • Sara Begum
  • Hajar Bike (1869-?)

See also

References

  1. ^ a b Naroditskaya, Inna (2000). "Azerbaijanian Female Musicians: Women's Voices Defying and Defining the Culture". Ethnomusicology. 44 (2). Ethnomusicology, Vol. 44, No. 2: 234–256. doi:10.2307/852531. JSTOR 852531.
  2. ^ Nissman , David B. (1987) The Soviet Union and Iranian Azerbaijan:the use of nationalism for political penetration ,Westview Press ,ISBN 0813373182, p.84
  3. ^ "Natavan". Azerbaijani Soviet Encyclopedia. Vol. 7. National Academy of Sciences of Azerbaijan. 1983. pp. 163–164.
  4. ^ Ismayilov, Eldar (2014). "The Khans of Karabakh: The Elder Line by Generations". The Caucasus & Globalization. 8 (3–4): 149–150.
  5. ^ Abasova, L. V. et al. (eds.) (1992) Istoria azerbaijanskoi muziki Maarif, Baku, p. 116
  6. ^ "Khurshud Banu-Begum" (PDF). "Kavkaz" newspaper. August 29, 1873. p. 100.
  7. ^ Yelena Volkova - Karabakh Horses (in Russian)
  8. ^ Natavan bust then and today Archived 2007-10-08 at the Wayback Machine
  9. ^ de Waal, Thomas (2003). Black Garden: Armenia and Azerbaijan through Peace and War. p. 190.
  10. ^ de Waal, Thomas (2003). Black Garden: Armenia and Azerbaijan Through Peace and War. New York: New York University Press. ISBN 0-8147-1945-7.
  11. ^ "Глава 12. Шуша. Последняя цитадель". BBC News. 12 July 2005.
  12. ^ "Rusiya Təhlükəsizlik Şurasında Qarabağ üzrə danışıqlar müzakirə edilib, Prezident İlham Əliyev və Mehriban Əliyeva Şuşada tarixi yerləri gəziblər" [The talks on Karabakh were discussed at the Russian Security Council, and President Ilham Aliyev and Mehriban Aliyeva visited historical sites in Shusha]. BBC Azerbaijani Service (in Azerbaijani). 15 January 2021. Archived from the original on 17 January 2021. Retrieved 15 January 2021. {{cite web}}: |archive-date= / |archive-url= timestamp mismatch; 21 January 2021 suggested (help)

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