Magtymguly Pyragy

Who is Magtymguly Pyragy?

Magtymguly Pyragy is the most revered poet in Turkmen history, widely regarded as the founder of Turkmen written literature and the central figure of Turkmen national consciousness. He was born in the village of Hajygowshan near present-day Gonbad-e Qabus, in the Turkmen Sahra region of what is now northern Iran, to Döwletmämmet Azady, himself an educated poet, teacher, and mullah who gave Magtymguly his first lessons in Turkmen, Persian, and Arabic. He continued his studies at madrassahs including Idris Baba in Gyzylayak, Gögeldash in Bukhara, and Shirgazy in Khiva, then traveled widely across Central Asia, Iran, and Afghanistan as a Naqshbandi Sufi. Returning home, he worked as a silversmith while teaching and composing poetry. His body of roughly 800 poems, preserved orally for generations before later written collection, called for unity among the fractious Turkmen tribes and expressed humanist ideals of peace, education, and spiritual purity in the face of Persian and Russian expansion. He is buried in Aktokay village in present-day Iran, where a mausoleum marks his grave, and UNESCO marked the 300th anniversary of his birth in 2024.

Sources: Magtymguly Pyragy — Wikipedia (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magtymguly_Pyragy) · Museum Studies Abroad, "Magtymguly Pyragy and the Turkmen Nation" · UNESCO, 300th Anniversary of the Birth of Magtymguly Pyragy (2024)