Contributions to the Biography of the Late Period Chagatai Poet 'Umar Baqi in Light of the Biographical Memoirs of the Uyghurs Written During the Khwajagan

Abstract

This article's subject involves 'Umar Baqi in the 18th century, one of the late Chagatai poets who wrote Farhad and Shirin (1792) and Layli and Majnun (1792) under the influence of Ali Shir Navai (1441-1501), and various contributions to his biography. The lack of sufficient and satisfactory information in the sources mentioning 'Umar Baqi, both in Turkey and abroad, has led to a search and examination of the primary sources and documents of the period. As a result of this research and examination, the biographical work of the Uyghurs that had been written in the period of Hwajagan is understood to be extremely important. These biographies were written in cultural centers such as Kashgar, Yarkant, Hotan, and Turfan where Uyghurs had lived in great numbers and reflect the characteristics of the late Chagatai Turkish in terms of philology. Following many historical, political, religious, scientific, and literary figures and events of the period has been determined to be possible through these works. Among these biographies are two that come to the fore and contain data that are able to contribute to the biography of 'Umar Baqi. One of these is Tazkira'i Khwajagan, and the other is Qissa'i Hazrat'i Khwaja Afaq, Yusuf Khwaja, and Khwaja Cahan. The relevant lines of both biographical memoirs are written in Chagatai Turkish with Arabic letters, whose transcribed text and its transfer to Turkish in Turkiye were carried out first, after which the text was converted into information to be brought to the literature by identifying the data using a contextual method. In light of the obtained data, the study will attempt to reveal that 'Umar Baqi had been an important man of literature and art in his time, one with the personality of a theologian and professional titles such as Yarkant; he also ranked among the top of the mullahs [mosque leader] and akhunds [Persian for Islamic scholars] of his period.