Fozil Yo‘ldosh o‘g‘li

Fozil Yo’ldosh (1872, Loyqa village, Baxmal district, Jizzakh region — 17.3.1955, Bulung’ur city, Samarkand region)

Fozil Yo’ldosh o’g’li is a renowned Uzbek folk poet, a prominent representative of the Bulung’ur school of storytelling, and its final successor. The creative work of eloquent bakhshis (bards) such as Amin shoir, Chini shoir, Tovbuzar shoir, Qurbonbek shoir, Sultonmurod shoir, Yo’ldoshbulbul, Yo’ldosh shoir, Qo’ldosh shoir, and Suyar shoir, who made the fame of the Bulung’ur storytelling school popular among the people, played an important role in the formation of Fozil Yo’ldosh o’g’li’s artistic genius. From an early age, he loved to play the dambura and create and perform terma songs among the people. Having become a student of one of the leading bakhshis of his time, Yo’ldosh shoir Mulla Murod o’g’li, Fozil Yo’ldosh o’g’li diligently learned the centuries-old traditions and traditional epics of the Bulung’ur storytelling school, and by the age of 25-26, he had developed into a talented bakhshi. Fozil Yo’ldosh o’g’li, who possessed an unparalleled poetic talent and gift for improvisation, performed traditional epics with great skill. With his high improvisational skills, he elevated Uzbek storytelling to a new level.

Fozil Yo’ldosh o’g’li’s repertoire was rich and diverse in terms of theme and genre. He knew more than forty folk epics by heart and performed them with high skill. The Folklore Archive of the Alisher Navoiy Institute of Language and Literature of the Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Uzbekistan preserves epics recorded from Fozil Yo’ldosh o’g’li, such as "Alpomish", "Yodgor", "Yusuf bilan Ahmad", "Murodxon", "Rustamxon", "Shirin bilan Shakar", "Go’ro’g’lining tug’ilishi", "Avazxonning o’limga hukm etilishi", "Malika ayyor", "Mashriqo", "Zulfizar", "Balogardon", "Intizor", "Nurali", "Jahongir", "Zevarxon", "Farhod va Shirin", "Layli va Majnun", "Bahrom va Gulandom", "Oshiq G’arib", "To’lg’onoy", "Ra’no bilan Suxangul", "Ochildov", "Nazar va Oqbo’tabek", "Mulla G’oyib", "Mamatkarim polvon", "Yo’lbars terisini yopingan pahlavon", "Buxoro podshosi Muzaffarxon", and "Avazxon".

Fozil Yo’ldosh o’g’li performed the best examples of heroic, romantic, historical epics, and literary epics. The epic "Alpomish" occupies a special place in his creative work. Among the nearly 40 variants of this epic recorded from Uzbek folk storytellers, the Fozil Yo’ldosh o’g’li variant is considered the most complete and artistically perfect. It fully demonstrates the poet’s high storytelling skill.