Eurasian thesis: Astrakhan and Ashgabat – ancient ties and new views on the legacy of Magtymguly
28.03.2024 | 00:16 |Astrakhan State University named after V.N.Tatishchev held on Wednesday, March 27, an event in the format of a round table on the topic "The creative heritage of Magtymguly Pyragy: cultural and humanitarian aspects". Ashgabat joined the forum dedicated to the 300th anniversary of the great Turkmen poet and thinker online.
The meeting was attended by Minister of Foreign Relations of the Astrakhan region Vladimir Golovkov, attache of the Consulate of Turkmenistan in the Russian Federation Enegul Kakajanova, Chairman of the Council of the Astrakhan Regional Public Organization for the Preservation and Development of Turkmen Culture "Turkmenistan" Fauzia Kadyrova, as well as representatives of the Magtymguly Pyragy School (Funtovo village) and the representative office of the Russian Foreign Ministry in Astrakhan.
They were joined by the Institute of International Relations of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan, the Magtymguly Turkmen State University and the Turkmen Agricultural University via video link.
Rector of the IMO Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan Jumamyrat Gurbangeldiyev made a report on Turkmen-Russian relations during the time of Magtymguly, presenting a study of the issue in the humanitarian aspect.
Briefly describing the historical context, he told how the noble merchant Hojanepes Soyun oglu came to Astrakhan at the age of 35, in 1713. According to the data, he had close ties with the Turkmen who moved here, and even Hojanepes himself had a private house in this city.
In Astrakhan, Hojanepes met with a merchant from the Gilan province of Iran, Zaman bek, who helped him with a trip to St. Petersburg. It was there that he met Prince Alexander Bekovich-Cherkassky, with the assistance of whom Hojanepes met with Peter I. The meeting resulted in the organization of three expeditions, which were headed by Bekovich-Cherkassky.
Peter the Great continued to pay serious attention to the problem of the development of the Caspian Sea. To this end, in 1719, a new expedition was equipped under the leadership of Verdun, Soimonov and Urusov to compile a description of the shores of the Caspian Sea.
As a result of this expedition, as well as previous research, in 1720 the first map of the Caspian Sea was compiled, published by the Russian Academy of Sciences in St. Petersburg.
The Russian Empress Catherine II also paid close attention to the study and establishment of relations with the peoples of Central Asia, including the Turkmen. In 1764-1765, Captain Tokmachev and engineer Major Ladyzhensky explored harbors on the eastern shore of the Caspian Sea. They found oil, sulfur, salt and black paint on Cheleken.
In 1781, an expedition led by Count M. Voinovich was sent from Astrakhan to Turkmenistan. The purpose of this expedition was to describe the eastern shores of the Caspian Sea and choose a place to build a trading harbor there.
The description of these areas compiled by Voinovich concerns not only their geography and natural resources, it touches upon the issues of socio-economic life of the Turkmens of the eastern coast of the Caspian Sea, their cultural and economic ties with Russia in the last quarter of the XVIII century...
In conclusion, the Rector of the Institute of International Relations of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan stressed that for many centuries the Turkmen people have accumulated a wealth of experience in communicating with neighboring countries, including Russia.
During the time of Magtymguly, many representatives of the Turkmen people visited Russian lands, in particular Astrakhan.
History shows that Magtymguly himself traveled to Astrakhan several times, and even lived for some time on the territory of the modern village of Funtovo in the Astrakhan region.
In the new historical conditions, the mutually beneficial successful partnership between Turkmenistan and the Russian Federation is a reflection of the centuries-old friendly relations between the two peoples. In addition, their symbol was the monument to the great Turkmen poet, erected in 2009 in Astrakhan, Russia.
Made in Pyragy’s homeland, this monument became a gift to the residents of the Russian region from the President of Turkmenistan for the 450th anniversary of the city and was installed in the beautiful park of Astrakhan State University.
Another symbol of friendship between the two fraternal peoples is the opening in 2018 of the Magtymguly Pyragy School in the village of Funtovo in the Volga region of the Astrakhan region of the Russian Federation.
The historical roots of friendly relations between the Turkmen and Russian peoples also became the topic of a speech by the head of the Department of Social Sciences of the IIR Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan, Ayna Baymuradova.
She noted that Ancient Russia was the territory where the Huns, Ugrians, Pechenegs, Torki–Oguzes, Kipchaks and Tatar–Mongols settled and also passed through to Europe.
It was Russia that was the area where the relations between the Turkic and European peoples developed most strongly. The contacts of the Slavs with the Turks, which lasted about two thousand years, could not but affect their culture, traditions and ethnic history.
The ancestors of the Oguz Turkmens also lived in Russia, and they owned a number of cities, they formed the military squads of the Kievan princes, acted as their allies.
In 1982, academician B.A. Rybakov wrote:
"Cities inhabited by the Chernoklobutsk (Oguz) nobility arose along the banks of the Rosi. Russian Russians, defending Russia from the Polovtsians, the Torks and Berendei gradually perceived the Russian language, Russian culture and even the Russian epic epic... the Oguzes played an important role in the political life of Russia in the XII century."
The famous Russian historian L.N. Gumilev, exploring the relations of peoples in the Eurasian region, notes:
"The Eurasian thesis: we must look not only for enemies – there are so many of them, but we must look for friends, this is the most important value in life. Moreover, we need to look for sincere allies. So, Turks and Mongols can be sincere friends."
The famous Turkmen historian and archaeologist Professor Ovez Gundogdiyev, in his monograph "Oguzes, Turkmens and Russia", having studied in detail the political, historical and cultural ties of the two peoples, noted that: "The Oguzes became equal inhabitants of Kievan Rus ... Rus fused with the Field. Oguz Turkmen: bayandyrs, Kayes, Bechene, Tuver left their names in Russian toponymy."
Turkmens appeared on the territory of Russia by different fates and at different times. One of the groups that now lives in the Astrakhan region migrated to this territory in 1593. Another group of Turkmens migrated to the Astrakhan steppes from Hiva in 1653. In the 70s, 1665 farms became Russian citizens.
In 1667, 200 Turkmen families moved to Stavropol. The researchers cite a letter from Turkmen elders addressed to Catherine II dated April 25, 1776, which stated that the Turkmens "... rendered their services and were in various battles.
They called the Volga River their mother." At the end of the XVIII–early XIX centuries, settled Turkmen settlements were already established in Astrakhan and Stavropol. Stavropol and Astrakhan Turkmens are considered the largest communities...
Ovezdurdy Muhammetberdiyev, Doctor of Sociology, Professor of the Department of International Relations and Diplomacy of the IIR Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan devoted his report to existential motives in the poetic heritage of Magtymguly.
Speaking about the fact that the study of the poetic heritage of the great son of the Turkmen people has a long history, he noted that almost 180 years have passed since the appearance in 1842 in one of the British editions of the first small scientific work by Polish writer Alexander Khodzko-Boreyko on the poetry of Magtymguly.
Subsequently, in the second half of the 19th century, such outstanding Russian Turkologists and philologists as Ivan Berezin and Feodor Bakulin devoted their solid works to his work.
Scientific research devoted to his work was intensively conducted throughout the 20th century. Dozens of scientific monographs, hundreds of scientific articles appeared, and doctoral and PhD theses were defended. Moreover, not only Turkmen scientists. Scientists from Russia, Turkey, Uzbekistan, Iran, Great Britain, Hungary, Ukraine, Belarus and other countries have been engaged in scientific research of the literary heritage of Magtymguly.
According to Professor Ovezdurdy Muhammetberdiyev, despite the fact that many scientific works have been devoted to various philosophical views of Magtymguly, the poet's existentialist views have so far, according to the speaker, remained insufficiently researched.
Existentialism is a philosophical trend that focuses on the uniqueness of human existence. The theme of man, human existence and the meaning of human life run like a red thread in the poetic legacy of Magtymguly.
If his father, Dovletmamet Azadi, in his famous philosophical treatise "Vagzi–Azat" (Sermon of Azadi), expounded his philosophical views on a certain society of justice, then Magtymguly, unlike his father, paid more attention not so much to the topic of society, but to the topic of man, the topic of his being.
In the works of Magtymguly, the motives of the impermanence of the world, the transience and impermanence of human life sometimes sound clearly.
However, Magtymguly does not at all assert the absurdity of life, considering it fleeting and perishable. On the contrary, the poet tries to inspire people: since life is so short, one should not be fooled by momentary successes…
At the same time, it is not necessary to lose heart in misfortune, because trouble, like happiness, lasts only a moment.
It is not necessary to postpone a good deed for tomorrow, because tomorrow may not come, but at the same time, only a good deed will preserve a person's name for centuries.
Thus, the poet's pessimistic moods turn into their opposite, the thought of death increases activity and thirst for action.
As proof, the speaker cited examples from Magtymguly poems reflecting existentialist motives.
Other speakers also had interesting conclusions. Amannepes Shihnepesov, Head of the Department of Turkmen Literature at Magtymguly TSU, spoke about
the heuristics of deep inversions in Pyragy poetry.
In addition, Jalaleddin Gurbanov, a 3rd-year student of the Faculty of Turkmen Philology at the Magtymguly Turkmen State University, focused on the creative recreation of the poetic world in a foreign language environment, taking as a basis the translation work of Andrei Tarkovsky.
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