APersonIndependent states
Abdulla Qodiriy
Writer (1894–1938), author of the first Uzbek novel, Bygone Days, who brought realism to Uzbek literature; a victim of repression.
Born in Tashkent, Abdulla Qodiriy began writing under Jadid influence and published satirical stories under the pen name Julqunboy.
His novel Bygone Days, published in the 1920s, is considered the first Uzbek novel, telling the tragic love of Otabek and Kumush in the 19th-century Kokand Khanate; his second novel, The Scorpion from the Altar, is also a classic.
He was shot in 1938 during Stalin's purges and later rehabilitated. Today he has a house museum and monument in Tashkent, and his novels are read in schools.
Sources
Updated: October 3, 2026