SOURCES FOR THE STUDY OF THE LIFE AND WORK OF THE POET

The literature of nineteenth-century Uzbekistan — and especially the Fergana literary milieu that took shape within the Kokand Khanate — left a distinctive mark on the history of Uzbek letters through the flourishing of women’s poetic talent. Alongside such accomplished poetesses as Nodira, Uvaysiy, Mahzuna, Dilshod (Barno) and Anbar Otin stands Samar Bonu (pen name Bonu, 1837–1891), notable for her life, her courage and her lyric legacy. Yet for a long time her creative heritage remained almost unknown to scholarship: her name received little attention in the tazkiras (biographical anthologies) of her age, and her divan was never published in full. The present article identifies, classifies and comparatively examines the surviving sources for the study of Samar Bonu, grouping them into scholarly studies, encyclopedic and educational literature, literary anthologies, periodical journalism, electronic resources, and oral memoirs. Particular attention is given to the foundational research of the scholar Toʻxtasin Jalolov, whose devotion rescued the poet’s name from oblivion.