Exotic City of Osh

Osh — an exotic city.

Here at different times, "travelers, explorers, scientists, journalists, writers, and foreign guests have visited. Here are some of them. In 1924, at the request of the scientific association of Oriental studies, Professor B. P. Denike from Moscow University, chairman of the commission for the study of Eastern arts, visited the Turkestan Republic to examine the monuments of art on site. In his comprehensive work "Architectural Ornament of Central Asia," published in 1939, B. P. Denike writes about the architectural monuments of Osh. This work was later continued by the Institute of Archaeology of the USSR Academy of Sciences and the Institute of History of the Kyrgyz SSR. B. E. Nusov also studied the city of Osh. He wrote about the Alimbek madrasa, the husband of Kurmanjan Datka. In the article "Mount Sulayman," F. Popov wrote that in earlier times, the city of Osh was a backwater town. It was a royal fortress with a detachment of soldiers and police; the city was a hotbed of imams, mullahs, and priests. With a population of 30,000, mainly Uzbeks engaged in agriculture and crafts, the city had 100 mosques and not a single secondary educational institution. The city of Osh is very picturesque, surrounded by mountains, and stands at the foot of a rocky mountain, which the locals call Takhte and Sulayman (Solomon's throne). This mountain has long been considered "sacred" by Muslims — the second Mecca. It has always attracted pilgrims.

The writer P. Luknitsky included an essay titled "Departure from Osh" in his book "Riders and Pedestrians" (1935).

The writer A. Isbakh wrote about his stay in Osh and the work of the Sokaldinskaya MTS in the same year. In the documentary book by Y. Semyonov "The State Security Commissioner," one of the heroes, Dmitry Dmitrievich Pletnev, served in Osh in the 1920s and participated in the struggle for the establishment of Soviet power. In one of the battles, he fell into the hands of the Basmachis but was saved by a Kyrgyz named Ismail. The Uzbek poet and translator Chulpan visited Osh and dedicated a number of poems to it. The most famous of them is "Night in Osh." The Uzbek prose writer Kadyrov in his novel "Starry Nights" (1984) includes episodes recounting the stay of the great Babur in Osh. The well-known poetess and translator Irina Volobueva visited Osh many times. In her book "Paths Lead to the Road," she wrote: "Our grand literary evening in the Osh House of Culture will remain in my memory for a long time." "Osh, I grew up with you..." — we read lines from the poem by Kyrgyz poet, prose writer, and critic Kambarly Bobulov. Poets and prose writers M. Abdukarimov, Zh. Bokonbaev, S. Jusuyev, T. Shamsiyev, T. Kasymbekov, and others also wrote about the city of Osh.

In their works, they lovingly told about their native land. The author of the story "Our Svetlana Seidesh," Sergey Baruzdin, writes about Osh, meetings with pioneers and schoolchildren. The talented poet and famous actor Yuri Vizbor (1934-1984) often had to pass through Osh as part of climbing groups heading to Pamir. He recalls this in his book "I Left My Heart in the Blue Mountains," published in 1986 after his death. Writers A. Golubev, G. Zhiltsev, and S. Zaitseva in the book "Osh Tale" told about the life and attractions of the city.

The city of Osh in the life of A. Masaliev