Yusuf (Jusup) al-Balāsaghūnī
Yusuf (Jusup) al-Balасaguni was born around 1015-1018 in the principality's capital, which once became the northern capital of the entire khanate. This city was famous as a center of science and culture of its time. The Burana settlement, southwest of the modern city of Tokmok, is the ruins of this cultural hub of the Karakhanids.
In Balasagun, large educational institutions - madrasahs - were established. They can be considered the universities of that era. They studied not only religious disciplines but also, primarily, subjects related to philosophy and natural sciences. Some information can be gleaned from Yusuf al-Balасaguni's own work - the poem “Kutadgu Bilig” (“Blessed Knowledge [Governance]”). The author mentions Euclid (Oclid), algebraic methods, astronomical knowledge, etc.
Of course, his main contribution to culture was related to the development of a completely new style in Turkic poetry, which became a new trend for the traditional literature of the Karakhanids. He writes about this:
“Learn to know - and you will know honor:
Knowledge is a stronghold and a bastion of power!
I aspired to knowledge with persistent desire,
I strung words together in an ornate verse.
The word of the Turks grazed like a mountain deer,
I tamed it, making it submissive.”
The poem by Jusup al-Balасaguni “Kutadgu Bilig” was written in Kashgar in 1069-1070 over eighteen months and was presented as a gift to Tavghach Buura, the Karakhanid ruler Abu Ali Hasan (who ruled from 1056-1103). The author was awarded the title of “great hadjip,” meaning the head of the affairs in the khan's court (chamberlain) for his poem on state governance. The poem contains advice for statesmen: how to govern better, how to relate to different social strata of society. It also discusses various twists of fate.
The poem is the quintessence of political thought of its time. The author's appointment to a high position indicates that his reflections on state governance were valued by his contemporaries at the appropriate level. In this work, the respect of society for educated people is captured in the following lines:
“There are still people who are rich in knowledge, —
Their knowledge shines like a guiding star...
Their knowledge is given to bring light to all people —
Where there is light, one cannot stray from the path even at night.”
The population of Tengri-Too, striving for knowledge, studied not only Islamic religious literature but also deeply mastered the exact sciences, as evidenced by the section dedicated to astronomers (astrologers) in this work. This is confirmed by the lines:
“Learn to know it, complex calculations —
Only these gates are given to lead to knowledge.
Know multiplication, division, and fractions —
This goal is difficult and for a wise person!
Perfectly know the law of powers And be able to calculate roots of numbers!
Know the various actions of algebra (“al-jabr wa-l-muqabala”),
Curiously knock at the gates of Euclid.”
(Translation by S.N. Ivanov from the Karakhanid Turkic language).
The poem by Jusup al-Balасaguni has reached us in three manuscripts: the Vienna manuscript - named after its current location, copied in “Uyghur” script from a list written in Arabic script on June 17, 1439 AD in the city of Herat (Afghanistan). The Cairo manuscript, written in Arabic script, was discovered in 1896 in Cairo, in the Khedive Library. The Namangan (Fergana) manuscript, also written in Arabic script, was found in 1913 in Namangan.
“Kutadgu Bilig” by Jusup al-Balасaguni is an inexhaustible philosophical and didactic poem, a unique algebra of wisdom.
Since May 2002, the Kyrgyz National University has been named after the poet and statesman Jusup al-Balасaguni.
