Akin-democrat, improvisational singer, virtuoso komuzist T. Satylganov was born on October 25, 1864—February 17, 1933, in the village of Kyshta in the Ketmen-Tyubinskaya valley of the Susamyr volost of the Namangan district (now Toktogul district of Osh region) in a poor family.
He did not receive formal education. At the age of 12, his parents were forced to send him to work as a shepherd for a wealthy landowner. Close interaction with impoverished people played a decisive role in shaping his character. His parents helped awaken the poetic talent in the capable boy at an early age. His father, Satylgan, was known for his wit in his circle and composed and sang his own songs. His mother, Burma, was a witty woman who knew many folk tales, legends, and traditions, and she composed kochok — lamentations. The famous improvisational singers of the Ketmen-Tyubinskaya and Talas valleys at that time, such as Naken, Esenaman, Chondu, and others, had a significant influence on Toktogul's creative abilities, as he listened to their inspiring performances.
At the age of 13, he began to compose songs and play the komuz. In his early songs "Because of Poverty" ("Zhokchuluktun ayynan"), "The Tavern is My Abode" ("Zhurgenum Kabak zher boldo"), the young akyn tries to express the cruelty and inhumanity of his master, the wealthy Kazanbay, singing about his powerless, impoverished fate.
In 1882, Toktogul participated in a poetic competition (aytysh) where he met the famous court singer Arzymat and won against him. In this competition, Toktogul proved himself not only as an unmatched singer but also as a fearless exposer of evil and a defender of the interests of the poor. His fame spread throughout Kyrgyzstan.
In the mid-1880s, he created lyrical songs such as "Nasylkan," "Suiymkan," "Alimkan," and others, which became classic examples of Kyrgyz love lyricism. In his famous satirical work "Five Boars" ("Besh kaman"), and songs like "Moneylender Chakyrbai," "Arzymat," "Song Sung at the Mourning of Dykhanbay," "Muradbek," "Eshen-kalpa," and others, he ridicules local oppressors.
His works "Advice" ("Nasyyat"), "Termes," "Moral Songs" ("Ulguy yrlay"), "Songs of Wisdom" ("Nuskaluu yrlay"), "Do Not Stray from the Right Path" ("Tuz jolundan chykpagin"), "Enjoy Life" ("Guldepp al"), "What Attracts?" ("Emne kyzyk?"), and others, contain deep philosophical content and life-affirming pathos, in which the akyn celebrates the meaning of human existence, its ideals, moral purity, and creative labor. The freedom-loving verses of Toktogul provoked fierce hostility from the wealthy landowners, manaps, mullahs, and tsarist officials, who cruelly persecuted the akyn.
In 1988, during the Andijan uprising, tsarist henchmen fabricated a denunciation of the akyn's participation in this uprising, and in June he was arrested. In August, the court sentenced Toktogul to death, which was later commuted to exile for hard labor in Siberia for seven years due to "tsarist mercy." Bidding farewell to his homeland and fellow countrymen, the akyn created his famous songs "Farewell, Mother," "Farewell, My People." After three years of wandering, Toktogul reached Irkutsk, from where he was sent to the Alexandrovsky central prison, through the gates of which thousands of revolutionaries from all over Russia had passed.
His stay in Siberia and communication with Russian revolutionary exiles contributed to the expansion of his political horizons, helping him understand that workers of all nationalities are united in their desire to throw off the shackles of exploitation. Exile helped Toktogul strengthen in the struggle and clearly realize his place in life. There, in the hard labor camp, he made a komuz from Siberian spruce with an axe, singing about his hatred for the manaps and jailers in songs like "Eagle Circling Over the Mountains" ("Aylangan tooun burkutu"), "Is This Your Interrogation?" ("Ushundayby suragyts?"), "My Hellish Life" ("Azapka tushu emurum"), "Song of the Prisoner," "In Captivity," "During the Escape," and others. These poems contain the idea of international unity among the working people.
In 1902, with the help of Russian friends, Toktogul escaped from hard labor and, with great difficulty, reached his homeland in 1903. The people welcomed their singer with immense joy, and his songs resonated with renewed strength. During this time, he created songs like "Upon Meeting My Native Land," "Hello, Beloved People!," "Dear Mother, Are You Alive and Well?!" and others, in which he profoundly embodies the joy of a person who has regained their homeland. In a number of works from this period, such as "Meeting with the Akyn Barpy," "In the House of the Miller Janaly," and others, the akyn prophetically declares that the end of tsarism and the rule of the wealthy landowners is near, telling about people who are fighting for the happiness of the working people and calling his compatriots to friendship with their elder brother in struggle — the workers of Russia. The spiteful and hateful local rulers imprisoned the akyn in the Namangan prison, but the entire populace of Southern Kyrgyzstan and the Talas valley rose in defense of the people's poet, forcing the authorities to release him.
Toktogul was the first of the folk akyns to welcome the Great October Socialist Revolution and became not only a herald of a new era but also an active fighter for the cause of the revolution. During this time, he created his remarkable poem "What Kind of Woman Gave Birth to a Son Like Lenin?", which rightfully stands at the cradle of Kyrgyz Soviet literature. During the years of Soviet power, Toktogul created a number of songs about the Communist Party and the kolkhoz councils, about the transformed land of nomads.
His first poems in Russian began to be published in the mid-1930s. His works have been published in all the languages of the fraternal republics of our country and abroad.
The significance of Toktogul's creativity in the history of the formation and development of Kyrgyz Soviet literature and art is immense. Many works reflecting his image have been created. In 1964, the 100th anniversary of the great akyn's birth was widely celebrated. In 1965, the State Prize of the Kyrgyz SSR in the field of literature and art named after Toktogul Satylganov was established. The name of Toktogul (in 1936) was assigned to the Order of the Red Banner of Labor of the Kyrgyz State Philharmonic, as well as to cities, districts, kolkhozes, streets, parks, libraries, schools of the republic, hydroelectric power stations, and reservoirs. Monuments have been erected in the akyn's homeland and in the center of the republic's capital. Toktogul Satylganov is an outstanding Kyrgyz akyn-democrat of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the founder of Kyrgyz Soviet literature, and a teacher of an entire generation of Soviet Kyrgyz poets.
SEPARATE PUBLICATIONS
in Kyrgyz language:
Kedeykan. —F.-Kazan: Kyrgyzmamabas, 1938. — 173 p.
Songs of Toktogul. —F.: Kyrgyzmamabas, 1938. — 100 p. Poems by Toktogul.
Songs of Toktogul and Memories of Kalyk. — F.: Kyrgyzmamabas, 1940. —95 p. Poems by Toktogul and memories of Kadyk (Akiyev).
Poems. —F.: Kyrgyzmamabas, 1940. —264 p. Poems.
Works. —F.: Kyrgyzmamabas, 1950. —392 p. Works.
Poems. —F.: Kyrgyzmamabas, 1950. —392 p. Poems.
Poems. —F.: Kyrgyzmamabas, 1954. —344 p. Poems.
Collection of Works. — F.: Kyrgyzmamabas, 1956. —325 p. Selected Works.
Live in the Soviet Union: Collection of Poems. — F.: Kyrgyzokupedmambas, 1957. — 69 p. Hello, Soviet Power.
Two-volume Collection of Works: 1—2 vol. — F.: Kyrgyzstan, 1964. Collected Works in two volumes.
What Kind of Woman Gave Birth to a Son Like Lenin? — F.: Kyrgyzstan, 1964.— 15 p. Song about Lenin.
Eshen-kalpa: Poems. —F.: Mektep, 1964. —55 p.
Alimkan: — F.: Mektep, 1965. — 76 p.
What Kind of Woman Gave Birth to a Son Like Lenin? — F.: Kyrgyzstan, 1965.— 110 p. Song about Lenin.
Exemplary Poem. —F.: Mektep, 1965. —76 p. Exemplary Poem.
Song about Lenin in the languages of the peoples of the USSR. — F.: Kyrgyzstan, 1966. — 126 p. Song about Lenin in the languages of the peoples of the USSR.
Two-volume Collection of Works: 1—2 vol. — F.: Kyrgyzstan, 1968. Collected Works in 2 volumes.
Song about Lenin. — F.: Kyrgyzstan, 1970. — 38 p. Song about Lenin.
Selected Poems. —F.: Kyrgyzstan, 1976. —95 p. Selected Poems.
Advice: Poems. —F.: Mektep, 1977. —39 p. Advice.
Advice: Poems. — F.: Mektep, 1978. — 40 p. Advice.
Selections: Poems. —F.: Kyrgyzstan, 1984. — 130 p. Selected.
Art Songs. —F.: Mektep, 1985. —20 p. Advice.
in Russian language:
Selected Works. —M.: Goslitizdat, 1940. — 168 p.
Selected Works. — F.: Kyrgyzgosizdat, 1950. — 108 p.
Selected Works. —F.: Kyrgyzgosizdat, 1954. — 168 p.
Selected: Poems. — M.: Goslitizdat, 1958. —279 p.
About Lenin: Poems. —F.: Kyrgyzgosizdat, 1958. —36 p.
Collection of Poems. —F.: Kyrgyzgosizdat, 1959. —78 p.
Selected: Poems. — F.: Kyrgyzstan, 1964. —278 p.
Listen to the Singer, Youth. —F.: Mektep, 1964. —59 p.
Song about Lenin in the languages of the peoples of the USSR. — F.: Kyrgyzstan, 1965. — 50 p.
Advice: Poems. — F.: Mektep, 1987. — 20 p.
Listen to the Singer, Youth: Poems. — F.: Adabiyat, 1989.— 64 p.
in the languages of the peoples of the USSR:
Mountain Eagle: Poems. —F.: Kyrgyzgosizdat, 1949. —78 p.— Dung.
Collection of Poems. — F.: Kyrgyzgosizdat, 1959. —78 p, — Dung.
Selected: Poems. —Kiev: Dnipro, 1977. —151 p.— Ukr.
Poems. —Nukus: Karakalpakstan. 1983. —65 p. Karakalpak.