STAGES OF DEVELOPMENT OF UZBEK MUSICAL CULTURE

https://ijmri.de/index.php/jmsi

volume 4, issue 4, 2025

966

STAGES OF DEVELOPMENT OF UZBEK MUSICAL CULTURE

Isakov Ulugbek Tukhtasinovich

Faculty of Art Studies,

Fergana State University

Annotation:

This article contains information about the history of the development of Uzbek

musical culture, historical sources reflecting it, new methods of performance, as well as the

opinions of Central Asian thinkers about musical science.

Key words:

Uzbek music, “Avesta”, chang, musical instruments, culture, archaeological

research, drill, “Shashmaqom”, spirituality, national music.

Аннотация:

В данной статье собраны сведения об истории развития узбекской

музыкальной культуры, исторических источниках, отражающих ее, новых способах

исполнения, а также мнения мыслителей Средней Азии о музыкальной науке.

Ключевые слова:

Узбекская музыка, «Авеста», чанг, музыкальные инструменты,

культура,

археологические

исследования,

муштра,

«Шашмаком»,

духовность,

национальная музыка.

INTRODUCTION

Based on professional music in folk oral creativity created by musicians and singers over the

centuries, we understand that the musical culture of the Uzbek people has a centuries-old history.

The musical samples of our ancestors are closely connected with the creativity of fraternal

peoples, primarily the Tajik people. The historical development of the peoples of Central Asia

begins probably from the first millennium BC. The book "Avesta", one of the most ancient

sources of spirituality, considered a monument of the countries of the East, provides a detailed

description of the peoples of Central Asia and their activities and lives. The sacred book of the

Zoroastrians, "Avesta", mentions many musical instruments such as tanbur, chang, and flute.
It is known from history that our land is recognized by world scientists as the homeland of

percussion instruments, string instruments, and wind instruments. Both the bone flute found in

the Urgut district, which is about four thousand years old, and the burgu found in Khorezm, or

the oldest copies of stringed instruments in world museums, were discovered in our homeland.

While some nations in the world have one burgu-like or circle-like burgu, we are a nation with

more than 30 different types of musical instruments.
Archaeological research conducted in ancient Khorezm revealed an image of a melodious burgu

dating back to the 6th century, and it was also revealed that there was a military orchestra among

the soldiers, this instrument was also in the army of Amir Temur, and it was famous for its

sonorous sound. The word burgu later spread to Europe. A bone flute found in an old cemetery

in the village of Moynaabad, near the city of Samarkand, in the Urgut district, is considered the

oldest example of a musical instrument in the world. Also, Surnay and Doira were found in the

ruins of Afrosiab, and most importantly, they are almost identical to the current form of these

musical instruments. Or the remains of Chang and other musical instruments found in

https://ijmri.de/index.php/jmsi

volume 4, issue 4, 2025

967

Dalvarzintepa in Surkhandarya and ancient Khorezm monuments such as the Sheep Killing

Fortress and the Tupak Fortress are among the oldest musical instrument monuments in the

world.
Historical sources indicate that the peasants, namely the Sogdians, Bactrians, Khorezmians, and

nomads, namely the Saks and Massagets, settled in Central Asia from the first millennium AD.

The Avesta contains a commonality of folk poetic and musical art, and the musical poetic works

created on this basis, as well as the life of the peoples of Central Asia, their politics, their

customs, weddings and performances, etc., are evidenced by archaeological samples. The

peasants settled down, organized families, communities, and transitioned to a class society, and

the gradual unification of states led to the emergence of epic songs and wall paintings.

LITERATURE ANALYSIS AND METHODOLOGY

The Avesta, which is considered a historical source, shows the people singing and performing

songs in groups at various ceremonies, the people worshiping fire, singing and dancing around

the fire. Also, according to the writings of thinkers of the 12th-14th centuries, the attitude of the

people to music is clearly shown in the various traditions, singing and dancing held during the

main holiday of the people, "Navruz". This is evidenced by a fragment of a wall found by the

scientist Mikhail Masson during his archaeological expedition to the Ayritom fortress in the city

of Termez. Due to the attitude of ordinary people to music, the development of music, scientific

and theoretical research, took shape over the centuries and found its place in historical works.

These include Muhammad Nishapuri's "Treatise on Music", Safiuddin Urmavi's "Risolatush

Sharafiyya", Qutbiddin Shirazi's "Durrat ut-taj li-ghurrat id-debaj", Muhammad Amuli's

"Nafoisu-I-funun va aroisi-I-uyun", Abdulkadir Maroghi's "Maqosid ul-alhan", Abdurahman

Jami's "Treatise on Music", Abu Nasr Al-Farabi's "Kitabul Musika al-kabir", Ibn Sina's

"Donishnama", Najmiddin Kawkabi's "Treatise on Music", Darvesh Ali Changi and other

valuable works of scholars and intellectuals.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

One of the first professional musicians in the East was the composer, hafiz and poet

Borbad Marvazi. He was one of the founders of classical music, and worked at the court of the

Sassanid king Khusraw Parviz II, where he taught many famous musicians and hafiz. During his

time, Borbad created the collection of melodies "Khusrawani" corresponding to the 7th day of

the week, 30 lahns corresponding to the 30 days of the month, and taronas with the same names

dedicated to the 360 ​ ​ days of the year. Some of the names of the melodies and taronas he

created have survived to our time. In the 8th-9th centuries, in connection with the adoption of

Islam among the peoples of Central Asia, local peoples began to live according to this religious

faith. Especially during this period, the movement of the white-robed people under the leadership

of Muqanna, who represented the interests of the working classes of the population, took a

leading place in history, and from this period Arab rule began in Central Asia. The musical art

of the local population and the Arab people merged, and new works began to emerge as more

local musicians studied Arabic music. When we turn to Mahoni's "Book of Songs", we get the

following information: the first Arab singer, Musaddiq, was in Central Asia, selected various

melodies and created a system of song performance based on them.
The development of the peoples of Central Asia in various fields is associated with the 9th

century, that is, the Samanid dynasty. The ruler of the dynasty, Ismail Samanid, paid great

attention to the sphere of culture and art during his time, turning the city of Bukhara into a center

of culture, art and economy. He created conditions for the creativity of all cultural and artistic

people. During this period, the famous mathematician and astronomer Ahmad al-Farghani, the

founder of the science of algebra Muhammad Ibn Musa al-Khwarizmi, the famous philosopher

of the East, a great scientist, musicologist, whose works later became the basis for all works in

https://ijmri.de/index.php/jmsi

volume 4, issue 4, 2025

968

the field of music, Abu Nasr al-Farabi, Abu Rayhan al-Beruni, the scientist and founder of

medical science Ibn Sina, the founder of oriental classical literature Abu Abdullah Rudaki, the

famous poet Abu al-Qasim Firdawsi, made their incomparable contribution to the development

of musical culture, literature and art of that time. In the 9th century, great poets, singers,

musicians, and dancers from various Eastern countries came to Bukhara to live and work at the

royal palace. Ideas for creating new works appeared in the work of court poets and musicians. In

particular, odes on topics in which the courtiers praised and honored the ruling figures were

worthy of special attention. The preface of the qasida, the nasib, was accompanied by an

instrument, and later the musical poetic genre ghazal was created from the nasib. Along with the

qasida, satirical songs also emerged, in which the negative qualities of officials, such as

meanness, stinginess, and hypocrisy, were described in verse, and these songs were more

widespread among the people. Satirical songs played an important role in the work of the famous

10th-century poet Abu Abdullah Rudaki. Rudaki's works glorified more humane features and

called for freedom and beauty.
The great encyclopedist Abu Nasr al-Farabi also dealt with musicology, and not only with

theoretical views, but also added a fifth string to the oud instrument in his time, and was also

known as a composer and a skilled musician. Thanks to his great services in musicology, the

foundation of Eastern musicology was laid and professional music practice rose to a new level.

In particular, in al-Farabi's work "Kitab ul-Musika al-Kabir", he provided detailed information

on the emergence of sound, including methods, intervals, triads, that is, various laws and rules of

music theory, as well as on various musical instruments of that time. That is, he wrote about the

fact that there are musical instruments intended for battles, whose sound is loud and sharp, and

that there are special types of instruments for feasts and dances, for weddings and joyful

gatherings, as well as for love songs, some of which have a sharp and sad sound, and other

aspects.
At the end of the 10th century, as a result of fierce struggles between Turkic tribes and local

states, the country underwent dramatic changes. The Samanid rule was ended, and the throne

passed to Sultan Mahmud of Ghaznavi. Mahmud of Ghaznavi was fluent in Arabic and Persian,

and composed poems in Turkic. He collected a large library of rare books in Ghazni, the capital

of his state. During this period, he made a great contribution to the development of Islamic

culture and the spread of Islam. In particular, he gathered more than 400 scholars, poets, and

artists in his palace and patronized them. The famous work of the 11th century, "Qabusnama,"

was created and became a priceless monument. Along with Persian, the Turkic language

remained stable, and works were created in these languages ​ ​ for many centuries. In the 11th

century, the process of mixing Turkic-speaking peoples with the local population began. In the

13th century, major changes began to occur in musical culture. Although constant wars and

conflicts between local peoples harmed their cultural development, Safiuddin Abdulmu'min

Urmavi, who made an incomparable contribution to musical culture, and his masterpieces

"Risolatush Sharafiyya", "Kitob ul-Advor" were created during this period.
In the second half of the 14th century, a new rise in culture and art began. Under the rule of the

Timurids, Central Asia gained a very significant external position. The art of memorization

developed, cities appeared, landscaping work was carried out, especially in Osh, the city of Kesh,

which is now Shahrisabiz, huge constructions began to appear. Amur Timur brought various

musicians, singers, poets and creators from Khorasan, Iran and Arab countries to his palace and

turned it into a center of culture and art. This information is given in historical sources, and

Hafiza Abro writes about this as follows. The melodious hafiz and musicians sang many songs

based on Persian patterns, Arabic melodies, Turkic traditions, Mongol sounds, Chinese canons,

and Altai meters.

https://ijmri.de/index.php/jmsi

volume 4, issue 4, 2025

969

Sharofiddin Al Yazdiy in his work "Zafarnoma" shows the diversity of the art of craftsmen, the

commonality of music, words and dance. Later, by the 15th century, the center of culture and art

moved to the city of Herat. Musical culture especially flourished at the court of Mirzo Ulugbek, a

descendant of the Timurid dynasty.
In the 17th-18th centuries, the feudal system became more fragmented, separate khanates

emerged, which greatly influenced Uzbek musical culture. Musical life developed at the court of

the Uzbek khans. The traditions that existed during the Timurid era continued during the khans'

era, especially the musical poetic direction of the Tajik and Uzbek people in the Omukhta style

developed further in the traditional way.
The science of music of the 16th century is associated with the name of Najmiddin Kavkabiy

Bukhari. His treatise on music later became a musical manual for all artists. At that time, the

name of Darvesh Ali Changi was also famous among the art-loving people. Unlike other authors

who lived at that time, Darvesh Ali Changi in his treatise on the art of music did not only touch

on music theory, but also provided information about the lives and works of a number of

musicians who lived and worked in his time.
Our most ancient and world-renowned national art is Maqom. Maqoms are such that we know

Indian ragas, Iranian ragas, Mughams in the world. Every ancient nation has its own musical

heritage and value, but none can be compared to Maqoms. For example, there are large-scale

music that lasts 6-8 hours, but if you want to listen to our Shashmaqom in full, it can be heard

within 72 hours. Shashmaqom is an extremely huge heritage in the world, it is our inexhaustible

treasure like an ocean. It contains not only the influence of the Uzbek and Turkic peoples, but

also of the Persian peoples, Arab peoples, and even our literary scholar Fitrat says in his article

dedicated to Shashmaqom that there is an influence not only of the Uyghurs but also of the

Indians, he says that Roq is taken from these Indians. He says this while expressing his thoughts

about Shashmaqom about the science of music; One of the biggest shortcomings of Uzbek

music is its fragmentation. In fact, at that time, it was divided into three separate musical

directions: Khorezm maqom, Bukhara shashmakom, and Tashkent-Fergana melodies. The reason

for this was the socio-political conflicts of that time, that is, the territories of Central Asia were

divided into three khanates, which affected not only literature but also the art of singing. Our

intellectuals, with their own thoughts and views, set themselves the task of creating a single

Uzbek national music.
Uzbek musical culture and its current state should naturally be related to its ancient past. None of

our greatest ancestors were far from music. For example, if we take one of our great thinkers,

Alisher Navoi, the reason why he created music as a composer, Isfahani, or why the most songs

were sung, is because Navoi understood that music and had the knowledge of music. If a poet

does not have the knowledge of music, the work he created cannot be set to music. Why did Jami

create the work "Musical Theory", why did the science of music develop so highly during the

time of Amur Timur, you might say during the time of the Khorezmshahs, or in earlier times, if

we look at the cities of the Kushan era, the word was reflected in all the rhythms. The territory of

Turkestan is one of the centers where the culture of Eastern classical music was formed and

developed. However, the national and classical musical culture, which has been the basis of the

spiritual heritage of the Uzbek people for centuries, experienced certain oppression during the

colonial period of the Russian Empire and the former Soviet Union. On the one hand, our

intellectuals began to struggle to restore the history of national music and put it into musical

notation, while on the other hand, the Soviets began to instill their ideology into music,

destroying national music and importing European music. In these two contradictory situations,

the Soviets tried to instill their ideology in what was not actually Uzbek music, but simply a

melodic form and composition created under the influence of Arab, Iranian and Indian music. In

this situation, literature was able to help music in some way. That is, they cited legends and

https://ijmri.de/index.php/jmsi

volume 4, issue 4, 2025

970

myths that have come down to us from ancient times, citing legends and myths that mention

wind instruments, such as flute-like music. This history has shown that this nation has had its

own melody, its own national musical instruments, and its own music throughout its centuries-

old history.
During the Soviet era, the introduction and popularization of genres typical of European music

styles into our musical culture accelerated and changes were made. Using our musical heritage,

new genres were born; musical drama, national opera, national ballet. Looking back at the

history of music, at the beginning of the 20th century, like every other field, our music still had a

lot of work to do. The reason is that our classical melodies, which have been preserved for

centuries according to the teacher-student tradition, had not yet been notated. There was a

situation where only two people knew our national music at the beginning of the 20th century,

and if it had not been recorded during this period, there were processes that would have led to the

disappearance and destruction of our centuries-old music. In such a situation, in order to protect

music, preserve it, and increase its viability, representatives of literature, our scientists, and

Uzbek intellectuals in general, came to the fore. Among them, Fitrat, Chulpon, Ghulom Zafari

and a number of our art historians and intellectuals, through a series of books, pamphlets and

numerous articles in the press about music, spoke about the aspects that should be paid attention

to in our music, listed its shortcomings and achievements, and gave their views on the tasks that

need to be done. Uzbek musical art has a unique and perfectly formed classical musical heritage

in its national processes. By the 20th century, a new direction began to be introduced in social

life and in our musical culture. This was the improvement of musical creativity on the basis of

that Western musical culture. It is worth saying that if any music serves the development of folk

culture, it will certainly find its results in practice. In Uzbekistan, the influence of the European

thought trend began to be felt in the 20th century and began to take shape in the form of modern

music compositional creativity. It is worth mentioning the work of Russian musical artists and

composers who worked in Uzbekistan during the early years of compositional creativity, which

entered Uzbek musical art. Specialists who worked in the 20s-40s of the 20th century put a new

direction in musical creativity into practice. They studied musical folklore and created works in

compositional genres on this basis. This process is associated with the organization of amateur

artistic groups in our country, the opening of special music schools, the creation of professional

theaters, and the creation of Uzbek drama, opera, and ballet.
The Radio of Uzbekistan and the Composers' Union of Uzbekistan were established and began

their activities. In particular, representatives of the new generation of composers: Hamza,

Tokhtasin Jalilov, Yunus Rajabiy, Imamjon Ikromov, Komiljon Jabborov, Saidjon Kalonov,

Mukhtorjon Murtazoyev, Nabijon Khasanov, Muhammadjon Mirzayev, Fakhriddin Sodikov

made a great contribution to the development of this field with their new style of works.
The 1940s became the first period of the formation of Uzbek composers and their independent

creation of works in this field. If in the 30s our national composers worked more in collaboration

with Russian composers, in the 40s we see that our Uzbek composers began their independent

work. National composers such as M. Ashrafiy, S. Yudakov, M. Burhonov, M. Leviev, M.

Nasimov, I. Hamraev, Kh. Izomov, D. Zokirov have flourished.

CONCLUSION

As a result of the changes taking place in our country in recent years, we are witnessing a

fundamental renewal of the attitude towards our Uzbek musical culture. The compositional

creativity and performing practice of Uzbek musical creativity have developed dramatically.

Large stage works - opera, ballet, musical dramas and comedies, vocal-symphonic music, and

examples of Uzbek compositional creativity that meet world standards have been created. In

particular, conferences dedicated to maqom, bakhshi, and folklore arts are attracting the entire

https://ijmri.de/index.php/jmsi

volume 4, issue 4, 2025

971

world public. As a result, it is being proven that our Uzbek musical culture has its own rich

spiritual history. We are confident that such conferences will continue in the future.

REFERENCES

1.B.Kh.Madrimov. History of Uzbek music. Textbook.- T.:"Barkamol fayz media", 2018.
2.Fayzulla Turayev. History of Bukhara shashmaqom. Tashkent-2011.
3.N, Shodmonov Risola-i musiqiy, Tashkent-1994,
4.C.Mannopov. Uzbek folk music culture, Tashkent, Yangi avlod, 2004.
5.Karimov, A. (2022). GENERAL THEORETICAL FOUNDATIONS OF UZBEK

CULTURAL MUSIC. Science and innovation, 1(C6), 317-322.
6.Isakov, U. T. (2022). SOCIAL PHILOSOPHICAL GENESIS OF THE DEVELOPMENT OF

UZBEK MUSIC CULTURE. Oriental renaissance: Innovative, educational, natural and social

sciences, 2(10-2), 589-594.
7. Mahmudovich, N. A. (2023). SOME ASPECTS OF THE CONCEPT OF SPIRITUAL

RENEWAL IN UZBEKISTAN.American Journal of Interdisciplinary Research and

Development, 16, 46-52.
8. Djalalova, N. (2022). FUNDAMENTALS OF MUSICAL AND PEDAGOGICAL

SKILLS.Science and Innovation, 1(8), 478-481.
9. Kirgizov, I., Kirgizov, I., Najmetdinova, M., & Atabayeva, S. (2022, February). THE

GENESIS OF THE DEVELOPMENT OF MUSIC CULTURE. In Archives of Conferences (pp.

57-60).
10. Shokirov, T. N. (2022). HERITAGE AND NATIONAL CULTURE.Oriental renaissance:

Innovative, educational, natural and social sciences, 2(10-2), 457-464.
11. Shakirov, T. N. (2022). SUCCESSION IS THE MAIN PRINCIPLE OF DEVELOPMENT

OF NATIONAL MUSIC CULTURE.Oriental Journal of Social Sciences, 2(06), 1-10.
12. Orziboev, R. (2022). ANALYSIS OF THE WORKS OF CENTRAL ASIAN THINKERS

ON MUSIC CULTURE. Oriental renaissance: Innovative, educational, natural and social

sciences, 2(10-2), 452-456.