1. Magtymguly Pyragy is the greatest representative of Turkmen literature, credited with the creation of Turkmen written literature, and whose literary form became a powerful symbol of the historical and the incipient national consciousness of the Turkmen people.
Magtymguly Pyragy is part of a unique period in the cultural history of Central Asia, with his exceptional talent projecting his personal poetic synthesis onto the next generation of poets of the region.
Magtymguly Pyragy was born in Haji Qushan, a village near the city of Gonbad-e Qabus in the modern-day province of Golestan, Iran, the northern steppes of which are known as Turkmen Sahra.
Magtymguly Pyragy's name, signifying "slave of Magtym," derives from one of the revered lineages within the Turkmen community.
Magtymguly Pyragy's father was a local teacher and mullah, and was highly regarded by his people.
Magtymguly Pyragy received his early education in the Turkmen, Persian and Arabic languages from his father.
Magtymguly Pyragy learned ancestral trades such as felt-making and, according to some sources, jewellery.
Magtymguly Pyragy continued his studies in various madrassahs, including Idris Baba madrassah in the village of, madrassah in Bukhara and madrassah in Khiva.
Magtymguly Pyragy provided basic information about himself, his family and children in his poetry.
Magtymguly Pyragy traveled extensively during his lifetime, mostly to widen his erudition, with the territories of present-day Azerbaijan, India, Iran and Uzbekistan among the countries known to have been visited by him.
Magtymguly Pyragy's resting place is in the village of Aq Taqeh-ye Qadim, in Golestan Province, Iran.
Magtymguly Pyragy's conventional stand, in fact, is the Sufi station of khajrat.
Magtymguly Pyragy lived at a time when Turkmen tribes were displaced from their homeland, and plundered as a result of constant clashes with Iran and Khiva.
Magtymguly Pyragy deeply resented it and expressed his feelings of repentance in his poems.
Indeed, Magtymguly Pyragy express strong social protest in his poems, but his political thought is mostly directed towards the unification of the Turkmen tribes and the establishment of an independent polity for Turkmens.
Magtymguly Pyragy was one of the first Turkmen poets to introduce the use of classical Chagatai, the court language of the Khans of Central Asia, as a literary language, incorporating many Turkmen linguistic features.
Magtymguly Pyragy's poetry gave start to an era litterateurs depict as the "Golden age" in Turkmen literature.
Unlike his father and another prominent Turkmen poet of the era, Andalib, Magtymguly Pyragy employed strophic form, usually quatrains for his poems making them syllabic.
Magtymguly Pyragy is part of a unique period in the cultural history of Central Asia; his exceptional talent projected his personal poetic synthesis onto the next generation of poets of the region.
Magtymguly Pyragy is often placed alongside major figures of the Turkic literary world such as Hoja Ahmad Yasawi, Yunus Emre, Ali-Shir Nava'i and Fizuli.
In May 2024, a monument dedicated to the 300th anniversary of the birth of Turkmen poet and philosopher Magtymguly Pyragy was unveiled in Ashgabat at the foot of the Kopetdag mountain range.
Magtymguly Pyragy is one of several statues that surround the Independence Monument in Ashgabat.
Monuments to Magtymguly Pyragy are installed in cities across the former USSR.