Khurshid Banu Natavan

Khurshid Banu Natavan Poems

Khurshid Banu Natavan Biography

Khurshidbanu Natavan (Azerbaijani: Xurşidbanu Natəvan, born 6 August 1832, Shusha – 2 October 1897, Shusha) is considered one of the best lyrical poets of Azerbaijan whose poems are in Persian and Azerbaijani. Daughter of Mehdigulu Khan, the last ruler of the Karabakh khanate (1748–1822), Natavan was most notable for her lyrical ghazals. Natavan was born on August 6, 1832 in Shusha, a town in present-day Nagorno-Karabakh. Being the only child in the family and descending from Panah Ali Khan, she was the only heir of the Karabakh khan, known to general public as the "daughter of the khan" (Azerbaijani: xan qızı). Her name Khurshid Banu (خورشیدبانو) is from Persian and means "Lady Sun". Her nom de plume Natavan (ناتوان) is also from Persian and means powerless. After her father's death, Natavan was closely engaged in philanthropy, promoting the social and cultural development of Karabakh. Among her famous deeds was a water main that was first laid down in Shusha in 1883, thus solving the water problem of the townsfolk. The local Russian "Kavkaz" newspaper wrote at the time: "Khurshud Banu-Begum left an eternal mark in the memories of the Shushavians and her glory will pass on from generation to generation". The springs built by Natavan from famous Shusha white stones were called by the townsfolks "Natavan springs" and were also considered historical monuments under protection. Natavan also did a lot for the development and popularization of the famous breed of Karabakh horses. Karabakh horses from Natavan's stud were known as the best in Azerbaijan. In an international show in Paris in 1867 a Karabakh horse named Khan from Natavan's stud received a silver medal. In a second All-Russian exhibition in 1869 the Karabakh horse named Meymun won a silver medal, another stallion, Tokmak, won a bronze medal, while the third, Alyetmez, received a certificate and was made a producer stallion in Russian Imperial stud. Natavan also founded and sponsored the first literary societies in Shusha and in the whole of Azerbaijan. One of them called Majlis-i Uns ("Society of Friends") became especially popular and concentrated major poetic-intellectual forces of Karabakh of that time. Humanism, kindness, friendship and love were the main themes of Natavan's ghazals and ruba'yat. These sentimental romantic poems express the feelings and sufferings of a woman who was not happy in her family life and who lost her son. Many of these poems are used in folk songs nowadays. Natavan died in 1897 in Shusha. As a sign of respect, people carried her coffin on their shoulders all the way from Shusha to Agdam, some 30 km north-east, where she was buried in a family vault. Her sons Mehdigulu Khan and Mir Hasan Ağa Mir both left a collection of poems in Persian. During the Nagorno-Karabakh War in 1992, Natavan's residence in Shusha was damaged.[citation needed] In Shusha, the monuments of Natavan and other famous Karabakh Azeris including Hajibekov and Bulbul, which once decorated the central streets of Shusha, were severely damaged and dismantled. Polad Bulbuloghlu, then the Minister of Culture of Azerbaijan bought the bronze busts from Georgian scrap metal yard and transported them to Baku. British journalist and writer Thomas de Waal who saw the monuments in Baku, wrote: "I saw the three bronze heads, forlorn and pocked with bullets, lying in the courtyard of the headquarters of the Red Cross in the center of Baku: the poet Natevan, an earnest girl in a head scarf reading a book, missing a thumb; the composer Hajibekov, a bullet-ridden gentleman in double-breasted suit and broken spectacles; and Bul Bul, a famous singer with a serious domed bronze forehead". The monuments are now kept in the yard of the Azerbaijani Museum of Arts in Baku.)

The Best Poem Of Khurshid Banu Natavan

Beloved, how could you break the oath to me you swore?

Beloved, how could you break the oath to me you swore?
Beloved, am I today not the same as I was before?
You seek new company, love, with other women you meet,
Have you forgotten me, the one that you once called sweet?
Yes, you have found another before whom you bare your soul;
She is receiving the joy which from my life you stole.
My life is now a nightmare of infinite, black despair.
People talk of my madness always and everywhere.
Your heartlessness, o beloved, is driving me insane.
Have pity on me, have mercy, come back to me again.
O Destiny, how cruel, how ruthless you are to me!
Who does he give his love? 'Who can the lucky one be?
Life overflows with anguish, with tears overflow my eyes;
But he, my fickle lover, turns a deaf ear to my sighs.
Why, have you been avoiding me all this time,
Me, the unlucky slave of a lord so truly sublime?
Love, you have driven your slave to the limit of desperation,
Gossips are calling me now the victim of sinful temptation.
Have pity on me,your slave, o my lord, my Padishah!
My lamentations echo throughout the world, near and far.
You and your love make merry, carousing day and night,
And I, your unlucky victim, have forgotten what is delight.
There was a time when you wanted nobody else but me.
Now you have changed, and your old love you even refuse to see.
What was the cause, my monarch, explain to your subject, pray?
What have I done that you leave me like a flower plucked and thrown
away?
What shall I do, distraught and unhappy as I am now?
How could I ever have given my heart to you, oh how?
Make merry, my love, with my rival, feast and have a good time,
While I must weep tears of anguish because you're no longer mine.
Chirp with your newly-found mate like two nightingales on a bough:
And I-remember what I was like, and what have I turned into now?
Kill me, let Allah give strength to your ruthless hand!
What have I done to you that such torture I have to stand?
I sigh and I weep in sorrow, pain is tearing my heart.
Poor Natavan, your lot was unfortunate from the start.

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