Scholar who dedicated his life to the Uzbek language passes away

Renowned linguist Bakhtiyor Isabek (Urdabekli), who played a pivotal role in securing state language status for Uzbek on October 21, 1989, has passed away at the age of 80. His funeral prayer will be held today, November 9, at the Kulolqo‘rg‘on Mosque following the noon prayer, sources told QALAMPIR.UZ.

Bakhtiyor Isabek was born in 1945 in the village of Sultan Rabot, Chimkent region, Kazakhstan. In 1966, he graduated from the Faculty of History and Philology at Nizami Tashkent State Pedagogical Institute (now Tashkent State Pedagogical University).

He began his career in 1966 as a laboratory assistant at the Academy of Sciences of Uzbekistan. From 1968 to 1993, he taught at the former Tashkent State University (now the National University of Uzbekistan), serving as a lecturer and later as an associate professor. In the late 1980s, he emerged as one of the leading intellectuals advocating for Uzbek to become the state language — a movement in which his students also took active part.

In 1993, Isabek was dismissed from his position due to his democratic views and remained unemployed until retirement. Recalling the language movement, he later wrote that "the heaviest blow fell on me."

“Many people suffered in the fight for Uzbek to become the state language, but the harshest удар landed on me. Later, the number of ‘initiators’ suddenly grew. It’s fine — a good deed always ends up with many owners. A nation’s first identity is its language. If you see someone striving to keep a language alive, know that they are striving to keep the nation alive as well,” he once said.

Despite career setbacks, Isabek never abandoned academic or literary work. His first book, Introduction to Turkic Philology, co-authored with Iristoy Qo‘chqortoyev, was published in 1984. In 1995, he released the treatise Sayram, and in 2006, he authored an Uzbek language textbook for 10th-grade students in Uzbek schools in Kazakhstan. His body of work also includes Sultan Rabot, On the Path of Freedom, Introduction to Turkology, The Fascinating Mother Tongue, Oguznama, and Dictionary of Yasawi’s Wisdom. He also wrote the foreword to The Genealogy of Yassawi and Amir Temur.

Additionally, he translated major scholarly works into Uzbek, including:

•  Baymirza Hayit’s Turkestan Between Russia and China
•  Fuad Köprülü’s Early Sufis in Turkish Literature
•  Lev Gumilev’s Ancient Turks
•  Oljas Suleimenov’s AZ and I

To date, he authored five scientific monographs and more than 200 articles. He was also a recipient of the prestigious Mahmud Kashgari International Award.

The editorial team of QALAMPIR.UZ extends its deepest condolences to his family and loved ones.