PHILOSOPHICAL CONCEPTIONS OF EDUCATION AND ETHICAL UPBRINGING IN THE LITERARY HERITAGE OF KARAKALPAK CLASSICAL POETS: A COMPREHENSIVE ANALYSIS OF BERDAKH, AJINIYAZ, AND KUN-KHOJA

Abstract

The literary landscape of the nineteenth-century Central Asian region represents a profound intersection of nomadic oral traditions and the sophisticated written cultures of the Islamic world. This era was characterized by a specific educational paradigm where poets functioned as the primary architects of the national moral consciousness. In the absence of a pervasive secular institutional framework for education, the Karakalpak classical poets — namely Berdakh (Berdimurat Gargabay uli), Ajiniyaz (Ajiniyaz Qosibay uli), and Kun-khoja—assumed the roles of philosophers, historians, and educators. Their works, which synthesized Sufi mysticism with the practical ethics of agrarian and nomadic life, established a "national curriculum" focused on the cultivation of the "Perfect Human" (Komil Inson). This study explores how these literary figures utilized poetic form to advocate for justice, enlightenment, and historical continuity as the foundational pillars of societal development [1].