P rominent t ajik f igures of the

Domullo Ikromcha

See Ikrom, Muhammad.

Donish, Ahmad

Tajik writer, poet, painter, and judge Ahmad Donish was born in

April, 1826, in Bukhara into a poor family headed by Mullah Nasir.

Also referred to as Ahmad Makhdum Kallah, his early education was

undertaken by his mother, a teacher. Later, he joined the mekteps and

madrasahs for a religious education. Finding rote memorization intel-

lectually uninspiring, he devoted himself to the study of the works of

the great Perso-Tajik and Arab authors. Thus, while still at school, he

studied the natural sciences, mathematics, astronomy, history, philoso-

phy, and literature on his own. He completed his formal studies, which

he paid for with money he received for his paintings, in 1850. After

that, upon the recommendation of his teacher, he found employment as

court architect and painter. In reality, however, according to Donish

himself, he merely copied manuscripts and attended to court correspon-

dence. In the latter responsibility, Amir Nasrullah (ruled 1826-1860)

personally nominated Donish as secretary for a delegation leaving for

St. Petersburg.

The first phase of Donish's career includes three trips to Russia.

These trips acquainted him with life in St. Petersburg and expanded his

knowledge and world view. During the first trip, for instance, he not

only participated in official negotiations, but visited the literary and in-

dustrial centers of St. Petersburg. Upon his return to Bukhara in 1850,

however, his high hopes that the Amir would implement some of his

suggested reforms were shattered. The Amir accepted only what was of

military and economic interest, and summarily rejected all advice re-

garding social, educational, and cultural reforms.

Donish faired even worse when the selfish Amir Muzaffar (ruled

1860-1885) systematically alienated all the worthy and experienced of-

ficials who had assisted his father. As for Donish, he was isolated. In

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