Seidi, Seitnazar Khabipkhodzha Ogly

Born 1775 in the village of Lamma, in what is now Chardzhou Oblast; died 1836. Turkmen poet.

Seidi, who studied at a madrasa, was an important military commander. He began writing verse in his early youth. He is famous for his love lyrics, which include “Soltan Hadidzha” and “Bilmez.” He is also known for his correspondence with the Turkmen poet and military commander Zelili, which laid the basis for a new literary form—epistolary poetry. Frequent military defeats are reflected in many of Seidi’s poems, permeated with bitterness and disillusionment, such as “We Shall Leave the Homeland,” “Farewell, Banks of the Amu Darya,” and “Separation.”