Museum of Berdakh, Nukus

Nukus Museums

Address: 1, Ch.Abdirov Str., Nukus City

In 1997, in connection with 170-year anniversary of Berdakh, the great Karakalpak poet-thinker, creation of the museum of Berdakh has been decided. The museum has been constructed in 1998 at the Karakalpak State University.

The total area of the museum is 1, 26 sq.m. and represents a three-storey building with one big and six small domes. The designer is Orynbay Toreniyazov, the famous architect of the republic, the winner of the State Award of Berdakh.

Museum is a treasury of cultural heritage of the people, the nation. Museum is a historical mirror reflecting the whole historical way passed by the people since the most ancient times till nowadays. So the museum of Berdakh pays its name, decorating the city by its original architecture.

According to scientists' quotes, it is possible to say with confidence that Berdakh was the first historian of Karakalpak people. His book "Shezhire" is indeed genealogy of the whole people and not only Karakalpak people but it comprises data on the Turkic people as a whole. In "Shezhire" he describes about 300 characters - historical persons who took part in the history of the people. There are such works of the poet as poems devoted to national heroes including "Amangeldi", "Ernazar biy" and others whose gests are still stored in the memory of the people.

Besides poetry, Berdakh also possessed the talent in "Bakhsy" and was famous not only among Karakalpak people, but their neighbors as well: Khoresmian Uzbeks and Turkmens.

All things considered, in the museum visitors can find expositions depicting history, ethnography and culture of Karakalpak people. The organization of special thematic halls of archeology, ethnography, art and history is provided. The particular interest of visitors is drawn by the hall of manuscripts where they can see remained up to nowadays manuscripts in the Arabian, the Persian and the Turkic languages.

In the future, the museum has hopes to become the centre of restoration, preservation and study of manuscripts in Karakalpakistan, thereby having incorporated scientifically-informative function as well.

Due to expositions, visitors get knowledge on education and upbringing history in Karakalpakistan, having incorporated materials about clerical educational institutes of the past and the present - madrasahs and maktabs, the first Soviet educational institutes, about history of formation of the higher and secondary education in Karakalpakistan.