Navruz originated in Central Asia and a number of Eastern countries in ancient times, when Zoroastrianism reigned here. Gradually, it acquired its own forms and outlines. It was enriched by new customs, rituals, and the experience of everyday life and it turned into a tradition.
The answer to the question about the age of Navruz is ambiguous.
A number of sources contain information about the antiquity of Navruz. The most complete information and clear scientific conclusions can be found in the works of Abu Rayhan Beruni (973-1048), Omar Khayyam (1054-1131). Later, the celebration of Navruz is also mentioned in Alisher Navoi’s poem “Saddi Iskanderi” (“Iskander’s Wall”).
Beruni’s work “Monuments of Ancient Nations” says: “The reason why this day is called Navruz is that Jamshid (one of the ancient kings of Iran) became king, he introduced a new religion and called the day when this happened “Navruz” – “A new day.”
In his work “Navruzname” Omar Khayyam also points out that legends about the celebration of Navruz arose during the reign of King Jamshid. He writes: “Jamshid issued a farman (decree) to call this day (the beginning of the month of Farvardin – March) Navruz and ordered people to celebrate this day annually and call it the beginning of the New Year.”
Thus, two conclusions can be drawn from these legends. First of all, most of the legends associated with Navruz are related to King Jamshid. Second of all, Navruz day was established according to the laws of nature.
This proof to the latter fact is in one of Alisher Navoi’s gazelles. It is emphasized there that Navruz celebration takes place on the spring equinox and, hence, this holiday is determined by the laws of nature.
“I saw it on a date –
your braids and waist are equal,
Obviously, Navruz has come to us,
Since day and night are equal.’’
Here the author of these lines compares the long hair of his beloved one and her silhouette (white body and black braids) with equal day and night time during Navruz.
Various information about Navruz is also contained in the work of Mahmud Kashgari (XI century) Devon lugatit Turk (Dictionary of Turkic dialects).
Moreover, various handwritten sources contain many legends indicating the antiquity of the emergence of Navruz.
However, if one draws a conclusion from the primary sources, one can say that Navruz is more than two thousand years old.
For centuries, Navruz formed in people a sense of love and respect for their native land and nature, and has had an important role in labor and moral education. On the days of its celebration, wars stopped, discord and grievances were forgotten, people strived for peaceful and good-neighborly communication. On these days, people visited the burial places of their relatives and friends, tidied up cemeteries and the surrounding area, and commemorated their deceased friends. Navruz encouraged people to noble deeds, filled their souls with good feelings and wishes, and strengthened their sense of mercy and love for their neighbors.
And this shows the life-affirming power of Navruz.
In ancient times, the peoples of Central Asia counted the beginning of the year with the arrival of spring, the awakening of nature. Therefore, the identification of spring and the New Year is considered among many Eastern nations to be a symbol of the beginning of life.
Today’s Navruz, just as before, consists of two parts: the first is associated with labor, work; the second is dedicated to relaxation, fun, shows, and games.
During the first part of Navruz, people are busy putting gardens and vineyards in order, preparing fields for sowing, cleaning ditches and canals, procuring seeds, fertilizers, planting materials, repairing field camps, equipment and devices. And the townspeople tidy up alleys, parks, avenues, streets, public places (kindergartens, teahouses, schools, stadiums, sports grounds, parks), courtyards and entrances, and hold general Mahalla hashars (neighborhood cleaning events). At the same time, they provide the necessary assistance to elderly and lonely people, and pay a lot of attention to historical and cultural monuments.
There are house improvements everywhere. One of traditions is an exciting event is when respected elders throw the first seeds into the ground with good wishes. Labour lifts people’s spirits and serves as an example for youth.
The second part of the holiday consists of entertainment and sports competitions. Such events as flower festivals, competitions of wits, wrestling, tightrope walking, clowning, singing and dancing, tongue twisting, riddles, jumping over fire, ulok (goat pulling), horse racing and other examples of folk art give Navruz a unique beauty, and give participants not only the aesthetic pleasure, but also help shake oneself up, “wake up” after winter “hibernation”…
Crowns of Navruz are meals sumalak and halim. It’s hard to describe in words how people perform sacred rituals at the cauldron where fathers and grandfathers make halim and women and children cook sumalak. They stay awake all night long, conjure over the preparation of life-giving spring food, dance, sing, compose lapars (ditties), and compete in wit.
Participants of these events experience spiritual growth. They become purer and kinder, more humane. Perhaps that is why, since ancient times, not a single crime has occurred during the celebration of Navruz. On the contrary, on this day those who were in a quarrel are reconciled, grievances are forgotten, mercy reigns, and in the old days, as it was mentioned earlier, even wars between states stopped.
And what a power boost one gets after having a bowl of sumalak, rich in vitamins, or a cup of haleem, samsa and manti (dumplings) with early greens after a long winter!
Why is Navruz celebrated on March 21? If we compare the calendar New Year with the Navruz New Year, we will see that the calendar New Year was introduced and celebrated conditionally, on the basis of a decree. In reality, January 1st falls in the middle of winter; nature is asleep at that time, there are no changes in it.
Therefore, based on the laws of nature, March should be considered the beginning of the new year, and even more precisely, the 21st is the day of the vernal equinox, when day begins to conquer night. This is truly the time of awakening of nature, the revival of all living creatures and flora on Earth. Therefore, the peoples of Central Asia and the East considered March 21st to be the beginning of the New Year.
In his book Monuments of Ancient Peoples Abu Raikhan Beruni, speaking about Farvardin as the first month according to solar chronology, wrote: “This is the first day of the month, as evidenced by its name in Persian. In former times, according to Iranian legend, Navruz took place during the period when the Sun descended into the constellation Cancer. Then, when it was moved back, it was celebrated in spring. Now it comes after being served for a whole year, i.e. from the first spring drops of rain to the blossoming of flowers, from the blossoming of trees to the ripening of their fruits, from the awakening of lust in animals to the appearance of offspring, from the germination of plants to their ripening. Therefore, Navruz is a witness to the beginning and creation of the world.”
Hence, when mentioning that “it [Navruz] was moved back,” Beruni talks about the time when the Sun enters the constellation Aries, and the day becomes equal to the night (the transition to March 22). He doesn’t only substantiate the connection between Navruz and the laws of nature, but also gives various information about it.
From the above, it is clear that the celebration of Navruz as the first day of the New Year is based on the laws of nature, universal laws.
The celebration of Navruz has always been in a way of demonstrating the prosperity in agriculture, crafts, art, and physical strength. At mass celebrations, people display their beautiful hand-made arts and crafts, cooks display sweets and rare dishes, wrestlers and horsemen demonstrate their strength and agility, girls and brides sew special outfits, scarves, and cover them with flowers and patterns. On the day of Navruz, buffoons, tightrope walkers, wordsmiths, poets, storytellers, wits, puppeteers, singers, dancers show all their talent.
Unfortunately, in its centuries-old history, Navruz has more than once been attacked by obscurantists and received bans. And in the 20th century, it was repeatedly persecuted and there were attempts to erase it from people’s consciousness.
The latest ban (God grant that it be the last) in our country has taken on particularly ugly forms. As always, a modern Herostratus appeared. He decided to banish Navruz. It was a slap in the face of the people. By the will of one person, the celebration of Nowruz stopped. One person, at least for a while, turned out to be “smarter” and “stronger” than the twenty million population. Many “smart guys” rushed to carry out his ridiculous instructions; it was forbidden to even mention the name of Navruz. They went so far as to demand the renaming of streets, cafes and shops, musical groups and other objects bearing its’ name. Such a perversion of common sense only happened here. And in neighboring Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan, Navruz was still celebrated widely and diversely. Many residents of Uzbekistan secretly traveled to neighboring republics to celebrate Navruz.
The day, March 14, 1986, when the stone was thrown at Navruz, is still preserved in my memory. In those days, the socio-psychological situation in the republic needed to be better. Many events that occurred then defied common sense. There was a campaign to destroy centuries-old folk customs and rituals.
Those were the days when “shortcomings” and their culprits were sought out in every action, event or undertaking. Therefore, people at that time had drooping heads, a withered face, and a joyless look.
Later it became clear that the management was under some kind of strange “hypnosis.”
…Small meeting room of the Central Headquarters of the Communists of the Republic. Heads of the media, publishing houses, prominent journalists and writers, and party workers gathered here. Everyone is in a mood of anticipation for a bright holiday, noble aspirations – the spring wind is blowing, Navruz is approaching…
From the podium, the speaker shares his impressions of the 27th Congress of the CPSU that just took place in the Kremlin. The performance is quite confusing. Valuable thoughts at the congress about establishing social justice for everyone and … about organizing special clinics and special stores for ministers and other officials, with reference to the instructions (?!) of V.I. Lenin…
The entire appearance of the speaker, his posture and gestures, the timbre of the voice, the emphasis in the words presented a vivid image of a self-lover and party official, brought up, as we said then, ‘‘from the heights of perestroika’’, the administrative-command system and who had subjugated the government, the party and people.
Don’t even think about looking directly into the eyes of the speaker from the podium or saying anything contrary. Otherwise, it will be bad for you. His word is law! He is his own khan, his own bek (ruler).
The first “portion” after the report hit the oldest journalist, chairman of the Surkhandarya Regional Radio Committee Azad Avlikulov, who objected to the problem of special clinics for high-ranking officials…
But this was just a prelude.
Like spring thunder on a clear sky, the following words were heard from the high party rostrum: “Navruz is harmful, from now on party and Soviet workers will not participate in its implementation,” that is, Navruz is banned.
This strange, to say the least, instruction, which suddenly sounded on the eve of Navruz, deafened those gathered. They became deaf and numb. Then a noise and murmur of discontent arose in the hall.
Then only one person joined the fight for the fate of the thousand-year holiday of the eastern peoples – the chief editor of the Samarkand regional newspaper Leninsky Put’ Boris Vasilyevich Shchegolikhin. “We do not have the right to act so unfairly towards Navruz,” he said, “although we will remain silent in the press, the people will celebrate their ancient customs” … But his intercession was in vain. They answered him from above: “We know that… they conclude the celebration of Nowruz by reading the suras of the Koran…” and with all appearances they showed that the issue was closed.
And then it went on and on… there was a campaign to ban Navruz everywhere. Special commissioners from among the members of the Central Committee, etc., were sent from the Center to cities and villages. There were cases when cauldrons with preparing sumalak and halim were overturned… Further more… communists were forbidden to participate in the funeral rituals of their loved ones… Punishment of those caught: reprimands… up to dismissal from work. Implantation of the invented holiday Novbahor, which the people did not accept. And this lasted for three whole years.
The discontent grew. Intelligentsia, journalists, poets, writers, at first timidly, then more actively began to speak out in defense of Navruz. The first, on January 28, 1988, was the editor-in-chief of the newspaper Toshkent Okshomi Tulkun Kazakbaev,
who gave the green light to the article “Navruz – Yangilanish Bayrami (“Nowruz is a holiday of renewal’’)’’.
His example, on March 2 of the same year, was followed by the editor-in-chief of the youth newspaper Yosh Leninchi Zhabbar Razzakov, who allowed the publication of the article “Khalk Sevgan Shodiyona (“People Love Shodiyona’’)’’, the editor-in-chief of the newspaper Tashkentskaya Pravda Nikolai Kovalev, on January 12, 1989, who gave permission to publish the article “Prazdnik Obnovleniya (“Holiday of Renewal”)”
…The people once again defended their intangible cultural values!
Of course, it was not easy to do this…
Journalists Tulkun Kazakbaev, Zhabbor Razzakov, Nikolai Kovalev, Boris Shchegolikhin, Akhmadzhon Melibaev, Tulkun Eshbekov, Dadakhon Yakubov and many others were on the right flank in the fight for the return of Navruz. They showed real civil courage!
People’s poets Uygun Otakuziev, Normurod Narzullaev, Makhmud Toir, Mirzo Kenzhabek, Okiljon Khusan, publishers Sabir Kurbanov, Khakimjon Pirmukhamedov, Shomukhitdin Mansurov, Khozhiakbar Shaikhov, scientists Mukhtar Khudoykulov, Saidi Umirov, Usmon Koraboev…
The People’s Poet Abdulla Aripov had the courage to ask for forgiveness from Navruz for not being able to protect it…
Over the years of independence in the Republic of Uzbekistan, Navruz has truly blossomed. It has been elevated to the rank of a national public holiday. Young and old look forward to it. This day has been declared a day off. Sumalak, halim, pilaf and other generous treats are prepared in huge cauldrons. People of art demonstrate their skills. The people rejoice, turning into a single joyful organism.
The charge of vigor received on the day of Navruz strengthens, renews spiritually and physically, helps to work better, create and create, make life cleaner, better, more beautiful. And this is the life-affirming power of the ancient and eternally young Navruz!
Navruz, as an international holiday celebrated on March 21, was approved by the Resolution of the UN General Session in 2010.
On December 1, 2016, Navruz was included in the UNESCO Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage.
In addition to Uzbekistan, there are 11 countries on the UNESCO list celebrating Navruz: Azerbaijan, Afghanistan, India, Iraq, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Turkey.
The fact that Nowruz has received international recognition gives hope that now not a single “smart guy” will raise his hand against it.
Long live Nowruz!
Shavkat Miralimov, Candidate of Historical Sciences, Associate Professor of the Faculty of Journalism at National University of Uzbekistan named after. Mirzo Ulugbek, the author of a number of books, brochures, and articles dedicated to folk traditions and holidays, including Navruz
Photo by the author
