Professor Jabbor Eshongulov, Director of the Literary Museum named after A.Navoi of the Academy of Sciences of Uzbekistan, spoke at the International scientific symposium “From Ashiq Alasgar to Uzeyir Hajibeyli: cultural codes of the Turkic world” dedicated to the 140^th anniversary of the birth of Uzeyir Hajibeyli.

In his speech, he said that the type of bahshi (bard) was one of the highest artistic images in the epic creativity of the Turkic peoples. According to the scholar’s thought, the most perfect embodiment of this type was reflected in the epic “The Book of Dede Gorgud” - in the image of Gorgud Ata.

The scientist mentioned that “Gorgud Ata was presented as both the leader of the society and the creator of the epic. This image proves that the bahshi and the shaman originated from the same syncretic source at different times”.

The scientist said that “The Book of Dede Gorgud” was an unparalleled source not only for studying the regularities of the Turkic epic heritage, but also for studying the universal epic creation. According to Prof. J.Eshongulov’s thought, it was impossible to fully understand the mythological foundations and artistic essence of this epic without studying the image of bahshi - Gorgud Ata.