Toktogul Satylganov 

(1864-1933) 

A portrait of Toktogul Satylganov, a prominent Kyrgyz akyn democrat and thinker, is depicted on the front side of the banknote with denomination of 100 Som.  

Toktogul Satylganov was born in Ketmen-Tyube Valley in the family of a poor man. At the age of 13 years he began composing songs and playing komuz. By 1882, Toktogul had mastered all genres of akyn song art. Like all akyns, he began his career by mastering mass genres of song folklore. Toktogul won a victory in the poetic competition-aitysh with the famous court singer Arzymat.  

Toktogul was a connoisseur of oral poetry, a composer and virtuoso musician (komuz playing), and one of the founders of the Kyrgyz Soviet literature. The master of aitysh, he also performed the works of folk epos. The lyrical works of T. Satylganov of the early period (“Alymkan”, “To girls”, etc.) are popular. Satirical works (“Five Boars”, “The Moneylender Chakyrbai”, “Eshen-Kalpa”, etc.) occupy a prominent place in his works. Manaps, mullahs, tsarist officials began to persecute Toktogul for his freedom-loving poems.  

He showed himself as an unrivaled singer and a fearless denouncer of evil and defender of the interests of the poor people. His fame spread throughout Kyrgyzstan. Toktogul was slandered and subsequently arrested during the Andijan uprising. The court sentenced Toktogul to death, which was exchanged for hard labor in Siberia. In 1910, with the help of his friends, Toktogul escaped from the penal colony and came to his native land with the greatest difficulty. These events are reflected in the songs “Farewell, my people!”, “In Exile”, “Hello, desirable people!” and others.  

Toktogul’s songs called for building a new life after the October Revolution of 1917.  

The importance of Toktogul’s works in the history of formation and development of the Kyrgyz literature and art is great. Toktogul Satylganov – a singer, philosopher and composer – occupies an exceptional place in the history of the Kyrgyz folk art. An outstanding man of his time, a talented artist-realist, he is rightly considered to be the founder of denunciatory akyn poetry.  

In 1965, Toktogul Satylganov was awarded the State Prize of the Kyrgyz SSR in the field of literature and art.  

The Kyrgyz National Philharmonic, the city, the district, streets, parks, libraries, schools of the republic, the HPP and the reservoir were named after Toktogul. There are monuments erected in his honor in his homeland and in the capital of the republic.