In 1997, in connection with the 170th anniversary of the great Karakalpak poet-thinker Berdakh, it was decided to create the Berdakh Museum. In 1998, a museum building was constructed at the Karakalpak State University. The total area of the museum is 1026 sq.m. and represents a three-story building with one large and six small domes. The author is the well-known architect, laureate of the Berdakh State Prize, Orynba Torneyazov.
The museum is a treasury of the cultural heritage of the people, the nation. The museum is a mirror of history, reflecting the entire historical path traveled by the people from ancient times to the present day. The Berdakh Museum, justifying its calling, adorns the city with its original architecture.
Quoting scholars, it can be confidently stated that Berdakh was the first historian of the Karakalpak people. His work “Shezhire” truly represents the genealogy of an entire people, not only the Karakalpaks, but also contains information about Turkic peoples as a whole. “Shezhire” features the names of about 300 characters, who are historical figures and played a certain role in the history of the people. There are works by the poet, poems dedicated to national heroes, such as “Amangeldi”, “Ernazar biy”, and others, whose images are still preserved in the memory of the people.
In addition to poetry, Berdakh also possessed the talent of “Bakhsy” and was famous not only among the Karakalpaks, but also among neighboring peoples: the Uzbeks of Khorezm and the Turkmens.
Taking all this into account, the museum exhibits show the history, ethnography, and culture of the Karakalpaks. The organization of special thematic halls of archaeology, ethnography, art, and history is envisaged. Visitors are particularly interested in the manuscripts hall, where written monuments in Arabic, Persian, and Turkic languages, preserved to this day, are kept.
In the future, the museum hopes to become a center for the restoration, conservation, and study of written monuments in Karakalpakstan, thus absorbing the scientific and educational function.
Through the exhibited expositions, visitors gain knowledge about the history of education and upbringing in Karakalpakstan, incorporating materials about spiritual educational institutions of the past and present – madrasas and mekteb, the first Soviet educational institutions, about the history of the formation of higher and secondary education in Karakalpakstan.
Address: Ch. Abdirova Street, Nukus