Najafgulu Bey Sheyda

Najafgulu bey Sheyda (; born 1858), also known as Najafgulu bey Vali, was an Azerbaijani poet, translator, anthologist and theatre enthusiast. He was associated with the literary circles Majlisi-uns and Majlisi-faramushan, and is known as the author of the anthology Gulshani-maarif.

Biography Najafgulu bey Sheyda was born in 1858 in Shusha. His full name was Najafgulu bey Mirza Mahammadhasan bey oghlu Baharli. According to Mir Mohsun Navvab's Tazkireyi-Navvab, he was from the Baharli family of Garabagh and was a descendant of Molla Vali Vidadi.

Sheyda received his early education at a religious school in Shusha. He later moved to Baku, where he studied at evening courses opened by Zeynalabdin Taghiyev. He worked for about 25 years as a translator in the provincial administration. He also owned oil wells in Balakhani.

Sheyda was an active member of the literary gatherings Majlisi-uns and Majlisi-faramushan. He was also interested in theatre and appeared as an amateur actor in several performances staged in Baku.

Some of Sheyda's later poems criticized the Soviet political order. According to Pasha Karimov, Sheyda's poems included direct criticism of restrictions on speech and the persecution of those who spoke openly. His poem Mətbuat bülbülünə , written in 1924, has been cited as an example of his criticism of censorship and pressure on free expression.

In a poem written in 1936, Sheyda referred to the ruling Bolshevik party as firqeyi-əhli-zəlalət , and criticized Soviet pressure on Islam.

Gulshani-maarif Sheyda was the author of the tazkira Gülşəni-maarif . The manuscript of the work was later obtained from his descendants by the Institute of Manuscripts of Azerbaijan. According to Pasha Karimov, the anthology contains information about 24 Azerbaijani poets who lived in Garabagh, Baku and Shamakhi in the 19th and early 20th centuries, together with samples of their works.

Before the manuscript of Gulshani-maarif was acquired, a collection of Sheyda's poems had already been preserved at the Institute of Manuscripts and published in the modern Azerbaijani alphabet with an introduction by Karimov.

Family Sheyda had a son named Mahammadhasan bey and a daughter named Saltanat khanum. His brother Abulfat Vali was active in Azerbaijani theatre from the late 19th century until 1918. Abulfat Vali performed in amateur theatre productions, worked with the Muslim Actors' Society and the Nijat and Safa theatre troupes, and staged works by Mirza Fatali Akhundov, Nariman Narimanov, Najaf bey Vazirov, Abdurrahim bey Hagverdiyev and Uzeyir Hajibeyov.