The poetess Khurshidbanu Mehdigulu gizi, the granddaughter of Khan of Karabakh Ibrahimkhalil Khan, born on August 15, 1832 in Shusha. Khurshidbanu was educated at home. Her aunt Govhar Agha was an educated woman of her time, she taught Khurshidbanu to write, read, draw and play musical instruments. Natavan knew Arabic, Persian and Turkish.
        
Being the only child in the family and the last heiress of the khans of Karabakh, in the palace she was called “Dürrü yekta” (“The Only Pearl”). She was popularly known as the Khan's daughter. After the death of Mehdigulu Khan in 1845, all his rights passed to his daughter Khurshidbanu. 
         
In 1850, the poetess married General Khasai-Khan Utsmiev. Prince Khasai-Khan Musaevich Utsmiev came from the Russian noble and Kumyk princely family of the Utsmievs. Their wedding took place in the fall of 1850 in Shusha. Then they went to the village of Khasai-Khan Aksai in Dagestan, and from there they moved to Tiflis. Khurshidbanu's stay in Tiflis for some time had a great influence on her development as a poetess and artist.
         
Natavan actively participated in the activities of Russian and Georgian cultural societies in this city; she aroused everyone’s interest with her mind, intellect, commitment to national and moral values, noble behavior, and fluency in three languages. But no matter how much she liked life in Tiflis, she felt lonely here. She missed her native Shusha.
       
In 1852, the poetess became seriously ill. She returns to Shusha on the advice of doctors. After recovery, she and her family go on a trip to Vladikavkaz, Dagestan, visiting Shirvan, Baku, Ganja and Nakhchivan. During this trip, she meets with high-ranking government officials, writers, scientists and travelers. Traveling through a number of provinces and cities gave impetus to the expansion of her horizons and the growth of her worldview.  
          
From his marriage to Khasai-Khan, Khurshidbanu had a son in 1855 and a daughter in 1856. They named their son Mehdigulu, and their daughter Fatmabika (Khanbika).
         
In 1858, Khurshidbanu Natavan accidentally met the famous French writer Alexandre Dumas (father) in Baku. The fact that Khasai-Khan’s wife spoke French “like a real Parisian” caused surprise and joy for the guest and this created friendly relations between them. The first information about the construction of the Natavan stone road from Baku to the village of Shikh is reflected in the book by A. Dumas “Journey to the Caucasus”.
        
After the death of his mother, Khasai-Khan Utsmiev, at the insistence of his family, decides to return to his native Dagestan. He wanted to take his wife Khurshidbanu with him. However, the khan's daughter did not agree to move to Dagestan forever, and in 1864 they separated. Natavan married a second time in 1869 to a commoner Seyid Hussein.
       
In 1870–1880, a new stage began in Natavan’s life and work. She actively participated in social and cultural events. Natavan created a special fund, allocated from annual income, for the construction of roads, bridges, and a school building. Acquaintance with all types of art brought Natavan closer to the outstanding artists of her time. Azerbaijani students studying in distant cities, scientists, poets and artists received help from Khurshidbanu. Along with those from Karabakh, artists from all over Transcaucasia enjoyed her patronage.
        
Natavan seriously thought about the improvement of her native Karabakh, about the cultural appearance of the city of Shusha. In 1873, she spent one hundred thousand manats to bring drinking water to Shusha. She also built a spring, thereby realizing the hundred-year-old dream of the city residents, built a reservoir, a bathhouse, an ice storage facility, and opened a park for public use.
        
The literary gathering "Majlisi-uns", founded in 1872 on the initiative and financial support of Khurshidbanu, united about thirty poets. At these meetings, classical works of such influential writers as Khagani, Nizami and Fuzuli were translated.
        
Along with many poets from different parts of Azerbaijan, Karabakh poets also had literary connections with poets from Tbilisi, Orenburg, Astrakhan, Bukhara, Bombay, Calcutta, Baghdad. At these meetings of the “Majlisi-uns”, the work of famous poets, musicians and artists was examined, and the innovation that they brought to art was discussed. Khurshidbanu's inspirational ghazals “Eylar”, “Getirir”, “I was”, “You were”, “I was like” and “I am dying” influenced the enthusiasm of Azerbaijani poets. The poets of Karabakh, Sheki, Shirvan, Baku, Guba, Ganja, Nakhchivan, Ordubad were influenced by the high mastery of Natavan’s works, and wrote dozens of «nazires» (imitative poems) and «takhmises» (quintet in which for each “beit” - this is a minimal strophic unit Turkic and Persian poetry, of someone else's ghazals, need to add three more original lines).
          
Part of Natavan’s work is a cycle of poems written in 1885-1886, associated with the personal tragedy of the poetess. In these works, one can hear the cry of an unhappy mother, deeply saddened by the death of her son, experiencing mental turmoil and drowning in tears. After her son Mir Abbas died at the age of 17, the khan’s daughter could not recover from this pain for a long time. After the death of her son, she begins to write sad poems and takes the pseudonym Natavan. 
       
In 1886, the famous album of illustrated poems by Khurshidbanu Natavan, “Flower Notebook,” was published on 227 pages. The album contains thirteen poems, drawings from life and lyrical works of contemporaries. The nomination “Flower Book” of Khurshidbanu Natavan - album of illustrated verses, submitted by Azerbaijan in 2022-2023 for inclusion in the Memory of the World International Register) was approved by the Executive Board in May 2023. “The inclusion of the “Flower Notebook” of Khurshidbanu Natavan in the international Memory of the World register is another proof at the UNESCO level that Karabakh is Azerbaijani land.
         
The last five years of her life were difficult and turning points for Natavan, both in life and in art. A prominent public figure, poetess Natavan, belonging to the last generation of Karabakh khans, died on October 1, 1897 in Shusha. As a sign of respect, the people participating in the funeral carried her body on foot from Shusha to Aghdam. The khan's daughter was buried in the family cemetery called "Imarat" in Aghdam.
         
Her death saddened not only Azerbaijan, but also the progressive and enlightened peoples of the entire Caucasus. On this occasion, “Kafkaz”, “Tarjuman” and other newspapers published obituaries and articles about Natavan’s life and work. In the first half of the 20th century, a collection of Khurshidbanu's poems was published several times.
         
The incomparable merits of the brilliant Azerbaijani poetess have always been appreciated by our people and our state. A street, a club, a library, and a school are named after her.
         
A monument to the poetess was erected in Baku, a bust in Shusha, and a tombstone in Aghdam. The statue of Khurshidbanu Natavan, shot by Armenian savages during the occupation of Shusha, was installed in the courtyard of the National Art Museum of Azerbaijan in Baku. After the victorious 44-day war and the liberation of the city from occupation, during the visit of Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev to Shusha, the statue was returned to the city and restored in its place.

Recommended literature:

1. Natəvan Xurşidbanu. Əsərləri / X. Natəvan ; tərt. B. Məmmədov. - Təkrar nəşr. - Bakı : Lider nəşriyyat, 2004. - 88 s.
2. Müznib, Əlabbas. Natəvan Xurşidbanu / Ə. Müznib ; tərt. P. Kərimov ; red. N. Mustafayeva ; AMEA M. Füzuli adına Əlyazmalar İnstitutu. - Bakı : Elm və təhsil, 2012. - 129 s.
3. Kərimi, Məhəmməd Rza. Azərbaycan mədəniyyəti və ədəbiyyatında məşhur qadınlar / M. R. Kərimi ; fars dilindən tərc. A. Rüstəmova; red. G. B. Baxşəliyeva ; AMEA akad. Z.M. Bünyadov adına Şərqşünaslıq İnstitutu. - Bakı : Zərdabi LTD MMC, 2014. - 96 s.
4. Xəlilzadə, Flora. Hökmdar qadınlar / F. Xəlilzadə ; ön sözün müəl. S. Vəliyeva ; red. E. İsgəndərzadə. - Bakı : Vektor, 2019. - 120 s.
5. Əhmədova, Səbinə Namus qızı. Qarabağ ədəbi-mədəni mühiti: XIX əsrin ikinci yarısı - XX əsrin əvvəlləri : monoqrafiya / S. N. Əhmədova ; elmi red. Ə. B. Nəcəfzadə ; ön sözün müəl. Y. M. Babayev ; AMEA M. Füzuli adına Əlyazmalar İnstitutu. - Bakı : Ecoprint, 2020. - 220 s.