MANUSCRIPT SOURCES AND THE CRITICAL TEXT OF THE EPIC SAB’AI SAYYOR: A COMPARATIVE-TEXTUAL STUDY

Abstract

This article presents a comparative-textual study of the manuscript sources and the critical text of Sab’ai Sayyor, one of the epics included in Alisher Navoi’s Khamsa. Manuscript and lithographic copies of the epic produced in different historical periods are analyzed with particular attention to their place in the textual history of the work and their distinctive features. Special emphasis is placed on the significance of the Abduljamil, Sultonali, and Muhammadbek manuscripts, which served as the principal sources for the critical text prepared by P. Shamsiyev. The study also examines textual discrepancies between manuscript and published versions, including omissions, additions, substitutions of letters and words, as well as orthographic errors, from a textological perspective. The findings demonstrate that a reliable reconstruction of the epic requires the comparative examination of the earliest and most complete manuscript copies.