The conflict between Alexander and the Pauper: ancient sources of Navoi’s images

The tradition of writing about Iskander (Alexander the Great) in literature has a long history, with some sources based on Western and some on Eastern sources. Over the centuries, information about Alexander‘s personality and activities in the fields of history, religion, literature, folklore, ethics and wisdom have been recorded and created. In particular, in the tradition of Khamsanavism, which is widespread in Eastern literature, it was necessary to dedicate a special epic to the theme of Alexander. Of course, it put the creators in charge of creating originality within the tradition. That was why every writer, including Alisher Navoi, strived to be different from his predecessors in the epic on the theme of Alexander, to show a creative individuality as an independent artist. In this regard, Navoi focused on the introduction of new and historical literary materials in the epic, their artistic interpretation on the basis of his own worldview. One of such new texts, which introduced Navoi to the tradition of writing epics about Alexander, is the story of “Iskander and Gado (pauper)”, which, was based on ancient principles, underwent complex transformations and played an important role in understanding the epic “Saddi Iskandari”. This article examines the genesis and sources of Navoi's story “Iskander and Gado”, the transformation of the story, its processing in the East, and the role of Alisher Navoi in this process, his creative individuality and his contribution to the development of the story.