They combined the qualities of poet and actor, musician and singer in one person. By entertaining the folk, bahshi at the same time played the role of genuine enlighteners and keepers of popular wisdom. Their performance was filled with aphorisms, proverbs and verses that served to enrich the language of its audiences. It is hardly accidental that the word bahshi translates as a teacher. National legends hold that bahshi are special people granted with exceptional gift that distinguishes them from commons. Storytellers were brilliant musicians on do’mbra or dutor, ancient string musical instruments of the East always accompanying the performances of bahshi. At the same time, masters recited verses, composed stories, edited texts, and pick out the music for them. Each performer had his special style, his singularity and uniqueness served as the evidence of his mastery and experience. Thanks to the art of bahshi, national dostons, one of the most valuable and favorite genres of the Uzbek folklore carefully kept through centuries, has reached our days. It is rather difficult to name the exact time of emergence of art of storytelling, yet it is known that already a thousand years ago the Surkhondaryo bahshi sang dostons about deeds of legendary hero Alpomish. Archeologists discovered terracotta statuettes of musicians dated back to the first centuries of AD and among which there was a figurine of a wandering bahshi. The data on ancient singers were also left by the well-known Venetian traveler Marco Polo, who in the 13^th wrote that bahshi “organized great feasts with great singing”.

The storyteller traveled about crowded roads or caravan paths, towns and villages. The lonely traveler having escaped from the burning sun or the unsparing wind, with his customary attribute – the musical instrument, stopped in settlements and gathering around the people shared with all he had learnt and seen. His song retelling about the latest events and historical happenings, stories about deeds of heroes, and legends about true love the bahshi enriched with bright epithets, wise sayings and classical verses of renowned poets of the East. Singers stood high in people’s esteem for their knowledge, erudition and talent. People learned about arrival of bahshi beforehand and carefully prepared for the meeting. They beatified a place for the feast and prepared great variety of foods. A carpet was laid on the ground for the honoured guest, lighted the fire around of which people of the settlement gathered. The bahshi started the performance at five or six PM which could last till the morning, and nobody left while the music sounds. Under gentle sounds of do’mbra the singer holds the truthful and anxious story. Only from time to time the musician does short breaks during which he drinks tea and holds leisurely conversation with people, answering their questions and sharing worldly wisdom with them. With the deepest attention, awe and admiration, in absolute silence people devoured every word of bahshi. People said that the storyteller got enjoyed general recognition and respect from that night when a nightingale come flying to listen his song retellings.