How did Chagatai literature shape the later development of Uzbek literature?

Chagatai literature served as the foundational predecessor to modern Uzbek literature, providing the linguistic and stylistic framework that evolved into the contemporary Uzbek language.12

The influence of Chagatai on Uzbek literature is evident in several key areas:

• Linguistic Continuity: Modern Uzbek is the direct successor to the Chagatai language, which functioned as the primary literary medium for Turkic historical and cultural works in Central Asia until the early 20th century.12
• Literary Models: Classical Chagatai writers, most notably ‘Alī Shīr Navā’ī, established the aesthetic standards for later Uzbek authors. Navā’ī’s extensive body of work—including his ghazals, masnawis, and treatises on prosody—remained the primary model for Turkic writers in the region for centuries.23
• Genre Development: Chagatai literature introduced and refined various poetic and prose forms, such as the ghazal (lyric poem), masnawi (rhymed couplets), and the destān (epic poem), which became integral to the Uzbek literary tradition.23
• Cultural Preservation: Works like Bābur’s Bābur-nāmeh and the historical writings of Abū al-Ghāzī Bahādur preserved the region's history, folk legends, and cultural identity, which were subsequently inherited by modern Uzbek literature.23

By the early 20th century, as the region transitioned toward modern national literatures, writers began moving away from the classical Chagatai language toward a more contemporary form of Uzbek, though they continued to draw upon the rich heritage established during the Chagatai period.3