In addition to writing textbooks, non-fiction works, and newspaper articles, Hamza wrote plays, musicals, poetry, and novels.

His prominent works include the novelette Yangi Saodat, the song Yasha, Shoʻro, and the poem memorializing honor killing victim Tursunoy Saidazimova as a martyr.

Born to a devout Muslim family, he became an atheist over time, supporting measures to control religious fanaticism and superstition in Central Asia.

Statues built in his likeness were installed in numerous cities in the Uzbek SSR, and his character was the main protagonist in the 1961 movie Hamza and the 1970s TV series Fiery Roads.

However, after independence, Hamza became significantly less revered, as his political views supportive of the Soviet Union and opposition to religious activities were seen as un-Uzbek and anti-Muslim, despite the fact that many of the customs he pushed to abolish were derived from pre-Islamic practices.

[7][8][9] During Tsarist times, Hamza tried to promote education and founded secular schools for orphans and poor children to teach them how to read free of charge.

[17] In the course of his work, Hamza often met with the Tajik writer Sadriddin Ayni, who was also an advocate of the Jadid movement before the revolution, later becoming a supporter of the Soviet Union.

[23] In 1912, Hamza married his first wife was Aksinya[23] (in some sources Zoya[24]) Uvarova, a Russian woman who had worked as a nanny to a wealthy family in Kokand.

[27] Hamza worked as a scribe in the office of Obidjon Mahmudov, one of the early Uzbek Jadids, before moving to Bukhara in 1910 to improve his Arabic language skills.

[30] After getting significant pushback from the clergy for his activities, Hamza performed the Hajj in February 1913, which somewhat improved his standing with local religious figures.

On the journey he travelled to Mecca via Afghanistan and India before boarding a ship to Arabia, and then visiting Lebanon, Syria, Turkey, and Ukraine before finally returning to Central Asia.

For instance, at the time electric lighting in mosques was accepted in Arab Muslim countries but even kerosene lamps were frowned upon as too modern in Bukhara.

[44] Although Hamza was initially buried in a garden near where he was killed, his remains were moved ten years later[44] to a mausoleum near a memorial for fallen Red Army soldiers.

[48][49] In Zaharli hayot yoxud Ishq qurbonlari (Poisonous Life or the Victims of Love), published in 1916, he portrays a young couple, the 18-year-old son of a well-to-do family and the 17-year-old daughter of a craftsman.

[50] Niyazi also wrote Boy ila xizmatchi (The Bey and The Servant) in 1918 which deals primarily with the revolutionary upheaval in Western Turkestan and with the institution of arranged marriage.

[51][52][53] One of his final works was Paranji sirlaridan bir lavha Yoki yallachilar ishi (One Episode from the Secrets of the Veil or the Case of Yalla Singers) (written in 1927), which describes cruelty Uzbek woman faced at the hands of religious authorities and their mahrams.

[55] In addition to his explicitly political novels, Hamza is also known for his anthologies of folk songs and melodies, and wrote folksongs promoting the revolution.

[56][39] He also wrote two comedies: Tuhmatchilar jazosi (The Punishment of Slanderers) in 1918 and Burungi qozilar yoxud Maysaraning ishi (Old Judges or the Case of Maysara) in 1926.

Many of Niyazi's works, including his poems, dramas, and other writings were often written in the turmoil of revolution and describe his view of the awakening of Uzbek class consciousness.

Niyazi's novels are generally moralistic and focus on showcasing and condemning those aspects of Uzbek society the author considered backward and detrimental to both individual and national development.

[62] While widely considered to have been an atheist[39] in his later years, Hamza was initially a Jadid Muslim, arguing in favor of reform of religion as opposed to control of it.

Hamza's social commentaries focused on the backwardness of society of the time and the need for better education and modernization, and pointed out the major differences in Islam as practiced by Central Asians compared to the beliefs of Turks and Arabs.

To honor his memory, in 1967 the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Uzbekistan established the State Hamza Prize to recognize outstanding achievement in literature, arts, and architecture.

[65] Many institutions in Uzbekistan, including a station of Tashkent Metro (renamed in 2015), the Uzbek State Academic Drama Theater,[66] as well as schools, clubs, farms and streets were named after him.