Ashik
Encyclopedia
An Ashik is a mystic troubadour or traveling bard, in Turkey
, Azerbaijan
, Georgia
, Armenia
, and Iran
who sings and plays the saz
, a form of lute. Ashiks' songs are semi-improvised around common bases.
The Ashik tradition in Turkic cultures of Anatolia
, Azerbaijan
and Iran
has its origin in the Shamanistic beliefs of ancient Turkic peoples
. The ancient ashiks were called by various names such as bakhshi (Baxşı), dede (dədə), and uzan
or ozan. Among their various roles, they played a major part in perpetuation of oral tradition, promotion of communal value system and traditional culture of their people. These wandering bards or troubadours are part of current rural and folk culture of Azerbaijan
, and Iranian Azerbaijan, Turkey
, the Turkmen Sahra
(Iran) and Turkmenistan
, where they are called bakshy
.
In September 2009, Azerbaijan’s ashik art
was included into UNESCO list of Intangible Cultural Heritage.
),)".
It is also sometimes used as a male personal name
.
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
, Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan , officially the Republic of Azerbaijan is the largest country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded by the Caspian Sea to the east, Russia to the north, Georgia to the northwest, Armenia to the west, and Iran to...
, Georgia
Georgia (country)
Georgia is a sovereign state in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded to the west by the Black Sea, to the north by Russia, to the southwest by Turkey, to the south by Armenia, and to the southeast by Azerbaijan. The capital of...
, Armenia
Armenia
Armenia , officially the Republic of Armenia , is a landlocked mountainous country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia...
, and Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
who sings and plays the saz
Baglama
thumb|180px|Cura and bağlamaThe bağlama is a stringed musical instrument shared by various cultures in the Eastern Mediterranean, Near East, and Central Asia....
, a form of lute. Ashiks' songs are semi-improvised around common bases.
The Ashik tradition in Turkic cultures of Anatolia
Anatolia
Anatolia is a geographic and historical term denoting the westernmost protrusion of Asia, comprising the majority of the Republic of Turkey...
, Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan , officially the Republic of Azerbaijan is the largest country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded by the Caspian Sea to the east, Russia to the north, Georgia to the northwest, Armenia to the west, and Iran to...
and Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
has its origin in the Shamanistic beliefs of ancient Turkic peoples
Turkic peoples
The Turkic peoples are peoples residing in northern, central and western Asia, southern Siberia and northwestern China and parts of eastern Europe. They speak languages belonging to the Turkic language family. They share, to varying degrees, certain cultural traits and historical backgrounds...
. The ancient ashiks were called by various names such as bakhshi (Baxşı), dede (dədə), and uzan
Uzan
Uzan may refer to:*traveling musicians in Western Asia, see Ashik*Uzan, Pyrénées-Atlantiques, a village in France*Uzan River, in France*The Dutch abbreviation of the Union of South American Nations *Cem Uzan, a Turkish business man and politician...
or ozan. Among their various roles, they played a major part in perpetuation of oral tradition, promotion of communal value system and traditional culture of their people. These wandering bards or troubadours are part of current rural and folk culture of Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan , officially the Republic of Azerbaijan is the largest country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded by the Caspian Sea to the east, Russia to the north, Georgia to the northwest, Armenia to the west, and Iran to...
, and Iranian Azerbaijan, Turkey
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
, the Turkmen Sahra
Turkmen Sahra
Turkmen Sahra that means Plain of Turkmens, is a region in the northeast of Iran near the Caspian Sea, bordering Turkmenistan, the majority of whose inhabitants are ethnic Turkmen. The biggest city is Gorgan which is dominated by Persian inhabitants though in recent years there has been...
(Iran) and Turkmenistan
Turkmenistan
Turkmenistan , formerly also known as Turkmenia is one of the Turkic states in Central Asia. Until 1991, it was a constituent republic of the Soviet Union, the Turkmen Soviet Socialist Republic . Turkmenistan is one of the six independent Turkic states...
, where they are called bakshy
Bakshy
The bakshy are traditional Turkmen musicians. Historically they have been traveling singers and shamans, acting as healers and spiritual figures, and also providing the music for celebrations of weddings, births and other important life events...
.
In September 2009, Azerbaijan’s ashik art
Art of Azerbaijani Ashiqs
The art of Azerbaijani Ashiqs combines poetry, storytelling, dance and vocal and instrumental music into a traditional performance art. This art is one of the symbols of Azerbaijani culture and considered an emblem of national identity and the guardian of Azerbaijani language, literature and...
was included into UNESCO list of Intangible Cultural Heritage.
Etymology
The word Ashik, derives from Arabic word Asheq (عاشق), and means the "one who is in love (IshqIshq
' , Dari "eshq" Persian eshgh, Turkish aşk, , Azerbaijani , means "love". The word is derived from ‘ashiqah, a vine: the common belief is that when love takes its root in the heart of a lover, everything other than God is effaced. In Islam's Sufi and mystic doctrine it is a concept which refers to...
),)".
It is also sometimes used as a male personal name
Personal name
A personal name is the proper name identifying an individual person, and today usually comprises a given name bestowed at birth or at a young age plus a surname. It is nearly universal for a human to have a name; except in rare cases, for example feral children growing up in isolation, or infants...
.
20th century
- Ashik Hussain Nanji
- Muharrem Ertaş
- Ali Ekber ÇiçekAli Ekber ÇiçekAli Ekber Çiçek was born in 1935 in Erzincan, Turkey. His father died in a disastrous earthquake, and his mother suffered financial problems that made it impossible for her to support his education...
- Aşık Mahzuni ŞerifAsik Mahzuni SerifAşık Mahzuni Şerif , also known as Mahsuni Şerif, was a folk musician, ashik, composer, poet, and author from Turkey.Mahzuni Şerif was born in Berçenek village of Afşin, Kahramanmaraş, Turkey in 1940...
- Aşık KhanlarAşık Khanlar- References :...
- Aşık Veysel
- Muhlis Akarsu
- Neşet ErtaşNeset ErtasNeşet Ertaş is a Turkish folk music singer, lyrics writer and a virtuoso of the traditional Turkish instrument bağlama. His profession in Turkish is known as halk şairi, which literally means "folk poet"....
- Ashiq Edalet
- Aşik Daimi
- Davut Sulari
- Aşıq Hüseyn Bozalqanlı
- Aşıq Hüseyn Saraclı
- Mikayıl Azaflı
- Aşıq Hüseyn Cavan
- Aşıq Kamandar
- Aşıq Əmrah
19th century
- Aşik Sümmani
- Aşiq Alı
- Aşiq Ələsgər
- Molla Cümə
- Aşiq Musa
- JivaniJivani (ashik)Jivani , born Serob Stepani Levonian was an Armenian gusan and poet.-History:Jivani was born in Kartsakh, near Akhalkalaki, Javakheti. He became an orphan when he was 8, his uncle looked after him. He learned music composition and performance on kemanche and violin with the support of master...
17th century
- KaracaoğlanKaracaoglanKaracaoğlan is a 17th century Ottoman folk poet and ashik. His exact dates of birth and death are unknownbut it is widely accepted that he was born around 1606 and died around 1680...
- Kul NesîmîKul NesimiKul Nesîmî, or simply Nesîmî, was an Ottoman Alevi-Bektashi poet, who lived in 17th century in Anatolia.Very little is known about this poet except that certain political events found an expression in his poetry, such as Ottoman conquest of Baghdad in 1640...
- Xəstə Qasım
- Aşıq Abdulla
- Sarı Aşıq
Major Ashik Stories
As the art of Ashik is based on oral tradition, the number of ashik stories can be as many as the Ashiks themselves. Throughout the centuries of this tradition many interesting stories and epics have thrived, and these are the ones who handed down. The main themes of the most Ashik stories are worldly love or epics of wars and battles or both.- The epic of "KöroğluKoroghluKoroghlu, literally Turkish, Azerbaijani meaning "Son of a Blind Man" and Turkmen language meaning "Son of Grave," is the main hero of epic with the same name in Azerbaijani and Turkish as well as some other Turkic languages...
" is one of those which combine the occasional romance with Robinhood-like chivalry. Azerbaijani composer Uzeyir HajibeyovUzeyir HajibeyovUzeyir bey Abdul Hussein oglu Hajibeyov was an Azerbaijani and Soviet composer, conductor, publicist, playwright, teacher, translator, and social figure from Azerbaijan. He is recognized as the father of Azerbaijani classical music and opera...
has created an opera by this name, using the Ashik stories and masterfully combined some Ashik music with this major classical work.
- Ashik KeribAshik Kerib (film)Ashik Kerib is a 1988 film by the Soviet-Armenian filmmaker Sergei Parajanov based on the short story of the same name by Mikhail Lermontov...
, Azeri epic, made famous by Mikhail LermontovMikhail LermontovMikhail Yuryevich Lermontov , a Russian Romantic writer, poet and painter, sometimes called "the poet of the Caucasus", became the most important Russian poet after Alexander Pushkin's death in 1837. Lermontov is considered the supreme poet of Russian literature alongside Pushkin and the greatest...
, is another major story of a wandering Ashik who began his journeys with worldly love and attains wisdom by traveling and learning then achieving sainthood. The story of Ashik Kerib has been the main feature of a movie with the same nameAshik Kerib (film)Ashik Kerib is a 1988 film by the Soviet-Armenian filmmaker Sergei Parajanov based on the short story of the same name by Mikhail Lermontov...
by director and producer Sergei Parajanov.
- Kerem ile Aslı is the story of a Muslim prince Kerem and a Christian girl Aslı who fall in love despite major opposition by their parents and community.