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Bağlama (saz)An ashik performance in TabrizAshugh Jivani (center, playing the kamani) with instrumentalistsSoviet stamp from 1962 devoted to Sayat-Nova‘s 250 anniversary.
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An ashik (Azerbaijani: aşıq; Turkish: aşık; Persian: عاشیق) or ashugh (Armenian: աշուղ; Georgian: აშუღი)[1]:1365[2][3] is traditionally a singer-poet and bard who accompanies his song—be it a dastan (traditional epic story, also known as hikaye) or a shorter original composition—with a long-necked lute (usually a bağlama or saz)[4]:225 in Turkic (primarily Turkish and Azerbaijani cultures, including Iranian Azerbaijanis),[4] as well as non-Turkic cultures of South Caucasus (primarily Armenian and Georgian).[5]:15–36[6]:47[7][3] In Azerbaijan, the modern ashik is a professional musician who usually serves an apprenticeship, masters playing the bağlama, and builds up a varied but individual repertoire of Turkic folk songs.[8]
The word ashiq (Arabic: عاشق, meaning “in love” or “lovelorn”) is the nominative form of a noun derived from the word ishq (Arabic: عشق, “love”), which in turn may be related to the Avestan iš- (“to wish, desire, seek”).[9] The term is synonymous with ozan [tr] in Turkish and Azerbaijani, which it superseded during the fifteenth to sixteenth centuries.[10]:368[11] Other alternatives include saz şair (meaning “saz poet”) and halk şair (“folk poet”). In Armenian, the term gusan, which referred to creative and performing artists in public theaters of Parthia and ancient and medieval Armenia, is often used as a synonym.[5]:20[1]:851–852
History
An ashik performance during Nowruz in BakuIsmail I (1487–1524)
The ashik tradition in Turkic cultures of Anatolia, Azerbaijan and Iran has its origin in the Shamanistic beliefs of ancient Turkic peoples.[12] The ancient ashiks were called by various names such as bakshy/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. Thus, ashik, in traditional sense, may be defined as travelling bards who sang and played saz, an eight or ten string plucking instrument in the form of a long-necked lute.
Judging based on the Turkic epic Dede Korkut,[13] the roots of ashiks can be traced back to at least the 7th century, during the heroic age of the Oghuz Turks. This nomadic tribe journeyed westwards through Central Asia from the 9th century onward and settled in present Turkey, Azerbaijan Republic and North-west areas of Iran. Naturally, their music was evolved in the course of the grand migration and ensuing feuds with the original inhabitants the acquired lands. An important component of this cultural evolution was that the Turks embraced Islam within a short time and of their own free will. Muslim Turk dervishes, desiring to spread the religion among their brothers who had not yet entered the Islamic fold, moved among the nomadic Turks. They choose the folk language and its associate musical form as an appropriate medium for effective transmission of their message. Thus, ashik literature developed alongside mystical literature and was refined starting since the time of Turkic Sufi Khoja Akhmet Yassawi in early twelfth century.[14]
The single most important event in the history of ashik music was the ascent to the throne of Shah Isma’il (1487–1524), the founder of the Safavid dynasty. He was a prominent ruler-poet and has, apart from his diwan compiled a mathnawi called Deh-name, consisting of some eulogies of Ali, the fourth Caliph of early Islam. He used the pen-name Khata’i and, in ashik tradition, is considered as an amateur ashik .[15] Isma’il’s praised playing Saz as a virtue in one of his renowned qauatrains;[16]
Bu gün ələ almaz oldum mən sazım — (Today, I embraced my Saz)
Ərşə dirək-dirək çıxar mənim avazım — (My song is being echoed by heavens)
Dörd iş vardır hər qarındaşa lazım: — (Four things are required for the life:)
Bir elm, bir kəlam, bir nəfəs, bir saz. — (Conscience, speech, respiration, and Saz.)
According to Köprülü’s studies, the term ashik was used instead of ozan in Azerbaijan and in areas of Anatolia after the 15th century.[17][10] After the demise of Safavid dynasty in Iran, Turkish culture could not sustain its early development among the elites. Instead, there was a surge in the development of verse-folk stories, mainly intended for performance by ashiks in weddings. Following the collapse of the Soviet Union the governments of new republics in Caucasus region and Central Asia sought their identity in traditional cultures of their societies. This elevated the status of ashugs as the guardians of national culture. The new found unprecedented popularity and frequent concerts and performances in urban settings have resulted in rapid innovative developments aiming to enhance the urban-appealing aspects of ashik performances.
Ashugh music in Armenia
Main article: Music of Armenia § Gusan and ashugh artArmenian ashugh school in Yerevan
A concise account of the ashik (called ashugh in Armenian) music and its development in Armenia is given in Garland Encyclopedia of World Music.[1]:851–852 In Armenia, the ashugh are known since the 16th century onward, acting as the successors to the medieval gusan art. By far the most notable of the ashugh of all was Sayat Nova (1712–95), who honed the art of troubadour musicianship to crowning refinement.[18]
Revival of ashik music in Iranian Azerbaijan
A portrait of Ashik Rasool Ghorbani [fa] taken in 1955.A contemporary ashik, Changiz Mehdipour [fa].
Pahlavi era was the darkest period for Azerbaijani literature. The education and publication in Azerbaijani language was banned and writers of Azerbaijan, had to publish their works in the Persian language. However, ashik music was tolerated. Ashiks frequently performed in coffee houses in all the major cities of east and west Azerbaijan in Iran. Tabriz was the eastern center for the ashiks and Urmia the western center. In Tabriz ashiks most often performed with two other musicians, a balaban player and a qaval player; in Urmia the ashik was always a solo performer.[19] After the Islamic revolution music was banned. Ten years later, ashik Rəsul Qurbani, who had been forced to make a living as a travelling salesman, aspired to return to the glorious days of fame and leisure. He started composing songs with religious and revolutionary themes. The government, realizing the propaganda potential of these songs, allowed their broadcast in national radio and sent Rəsul to perform in some European cities. This facilitated the emergence of the ashik music as the symbol of Azeri cultural identity.
In September 2009, Azerbaijan’s ashik art was included into UNESCO list of Intangible Cultural Heritage.[20]
More at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ashik
(Contributed by Ugur Yilmaz)