Ashik

An ashik or ashugh is traditionally a singer-poet and bard who accompanies his song—be it a dastan or a shorter original composition—with a long-necked lute in Azerbaijani culture, including Turkish and Iranian Azeri and non-Turkic cultures of South Caucasus. 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.

Etymology

The word ashiq is the nominative form of a noun derived from the word ishq. The term is synonymous with in Turkish and Azerbaijani, which it superseded during the fifteenth to sixteenth centuries. Other alternatives include saz şairi and halk şairi. In Armenian, the term gusan, which referred to creative and performing artists in public theaters of Parthia and ancient as well as medieval Armenia, is often used as a synonym.

History

The ashik tradition among Turkic peoples of Anatolia, Azerbaijan, and Iran has its origin in pre-Islamic shamanism. The ancient ashiks were called by various names such as bakshy, dede, and uzan or ozan. Among their various roles, they played a major part in the perpetuation of the oral tradition, promotion of the communal value system and traditional culture of their people. These wandering bards or troubadours are part of the current rural and folk culture of Azerbaijan, Iranian Azerbaijan, Turkey, the Turkmen Sahra and Turkmenistan. Thus, traditionally, ashik may be defined as travelling bards who sang and played the saz, an eight- or ten-string plucked instrument in the form of a long-necked bağlama.
Judging based on the Book of Dede Korkut, 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 what is now Turkey, Azerbaijan, and the northwestern areas of Iran. Their music evolved during their migration and ensuing feuds with the original inhabitants of the acquired lands. An important component of this cultural evolution was when the Turks embraced Islam. Dervishes, desiring to spread the religion among their brothers who had not yet entered the Islamic fold, moved among the nomadic Turks. They chose the folk language and its associated musical form as an appropriate medium to transmit their messages. Ashik literature developed alongside Qalandar and Sufi culture and was refined since the time of Ahmad Yasawi in the early twelfth century.
The single most important event in the history of ashik music was the ascent to the throne of the Shi'i leader Ismail I, the founder of the Safavid Empire. He was a prominent poet and ruler whose followers, the Safavid order, believed him to be divine. In addition to his diwan, he compiled a mathnawi called the Deh-name, consisting of some eulogies of Ali. He used the pen-name Khata'i and is considered an amateur ashik. Isma'il's praised playing Saz as a virtue in one of his renowned qauatrains;

Bu gün ələ almaz oldum mən sazım ---
Ərşə dirək-dirək çıxar mənim avazım ---
Dörd iş vardır hər qarındaşa lazım: ---
Bir elm, bir kəlam, bir nəfəs, bir saz. ---

According to Mehmet Fuat Köprülü's studies, the term ashik was used instead of ozan in Azerbaijan and parts of Anatolia after the 15th century. 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 newfound 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

A concise account of the ashik music and its development in Armenia is given in Garland Encyclopedia of World Music. 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, who honed the art of troubadour musicianship to crowning refinement.

Ashik music in Iranian Azerbaijan

During the Pahlavi era 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. After the Iranian revolution music was banned. Ten years later, the ashik Rasool Ghorbani, 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 Rasool to perform in some European cities. This facilitated the emergence of the ashik music as the symbol of Azeri cultural identity.
In September 2009, Ashiqs of Azerbaijan was included into UNESCO list of Intangible Cultural Heritage.

The foundations of ashik art

Ashik art combines poetic, musical and performance ability. Ashiks themselves describe the art as the unified duo of saz and söz.This duo is conspicuously featured in a popular composition by Səməd Vurğun:

Binələri çadır çadır ---
Çox gəzmişəm özüm dağlar ---
İlhamını səndən alıb ---
Mənim sazım, sözüm dağlar. ---

The following subsections provide more details about saz and söz.

Musical instruments

Mastering in playing saz is the essential requirement for an ashik. This instrument, a variant of which is known as Bağlama, is a stringed musical instrument and belongs to the family of long-necked lutes. Often performances of ashiks are accompanied by an ensemble of balaban and qaval performers. During Eurovision Song Contest 2012 all three instruments were symbolically played as a cultural symbol of the host country, Azerbaijan.

Poetry genres

The most spread poetry genres are gerayly, qoshma and tajnis.

Ethical code of behaviour and attitude for ashiks

The defining characteristic of ashik profession is the ethical code of behaviour and attitude, which has been summarized by Aşiq Ələsgər in the following verses;

Aşıq olub diyar-diyar gəzənin ----
Əzəl başdan pürkəmalı gərəkdi ---
Oturub durmaqda ədəbin bilə ---
Mə'rifət elmində dolu gərəkti ---
Xalqa həqiqətdən mətləb qandıra ---
Şeytanı öldürə, nəfsin yandıra ---
El içinde pak otura pak dura ---
Dalısınca xoş sedalı gərəkdi ---
Danışdığı sözün qiymətin bilə ---
Kəlməsindən ləl'i-gövhər tokülə ---
Məcazi danışa, məcazi gülə ---
Tamam sözü müəmmalı gərəkdi ---
Arif ola, eyham ilə söz qana ---
Naməhrəmdən şərm eyleyə, utana ---
Saat kimi meyli Haqq'a dolana ---
Doğru qəlbi, doğru yolu gərəkdi ---
Ələsgər haqq sözün isbatın verə ---
Əməlin mələklər yaza dəftərə ---
Her yanı istese baxanda göre ---
Teriqetde bu sevdalı gerekdi ---

Ashik stories (dastan)

was the first to introduce the word hikaye into the academic literature to describe ashik stories. According to Başgöz, hikaye cannot properly be included in any of the folk narrative classification systems presently used by Western scholars. Though prose narrative is dominant in a hikaye, it also includes several folk songs. These songs, which represent the major part of Turkish folk music repertory, may number more than one hundred in a single hekaye, each having three, five or more stanzas.
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 some have survived to our times. The main themes of the most ashik stories are worldly love or epics of wars and battles or both.
The most famous hikayes include:

Shah Ismail, the founder of the Safavid empire, is the protagonist of a major hikaye. Despite the apparent basis in history, Shah Ismail's hikaye demonstrates a remarkable transformative ability. Feared as a ruthless despot during his lifetime, Shah Ismail becomes a poetic maestro in the hikaye, with his sword replaced by his saz, which is the weapon of choice for Shah Ismail's new persona of folk hero.
The Warrior of The North. A romantic action epic about a bard named Ashik in Constantinople in the 16th century who faces political and military problems and saves many people. In the end, he marries his soul mate, Nuur, but dies the same day in an attempt to save her from the evil Hardun.
The Epic of Köroğlu is one of the most widespread of the Turkic hikayes. It is shared not only by nearly all Turkic peoples, but also by some non-Turkic neighboring communities, such as the Armenians, Georgians, Kurds, Tajiks, and Afghans. Although the hikaye's path of transmission is not yet fully understood, most researchers agree that it originated in the south Caucasus region, most likely Azerbaijan. In the Azeri version, the epic combines the occasional romance with Robin Hood-like chivalry. Köroğlu, is himself an ashik, who punctuates the third-person narratives of his adventures by breaking into verse: this is Köroğlu. This popular story has spread from Anatolia to the countries of Central Asia somehow changing its character and content. Azerbaijani composer Uzeyir Hajibeyov has created an opera by this name, using the ashik stories and masterfully combined some ashik music with this major classical work.
Ashiq Qərib, Azeri epic, made famous by Mikhail Lermontov, 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 Ashiq Qərib has been the main feature of a movie with the same name by director and producer Sergei Parajanov. In early 1980s narrated and sang the story in a one-hour-long TV program, the cosset record of which was widely distributed in Iranian Azerbaijan and had a key impact on the revival of ashug music.
Aşıq Valeh is the story of a debate between and Aşıq Zərniyar. Forty ashiks have already lost the debate to Aşıq Zərniyar and have been imprisoned. Valeh, however, wins the debate, frees the jailed ashiks and marries Zərniyar.