Ashik
An ashik (; ; ) or ashugh (; ) 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") in Turkic (primarily Turkish and Azerbaijani cultures, including Iranian Azerbaijanis) and non-Turkic cultures of South Caucasus (primarily Armenian and Georgian). 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. The word "ashiq" (, meaning "in love" or  lovelorn) is the nominative form of a noun derived from the word "ishq" (, "love"), which in turn may be related to the Avestan "iš-" ("to wish, desire, seek"). The term is synonymous with in Turkish and Azerbaijani, which it superseded during the fifteenth to sixteenth centuries. 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. History. 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 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, 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. 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 . Isma'il's praised playing Saz as a virtue in one of his renowned qauatrains; <poem> 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.") </poem> According to Köprülü's studies, the term "ashik" was used instead of "ozan" in Azerbaijan and in areas 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 (called "ashugh" in Armenian) 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 (1712–95), who honed the art of troubadour musicianship to crowning refinement. Revival of ashik music in Iranian Azerbaijan. 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. After the Islamic revolution music was banned. Ten years later, 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, Azerbaijan's ashik art 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 (word).This duo is conspicuously featured in a popular composition by Səməd Vurğun: <poem> Binələri çadır çadır --- ("The peaks rise up all around like tents") Çox gəzmişəm özüm dağlar --- ("I have wandered often in these mountains") İlhamını səndən alıb --- ("My saz and söz  take inspiration") Mənim sazım, sözüm dağlar. --- ("From you, mountains.") </poem> 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. Gerayly (). The sample of Ashuq poem consisting of 3–5 couplets, four hemistiches per couplet and eight syllables per hemistich. Rhyme structure of garayli is as follows: First couplet: abcb. Next couplets: cccb, dddb. Example: <poem> Bir gözəl keçdi qarşıdan Sallandı, yana yeridi Kiprik çaxdı, oğrun baxdı Od saldı cana, yeridi </poem> Qoshma (). The genre of ashuq poetry consisting of four hemistiches per couplet and eleven syllables per one hemistich is called qoshma. Rhyme system is like abcb, çççb, dddb ... Name of the author is given at last couplet (it is same  on other ashuq poems), it is called mohurband. Depending on content, there are four main types of qoshma: Gözəlləmə (beatification), Ustadnamə (Masterpiece in literature), Vucudnamə (from birth till death of man), and Qıfılbənd (with content of question and answers or riddles). Example: <poem> Bivəfanın, müxənnəsin, nakəsin Doğru sözün, düz ilqarın görmədim Namərdin dünyada çox çəkdim bəhsin Namusun, qeyrətin, arın görmədim </poem> Tajnis (). Tajnis, which often has similarity with qoshma, is based on rhymed jinas words (i.e. suffix is same but meaning is different). Example: <poem> ... Aşıq gərək bu meydanda bir qala, Eşq odunu bir  ətəklə, bir qala! Ələsgərdi Xeybər kimi bir qala, Bacara bilməzsan dur yerində kəs, </poem> 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; <poem> Aşıq olub diyar-diyar gəzənin ----("To be a bard and wander far from home") Əzəl başdan pürkəmalı gərəkdi --- ("You knowledge and thinking head must have.") Oturub durmaqda ədəbin bilə --- ("How you are to behave, you too must know,") Mə'rifət elmində dolu gərəkti --- ("Politeness, erudition you must have.") Xalqa  həqiqətdən mətləb qandıra --- ("He should be able to teach people the truth,") Şeytanı öldürə, nəfsin yandıra --- ("To kill evil within himself, refrain from ill emotions,") El içinde pak otura pak dura --- ("He should socialize virtuously") Dalısınca xoş sedalı gərəkdi --- ("Then people will think highly of him") Danışdığı sözün qiymətin bilə --- ("He should know the weight of his words,") Kəlməsindən ləl'i-gövhər tokülə --- ("He should be brilliant in speech,") Məcazi danışa, məcazi gülə --- ("He should speak figuratively,") Tamam sözü müəmmalı gərəkdi --- ("And be a politician in discourse.") Arif ola, eyham ilə söz qana --- ("Be quick to understand a hint, howe'er,") Naməhrəmdən  şərm eyleyə, utana --- ("Of strangers you should, as a rule, beware,") Saat kimi meyli Haqq'a dolana --- ("And like a clock advance to what is fair.") Doğru qəlbi, doğru yolu gərəkdi --- ("True heart and word of honour you must have.") Ələsgər haqq sözün isbatın verə --- ("Ələsgər will prove his assertions,") Əməlin mələklər yaza dəftərə --- ("Angels will record his deeds,") Her yanı istese baxanda göre --- ("Your glance should be both resolute and pure,") Teriqetde bu sevdalı gerekdi --- ("You must devote himself to righteous path.") </poem> 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. In stark contrast to the conservative medium of Islamic societies where most stories take place, the heroine's rule is always as important as the hero's. In contrast to the doctrine of Islam, there is no objection to the heroine publicly singing. In the following we present a brief list of the most famous hikayes: Verbal dueling (). In order to stay in the profession and defend their reputation  ashiks used to challenge each other by indulging in verbal duelings, which were held in public places. In its simplest form one ashik would recite a riddle by singing and the other had to respond by means of improvisation to the verses resembling riddles in form. Here is an example: <poem> Famous ashiks. 20th century. Hep sen mi ağladın hep sen mi yandın, --- ("Did you cry all the time, did you burn all the time?") Ben de gülemedim yalan dünyada --- ("I couldn't smile too in untrue world") Sen beni gönlümce mutlu mu sandın --- ("Did you think I  was happy with my heart") Ömrümü boş yere çalan dünyada. --- ("In the world which stole my life in vain"") </poem> <poem> İşte gidiyorum çeşm-i siyahım --- ("That's it, I go my black eyed") Önümüze dağlar sıralansa da --- ("Despite mountains ranked before us") Sermayem derdimdir servetim ahım --- ("My capital is my sorrow, my wealth is my trouble") Karardıkça bahtım karalansa da --- ("Withal my blacken fortune darkened"") </poem> <poem> Dost dost diye nicesine sarıldım --- ("I expected for many people to be real friends") Benim sâdık yârim kara topraktır --- ("My faithful beloved is black  soil") Beyhude dolandım boşa yoruldum --- ("I wandered around with no end, I got tired for nothing") Benim sâdık yârim kara topraktır --- ("My faithful beloved is black soil"") </poem> <poem> 19th century. Durum dolanım başına, --- ("Let me encircle you with love,") Qaşı, gözü qara, Ceyran! --- ("Your black eyes and eyebrows, Jeyran.") Həsrətindən xəstə düşdüm, --- ("I have fallen into the flames of longing,") Eylə dərdə çara, Ceyran! --- ("Help me to recover from this pain, Jeyran".") </poem> <poem> "THE mournful and unhappy days, like winter, come and go. We should not be discouraged, they will  end, they come and go. Our bitter griefs and sorrows do not tarry with us long; Like customers arrayed in line, they come, and then they go." ... </poem> <poem> 17th century. incecikten bir kar yağar, --- ("With its tender flakes, snow flutters about,") Tozar Elif, Elif deyi... --- ("Keeps falling, calling out "Elif… Elif…”") Deli gönül abdal olmuş, --- ("This frenzied heart of mine wanders about") Gezer Elif, Elif deyi... --- ("Like minstrels, calling out "Elif… Elif…”") </poem> <poem> Ay həzarət, bir zamana gəlibdir, --- ("Oh brothers and sisters, what have we come to:") Ala qarğa şux  tərlanı bəyənməz --- ("The jay hates the eagle as never before.") Başına bir hal gelirse canım, --- "If something happens to you," Dağlara gel dağlara, --- "Come to the mountains," Seni saklar vermez ele canım, --- "She will embrace you as her own," Seni saklar vermez ele. --- "Never hands you in to the strangers." </poem> Khatai, he produced a large volume of lyric poetry in Azerbaijani language. Khatai's poetry is graceful and polished and his language closely approaches to folk idiom: 16th century. <poem> "Winter's shaken off, and spring arrives!" --- "Rosebuds waken, garden plot revives," "Birds all trill  in aching harmony",--- "Love's a thrilling flame, disturbing me." "Earth is dressed in furry, downy green", --- "Whispers press the silence once serene, ..." </poem> <poem> Dostun en güzeli bahçesine bir hoyrat girmiş, --- ("The rough man entered the lover's garden") Korudur hey benli dilber korudur --- ("It is woods now, my beautiful one, it is woods,") Gülünü dererken dalını kırmış --- ("Gathering roses, he has broken their stems") Kurudur hey benli dilber kurudur --- ("They are dry now, my beautiful one, they are dry") </poem> <poem> Başina mən dönüm ala göz Pəri, --- ("O my dearest , my love, my beautiful green-eyed Pari") Adətdir dərələr yaz bənəvşəni. --- ("Custom bids us pluck violets when spring days begin") Ağ nazik əlinən dər dəstə bağla, --- ("With your tender white hand gather a nosegay,") Tər buxaq altinə düz bənəvşəni... --- ("Pin it under your dainty chin...") </poem> kaplu kaplu bağalar kanatlanmiş uçmağa.. ---- "The turturturtles have taken wings to fly" ... <poem> 13th century. İsmi sübhan virdin mi var? --- ("is The Father's name your mantra?") Bahçelerde yurdun mu var? --- ("are those gardens your home?") Bencileyin derdin mi var? --- ("is your plight just as mine?") Garip garip ötme bülbül  --- ("don't sing in sorrow nightingale") </poem>