Ashik

An Ashik is a traveling bard, in Turkey, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Armenia, and Iran. They sing and play the saz, a form of lute. The songs are made up on the spot around common ideas.

The Ashik tradition started with the Shamanistic beliefs of ancient Turkic peoples. [1] The ancient ashiks were called by many names. Some names were bakhshi (Baxşı), dede (dədə), and uzan or ozan. They helped keep oral tradition, helped make a shared value system and kept the culture of their people.

In September 2009, Azerbaijan’s ashik art was added to the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage Lists.[2] The word Ashik comes from the Arabic word Asheq. It means the "one who is in love".

References
  1. "ashik,shaman" - DASTAN GENRE IN CENTRAL ASIA; European University Institute, Florence, Italy (retrieved 10 August 2006).
  2. Today.az. Azerbaijan’s ashug art included into UNESCO list of Intangible Cultural Heritage. 01 October 2009


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