Azeri
People
Population: ca. 30-35 million
Mainly resides in: Azerbaijan, Iran
Main Religion: Shia Islam
Language: Azerbaijan (Turkic language)
- The Azeri people are the descendants of a tribe of Turkic people called the Oghuz Turks, who migrated from Central Asia into the Caucasus and Northwestern Iran, and converted to Shia Islam in the 13th century, and subsequently mixed with local Caucasians. They lived under the rule of various Turkic tribes until they established the Safavid Empire that ruled over Iran in the 16th century. In the 20th century, the Caucasian Azeri territory became a republic under the Soviet Union in the 20th century, and achieved independence after the Soviet collapse. The Iranian Azeri territory remained as Iranian provinces.
- While Azerbaijan is known as the “land of fire” due to its plentiful supply of oil and natural gas allowing for “eternal flames” in many natural and religious landmarks, this description also reflects the character of much of Azeri traditional expressive culture: fiery and passionate traditional music and dances that celebrate valiance and heroism.
Music
The classical music of the Azeris is the mugham, a system of organising virtuosic free-rhythm singing of poetry celebrating love according to Sufism, the Islamic mystical practice, as well as rhythmic instrumental pieces into a high-energy musical journey through different modes that gives the music varied distinctive colours. Mugham is typically performed by a trio with a singer who also plays the frame drum qaval (very similar to the Central Asian Dap), the bowed fiddle kamança (a close relative of the Persian kamancheh) and the plucked lute tar (a distant relative of the Uyghur rawap). This musical system is very close to the dastgah system of Iranian classical music.
Another important musical tradition among the Azeris is the tradition of ashiq, bards who recite epic stories (dastan) and sing interspersing songs. They accompany themselves on the plucked string lute saz, a close relative of the bağlama, which also has its own well-developed repertoire. The style is very similar to other epic poetry singing traditions in the region such as the Turkmen bagshy, the Turkish ashik, as well as the baxshi of Khorezm in Uzbekistan, and is also practiced in a very similar fashion among the neighbouring Armenian and Georgian population peoples.