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Ashyk Umer (Crimean Tatar poet-akyn, 17th century)

Ashyk Umer (Abdulla Kenzhe-oglu; 1621, Gezlev/Yevpatoria — 1707) — the most popular Crimean Tatar poet-akyn, author of over 2,000 poems and poetical works, who gained enormous fame already during his lifetime and is recognized as the first in a long line of ashyks across the entire Ottoman region.

Overview

Ashyk Umer was born in 1621 in Gezlev (present-day Yevpatoria) into the family of the wealthy furrier Abdulla Kenzhe-oglu. Among the hundreds of names of Turkic-speaking poets, his name stands in the front rank of the most popular authors. Researchers and bearers of the ashyk tradition identify him as the first in a long line of ashyk poets not only of Crimea, but of the entire Ottoman region. During his lifetime, Ashyk Umer created over 2,000 poems and poetical works. He died in 1707.

Key Details / Subtopics

  • Origin: Son of the furrier Abdulla Kenzhe-oglu, owner of a shop and a respected townsman of Gezlev. Born in 1621; the infant was named with the ancient Crimean Tatar name Umer.
  • Education: His father sent him to the prestigious madrasa at the Khan's Mosque, but scholarship did not come easily to the boy — he received poor marks and reproaches from his teacher Sherefi-effendi.
  • The legend of the saz and the heavenly maiden: According to the tradition, the disheartened schoolboy went to an old cemetery, where a heavenly maiden appeared to him in a dream, gifted him a musical instrument — the saz — and foretold the fate of a poet. Upon waking, he found a real saz beside him, and soon began to speak in verse — and so his poetic talent was revealed.
  • Presentation to the khan: Umer was presented to Khan Bahadir Giray and was gifted with his favor; after that, his father no longer stood in the way of his son's talent.
  • The ashyk musical tradition: In the musical culture of the Crimean Khanate, Ashyk Umer represents the ashyk current — the folk-poetic and song creativity of poet-singers who accompanied themselves on the saz.
  • Wanderings in the East: On reaching adulthood, Ashyk left his native city and set out on a journey through the countries of the East, satirizing in his songs the customs of his contemporaries. He visited Konya — a Sufi center of the Ottoman Empire — most often.
  • Return and death: Having grown old, rich and famous, he returned to his native city; his last years he devoted to the construction of mosques. He died in 1707 by the walls of one of them, which has been called the Ashyk Umer Mosque ever since. According to another version, he was buried on the Quarantine Spit in a sandy dune by the sea.

Contradictions and Open Questions

  • As to his burial place, the source gives two versions: by the mosque named in his honor (Ashyk Umer), or on the Quarantine Spit in a sandy dune by the sea.