Tradition, interaction, education in Derviş Muhammed branches and understanding poetry of Âşikî

The Minstrel Literature is a branch of folk literature having strong effects in Anatolia. In the course of history, the Minstrel Literature has been able to exist while being developed and enriched.Malatya is one of the cities in which the minstrel tradition is retained. Being neighbor to the cities having a rich minstrel tradition such as Sivas and Erzincan aroused Malatya in having the tradition such a strong way. In the 19th century, in the Battalgazi, Arapgir, Darende, Arguvan and Hekimhan districts of Malatya, some important representatives of minstrel literature were taught. There were Sadık Baba in Hekimgan, Abdullah Fahri Baba-Borani in Battalgazi, Rengi, Idraki, Remzi in Arapgir, Kusuri, Mecruhi, Fethi Baba, Remzi, Cevri, Penahi, Feryadi in Darende, Mucrimi who was born in Dogansehir and deceased in Gaziantep, Dervish Muhammed, Asiki, Sah Sultan in Arguvan.Alewi-Bektashi belief has an important place in the minstrel literature. The views of Alewi-Bektashi belief and its traditions are commonly found in the poetry and expressions. The minstrels having this belief produced some glorious examples of these views in various parts of the Anatolia.In the late 18th and early 19th centuries, one of the well-known representatives of Alewi-Bektashi literature is Asiki. Being an Alewi-Bektashi poet, Asiki was firstly mentioned in R. Ahmet Sevengil?s ?Folk Poets Throughout History?. Another work about Asiki was written by Mustafa Bal. Mustafa Bal (born in 1329 according to hicra calendar), being the son of Mehmet from the Karahoyuk village in the Arguvan district, compiled the works of Dervish Muhammed, Asiki and Sah Sultan, starting from his childhood. He obtained these poems from Bekir Efendi?s magazine in the Isa village, Ahmet Efendi?s magazine in the Halpuz village, Geldig?s magazine in the Kusu village, Hasan Huseyin Asil?s and Yusuf Hoca?s magazines in the Divrigi village.Mustafa Bal compiled the poems of Dervish Muhammed, Sah Sultan and Asiki and these were published by Merdivenkoyu Sahkulu Foundation in a book in Istanbul in 1989. Additionally, researchers such as Ibrahim Aslanoglu, Kutlu Ozen, Rasim Deniz published compilations and articles about Asiki. However, there has been no studies incorporating Asiki?s character and poems. The curiosity why the studies about Asiki have been limited to date is the starting point of this thesis.The aim of this study is to get to know and introduce Asiki in the place he lived in and the tradition he belonged to, and to contribute to folk poetry culture by preventing his poems which we thought have a place in Alewi-Bektashi Literature from being forgotten. There exist some incomplete pieces of information about Asiki. But there has been no comprehensive study about him.The study is consisted of five sectionsIn the first section, the literature period that Asiki belongs to and the minstrel tradition and Alewi-Bektashi literature in this period will be discussed. Moreover, the starting points of minstrel movements and their interactions will be described.In the second section, in terms of tradition and interaction, the mentor-protege relationship between Dervish Muhammed and Asiki will be presented.In the third section, in terms of the internal structure in his poems, the topics which Asiki used will be presented with examples.In the forth section, the educational subjects in Asiki?s poems and language use will be examined.Finally, in the fifth section, the texts of the poems will be given. The results of the study revealed that Asiki?s poetry is rich in terms of the period, his topics and educational aspect.I thank my thesis supervisor Assist. Prof. Mehmet YARDIMCI for sharing his experience with me and guiding me throughout this process, and I thank my wife for her valuable support.