Abdulbagi Zulalov
Encyclopedia
Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan , officially the Republic of Azerbaijan is the largest country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded by the Caspian Sea to the east, Russia to the north, Georgia to the northwest, Armenia to the west, and Iran to...
i singer of folk music
Folk music
Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....
and mugam (an original improvisational genre of classical folk music in Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan , officially the Republic of Azerbaijan is the largest country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded by the Caspian Sea to the east, Russia to the north, Georgia to the northwest, Armenia to the west, and Iran to...
). He was also famous for his performance of Azeri mugams in other regional languages, such as Georgian
Georgian language
Georgian is the native language of the Georgians and the official language of Georgia, a country in the Caucasus.Georgian is the primary language of about 4 million people in Georgia itself, and of another 500,000 abroad...
, Armenian
Armenian language
The Armenian language is an Indo-European language spoken by the Armenian people. It is the official language of the Republic of Armenia as well as in the region of Nagorno-Karabakh. The language is also widely spoken by Armenian communities in the Armenian diaspora...
, Lezgian, Kumyk
Kumyk language
Kumyk is a Turkic language, spoken by about 365,000 speakers in the Dagestan republic of Russian Federation....
, Persian
Persian language
Persian is an Iranian language within the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European languages. It is primarily spoken in Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan and countries which historically came under Persian influence...
, and Russian
Russian language
Russian is a Slavic language used primarily in Russia, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. It is an unofficial but widely spoken language in Ukraine, Moldova, Latvia, Turkmenistan and Estonia and, to a lesser extent, the other countries that were once constituent republics...
.
Life and career
Abdulbagi Zulalov, later known as Bulbuljan, was born in 1841 in ShushaShusha
Shusha , also known as Shushi is a town in the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh in the South Caucasus. It has been under the control of the self-proclaimed Nagorno-Karabakh Republic since its capture in 1992 during the Nagorno-Karabakh War...
(then part of the Russian Empire
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...
, nowadays in Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan , officially the Republic of Azerbaijan is the largest country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded by the Caspian Sea to the east, Russia to the north, Georgia to the northwest, Armenia to the west, and Iran to...
). In his younger years he travelled a lot throughout the Caucasus
Caucasus
The Caucasus, also Caucas or Caucasia , is a geopolitical region at the border of Europe and Asia, and situated between the Black and the Caspian sea...
and Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
. During one of his visits in Iran Mozzafar al-Din Shah Qajar (the ruler of Iran) liked his performance so much that he awarded Zulalov the Shir-o Khorshid order, the highest Iranian order at the time.
In 1875 Zulalov moved to Tbilisi
Tbilisi
Tbilisi is the capital and the largest city of Georgia, lying on the banks of the Mt'k'vari River. The name is derived from an early Georgian form T'pilisi and it was officially known as Tiflis until 1936...
, the regional cultural capital at the time, where he would live until 1905. He gave concerts together with his fellow-countryman, a great tar player Sadigjan
Sadigjan
Sadigjan , also spelled Sadikhjan or Sadiqjan, born Sadig Asadoglu , was an Azerbaijani tar-player known for developing the Azeri tar from the Iranian tar.-Life and Fame:...
. Due to his wonderful voice, attractive appearance and high artistic performance, he quickly became famous throughout the Caucasus
Caucasus
The Caucasus, also Caucas or Caucasia , is a geopolitical region at the border of Europe and Asia, and situated between the Black and the Caspian sea...
. Having learned Georgian language and began to perform Azeri mugams in Georgian would bring the Georgian listeners into rapture. This was the time when he began to be called Bulbuljan, which literally means "[our] dear nightingale" in the Azeri language.
After returning to Shusha in 1905, he dedicated himself to raising his orphaned nephews. In the early 1920s he moved to Baku
Baku
Baku , sometimes spelled as Baki or Bakou, is the capital and largest city of Azerbaijan, as well as the largest city on the Caspian Sea and of the Caucasus region. It is located on the southern shore of the Absheron Peninsula, which projects into the Caspian Sea. The city consists of two principal...
to teach at the newly-opened post-secondary musical institutions, and remained there until his death.
Bulbuljan significantly influenced many prominent Azerbaijani mugam and folk singers. Masters of mugham such as Jabbar Garyaghdyoglu, Musa Shushinski, Mashadi Mammad Farzaliyev, Shakili Alasgar
Shakili Alasgar
Shakili Alasgar , born Alasgar Abdullayev was an Azerbaijani folk musician and mugham singer.-Life and career:...
, Seyid Shushinski
Seyid Shushinski
Seyid Shushinski , born Mir Mohsun Seyid Ibrahim oglu Shushinski , was an Azerbaijani folk singer .-Early career:...
and many others considered him their artistic master. Today the Zulalov family is known in Azerbaijan as a family of musical talents. Bulbuljan's daughter, granddaughter and nephews continued his traditions of mugam arts.