Kurdish Songs from Lidje | Tateos Baghdasarian
Translator: Simon Beugekian, 02/11/24 (Last modified 02/11/24)
The songs provided on this page are performed by Tateos Baghdasarian. He was born in Lidje/Ldje (northeast of the city of Diyarbakir/Dikranagerd), in 1915. During the years of the Armenian Genocide, he lost members of his family. He continued living in the city Lidje with his grandmother, who was a well-known folk healer.
In 1925, Sheikh Sayid led a Kurdish uprising in Turkey. The conflict zone included Lidje and its environs. The Turkish government was able to suppress this uprising. This was followed by a period of persecutions, which also targeted the last vestiges of the Armenian population in the area.
Facing these conditions, Tateos and his grandmother left Diyarbakir and arrived in Aleppo in 1926, where they found refuge. Clearly, some of the Kurdish songs performed by Tateos were composed around this time, as they describe the events of this Kurdish uprising, the arrests of its leaders, and their executions by the Turkish authorities.
Initially, Tateos lived in one of Aleppo’s Armenian orphanages (probably the orphanage of Dikranagerd Armenians). After leaving this institution, he began working in the streets of city as a shoe painter, until someone convinced him to abandon this trade and to instead find employment in the weaving factory. This beneficent advice opened new opportunities for Tateos. Thanks to his intelligence, diligence, and willpower, he was very quickly able to master the secrets of the machinery used in the factory, becoming an expert. In Aleppo (and elsewhere), he became a sought-after specialist, who was called anytime there was a need to install or repair rug-weaving machinery. In fact, he was often invited to other Arab countries to share his expertise with the locals.
In Aleppo, Tateos Baghdasarian married Hermine, from Arap Pounar (Ayn al -Arab, Kobanî). They had three children – Kevork, Ani, and Seto.
Tateos Baghdasarian enthusiastically participated in the activities of the Dikranagerd compatriotic union in Aleppo. During celebrations organized by natives of Dikranagerd – the traditional kavourma dish was a constant presence at these events – he would often sing the Kurdish songs presented on this page.
The following video of Tateos Baghdasarian was recorded by Mihran Minassian in Tateos’s home, in Aleppo, on October 12 and 18, 1993.
Tateos died in Aleppo in 1997.
Tateos Baghdasarian rarely mentions the titles of the songs he sings. Some of the titles presented on this page were obtained from other Kurdish sources, as some of these songs are well-known. In the case of songs for which a title could not be found, we’ve simply used the term “Untitled,” and we have provided a description of the song’s contents.Another source that provides information on these songs is Penyamin G. Jamgochian’s book Hayni. Deghakragan, Azkakgragan, Badmakragan [Hayni. Geographic, Ethnographic, and Historical] (Beirut, 1951). Hayni was a neighbor of Lidje. While writing his book, Jamgochian visited Tateos Baghdasarian in Aleppo, and listened to him singing Kurdish songs. He included some of these songs in his book, providing musical notations, Kurdish transliterations, and Armenian translations. For these songs, we have used the titles provided in Jamgochian’s book. At the time of his collaboration with Jamgochian, Tateos was in his thirties, and surely had a much better memory of the songs. Notably, in the recordings made in the 1990s, Tateos often tells Mihran Minassian, who was recording him, that he had forgotten some of the songs he knew, and that he remembered only parts of some others. “You should have come sooner…” he adds.
“Song of Bachelorship” (or “Yek Mumik”)
This song was sung before a wedding, while dressing the groom
Transliteration: | Translation: |
Du mûman sê mûman çar mûman çardeh mûman | A pair of candles, candles, candles, |
Another version of this song, by Kurdish singer Șivan Perwer, can be found here. A third version, performed by Kurdish singer Ibrahim Tatlıses in the early 1980s, can be found here.
“Sineme”
This was a love song addressed to a girl called Sineme.
Transliteration of Tateos’s song:
Min ......... dîbû mêrgê da
Hûr hûr dimeş e goniyan
Dikim gewrê ramîsim guneh li stûngê me hemiyan
Gez davêjim gerdenê xurmen dikete moriyan
Min ........ dîbû mêrgê da
Hûr hûr dimeşe xirşikan
Dest davêjim gerdenê xurmen dikeve hişikan
Dikim gewrê ramîsim guneh li stûyê keçikan
Yar Sînemê septê û lehtê û çarşemê.
A version of this song was also released in Penyamin Jamgochian’s book. Below, we present the English transliteration (based on the Armenian transliteration) and the English translation of it.
Yar Sineme, sineme taou | Yar Sineme, Sineme taou |
Moukoul dibou mergedan | I saw pain on the pasture, |
Moukoul dibo mergeda | I saw pain on the pasture, |
Untitled (Love Song)
This is a love song, addressed to a girl.
Transliteration of Tateos’s song:
Keçê tu zanî
Çavreş mala me danî
Te ez kuştî te ez helandî
Kir helala vî canî
Diyarbekir derge ye
Nisêbînê qişle ye
Wer em herin zozanê
Meskena min û te ye
Qitilbil ciyekî dûz e
Hemî gul û nêrgiz e
Jinebîka nastînim
Derdê min yeke qîz e
Were keçê tu zanî
Çavreş mala me danî
Te ez kuştî te ez helandî
Kir helala vî canî.
Halolig (A Christmas Tradition)
Tateos Baghdasarian remembers that the Armenians of Lidje practiced a Christmas tradition. To quote him:
“This Halolig… When we were children, the women at home, our mothers or aunts, would sew bags for us. We would take them [the bags] and go from roof to roof. We would lower our bags down the chimneys, and we would call out in Kurdish:
Halolîk hate xwarê
Xwedê bihêlê xortên malê
Xwedê bistîne pîrekên malê.
“They [the residents of each home] would fill the bags with walnuts and bastegh, and we would pull them up. One day, we went to the house of one family… Nowadays, one of their [the family’s] sons is here [in Aleppo]… His wedding was held on the roof of the Magurians. It was Djuldji Garabed [the name of the homeowner]. They made donkey djuls [carpets; probably saddles placed on the backs of donkeys]. So, we lowered it [the bag]. ‘Pull it back!’ they said. We pulled it back, and saw that it was on fire. They had put burning kindling in the bag. ‘Lower another one,’ they said, ‘let the rope down again, the bag went into the fire.’ We lowered the rope, and they had prepared another bag for us, full of things. We pulled this one up. That’s what a halolig is, it’s not a song.”
Tateos recites the Halolig thus:
Halolîk hate xwarê | Father Christmas came down, |
“Meaning, May God keep the youths of the house safe; and take the elderly. It’s something indeed…”
“The Song of Mousa Beg”
The song tells the true story of an Armenian girl, Guluzar, from one of the villages of Sassoun. During her early teens, Guluzar (1875-1948) attracted the attention of Mousa Beg, the chieftain of a Kurdish tribe. In 1889, Mousa Beg abducted the 14-year-old Guluzar and took her to his village, Hevedig. Guluzar did not share the fate of most abducted Armenian girls, as her story did not end here, and legal proceedings were launched, at the initiative of the Armenian Prelacy of Moush and the Armenian Patriarchate of Constantinople. Trials were held first in Bitlis, then in Constantinople. The trial in Constantinople, in particular, was the subject of much international media attention. Guluzar was freed, and later married Kegham Der Garabedian (Kegham of Moush, also known as Dadrag, 1865-1918).
This song is sung in Kurdish circles even today. But the version recited by Tateos is unique. In his version, Mousa Beg is ready to convert to Christianity to capture Guluzar’s heart. Tateos only recites this song. He probably did not remember the song’s tune when the recordings were made. After reciting it, he provides an explanation of the song and mentions the supposed willingness on Mousa Beg’s part to convert to Christianity. Here, we have provided his recitation of the lyrics, as well as the Kurdish transliteration and Armenian translation of this version of the song from Jamgochian’s book. [4] In the latter version, there is no mention of Mousa Beg’s willingness to convert. Finally, we have provided recordings of both Kurdish versions, to acquaint our readers with the song’s melody.
Tateos’s recitation:
Gulê 'elbê girt û çû bêriyê
Hecî Musa Begêm tifengê girt û ket pêşiyê
Go Hecî Musa Begêm bes li min de ez gunem e
Ez aşiqê va fille me ez aşiqê bendewarê dînê xwe me
Lê lê gulê gamê li min gamê
Ez ê gulokê xwe re parêza zerê
Roja lehtê herim dêr camê(camiyê).
The English transliteration (based on the Armenian transliteration) and translation of the version that appears in Jamgochian’s book:
Gule albe gurto chou kaniye | Guluzar took her bucket and went to the spring |
“Hadji Mousa Bego, bislimude vez goune me | “Hadji Mousa, enough, what you do is a sin, |
“Ez e davou devrana, kovsha bushamrinum | “I will roll up my sleeves and gather up my skirt, |
A version of this song is performed by Denkbej Letife Qereyazi. Yet another version is performed by Reso.
“Cherkez Omer” (also Known as “Evdila Bek and Cherkez Agha”)
In the 1860s, the Ottoman authorities sent the army, under the command of Surmeli Mehmed Pasha, to suppress the Kozanoghlu tribe, in the area of Sis/Kozan. Surmeli Mehmed Pasha was a Kurd from Toprakkale. During these military operations, he contracted cholera and died. To replace him, Cherkez Omer was appointed as military commander of Toprakkale. But Mehmed Pasha’s son, Abdullah/Evdila Bek, refused to accept this decision and rose up against Cherkez Omar. He was killed in battle. Mehmed Pasha’s wife and Evdila Bek’s mother, Ayishe Khanum, prepared to bury her son. But at the same time, an Armenian wedding was scheduled in a nearby village. In this song, Ayishe Khanum, addressing the Armenians of this village, tells them that she is burying her son, that it’s a day of mourning, and it would be inappropriate to play the daoul and zourna. The Armenians reply that they have Cherkez Omer’s permission to hold their celebration.
Notably, in this song, when Ayishe Khanum speaks to the Armenians, she directly addresses Antranig Pasha (Antranig Ozanian, 1865-1927), who was an Armenian commander of fedayees and was active several decades later.
Presumably, this song was composed by Kurdish minstrel (denkbej) Evdalê Zeynikê. Another version of this song is performed by denkbej Mehemede Xamure.
Transliteration of Tateos’s song:
Ez ê kela milazgirê ketim tîne tîne
Van 'egîdên fille du şehîdên def û zurne tîne
'Eyşo Xanim bi sê dengan dikire gazî
Hûn ê def û zurne nexin qomşî nîne
Ez ê mezerê mîrê xwe bikolim li vî kaşan
Xençerê mîrê min avzêrkirî heta qaşan
Xwezî hesret di vî çaxê bi min de derketa siwarê hêşînboz Antranig paşa
Mîrê 'Evdilla Begêm ji oda mezin derket dere
Ketibû qesra ..........
Vî zalimê şûrê lêxist xwînê berda li ser simbêlê sor û zere.
Untitled (Wedding Song)
Probably a song addressed to the bride, which includes lines recited while applying henna to her skin.
Transliteration of Tateos’s song:
Hene çêkin li tasê
Bidin destê reqasê
Hene çêkin li kedûnê
Bidin destê xatûnê.
Khadje and Siakhmad
This is a song recounting a Kurdish fairy tale/love story with a tragic ending. The song, in its many varieties, occupies an important place in Kurdish folklore. The events told in the song took place north of Lake Van, in the area of Mount Sipan (Süphan). Khadje was a young woman, and Siakhmad a young man. The song/story also has an Armenian version, in the form of a poem written by Hovhannes Shiraz, titled Siamanto and Khdjezare (Haybedhrad, Yerevan, 1957). The name Siakhmad is the origin of the Armenian name Siamanto, which the gifted Armenian poet Adom Yardjanian (1878-1915) adopted as his pen name. While attending school in his hometown of Agn/Egin, Yardjanian was a pupil of celebrated ethnographer Bishop Karekin Srvantsdyants, who was well-acquainted with this Kurdish folk tale and its Armenian versions. Srvantsdyants, realizing that his pupil was a great literary talent, urged him to adopt Siamanto as his pseudonym.
Transliteration of Tateos’s song:
Xecê bi hêvî delala min hêvî
Tu wa destê xwe bavêj tîr û kevana min a bazinzîvî
Ez ê herim gakûvî bikûjim ji me ra bikim taştê û şîvî
Sîyabendo qurban hêvî bi min hêvî
Ez ê destê xwe bavêm tîr û kevana te ya bazinzîvî
Tu wa mere gakûvî mekûje ji me ra lazim nine taştê û şîvî
Sîyabendo qurban nalîna te tê girîna min tê
De nalîn û girîna heftê milletî li ser nalîn û girîna min û te tê
Xecê Sîpan e xweş Sîpan e
Alîkî mij û yek dûman e
Cihê gul û gulistan e
Gakûvî nehişt biqede miradê herdû dilan e
Gakûvîyo gapiçûko qocê te yî darê belalûko
Te çima ji hevdû kir destê zava û bûko
Gakûvîyo gamezino qocê te yî wek hesino
Te çima ji hevdû kir destê mêr û jino
Xecê nîne bi min nîne
Tu wa here werîsê heft gundan bicivîne
Bîne devê çîya destê min a pê bigihîne
Sîyabendo qurban nîne bi min nîne
Çil kezîkê min ê xarpûtlîne
Ez ê dirêj bikim devê mixara destê te ya pêbigihînim.
Illustrations by Krikor Khandjian published in the book by Hovhannes Shiraz, "Siamanto and Khdjezare" (Sovedagan krogh, Yerevan, 1979).
Untitled (A Song about Sheikh Sayid’s Uprising)
The song is about the Kurdish uprising led by Sheikh Sayid. The Turkish authorities repressed the rebellion and sentenced its leaders to death. The song contains insults addressed to the then-Turkish leader, Mustafa Kemal Pasha (later Ataturk).
Transliteration of Tateos’s song:
Beşna mîrê min zirav e taka wî rihanê
Hêşîn dibû li barsûma kambax wê dîwanê
Kemal Paşa xêrê bikira xêr nebîna
Çawa derxistibû fermanê Kurdistanê
Axakê mino de lêde paşakê mino de lêde
Şerê şêx Elî Riza giran e bavê min o lêde.
Beşna mîrê min zirav e wî rihanê
Hêşîn dibû ........ dibû wê dîwanê
Kemal Paşa xêrê bikira xêr nebîna
Çawa derxistibû fermanê Kurdistanê.
Untitled
The song is about a vagabond who has lost his wife. He arrives in the city of Diyarbekir/Diyarbakir, and he wanders the streets, as if looking for his wife.
Transliteration of Tateos’s song:
Diyarbekir di çalê da
Ciyê gewran û rindan waye têda
Kî kir pirsa torinê min çi dike
Waye `Elîpinar bişewite li nav koşkê da
Ez koçer im penîr tînim
Kuçe kuçe li Diyarbekirê digerînim
Digerim nagerim saxlik û pirsa torinê xwe nabînim
Ez nexweş im ta digrim
Ez ê roj bi rojan xirabtir im
Xelkê dere aliyê malê min û torinê min ji hev rakirin.
Untitled
Most probably a song about Sheikh Sayid’s uprising. It tells the story of a Kurdish emir/mir, whose palace is attacked by the Turkish army.
Transliteration of Tateos’s song:
Sibe ye sibeka min ê sar tê
Dengê top û mitralyozan li qesra bavê Emîn kerr û lal tê
Çi bikim îro dest û lingê bavê Emînêm çardeh alî girêdane
Lê dayê sarîgî sibê stûxwar tê
Dengê top û mitralyozan li qesra bavê Emîn kerr û lal tê
Çi bikim îro gullekî berdane beşna bavê Emînêm
Lê dayê sarîgî sibê xwînek sor tê.
- [1] Penyamin G. Jamgochian, Hayni. Deghakragan, Azkakgragan, Badmakragan [Hayni. Geographic, Ethnographic, and Historical], Beirut, 1951, p. 116.
- [2] Ibid., p. 118.
- [3] Ibid., p. 117.
- [4] Ibid., p. 109.
