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Choghur
Maker
- M.Kerimov.
Baku. 1996 |
The
choghur dates back to the 1 2th to 16th centuries,
the period between the gopuz and the saz. In the Caucasus,
Iran and Anatolia, and in Sufi traditions, darvishes
and ashugs used an instrument called the "chaghyr"
/"chagur"/ "chugur" / "choghur".
Presumably, the name "choghur" means "the
musical instrument used to appeal to God and truth".
[In Azerbaijani the word "chaghir" means
"to call", "to appeal"] It may
be assumed that the name of the instrument originates
from the expression "chal-chaghyr" (festivity
or celebration), which was later changed to "choghur".
Various historical sources indicate that the choghur
was used to create a high battle spirit among the
soldiers of the medieval Safavid state's army.
In
the "Jahanarai Shah Ismayil Safavi" annals,
describing the situation at the beginning of the 16th
century, several lines are devoted to such an occasion:
"At the head of the victoriously striding army,
chukurs played and Turks-Varsakgs sang in order to
raise the battle spirit of the warriors."
In
his work "Turkmen Times in the South", Ali
Reza Yalchin tells about the nine strings, 15 frets
and perfect timbre of the choghur.16 It is possible
to conclude from historical facts that in the 12th-1
3th centuries, the choghur replaced the ozan gopuz,
and in the 15th-16th centuries, the choghur was replaced
by the saz. But some versions of the choghur that
were spread throughout the Caucasus and among the
Iraqi Turkmens have survived until the present.
The 19th-century choghur stored in the Azerbaijan
History Museum has three pairs of strings and 22 frets
on its neck. The body of this instrument is made of
mulberry wood.. The top of the body has a wooden covering
that is four mm thick. The neck and head of the instrument
are made of nut wood, the pegs of pear wood.
The
total length of the instrument is 880 mm. The body
is 400 mm long, 225 mm wide and 140 mm tall. Two resonator
apertures are drilled on each side of the body, and
several apertures are made on top of the sounding
board. Its scale goes from the "do" of the
small octave to the "sol" of the second
octave. |