Ashig Alasgar

Ashig Alasgar was born in the village of Aghkilsa, Goycha district.

From the age of 14, he worked as a servant in the courtyard of a wealthy person named Karbalayi Gurban for 4 years. He learned the secrets of art among the village population, from folk craftsmen and elders. From a young age, he often went to various gatherings, listened to the events of mullahs, tales of dervishes, and epics of ashiqs. Since he had a strong memory, he would keep the conversations he heard in his memory and then tell them to others. Ashiq applied himself to all areas of creativity. Poetry types such as dodaqdaymez, mukhammes, kifilband, tajnis, jigaly tajnis, garayli, divani, etc. are manifested in his creativity. He recited his first poems in his adolescence under the influence of ashiqs and folk craftsmen. At that time, his father took him to Ashiq Ali of Gizilvangli. After completing his apprenticeship, he first worked as an ashiq in Goycha and conducted solemn wedding ceremonies. Soon his fame spread to neighboring districts, he was invited to Yerevan, Nakhchivan, Gazakh, Karabakh, Javanshir provinces, Ganja, and Kalbajar. As a result of the massacre committed by the Dashnaks against the Turks in 1918-1919, the Goycha district was plundered, and the population was forced to leave their ancestral homeland and move to other places. The ashiq-poet, who lived in Yanshag for up to two years, then moved to Tartar and stayed there for several months. In 1921, he returned to Agkilsa and lived the last years of his life in his native village.

Ashig Alasgar died in his native village in 1926 and was buried in the Agkilsa cemetery.