Haji Gadir Gadirzade
Corresponding Member of Azerbaijan
National Academy of Sciences
A large cave, known among the population as Ashabi-Kahf, is situated near Nakhchivan city. Legends about this cave have their origins in the time of the rule of the legendary impious padishah Dagh-Yunus who was famous for his cruelty.
According to the legend, Temirkhan, the Vizier of Dagh-Yunus, and six (according to another version five) of his friends ran away from the persecution of the despotic padishah. When they left the city they met with a shepherd and his dog. The friends told him the reason for their flight: “we hate Dagh-Yunus and we reject his claims to the divine title. We declare from the bottom of our hearts that there is no God but Allah”. The shepherd decided to join them and his dog, called Getmir, tagged along with the fugitives. However, they started to drive Getmir away because they were afraid that he would betray them with his barking. The shepherd broke Getmir’s paw but he continued to run after them. Then they broke another of his paws and the poor dog, howling with pain, said in a human voice that it was unbearable for him to stand the oppression of the despot Dagh-Yunus. After saying this, the dog died. His owner buried him and put his shepherd’s staff on his grave. From this time the place is called Getmir.
The fugitives stumbled across the cave and hid in it. As they were very tired they fell asleep right at the entrance. When they woke up Temirkhan dressed in the shepherd’s clothes and went to the city for bread but he was detained because his money was too old. The surprised vizier explained that he left the city with his friends only the previous day and in order to resolve the doubts he brought the people who detained him to his home. The old man who was in his home told him that 300 years ago his great grandfather Temirkhan, the Vizier of Dagh-Yunus, lived there. The crowd of citizens went to the cave in order to see the people who had hidden in it. Temirkhan wanted to warn his friends and asked the people to wait at the entrance and went into it and told the fugitives that they appeared to have slept here for 300 years. The terrified fugitives started praying to Allah for him to change their appearance: Almighty Allah heard their entreaties and they disappeared. From that time people say that these people will return on Judgement Day.
Different versions of this legend formed the basis of some Azerbaijani folk tales. A legend about the Prophet Khizir Ilyas, who was also raised to heaven, exists among some Turkic-speaking people. As many literary sources indicate, this legend is widely known among a number of different peoples in different variants. Moreover, the motif of a cave and seven youthful sleepers forms the basis for the 18th Cave sura of the Koran. The works by A. Biruni, Abu-Bakr ibn Khosrov al-Ustada, A. Kalmikov, K. C. Nikitin, A. Krimskiy, M. Atay, G. Snesarev and other authors are devoted to it. Great attention is also paid to it in Azerbaijani literature.
Ashabi-Kahf is the largest among caves and also formed the basis for legends which arose among Turkicspeaking people and those living near the Turkish cities Ephesus and Tartus, in Central Asia and Azerbaijan. Neighbouring inhabitants believe that Ashabi-Kahf is a sacred place and calls itojag.This cave completely correlates with the following description in the Koran: “And you see, as the sun, when it ascended, it deviated from the cave to the right of them, but when it descended, it passed to the left of them...” (18, 17).
passed to the left of them...” (18, 17). In 2001 we have revealed the remains of walls here which, according to specialists, were built no less than 1600 years ago. And this obviously conforms with the following passage of the Koran: “and we speak about them in order that they know that a promise of Allah is the truth and there is no doubt in it! They parted in their work and said: “build fortifications in front of us. Their God knows better and about them was said…” (18, 21)
Some researchers link the legend about the cave with Christianity, others with Islam. However, the subject of the legend and the names of its heroes indicate that it originates in ancient Turkic mythology.
ology. In the beginning we will say a few words about the names. The first part of the name Dagh-Yunus – Dagh is spread among Turkic-speaking peoples. In his workOghuzname Sherbak notes that one of the sons of Oghuz is called Dagh. Dagh (mountain) served as a symbol of invincibility for the ancient Turkic people. Even today it is possible to encounter the names Daghlar (plural of mountain), Daghbeyi (the ruler of the mountain) and Daghdelen (piercing the mountain) in Azerbaijan.
Some researchers link the legend about the cave with Christianity, others with Islam. However, the subject of the legend and the names of its heroes indicate that it originates in ancient Turkic mythology.
The name of the Vizir Temirkhan also has ancient Turkic origins(Temir, Demir, Tamir, Teymurand Timurmean iron,khan– means ruler, title). In modern Azerbaijan the names Teymur, Temirkhan, Kantemir etc. are very often encountered. In addition, proceeding from the subject of the legend, it is possible to surmise that the name of the dog Getmir originates in the word getmir (he does not go).
As was mentioned before, AshabiKahf cave is a place of worship and Muslims come here in order to sacrifice animals. The stones and water of this cave are considered sacred; all around the entrance of the cave are piles of stones collected by pilgrims who throw small stones into the ravine and utter entreaties in order for the stone to reach their enemy.In the centre of the cave is a black stone by which pilgrims lay pebbles and make a wish and believe that if the pebble becomes attached to this stone their wish will come true. From the earliest times, the stone as a human tool in the struggle against evil forces gained cultic meaning. Superstitious people insist that the sacred stones in Ashabi-Kahf propagate and are therefore alive. It should be noted that the Turkic people of the Altai-Sayansk Region worship the mountain and believe that mountains are closest to the principal god Gok-Tengri.
As we see, the tales about Ashabi-Kahf are not deprived of some historic roots. Even today in some places people say that “Nakhchivan is the land of Dagh-Yunus”.
Those who visit Ashabi-Kahf sew fruits and twigs of the hackberry trees growing here on headdresses or children’s clothes and believe that this plant brings longevity and protects children from the evil eye and evil spirits. Women tie fragments of fabric to branches of bushes and trees and make wishes; if within one year this wish comes true they return and untie the fragment and offer money to the mosque here. Those who cannot have children tie models of cradles to the branches of bushes in order for God to grant them descendants.
Many pilgrims, after making a wish, sit in a place in the cave where water drips and they believe that if the drops fall on them the wish will come true. All these beliefs are linked to archaic pre-Muslim cults. In addition, belief in the family hearth as a place of such worship is inherent to Turkic people. Meanwhile, AshabiKahf is one of the sites of primitive man; in Arabic ashab means owner andkahf– cave. It is known that Arabs started conquering Azerbaijan in the middle of the 7th century; the earliest name of this cave not reached us. In the cave there is a spring, the water of which trickles down from the mountain; inside the cave it is cool and evidently this attracted primitive people.The black colour of the rock testifies to primitive people lighting fires here for a long time.
Not far from the cave is a large ancient cemetery. People say that there was a large city near AshabiKahf in old times, the inhabitants of which used the water of the Araz. It should be noted there are many legends connected with the padishah Dagh-Yunus in Nakhchivan. According to some of them, he ruled from a large ancient citadel on the top of Sum Mountain, not far from the early Medieval settlement called the Dead City, on the left bank of the Araz near the Negram railway station. As we see, the tales about Ashabi-Kahf are not deprived of some historic roots. Even today in some places people say that “Nakhchivan is the land of Dagh-Yunus”.
In conclusion we will note again that the legend about Ashabi-Kahf cave, like the heroic eposes Dede Gorgud and Koroghlu, has a general Turkic character and is well-known in Azerbaijan as well as in Asia Minor and Central Asia. Ashabi-Kahf cave is a treasure which conceals still unknown information about the distant past. The task of its comprehensive study lies before historians, archaeologists, ethnographers and representatives of other disciplines.
Literature
1. Abu-Bakr ibn Khosrov al-Ustad. Munis-Name. Translation and notes by R/M/Aliyev. Baku, 1991, p. 329-371
2. Abu-Reyhan Biruni. Избранные сочинения (Selected Works). Volume 1. Tashkent, 1957
3. Kalmikov A. Khuba Протокол заседания Туркестанского кружка любителей археологии (Protocol of the Meeting of the Turkestan Amateur Archaeologist Study Group), XII, Tashkent, 1908, p. 71
4. Nikitin K. Народные предания в Нахичеванском уезде Ереванской губернии (Folk Legends in the Nackchivan Uyezd in Iravan Province)
5. Семь спящих отроков эфеских. Труды по востоковедению, издаваемые Л.Азаревским институтом восточных языков (The Seven Sleeping Youths of Ephesus) in (Works on Oriental Studies Published by the Lazarev Institute of Eastern Languages)issue 41. Moscow, 1914
6. Snesarev T.P. Загадка Дагу-Юнуса (история одного поиска) (The Mystery of Dagh-Yunus) (History of One Search) Soviet ethnography. Moscow, 1978. 5. p. 148-159
7. Haji Gadir Gadirzade.Асхаби-Кахф – священность, историчность и генезис верования. (Ashabi-Kahf – Sanctity, Historicity and Genesis of a Belief) Baku, Elm, 2002
