The Significance of Heterodox Monastries in The Evolution of Wandering Minstrels

It is usually accepted that the tradition of minstrels started in the 16th. century. There are various different arguments about the transmission of the traditions of wandering minstrels. The argumentation made by Prof. Ilhan Başgöz on the birth of minstrels enlightens our understanding about the tradition in a historical process. It is clearly possible to elaborate the evolution of Turkish poets into shamans, minstrels, dervish poets, and ashık (minstrel) by integrating the approach used by Prof.Basgöz. In this paper, the purpose is to explain the way is which the approach used by Ilhan Basgöz has been enriching for the tradition of Turkmen-Heterodoxy studies as well as Alevi-Bektashi studies by offering examples. Additionally, the processes related to the development of minstrels and the tradition of Turkmen-Heterodoxy will be evaluated. It will also be emphasized that the Alevi people are nomadic and belong to the traditional rural Heterodox Turkmens; that the other branch of the tradition is formed by the Sunni Turkmens who are not nomadic. There will be an emphasis on the argument on the interplay between the two branches on the one hand; and the development of independent traditions on the other. It will be possible to grasp the tradition of the Turkish poetry as a whole by analyzing and acknowledging elements of the Turkish society in a historical process.