Nizami’s “Khamsa” as a source of saga creativity of Azerbaijan

(Based on the saga “Prince Bahram”)

Abstract

There has been always a connection between ashug creativity and classical literature and one was a resource for the other. Benefiting from classical literature in the tradition of storytelling, one of the branches of ashug creativity, shows itself more clearly. So that, many themes, topics and motives that are functional in classical literature became the piece of epic creation, and new examples of epics emerged. Researches shows that numerous poems included in “Khamsa” by Nizami Ganjavi (1141-1209) are one of the main sources of Azerbaijani epos creativity. In the article the epos “Prince Bahram” written based on the poem “Seven Beauties” that included in Nizami Ganjavi’s “Khamsa” is taken as a special research object. The similarities and differences of this epos with the poem “Seven Beauties” is taken into account and is revealed the extent to which the creators of the saga benefited from the legacy of Nizami. It turns out that, although the creators of the epic took the poem “Seven Beauties” by Nizami Ganjavi as a basis, they created a work that was different in plot and composition. In the article, these issues are reviewed on the basis of specific examples.