Bulbuljan ( az, Bülbülcan), born as Abdulbagi Ali oglu Zulalov (1841–1927), was an

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan (, ; az, Azərbaycan ), officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, , also sometimes officially called the Azerbaijan Republic is a transcontinental country located at the boundary of Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is a part of th ...

i singer of

folk music Folk music is a music genre that includes traditional folk music and the contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be called world music. Traditional folk music has ...

and

mugam Mugham ( az, Muğam) or Mughamat ( az, Muğamat) is one of the many classical compositions from Azerbaijan, contrasting with tasnif and ashik. It is a highly complex art form that weds classical poetry and musical improvisation in specific ...

(an original improvisational genre of classical folk music in

). He was also famous for his performance of Azeri mugams in other regional languages, such as Georgian, Lezgian, Kumyk, Persian, and Russian.

Life and career

Abdulbagi Zulalov, later known as Bulbuljan, was born in 1841 in Shusha (then part of the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the List of Russian monarchs, Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended th ...

, nowadays in

). In his younger years he travelled a lot throughout the

Caucasus The Caucasus () or Caucasia (), is a region between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, mainly comprising Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia (country), Georgia, and parts of Southern Russia. The Caucasus Mountains, including the Greater Caucasus range ...

and

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkm ...

. During one of his visits in Iran Mozzafar al-Din Shah Qajar (the ruler of Iran) liked his performance so much that he awarded Zulalov the Shir-o Khorshid order, the highest Iranian order at the time. In 1875 Zulalov moved to

Tbilisi Tbilisi ( ; ka, თბილისი ), in some languages still known by its pre-1936 name Tiflis ( ), is the capital and the largest city of Georgia, lying on the banks of the Kura River with a population of approximately 1.5 million p ...

, the regional cultural capital at the time, where he would live until 1905. He gave concerts together with his fellow-countryman, a great tar player Sadigjan. Due to his wonderful voice, attractive appearance and high artistic performance, he quickly became famous throughout the

. Having learned Georgian language and began to perform Azeri mugams in Georgian would bring the Georgian listeners into rapture. This was the time when he began to be called Bulbuljan, which literally means " urdear nightingale" in the Azeri language. After returning to Shusha in 1905, he dedicated himself to raising his orphaned nephews. In the early 1920s he moved to Baku to teach at the newly opened post-secondary musical institutions, and remained there until his death. Bulbuljan significantly influenced many prominent Azerbaijani mugam and folk singers. Masters of mugham such as Jabbar Garyaghdyoglu,

Musa Shushinski Musa may refer to: Places *Mūša, a river in Lithuania and Latvia * Musa, Azerbaijan, a village in Yardymli Rayon * Musa, Iran, a village in Ilam Province *Musa, Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari, Iran *Musa, Kerman, Iran * Musa, Bukan, West Azerbaijan ...

Mashadi Mammad Farzaliyev , native_name_lang = , birth_name = , alias = Lohbala Mammad , birth_date = , birth_place = Shusha, Elisabethpol Governorate, Russian Empire , origin = Azerbaijani , death_date = , death_plac ...

, Shakili Alasgar, Seyid Shushinski and many others considered him their artistic master. Today the Zulalov family is known in Azerbaijan as a family of musical talents. Bulbuljan's daughter, granddaughter and nephews continued his traditions of mugam arts.Abdulbagi Zulalov
. ''Axtar.az''

References

1841 births 1927 deaths 19th-century Azerbaijani male singers Musicians from Shusha Mugham singers {{Azerbaijan-bio-stub