Sivrialan is a village in
Şarkışla
Şarkışla is a town in the Central Anatolian Sivas Province of Turkey. It is the seat of Şarkışla District.[Sivas Province
Sivas Province () is a province of Turkey. It is located in the eastern part of the Central Anatolia region of Turkey. Its area is 28,164 km2 (the second largest province after Konya), and its population is 634,924 (2022). Its adjacent prov ...]
, Turkey. It was known as Söbüalan until 1928, when the name was changed so as to sound less 'foreign'. The village is located near the
Kızılırmak River
The Kızılırmak (, Turkish language, Turkish for "Red River"), once known as the Halys River () and Alis River, is the longest river flowing entirely within Turkey. It is a source of hydroelectric power and is not used for navigation.
Geogra ...
, and is an
Alevi
Alevism (; ; ) is a syncretic heterodox Islamic tradition, whose adherents follow the mystical Islamic teachings of Haji Bektash Veli, who taught the teachings of the Twelve Imams, whilst incorporating some traditions from shamanism. Differing ...
village.
Located in the Emlek region, which is prominent for its strong
minstrel
A minstrel was an entertainer, initially in medieval Europe. The term originally described any type of entertainer such as a musician, juggler, acrobat, singer or fool; later, from the sixteenth century, it came to mean a specialist enter ...
tradition, Sivrialan was historically home to many famous folk poets, or
ashik
An ashik (; ) or ashugh (; ka, :ka:აშუღი, აშუღი) is traditionally a List of oral repositories, singer-poet and bard who accompanies his song—be it a dastan (traditional epic story, also known as ''Azeri hikaye, hikaye' ...
s, of whom the most famous was
Âşık Veysel
Âşık Veysel (Turkish: Help:IPA/Turkish, ːˈʃɯk vejˈsæl born Veysel Şatıroğlu (Turkish: Help:IPA/Turkish, aːˈtɯɾ.oːɫu; 25 October 1894 – 21 March 1973) was a Turkish people, Turkish Alevism, Alevi ashik, bağlama virtuo ...
, the 20th century poet and
bağlama
The bağlama or saz is a family of plucked string instruments and long-necked lutes used in Europe, Balkans, Caucasus, Middle East, Khazar, Central Asia including Germany, France, Belgium, TRNC, Netherlands, Albania, Greece,Bosnia, Serbia, Croat ...
(saz) player. Others included Fadime (19th century), Ali Güç, Hıdır Güç, Veysel Kaymak, Bekir Sami Bozkurt, and Mehmet İmran (early-late 20th century, Veysel's contemporaries, most of whom studied saz poetry from him).
History
The history of the village is not well known. According to the village elders, Sivrialan was founded by a man named Ağa and his family, who came from the neighboring village of Hardal. It was further populated by migrations from the neighbouring village of Kaledibi in
Divriği Province, and from Zara Akdede (Cimilti) village.
References
Villages in Şarkışla District
{{Sivas-geo-stub