Agh Bayats of Hamadan province of Azerbaijan

BAYAT , an Oghuz (Türkmen) tribe. The Bayat are understood to have taken part in the conquests of the Saljughs in Anatolia. The nickname al-Bayati given to Sunghur, representative in Basra in 512-3/111h of the Saljughid amir agh Sunghur BuÕharI, is quite probably connected with this tribe.

Bayats of Turkey

There were numerous places called Bayat or Bayad in central and western Turkey in the hth/15th and 10th/16th centuries of which few survive today. Most of these place-names, no doubt, belonged to the Bayat who participated in the conquest of Anatolia.

Bayats of Syria and Sham Bayadis

There were Bayat among the Turkmens in northern Syria in the 8th/14th century. An important part of these, called Sham Bayadi, used to go in the summer like other Turkmen tribes to the Sivas and Bozok (Yozgat) regions. From the beginning of the hth/15th century onwards the northern Syrian Bayat began to figure in the activities of the Agh-qoyunlu. In the 10th/16th century, there were, besides those around Aleppo and Yozgat (Sham Bayadi), small Bayat clans in the provinces of Diyarbakr, Kütahya and Tripoli.

Agh Bayats of South Azerbaijan: Hamadan

In the same century they are also seen in Iran, particularly around Kazzaz and Karahrud, to the south to Hamadan. They numbered about 10,000 tents, and were perhaps more recently called Agh Bayat, probably to distinguish them from the rest of the Bayats in the country. The Agh Bayat reared some very fine horses known after them as Bayati Nijhad. Shah Abbas used to send these horses as gifts to the ruler of India. The Bayati mode ( magham ) found in classical Turkish and Persian music has its origin in the songs of this tribe. It seems likely that these Bayats went to Iran from Syria with the Agh-qoyunlu conquest.

Qara Bayats of Khurasan

Some of the Bayat clans in Iran live in Khurasan and these are called, to distinguish them from the rest, Qara Bayats.

Qajar Sham Bayats of Turkey

One of the clans of the famous Qajar tribe was of the Sham Bayat. In fact, as shown by names of its clans, the Qajar tribe has its origin in Turkey.

Bayat are also found in Iragh

Some Bayat are also found in Iragh, particularly around Kirkuk. The castle called Bayat south of Baghdad quite probably takes its name from them.

This tribe produced a number of famous men; Qorghut Ata (Dede qorghut), and Fuzuli (Fuzuli) were of this tribe. 0asan b. Mahmud Bayati, author of jam-i jem ayin, a work dedicated to the Ottoman Prince Jem is, as indicated by his nisba , of the Bayat tribe. q [I:1117b]

(Faruk Sümer)