The Wedding (part 3)

Celebration at the bride’s house.

On the first day of the celebration, the bride’s dowry was inspected in a special room called ciyez ev. The bride was brought into this room by her brother or uncle, then the matchmaker came and took off the bride’s marama, put it on and perfomed a special dance. They appointed quda and yenge – the people who showed the dowry to everyone for a small reward and praised the bride. Then a joint prayer was held and the celebration began.

On the second day, qına gecesi (henna night) was held. Unmarried girls and matchmakers from the groom’s side and married women from the bride’s side had to gather. The bride’s brothers would not let anyone into the room. They sang and danced, usually accompanied by the sad music. At first, a relative would take the girl out from under the perde curtain and sit her next to an old woman, with her head either on a pillow or on the woman’s lap. At this time, a matchmaker from the groom’s side would approach the young woman and place gold coins and a little henna mixture on her head and congratulate her; then she would step aside and the yenge would begin to dye.

The matchmaker applied henna in a special way to the hair and hands, sometimes to the feet. The painted fingers were wrapped in ceremonial scarves. Two gold coins were placed in the bride’s palms, and later they were taken as payment by the woman who performed the dyeing. After completing the procedure, the main matchmaker performed a dance that symbolised the beginning of the wedding. The next day, after the henna night, the bride was taken to a bathhouse, where she underwent a ritual of washing and changing her hairstyle. At the same time, the girl’s body hair was removed with a special ointment called zırnıq; zelif (two strands on either side of the forehead) was cut off, and small braids were made.

The last celebration on the bride’s side was the rite of nikâh, marriage in the eyes of Allah. The mullah and two witnesses from both sides were invited to the bride’s house. Usually the groom was not present at the ceremony, although there were cases of the opposite. The bride sat behind the curtain and wore a marama, a gift from her mother-in-law. During nikâh, the mullah asked the bride three times if she agreed to marry. Twice, the girl remained silent or refused, and on the third occasion, she agreed. If not, the marriage was considered invalid.

At the same time, mahr was announced, and the groom had to pay it as soon as possible. After receiving the girl’s symbolic consent, the mullah, the groom’s attorney and witnesses went to a separate room where the wedding contract was finally sealed. After the nikâh, the bride was taken to the groom’s house.

Transporting the bride to the groom’s house.

In the mountainous and coastal regions, qudalar came for the bride, and before entering the village, they had to pay a ransom – topraq bastı. There was a tradition that the qudalar had to catch the bride, and her friends and relatives had to hide her, sometimes slipping in another girl, and the qudalar had to guess whether it was the real bride. After the bride was caught, one of the groom’s witnesses had to take her to her parents’ room, where the farewell took place.

The bride asked for her parents’ blessing, kissed their hands and feet, asked for forgiveness if she had ever offended them, and sang sad songs. After that, the father tied a silver quşaq or a headscarf around her waist. Then the bride was covered with a marama, and her brother or uncle took her out of the house and put her in a cart called araba; the bride’s relatives formed a corridor and said goodbye to the girl.

The bride was accompanied by her relatives and qudalar. The order of the retinue was as follows: two horsemen with a perde stretched out on stilts (kind of a retinue sign, which at the same time performed magical protective functions for the bride), moved ahead of the procession; the first and second carriages were occupied by the bride’s relatives, the third and fourth by other relatives and friends, and the fifth by the bride herself and two friends. They had to be dressed alike so that no one could tell where the bride was. This was also done for safety reasons: the bride could be kidnapped; it was also believed to ward off evil spirits.

A person carrying the bride’s Quran would ride behind or in front, usually a mullah. The trip was accompanied by music and horse riding competitions. In every village they came across, on the way to the groom’s house, they gave gifts – bahşış (ransom). If the newlyweds lived nearby, the procession was still equipped according to the rules.

After the bride left, they poured water after her, as a good luck charm. A group of the groom’s friends, led by his younger brother, went to meet the retinue. They would meet the bride and demand a ransom, not letting her go any further. The groom’s brother was given a gift – doquzu. Then a handkerchief or a towel was tied to the horse harness as a sign that the bride had already been met. In the steppe regions, the bride and groom met in a neutral area and went together to the groom’s house.

Kiyev ağası (groom’s friend) met the retinue, received a gift from the bride and gathered everyone in a column. At the meeting place, they would also have fun, competitions, fights and dances. When the bride approached the groom’s gate, the groom’s father had to pay a ransom: a sheep or a calf and a certain tree in the garden. The girl was brought into the house on the perde, and the groom’s male relatives and he himself could not look at it. It was believed that he would die if he did. An older relative of the groom would shower the girl with grain, sweets and coins, and after receiving the gifts, he would be allowed into the house. Then the bride would come in, stepping on the lamb’s fur.

Sources:

1. «Весілля кримських татар: традиційні форми та трансформації»,

2. «Обрядові страви на кримськотатарському традиційному весіллі»

Article by Sultaniie Zeinidinova, Daria Piskun, Anna Zikranets, Olena Sudak, Mamure Chabanova