The bakshy (Persian: بخشی, romanized: baxši ) are traditional Turkmen musicians.^[1] Historically, they have been traveling singers and shamans, acting as healers and spiritual figures, and also providing the music for celebrations of weddings, births, and other important life events. They sing either a cappella or to the accompaniment of traditional instruments (primarily the two-stringed lute called the dutar). The Turkmen bakshy tradition is closely related to the larger Turkic Ashik tradition.^{[citation needed]}