Summary
Mother of Sinior and of his siblings, including Shimon (Shaban) and Avraham (Ibrahim). Her personal name is not given in the book. According to family testimony, the family called her “Dabaji” for short; at the time, she was the eldest member of the family. The book also identifies her by the fuller appellation “Daha Baji”. In segment 03.02, after the nine-year-old Sinior flees Khoy and tells her that Shimon’s wife was pressured into accepting Islam, she immediately travels with him to Khoy. She confronts the household, demands to see her daughter-in-law, and brings her back to Kohneh Shahr. In her account she says that only two of her eight children remained alive at that time. In segment 05.03 she is mentioned as Sinior’s mother, waiting for him to return from military service.
Names and spelling variants
Daha Baji (Dabaji); Daha Baji; Daha Bacı; Dabaji; Sinior’s mother; Shimon’s mother; Shaban’s mother
Mentioned in the book
Chapter Three – Wanderings; segment 03.02 – Khoy; Chapter Three – Wanderings; segment 03.03 – Dilman; Chapter Five – Military Service; segment 05.03 – The Camp Tailor
Research note
The element “Baji” is most likely a transliteration of Turkish and Azerbaijani bacı, meaning “sister” or “elder sister” and also used as a respectful or familiar form of address for a woman. “Daha Baji” as a whole is not an established expression in standard modern Turkish; daha by itself usually means “more” or “yet”. According to family testimony, the shortened nickname “Dabaji” was used without any known meaning, although she was then the eldest member of the family. The appellation is therefore retained without a literal translation.