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Kocaer, Sibel (2015) The journey of an Ottoman arrior dervish : The Hı ırname (Book of Khidr) sources and reception. PhD Thesis. SOAS, University of London. http://eprints.soas.ac.uk/id/eprint/20392 Copyright © and Moral Rights for this PhD Thesis are retained by the author and/or other copyright owners. A copy can be downloaded for personal non‐commercial research or study, without prior permission or charge. This PhD Thesis cannot be reproduced or quoted extensively from without first obtaining permission in writing from the copyright holder/s. The content must not be changed in any way or sold commercially in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders. When referring to this PhD Thesis, full bibliographic details including the author, title, awarding institution and date of the PhD Thesis must be given e.g. AUTHOR (year of submission) "Full PhD Thesis title", name of the School or Department, PhD PhD Thesis, pagination. The Journey of an Ottoman Warrior Dervish: The Hızırname (Book of Khidr) Sources and Reception SIBEL KOCAER Thesis submitted for the degree of PhD 2015 Department of the Languages and Cultures of the Near and Middle East SOAS, University of London Declaration for SOAS PhD thesis I have read and understood regulation 17.9 of the Regulations for students of the SOAS, University of London concerning plagiarism. I undertake that all the material presented for examination is my own work and has not been written for me, in whole or in part, by any other person. I also undertake that any quotation or paraphrase from the published or unpublished work of another person has been duly acknowledged in the work which I present for examination. Signed: ____________________________ Date: _________________ 2 ABSTRACT This thesis examines a work of considerable significance for early Anatolian Turkish literature and Ottoman history, the Divan-ı Şeyh Muhyiddin (880/1476), written by Şeyh Mehmed Çelebi (d. 898/1493-4) who was a sheikh at the Zeyni dervish lodge in Eğirdir. In scholarship the work is known as the Hızırname (Book of Khidr), although this was not the title given by the author himself. The text narrates the travels of a warrior dervish figure in the heavenly realm and to various territories on Earth under the guidance or the spiritual blessing (himmet) of Khidr. Another important figure of Ottoman sufism, Hacı Bektaş, also plays a prominent role in some sections of the narrative, especially as he appoints the dervish the head of the Ottoman army. The dervish defeats the enemy in a battle on the Eastern borders of the Ottoman Empire. Even though the Hızırname has been presented as unique in Turkish literature in terms of genre and content, not much attention has been paid to its particular characteristics. This thesis reassesses this claim in the light of recent scholarship and identifies the main strands of a wide range of textual references to other sources. Amongst the peculiar features of the Hızırname that this study focuses on and examines are two intertwined aspects of the text - the identity of the narrator, who is the protagonist himself, and variations in the route of the journey. The ascension (miraj) journey of the dervish figure, accompanied by Khidr, and the narration of this journey by the first-person narrator, distinguish the Hızırname from similar Anatolian Turkish works. This study proposes that these special features of the Hızırname relate the text to Ishraqi literature, and to the writings of Ibn „Arabi and his followers in Anatolia. Hacı Bektaş on the other hand, having a political role in the Hızırname, links this text to the frontier literature of the warriors. Having been written in Eğirdir, a frontier Muslim border zone between the Ottomans and the Karamanids, and in the vicinity of Konya, the Hızırname combines the literature of both frontier regions and dervish lodges within one text, as represented by the warrior dervish, namely eren, identity of the poet. 3 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to thank my supervisor Dr Yorgos Dedes for his constant encouragement and patience since the first day of my research project. This thesis would not have been completed without his generous guidance. During my research years Professor Gönül Tekin kindly shared her knowledge with me and helped me at the most difficult times; I would like to thank her for her invaluable support and encouragement. I was fortunate to have excellent friends, colleagues and scholars who contributed to this thesis in various ways, and my thanks go to you all. My special thanks go to Yakoob Ahmed, Hatice Aynur, Bircan Eyüp, Evrydiki Fotopoulou, Halil İbrahim İskender, Serkan Keçeci, Selim Sırrı Kuru, Natasha Lemos, Nurmamadsho Nurmamadshoev, Hamdi Özdiş, Yvonne Türkistanlı, Sahil Warsi, Philipp Wirtz and Rıza Yıldırım for their help and suggestions for the earlier drafts of this thesis. I would also like to thank the SOAS Doctoral School officers, especially Sevgi Drorian, and our subject librarian Dominique Akhoun-Schwarb and the SOAS Library staff for their generous help in overcoming various difficulties during my research years. Also, I would like to thank the Turkish Ministry of National Education who provided funding for my research in London. My warmest thanks go to my family for their love and patience. They are the real heroes in this story. 4 CONTENTS INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................... 6 1. Text and Author ........................................................................................................... 6 2. The Journey (Yol) ........................................................................................................ 8 3. The Life and Times of Mehmed Çelebi ..................................................................... 14 a. Historical and Socio/Political Conditions: Eğirdir as a Frontier Zone between the Ottomans and the Karamanids ....................................................................................... 14 b. The Zeynis in Anatolia and Other Groups ............................................................. 18 c. The Biography of Şeyh Mehmed Çelebi: An Unruly Dervish or a Warrior? ........ 24 4. Manuscripts and Secondary Sources .......................................................................... 28 5. What‟s in a Title? ....................................................................................................... 31 6. Outline of Thesis Chapters ......................................................................................... 33 CHAPTER I THE HIZIRNAME .................................................................................................................. 37 1. Style and Poetic Tradition .......................................................................................... 37 2. The Structure of the Plot, Main Themes and Key Vocabulary .................................. 45 a. Content and Structure .............................................................................................. 45 b. Key Vocabulary ....................................................................................................... 59 3. The Protagonist, Variety in the Route of the Journey and Genres ............................. 61 a. Portrayal of the Protagonist.................................................................................... 61 b. Genres and Textual Relations ................................................................................ 62 4. A Unique Work? ........................................................................................................ 71 5. Discussions about the Content and Genre of the Hızırname ...................................... 75 a. Content and Genre ................................................................................................. 75 b. Menakıbname in Turkish Literature and the Contested Genre of the Hızırname .. 81 CHAPTER II KHIDR, ILYAS AND ISKENDER ....................................................................................... 88 1. The Figure of Khidr ................................................................................................... 90 a. A Multi-faceted Figure: Identity and Roles of Khidr ............................................. 90 b. Khidr and Ilyas ..................................................................................................... 100 Hıdrellez .................................................................................................................... 105 Ilyas in the Hızırname ................................................................................................ 106 c. Discussions on the Identity of Khidr in Anatolia: The Concept of „Syncretism‟ 108 2. The Journey of Khidr: Two Stories, One Figure ...................................................... 116 a. Iskender Narratives .............................................................................................. 116 5 b. The Koranic Story.................................................................................................. 118 CHAPTER III KHIDR IN THE SUFI TRADITION AND THE HIZIRNAME .......................................... 121 1. Khidr in Early Masnavis of Anatolia ....................................................................... 122 a. The Masnavi ......................................................................................................... 122 b. The Garibname ...................................................................................................