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For Dad and Mom, Ronald Frances Sheridan (1937 –2017) Louise Anna McLellan Sheridan (1942 –2018) “I CURSE NO ONE WITHOUT CAUSE”: IDENTITY, POWER, RIVALRY, AND INVECTIVE IN THE EARLY 17TH-CENTURY OTTOMAN COURT The Graduate School of Economics and Social Sciences of İhsan Doğramacı Bilkent University by MICHAEL DOUGLAS SHERIDAN In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY IN HISTORY THE DEPARTMENT OF HISTORY İHSAN DOĞRAMACI BİLKENT UNIVERSITY ANKARA January 2018 ABSTRACT “I CURSE NO ONE WITHOUT CAUSE”: IDENTITY, POWER, RIVALRY, AND INVECTIVE IN THE EARLY 17TH-CENTURY OTTOMAN COURT Sheridan, Michael Douglas Ph.D., Department of History Supervisor: Assoc. Prof. Dr. Mehmet Kalpaklı January 2018 In the early 17th-century Ottoman Empire, a series of sociocultural, administrative, political, and economic changes were underway that left their mark on how the learned and cultural elite viewed the empire and themselves. Though contemporary sources reflect these shifts in many ways , this period’s rich corpus of invective verse , centering around the poet Nefʿī , has been understudied as a historical source. This dissertation rectifies this neglect by examining this invective corpus as a locus of rivalries and enmities revealing how those involved agonistically defined and were defined by their others, thus necessarily defining themselves in the process. Observing this process of definition and self-definition in the light of contemporary historical developments and sources, the dissertation examines invectives produced against both patrons ( i.e., vertical invective) and fellow poet/clients ( i.e., horizontal invective) in such a way as to demonstrate how the ferocity of the period’s invective verse, and reactions thereto, laid bare how Ottoman elites’ imaginary of themselves was in fact a marginalizing construct. Through analysis of the discourse of the period’s invective corp us alongside contemporary chronicles and advice literature, the dissertation explores how Ottoman elite identity came to be defined, or redefined, during this turbulent period. Keywords: Early Modern, Invective, Nef’î , Ottoman Identity, Sih âm -ı Kazâ iii ÖZET “YOK YERE BEN KİMSEYİ SÖĞMEM”: 17. YÜZYIL BAŞI OSMANLI SARAYINDA REKABET, HİCİV VE GÜÇ ÇATIŞMALARI Sheridan, Michael Douglas Doktora, Tarih Bölümü Tez Danışmanı : Doç. Dr. Mehmet Kalpaklı Ocak 2018 Osmanlı İmparatorluğu, erken on yedinci yüzyılda, eğitimli, kültürel seçkinlerinin, imparatorluğu ve kendilerini algılayış biçimleri üzerinde derin iz bırakan bir dizi sosyokültürel, idari, siyasi ve ekonomik dönüşüme sahne oldu. Her ne kadar bu döneme ait yazılı kaynaklar birçok yönden bu dönüşümü yansıtsa da, bu dönemde üretilen ve büyük bir bölümü şair Nef‘î çevresinde yoğunlaşan zengin hiciv külliyatı tarihsel bir kaynak olarak bugüne değin yeterince incelenip irdelenmemiştir. Bu tez, söz konusu hiciv külliyatını, dönemin güç çatışmaları açısından, ilgili kişilerin tartışma yoluyla kendi “öteki”lerini ve bunun zorunlu bir sonucu olarak aynı süreçte kendilerini de nasıl tanımladıklarını ortaya koyan biçimde rekabet ve husumetin odağı olarak inceleyerek bu araştırma eksikliğini gidermektedir. Tez, bu tanımlara ve üstü kapalı öz -tanımlara yönelik sürece dönemin tarihî gelişmeleri ve kaynakları ışığında bakarak hem hamilere (“dikey hiciv”) hem de şair/istemcilere (“yatay hiciv” yoluyla) yazılan dönemin hiciv şiirlerini irdeleyerek söz konusu hicivlerin şiddetinin –ve buna karşı gelen tepkilerin– seçkinlerin kendilik hayalini ötekileştirici bir benlik algısı olarak açığa vurduğunu göstermektedir. Dönemin hiciv külliyatınının söylemini, çağdaşı olan tarihî kaynaklar ve nasihatnamelerin eşliğinde incelemek yoluyla, bu tez Osmanlı’da seçkin kimliğinin söz konusu çalkantılı tarihsel dönemde nasıl tanımlandığı ya da yeniden tanımlandığını tüm yönleriyle açımlamaktadır. Anahtar Kelimeler: Erken Modern, Hiciv, Nef’î , Osmanlı Kimliği, Sihâm -ı Kazâ iv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS First and deepest thanks must go to my advisor, Mehmet Kalpaklı, without whose support, advice, and, above all, patience this dissertation would never have gotten off the ground and continued to move forward. I also owe a special debt of gratitude to the core committee members Oktay Özel and Berrak Burçak. Oktay made many contributions to the text and was always ready to remind me that, while history is a rigorous academic discipline, historiography is nevertheless just a way of telling a story. Berrak, whose office was next to mine, had the dubious pleasure of witnessing some of the darkest days of the writing process, and always managed to keep me sane with kind words of encouragement. Many than ks as well to Serpil Bağcı and Nagihan Gür, who not only agreed to join the defense committee and read this rather bulky text at the last minute, but who also gave me excellent advice and criticism during the defense itself. Much of the initial archival research for the dissertation was conducted during the course of a residential fellowship in Istanbul at Koç University’s Research Center for Anatolian Civilizations (RCAC) in 2012 –2013, and I owe the RCAC a great debt for hosting and allowing me to conduct my research there. Particular thanks are owed to the then- director of the center, Scott Redford, both for taking a chance on poetry and —when I encountered him again in Ankara during the final weeks of dissertation preparation —for encouraging me to keep my nose to the grindstone. Among the friendships I made during my time at RCAC and continued afterwards, I especially owe my deepest thanks to Sooyong Kim, Aslı Niyazioğlu, Divna Manolova, and Denise Klein, all of whose v fingerprints can be seen in my text and all of whose kindness and friendship has been a joy and comfort. Many teachers have been unfailing in their inspiration and support over the years. Kudret Emiroğlu and Özer Ergenç, in particular, were instrumental in enabling me to gain whatever knowledge I might have of Ottoman Turkish and the Ottoman Empire, and without them this dissertation could not be what it is today. Paul Latimer was always ready with a smile, a word of encouragement, and a bit of methodological advice. I would also like to express my most sincere gratitude to Hatice Aynur, Erdem Çıpa, Robert Dankoff, Hakan Karateke, and Fatma Kutlar Oğuz . It is always difficult to express how much one owes to friends for their support, care, and love. Words fail me, but I feel the deepest gratitude, for everything, toward Ayşegül Avcı, Can Eyüp Çekiç, Hasan Çolak, Işık Demirakın, Bora Demirel, Neslihan Demirkol, Sena Hatip Dinçyürek, Seda Erkoç, Ayşen Gençtürk, Kerem Kural, Özden Mercan, Nergiz Nazlar, Şeyda Odabaş, Selçuk Orhan, Doğuş Özdemir, Abdürrahim Özer, Öykü Terzioğlu Özer, Polat Safi, Feride Evren Sezer, Ebru Sönmez, Ahmet Tunç Şen, Onur Usta, Melike Tokay Ünal, and Harun Yeni. My family has been behind everything throughout my life, no matter how misguided it may have seemed, and were and are always ready with words of support, a welcome dose of sarcasm, and unconditional love. Chuck, Sandi, Kelly, Stephanie, Mandi, Brittni, Tom, Kelsey, and of course Nuran Aksoy —I love you all, and I can never thank you enough for everything. And Rukiye Asl ıhan Aksoy -Sheridan, my dearest beloved and my caring life partner: what I owe to you for making me who I am, and this dissertation what it is, cannot be put into words. Yet without your inspiration, your support, your motivation, and above all your love, none of this could be. Thank you, from my heart and soul. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT .......................................................................................................... iii ÖZET .................................................................................................................... iv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ............................................................................................... v TABLE OF CONTENTS ................................................................................... vii LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS .............................................................................. x CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION ......................................................................... 1 1.1 Defining invective in the Islamicate context ............................................... 7 1.1.1 Aspects and functions of Islamicate invective ................................. 10 1.1.2 Aspects of 16th-century Ottoman invective ..................................... 19 1.1.2.1 Envy and rivalry .................................................................... 23 1.1.2.2 Power and retribution ............................................................ 26 1.1.2.3 Favor and deprivation ............................................................ 29 1.1.3 Vertical and horizontal invective ...................................................... 32 1.2 Methodology and theoretical framework .................................................. 39 1.3 Structure of the dissertation ...................................................................... 47 CHAPTER 2: NEFʿĪ AND THE SİHĀM -I ḲAŻĀ .............................................. 50 2.1 The poet Nefʿī and his Sihām -ı ḳażā (Shafts of Doom) ............................ 52 2.1.1 Life of the poet Nefʿī ........................................................................ 53 vii 2.1.2 Introduction to the Sihām -ı ḳażā (Shafts of Doom) .......................... 77 2.2 Hicv : satire vs. invective .........................................................................

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