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Vatican

Institution

Vatican Library

Collection

Turkish Manuscripts

Shelfmark

89

Contents

İskendername (Ahmedî, 1334?-1413)

Author

Ahmedî, 1334?-1413

احمدي

Show other names

Tācüddīn Ibrāhīm b. Ḫıḍır Aḥmedī

Ahmedî, ö. 815/1412-13

Ahmedî, 1334?-1413 (authorised)

Tācüddı̄n İbrāhı̄m bin Ḫıżır, 1334?-1413 (variant)

Ahmedi, Taceddin, 1334?-1413 (variant)

Taceddin İbrahim ibn Hızr Ahmedi, 1334?-1413 (variant)

Tāc al-Dīn İbrāhīm bin Ḫiżir, 1334?-1413 (variant)

Tacettin İbrahim, 1334?-1413 (variant)

احمدي (variant)

Biographical notes

An Anatolian poet and man of letters from the late fourteenth and early fifteenth-century, Aḥmedī composed both in Old Anatolian Turkish and Persian. Although his date of birth and origins remain debatable, the strongest evidence points to his origins from the Germiyan (Turkey) region of western Anatolia. After furthering his education in Cairo studying under the religious scholar Akmal al-Dīn Bābartī in the late 14th century [1300-1399 CE], he returned to western Anatolia where he received the patronage of local rulers such as that of the Aydınids based in Ayasuluk and the Germiyanid ruler, Süleymān Shāh (r. 1367-1388) of Kütahya. He later entered Ottoman service and dedicated his literary works to Bayezid I's son, Süleymān Çelebi (Emīr Süleymān). Perhaps the most prolific Anatolian of his generation, Aḥmedī did much to advance the Islamic literary culture of Rūm, producing a variety of works in both Turkish and Persian, dealing with a range of poetic and religious themes.

Author

Ahmed Dâi, active 1387-1421

ﺍﺤﻤﺪِ ﺪﺍﻋﻰ

Show other names

Aḥmed-i Dāʿī

Ahmed Dâi, active 1387-1421 (authorised)

Ahmad Dâʻî, active 1387-1421 (variant)

Aḥmed bin İbrāhīm bin Muḥammed, active 1387-1421 (variant)

Ahmed Dâi, fl. 1387-1421 (variant)

Ahmed-i Dāʻī, active 1387-1421 (variant)

احمد داعى (variant)

Biographical notes

Aḥmed-i Dāʿī was a distinguished figure in early Ottoman literature. Renowned for his literary skills, Dāʿī was also a prolific writer. From his original works and translations we can infer that he had knowledge in various fields such as poetry, tafsir, astronomy, astrology, dream interpretation, language (Turkish, Arabic and Persian), and medicine. His father’s name is İbrāhīm ; his grandfather’s name is Meḥmed. Sources agree that Aḥmed-i Dāʿī is from the principality of Germiyān, but his date and place of birth are not certain. We can tell from his works that he lived during the reigns of Murād I (d. 791/1389), Yaʿḳūb II of Germiyān (d. 831/1428) , Emīr Süleymān (d. 813/1411) and Murād II (d. 855/1451). According to ʿĀlī and Sehī, he served as qadi in the principality of Germiyān for some time. Yaʿḳūb II took him under his patronage after the death of Germiyān prince Süleymān Şāh (d. 789/1387). Emīr Süleymān, who was known to be very generous to men of letters, probably took him under his patronage after the defeat of Yaʿḳūb II by Yıldırım and the subsequent Ottoman annexation of the Germiyān lands. Aḥmed-i Dāʿī dedicated his work Çeng-nāme, written in 808 AH [1406 CE], to Emīr Süleymān. In his Dīvān, he also wrote some poems in praise of Emīr Süleymān. After the death of Emīr Süleymān in 813 AH [1411 CE], Aḥmed-i Dāʿī began serving under the patronage of Çelebi Meḥmed (816/1413-824/1421), as is evident from a qasida that he wrote for the latter’s enthronement. Aḥmed-i Dāʿī dedicated his Persian Dīvān to Vezīr-i aʿẓām ʿOsmāncıḳlı Ḫalīl Pāşā (d. after 816/1413). After a period of low attention, he was finally accepted to the court as a tutor for Çelebi Meḥmed (816/1413-824/1421) son Murād II (824/1421-848/1444). He wrote his Arabic to Persian dictionary ʿUḳūdü’l-cevāhir for Murād II (824/1421-848/1444). After Çelebi Meḥmed (816/1413-824/1421) death in 824 [1421 CE], Murād II (824/1421-848/1444) took him under his patronage. He wrote Tercüme-i Tezkiretü’l-evliyā during this period, probably his last work. Aḥmed-i Dāʿī’s date of death is unknown. There is a mosque, a district and a hammam known by his name in Bursa . According to tradition, the tomb near the mosque known as Dāʿī Dede belongs to him.

Title

İskendername

اسكندرنامه

Notes

This mathnawî, Ahmedî, 1334?-1413’s best known work, consists of 8754 couplets in its longest version. The first known versified Alexander romance written in Turkish, the work was composed over a decade from c. 1389 to c. 1410. Its final recension was dedicated to Bayezid I, Sultan of the Turks, approximately 1360-1403’s son, Süleymān Çelebi (Emīr Süleymān), 1377-1411 just before his death in 1410 [1410 CE]. It is similar to Niẓāmī Ganjavī, 1140 or 1141-1202 or 1203 Persian Iskandarname in emphasizing Alexander’s prophetic mission and employing the Alexander romance as a frame for a series of discourses on theology, myticism, philosophy, geography, medicine and astronomy. Yet much of the narrative content dealing with Alexander, the Great’s adventures derives from Firdawsī's Shāhnāme (شاهنامه). Ahmedî, 1334?-1413 attributes a greater role to the semi-prophetic figure of Khidr (Ḫızır) than his predecessors. Completing the world history part of the work is a section of 334 couplets entitled "Dāsitān-i tevārīkh-i mülūk-i āl-i ‘osmān (داستان تواريخ ملوك ال عثمان)" (Narrative of the Deeds of the Kings of the House of Osman), which presents the earliest historical discussion of the Ottoman dynasty. This section relates the rise of the Ottomans in the aftermath of Mongol domination of Anatolia, with Osman’s father Ertuğrul Gazi, 1198-1288 and concludes with Süleymān Çelebi's ascension to the throne following Bayezid’s death in 1402 [1402 CE] and upon the outbreak of the civil war with his brothers. Ahmedî, 1334?-1413 presents the Ottomans as fervent ghāzīs expanding the realm of the dār al-islām along moralistic rather than annalistic terms.

Main language of text

Turkish

Bibliography

Editions

Atsız, Nihal Çiftçioğlu. "Tevârih-i Mülûk-ı Âl-i Osman." In Osmanlı Tarihleri I. Istanbul: Türkiye Yayınevi, 1947-49, 1-35.

Banarlı, Nihad Sami. XIV. Asır Anadolu Şairlerinden Ahmedī’nin Osmanlı Tarihi Dāsitān-ı Tevārīh-i Mülûk-i Āl-i Osmān ve Cemşīd ve Hurşīd Mesnevisi. Istanbul: Burhaneddin Matbaası, 1939.

Ünver, İsmail. İskender-nāme: İnceleme-Tıpkıbasım. Ankara: Türk Tarih Kurumu, 1983.

Translations

Silay, Kemal. "Aḥmedī’s History of the Ottoman Dynasty." Journal of Turkish Studies. , no. 16 1992.

Studies

Fodor, Pal. "Ahmedi’s Dasitan as a Source of Early Ottoman History." Acta Orientalia Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae. 1-2, no. 38 1984: 41-54.

Kut, Günay. "Ahmed Paşa, Bursalı." Türkiye Diyanet Vakfı İslam Ansiklopedisi. 2Istanbul: Türkiye Diyanet Vakfı, 1989: 111-112.

Kut, Günay. "Ahmedi." Türk Diyanet Vakfı İslam Ansiklopedisi. 2Istanbul: Türk Diyanet Vakfı, 1989: 165-167.

Köprülü, Mehmet Fuat. "Ahmedi." İslam Ansiklopedisi. 1 1950: 216-218.

Sawyer, Caroline Goodwin. "Alexander, History, and Piety: A Study of Ahmedī’s 14th-Century Ottoman Iskendernāme." PhD, New York: Columbia University, 1997.

Sawyer, Caroline Goodwin. "Revising Alexander: Structure and Evolution. Ahmedi’s Ottoman Iskendernāme (c. 1400)." Edebiyāt. 13, no. 2 2003: 225-243.

Ünver, İsmail. "Ahmedī’nin İskender-nāmesindeki Mevlid Bölümü." Türk Dili Araştırmalar Yıllığı Belleten. 1977: 355-411.

Show filiations

British Library Add. 7905

British Library Add. 7918

British Library Harl. 3273

British Library Or. 1376

Ankara Milli Kütüphane 119

Ankara Milli Kütüphane 309

Ankara Milli Kütüphane 119

Milli Kütüphane 144

Topkapı Sarayı Müzesi Kütüphanesi 243

Türk Tarih Kurumu Ktp. 137

Koğuşlar Kitaplığı 952

İstanbul Üniversitesi Nadir Eserleri Kütüphanesi 848

İzmir Milli Kütüphane 1300

İstanbul Üniversitesi Nadir Eserleri Kütüphanesi 921

Türk Dil Kurumu Kütüphanesi Türkçe Yazmaları 151

Türk ve İslam Eserleri Müzesi 1921

Türk Dil Kurumu Kütüphanesi Türkçe Yazmaları 531

Türk Dil Kurumu Kütüphanesi Türkçe Yazmaları 149

Atatürk Kitaplığı 102

Bursa İnebey Yazma Eser Kütüphanesi 2123

Ankara Üniversitesi Yazma Eserleri Kütüphanesi 337

Ankara Üniversitesi Yazma Eserleri Kütüphanesi 34

Beyazıt Devlet Kütüphanesi 3691

Cebeci Halk Kütüphanesi 309

İstanbul Üniversitesi Nadir Eserleri Kütüphanesi 409

Hacı Selim Ağa Yazma Eser Kütüphanesi 385

Edirne Selimiye Yazma Eser Kütüphanesi 2307

İstanbul Üniversitesi Nadir Eserleri Kütüphanesi 166

Mevlana Müzesi 97

İzmir Milli Kütüphane 1419

Türkiye Büyük Millet Meclisi Kütüphanesi 243

Ankara Milli Kütüphane 2303

Mevlana Müzesi 3894

Süleymaniye Yazma Eser Kütüphanesi 110

Süleymaniye Yazma Eser Kütüphanesi 1995

Süleymaniye Yazma Eser Kütüphanesi 4186

Süleymaniye Yazma Eser Kütüphanesi 271

Süleymaniye Yazma Eser Kütüphanesi 240

Türk Tarih Kurumu Ktp. 402

Bibliothèque Nationale de France Ancient fons turc 310

Bibliothèque Nationale de France Ancient fons turc 311

Bibliothèque Nationale de France Ancient fons turc 309

Avusturya Dükalık Ktp pt. 29

Avusturya Dükalık Ktp pt. 30

Academy of Sciences Turkish Manuscripts L53

Berlin Staatsbibliothek Turkish Manuscripts 1060

Avusturya Dükalık Ktp pt. 28

Biblioteca Marciena 90

Kitābkhana-i Meclis-i Şura-i Milli Türkçe Yazmaları 7807

Atatürk Kitaplığı 206

İstanbul Üniversitesi Nadir Eserleri Ktp. 6044

İstanbul Üniversitesi Nadir Eserleri Ktp. 593

İzzet Koyunoğlu Ktp. 13644

Milli Kütüphane no. A 2303

Milli Kütüphane 3869

Süleymaniye Yazma Eser Kütüphanesi 3572

Bibliothèque Nationale de France 634

Bibliothèque Nationale de France 641

Bibliothèque Nationale de France 635

Academy of Sciences Turkish Manuscripts K5

Ankara Üniversitesi Dil Tarih Coğrafya Fakültesi 155

Ankara Üniversitesi Dil Tarih Coğrafya Fakültesi 34

Ankara Üniversitesi Dil Tarih Coğrafya Fakültesi 337

Edirne Selimiye Yazma Eser Kütüphanesi 287

Ankara Türkiye Büyük Millet Meclisi Ktp. 51

Milli Kütüphane 3401

Koğuşlar Kitaplığı 812

Koğuşlar Kitaplığı 813

Topkapı Sarayı Müzesi Ktp. 679

Bibliothèque Nationale de France 345

Bibliothèque Nationale de France 346

Bibliothèque Nationale de France 309

Bibliothèque Nationale de France 310

Bibliothèque Nationale de France 311

Berlin Staatsbibliothek Turkish Manuscripts 1271

Berlin Staatsbibliothek Turkish Manuscripts 825

Berlin Staatsbibliothek Turkish Manuscripts 965

Kitābkhana -i Malik 4948

Süleymaniye Yazma Eser Kütüphanesi 294

Princeton University 1140

Türk Tarih Kurumu Ktp. 105

Physical Description

Number of folios

79 ff.

History

Date of copy

possibly 19th. century