İncili ÇavuşWarren S. Walker, Ahmet Edip Uysal, ''More Tales Alive in Turkey'', Texas Tech University Press, 1992,
p. 305.
/ref> Çavuş means: 1. a title given to the officials who engaged in various services provided of in the organizations of the

Ottoman State The Ottoman Empire developed over the years as a despotism with the Sultan as the supreme ruler of a centralized government that had an effective control of its provinces, officials and inhabitants. Wealth and rank could be inherited but were j ...

, 2. a rank of officers who were responsible for transmitting down orders of senior commanders subordinate commanders in the

Ottoman Army The military of the Ottoman Empire ( tr, Osmanlı İmparatorluğu'nun silahlı kuvvetleri) was the armed forces of the Ottoman Empire. Army The military of the Ottoman Empire can be divided in five main periods. The foundation era covers the ...

çavuş
in BSTS / ''Tarih Terimleri Sözlüğü'', 1974. or Mustafa Çavuş was a figure of comic wisdom during the

Ottoman era The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...

. He may possibly have been a real person. His birth date is not known. There are several theories about his birthplace. According to ''Kayseri Ansiklopedisi'', he was born in the village of Tırafşın, now called İncili of Tomarza District in

Kayseri Province The Kayseri Province ( tr, ) is situated in central Turkey. The population is 1,434,357 of which around 1,175,876 live in the city of Kayseri. It covers an area of 16,917 km2 and it borders with Sivas, Adana, Niğde, Kahramanmaraş, ...

.Abdullah Satoğlu, ''Kayseri Ansiklopedisi'', Kültür Bakanlığı, 2002, , p. 185. His fıkras (jokes) were collected by Süleyman Tevfik (Zorluoğlu) at the first time in the

early Republican period Early may refer to: History * The beginning or oldest part of a defined historical period, as opposed to middle or late periods, e.g.: ** Early Christianity ** Early modern Europe Places in the United States * Early, Iowa * Early, Texas * E ...

, 1923. According to Abdülbaki Gölpınarlı, Çavuş's treatise, that had been addressed to Sheikh ul-Islam at the time and written in both

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic languages, Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C ...

and Turkish languages, was found in Kayseri in 1933–1934. In two small treatises in a volume, it was mentioned that the name of

Muhammad Muhammad ( ar, مُحَمَّد; 570 – 8 June 632 Common Era, CE) was an Arab religious, social, and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Muhammad in Islam, Islamic doctrine, he was a prophet Divine inspiration, di ...

were passed in the

Bible The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts of a ...

(Turkish: ''İncil''). In this way, they gave him the nickname "İncili" (with Bible).''Türk Kültürü Onsekizinci Yıl'', Türk Kültürünü Araştırma Enstitüsü, 1979, p. 313. As to another tale, Sultan

Suleiman the Magnificent Suleiman I ( ota, سليمان اول, Süleyman-ı Evvel; tr, I. Süleyman; 6 November 14946 September 1566), commonly known as Suleiman the Magnificent in the West and Suleiman the Lawgiver ( ota, قانونى سلطان سليمان, Ḳ� ...

(reigned 1520–1566) was very pleased with Mustafa's showing extraordinary proficiency in an

archery Archery is the sport, practice, or skill of using a bow to shoot arrows.Paterson ''Encyclopaedia of Archery'' p. 17 The word comes from the Latin ''arcus'', meaning bow. Historically, archery has been used for hunting and combat. In m ...

contest that was participated by his princes, and said to Mustafa, ''"I'm giving you the rank of a Çavuş (a high rank in the palace). And to be able to distinguish you from other çavuşes and to show your superiority over others, I'm attaching a

pearl A pearl is a hard, glistening object produced within the soft tissue (specifically the mantle) of a living shelled mollusk or another animal, such as fossil conulariids. Just like the shell of a mollusk, a pearl is composed of calcium carb ...

to your

turban A turban (from Persian دولبند‌, ''dulband''; via Middle French ''turbant'') is a type of headwear based on cloth winding. Featuring many variations, it is worn as customary headwear by people of various cultures. Communities with promine ...

."'' After this affair, his name Mustafa was forgotten and he began to be called "İncili". According to Mustafa Enhoş, he was referred in the ''History'' of

Naima "Naima" ( ) is a jazz ballad composed by John Coltrane in 1959 that he named after his then-wife, Juanita Naima Grubbs. Coltrane first recorded it for his 1959 album ''Giant Steps'', and it became one of his first well-known works. History Col ...

as a member of the '' Dergâhı Âlî'' in 1615.Mustafa Enhoş, ''Bütün yönleriyle Akseki ve Aksekililer'', Hüsnütabiat Matbaası, Antalya, 1974, p. 130. According to Sennur Sezer and Adnan Özyalçıner, he was one of '' Musahibs'' of Sultan

Ahmed I Ahmed I ( ota, احمد اول '; tr, I. Ahmed; 18 April 1590 – 22 November 1617) was Sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1603 until his death in 1617. Ahmed's reign is noteworthy for marking the first breach in the Ottoman tradition of royal f ...

(reignrd 1603–1617) and was sent to Safavid Persia as part of the Ottoman delegation (''elçi'').Sennur Sezer, Adnan Özyalçıner, ''İstanbul'un Taşı-Toprağı Altın: Eski İstanbul Yaşayışı ve Folkloru'', Altın Kitaplar Yayınevi, 1995, p. 235. According to ''Kayseri Ansiklopedisi'', some sources recorded that he accompanied İbrahim Çavuş, who was sent to Iran as ambassador, as "selam çavuşu" in 1626.Murad dönemlerinde Saray'da bulunduğu, 1626 yılında İran'a elçi olarak gönderilen İbrahim Çavuşun yanına "selam çavuşu" olarak katıldığı, bazı kaynaklarda kaydedilmektedir., ''Kayseri Ansiklopedisi''
p. 185.
/ref> According to Cemil Asena's book ''Diyarbekir Tarihi ve Meşâhiri'', he died in 1632–33. However, sources were unclear on the exact date.''Türk Kültürü Onsekizinci Yıl'', Türk Kültürünü Araştırma Enstitüsü, 1979, p. 314.

See also

Footnotes

References

Further reading