Dervish Ahmed ( tr, Derviş Ahmed; "Ahmed the

Dervish Dervish, Darvesh, or Darwīsh (from fa, درویش, ''Darvīsh'') in Islam can refer broadly to members of a Sufi fraternity (''tariqah''), or more narrowly to a religious mendicant, who chose or accepted material poverty. The latter usage i ...

; 1400–1484), better known by his pen name Âşıki or family name Aşıkpaşazade, was an Ottoman historian, a prominent representative of the early Ottoman historiography. He was a descendant (the great-grandson) of mystic poet dervish Aşık Pasha (1272–1333). He was born in the region of

Amasya Amasya () is a city in northern Turkey and is the capital of Amasya Province, in the Black Sea Region. It was called Amaseia or Amasia in antiquity."Amasya" in ''The New Encyclopædia Britannica''. Chicago: Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 15th ...

and studied in various Anatolian towns before going to Hadj and stayed some time in

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Medit ...

. He later took part in various Ottoman campaigns, such as the

Battle of Kosovo (1448) The Second Battle of Kosovo ( Hungarian: ''második rigómezei csata'', Turkish: ''İkinci Kosova Muharebesi'') (17–20 October 1448) was a land battle between a Hungarian-led Crusader army and the Ottoman Empire at Kosovo Polje. It was ...

, Fall of Constantinople and witnessed the circumcision festivities of Mustafa and Bayezid II the sons of

Mehmed the Conqueror Mehmed II ( ota, محمد ثانى, translit=Meḥmed-i s̱ānī; tr, II. Mehmed, ; 30 March 14323 May 1481), commonly known as Mehmed the Conqueror ( ota, ابو الفتح, Ebū'l-fetḥ, lit=the Father of Conquest, links=no; tr, Fâtih Su ...

. Later in his life he started to write his famous history work ''Tevārīḫ-i Āl-i ʿOsmān''.

Works

His main works are known under two names: ''Menâkıb-ı Âli-i Osman'' and ''Tevārīḫ-i Āl-i ʿOsmān''. The works deals with Ottoman history from the beginning of the Ottoman state until the time of Mehmed II. It is a chronological history of the Ottoman Empire between the years 1298 and 1472. The work is written in Ottoman Turkish and is partially based on older Ottoman sources, it is more detailed at the events he witnessed personally. His work was used by later Ottoman historians and became a fashion.

Criticism

According to

Halil Inalcik Halil is a common Turkish male given name. It is equivalent to the Arabic given name and surname Khalil or its variant Khaleel. Notable persons with the name include: * Halil Akbunar (born 1993), Turkish footballer * Halil Akkaş (born 1983), Tu ...

, in his works Aşıkpaşazade twisted his interpretation of the actual events to match his preconceptions. It was typical for him to simply merge two different stories to forge a new description of the battle. Some parts of "Cosmorama" or "Cihan-Nümâ", written by

Neşri Mevlânâ Mehmed Neşri (born c. 1450 – died 1520?), also commonly referred to as Neshri ( ota, نشري), was an Ottoman historian, a prominent representative of the early Ottoman historiography. Very little is known about Neşri, which sugg ...

who was another prominent representative of early Ottoman Historiography, were based on the work of Aşıkpaşazade.

References

Bibliography

* Aşıkpaşazade: ''Vom Hirtenzelt zur hohen Pforte; Frühzeit und Aufstieg des Osmanenreiches nach der Chronik "Denkwürdigkeiten und Zeitläufte des Hauses ʻOsman" vom Derwisch Ahmed, genannt ʻAsik-Paşa-Sohn''. Trans. Richard F. Kreutel. Graz: Styria, 1959. *

Franz Babinger Franz Babinger (15 January 1891 – 23 June 1967) was a well-known German orientalist and historian of the Ottoman Empire, best known for his biography of the great Ottoman emperor Mehmed II, known as "the Conqueror", originally published as ''Me ...

. Die Geschichtsschreiber der Osmanen und ihre Werke. Leipzig 1927, p. 35–38. * Cemal Kafadar. Between Two Worlds: The Construction of the Ottoman State. Berkeley, 1995. * *

Works

Criticism

References

Bibliography

Further reading