''Tezkire'' ( ar, تذکرة), from

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a 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. E.Watson; Walter ...

'' tadhkirah'' meaning "something that causes one to remember" or "memorandum",''The Tezkires of Poet: Indispensable Sources for History of our Literature''- Abstract, Filiz Kilic
/ref> is a form of bibliographical dictionary or bibliographical compendium which flourished in the 16th-century

Ottoman Empire 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) ...

. The most known are the ''tezkires'' of poets, but they also dealt with government officials, and of artists in general. First seen in the early

Arab literature Arabic literature ( ar, الأدب العربي / ALA-LC: ''al-Adab al-‘Arabī'') is the writing, both as prose and poetry, produced by writers in the Arabic language. The Arabic word used for literature is '' Adab'', which is derived from a ...

before the 10th century, they came into the

Persian literature Persian literature ( fa, ادبیات فارسی, Adabiyâte fârsi, ) comprises oral compositions and written texts in the Persian language and is one of the world's oldest literatures. It spans over two-and-a-half millennia. Its sources h ...

and later into the Ottoman one. One of the most famous ''tezkires'' in the Persian language is the

Tazkirat al-Awliya ''Tazkirat al-Awliyā'' ( fa, تذکرةالاولیا or , lit. "Biographies of the Saints")variant transliterations: Tazkirat al-Awliyā`, Tadhkirat al-Awliya, Tazkerat-ol-Owliya , Tezkereh-i-Evliā etc., is a hagiographic collection of ninety- ...

of Fariduddin Attar. The most important ''tezkire'' in the Chagatai-Turkic is ''Majolis un-Nafois'' by Ali-Shir Nava'i.

Ottoman poetry ''tezkires''

The ''tezkires'' of poets were written between the 16th and 20th centuries in the

Anatolia Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The ...

n area. They contain information on both poets and their poetic work, and are written both in

prose Prose is a form of written or spoken language that follows the natural flow of speech, uses a language's ordinary grammatical structures, or follows the conventions of formal academic writing. It differs from most traditional poetry, where the ...

and verses making the ''tezkire'' genre unique. A valuable source of information for today's scholars, they also present a type of ego-document due to the combination of objective with subjective material. The bibliographical notices mention birthplace, family, teachers, profession, personal anecdotes, comments on personality or character, place and date of death, and quotations from poetry. The first ''tezkire'' of Ottoman literature was named ''Heşt Behişt'' (Eight Springs). It was the work of

Sehi Bey Sehi Bey (Ottoman Turkish language, Ottoman Turkish: Sehî Bey), (1471?–1548) was an Ottoman Empire, Ottoman poet and bibliographer. He was the first one to compile a ''tezkire'' (bibliographical dictionary of poets and poetry), a genre which ...

Edirne Edirne (, ), formerly known as Adrianople or Hadrianopolis ( Greek: Άδριανούπολις), is a city in Turkey, in the northwestern part of the province of Edirne in Eastern Thrace. Situated from the Greek and from the Bulgarian borders ...

(1471?-1548) and was completed in 1538. 2 other editions would follow until 1548. It narrated the work and life of 241 poets and was very well received and supported by the Ottoman high social circles. A distinguished ''tezkire'' is the ''Tezkiretü'ş-Şuara'' (Memoirs of the Poets) of Latifî of

Kastamonu Kastamonu is the capital district of the Kastamonu Province, Turkey. According to the 2000 census, population of the district is 102,059 of which 64,606 live in the urban center of Kastamonu. (Population of the urban center in 2010 is 91,012.) The ...

(1491-1582), the second in chronology and is the one with most extant copies (91). It was finished and presented to Sultan Suleiman I in 1546. Another important one comes from

Aşık Çelebi Aşık Çelebi ("Gentleman Bard" in Turkish) was the name of Pir Mehmed ("Mehmed the Pir"; 1520–1572), an Ottoman biographer, poet, and translator. Born in Prizren, he served as '' kadi'' (judge) in many towns of the Rumelia. His major wor ...

; ''Meşairü'ş-Şuara'' (Senses of Poets), published in 1568, covers the work and life of 427 poets. It is the 3rd in chronology, and the second by the number of extant copies (30). The 4th ''tezkire'' is the one from

Ahdi of Baghdad Ahdi of Baghdad (d.1593), also referred in Turkish as Bağdadlı Ahdi Ahmed Çelebi, was an Ottoman and Safavid era poet and bibliographer of the 16th century. He was one of the first four Ottoman poets to write a ''tezkire'' (bibliographical dic ...

, of

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

origin, and is named ''Gülşen-i Şuara'' (Rosebed of Poets). Unlike the previous three, it covered only author's time contemporary poets. It was finished in 1563, and was dedicated to Prince Selim, afterwards known as

Sultan Selim II Selim II (Ottoman Turkish: سليم ثانى ''Selīm-i sānī'', tr, II. Selim; 28 May 1524 – 15 December 1574), also known as Selim the Blond ( tr, Sarı Selim) or Selim the Drunk ( tr, Sarhoş Selim), was the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire f ...

. Other well known ''tezkire'': * Riyazi - ''Riyazü'ş Şuara'' *Faizi - ''Zübtedü'l-Eşar'' *Mirzade Mehmed Efendi - ''Salim Tezkiresi'' *Ali Güfti - ''Teşrifatü'ş Şuara'' *Davud Fatin - ''Haitmetül-Eşar'' * Kınalızâde Hasan Çelebi - ''Tezkiretü'ş-Şuara''

References

{{reflist, 2 Turkish literature Persian literature Arabic literature Turkish words and phrases Arabic words and phrases

Ottoman poetry ''tezkires''

See also

References