İncili ÇavuşWarren S. Walker, Ahmet Edip Uysal, ''More Tales Alive in Turkey'', Texas Tech University Press, 1992,
p. 305.
/ref>

Çavuş Çavuş, also anglicized Chaush and Chiaus (from / ; ; from Old Turkic ''Çabuş'' or ''Çawuş'', "person who gives order or yells") was an Ottoman Empire, Ottoman title used for two separate soldier professions, both acting as messengers altho ...

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 ...

, 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 () was the armed forces of the Ottoman Empire. It was founded in 1299 and dissolved in 1922. Army The Military of the Ottoman Empire can be divided in five main periods. The foundation era covers the years ...

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

Ottoman era The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Central Euro ...

. 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 () is a province and metropolitan municipality in central Turkey. Its area is 16,970 km2, and its population is 1,441,523 (2022). It borders with Sivas, Adana, Niğde, Kahramanmaraş, Yozgat and Nevşehir provinces. T ...

.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: Places in the United States * Early, Iowa, a city * Early, Texas, a city * Early Branch, a stream in Missouri * Early County, Georgia * Fort Early, Georgia, an early 19th century fort Music * Early B, stage name of Jamaican d ...

, 1923. According to

Abdülbaki Gölpınarlı Abdülbaki Gölpınarlı (1900—1982) was a Turkish literary historian of Azerbaijani descent, known for his works on Sufism, Divan literature and Iranian literature. He was a translator and educator, "an outstanding interpreter of Sufism, esp ...

, Çavuş's treatise, that had been addressed to

Sheikh ul-Islam Sheikh ( , , , , ''shuyūkh'' ) is an honorific title in the Arabic language, literally meaning " elder". It commonly designates a tribal chief or a Muslim scholar. Though this title generally refers to men, there are also a small number of ...

at the time and written in both

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

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 (8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious and political leader and the founder of Islam. Muhammad in Islam, According to Islam, he was a prophet who was divinely inspired to preach and confirm the tawhid, monotheistic teachings of A ...

were passed in the

Bible The Bible is a collection of religious texts that are central to Christianity and Judaism, and esteemed in other Abrahamic religions such as Islam. The Bible is an anthology (a compilation of texts of a variety of forms) originally writt ...

(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 (; , ; 6 November 14946 September 1566), commonly known as Suleiman the Magnificent in the Western world and as Suleiman the Lawgiver () in his own realm, was the List of sultans of the Ottoman Empire, Ottoman sultan between 1520 a ...

(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 and arrow, bow to shooting, shoot arrows.Paterson ''Encyclopaedia of Archery'' p. 17 The word comes from the Latin ''arcus'', meaning bow. Historically, archery has been used for hunting ...

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 (mollusc), mantle) of a living Exoskeleton, shelled mollusk or another animal, such as fossil conulariids. Just like the shell of a mollusk, a pear ...

to your

turban A turban (from Persian language, Persian دولبند‌, ''dolband''; 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. Commun ...

."'' 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 Co ...

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 ( '; ; 18 April 1590 – 22 November 1617) was the sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1603 to 1617. Ahmed's reign is noteworthy for marking the first breach in the Ottoman tradition of royal fratricide; henceforth, Ottoman rulers would no ...

(reignrd 1603–1617) and was sent to

Safavid Persia The Guarded Domains of Iran, commonly called Safavid Iran, Safavid Persia or the Safavid Empire, was one of the largest and longest-lasting Iranian empires. It was ruled from 1501 to 1736 by the Safavid dynasty. It is often considered the beg ...

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