Dervish Ahmed (; "Ahmed the

Dervish Dervish, Darvesh, or Darwīsh (from ) 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 is found particularly in Persi ...

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

Amasya Amasya () is a city in northern Turkey, in the Black Sea Region. It was called Amaseia or Amasia in antiquity."Amasya" in ''Encyclopædia Britannica, The New Encyclopædia Britannica''. Chicago: Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 15th edn., 1992, Vol ...

and studied in various Anatolian towns before going to

Hajj Hajj (; ; also spelled Hadj, Haj or Haji) is an annual Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia, the holiest city for Muslims. Hajj is a mandatory religious duty for capable Muslims that must be carried out at least once in their lifetim ...

and stayed some time in

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

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

Battle of Kosovo (1448) The Second Battle of Kosovo (Hungarian language, Hungarian: ''második rigómezei csata'', Turkish language, Turkish: ''İkinci Kosova Muharebesi'') was a land battle between a Kingdom of Hungary, Hungarian-led Crusader army and the Ottoman Em ...

, the

Fall of Constantinople The Fall of Constantinople, also known as the Conquest of Constantinople, was the capture of Constantinople, the capital of the Byzantine Empire by the Ottoman Empire. The city was captured on 29 May 1453 as part of the culmination of a 55-da ...

and witnessed the circumcision festivities of Mustafa and

Bayezid II Bayezid II (; ; 3 December 1447 – 26 May 1512) was the sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1481 to 1512. During his reign, Bayezid consolidated the Ottoman Empire, thwarted a pro-Safavid dynasty, Safavid rebellion and finally abdicated his throne ...

, the sons of

Mehmed the Conqueror Mehmed II (; , ; 30 March 14323 May 1481), commonly known as Mehmed the Conqueror (; ), was twice the sultan of the Ottoman Empire from August 1444 to September 1446 and then later from February 1451 to May 1481. In Mehmed II's first reign, ...

. 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 deal with Ottoman history from the beginning of the Ottoman state until the time of

Mehmed II Mehmed II (; , ; 30 March 14323 May 1481), commonly known as Mehmed the Conqueror (; ), was twice the sultan of the Ottoman Empire from August 1444 to September 1446 and then later from February 1451 to May 1481. In Mehmed II's first reign, ...

. It is a chronological history of the Ottoman Empire between the years 1298 and 1472. The work is written in

Ottoman Turkish Ottoman Turkish (, ; ) was the standardized register of the Turkish language in the Ottoman Empire (14th to 20th centuries CE). It borrowed extensively, in all aspects, from Arabic and Persian. It was written in the Ottoman Turkish alphabet. ...

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, 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 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 – Durrës, 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 ...

. 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