Kadi Burkhaneddin Ahmed

Aziz bin Ardashir Astarabadi (also Abdulaziz Baghdadi; tour. Azīz b. Ārdaşir Āstarābādī ), the court poet Burkhaneddin, wrote the work “Bazm about razm” (“Festivals and battles”, tour. Bazm u razm ), in which he described life in superlative degrees. its patron ^{[k 1]} . This work was used in the work "Hidden Pearls" by the famous Arab historian Ibn-Hajar (1372-1448), which, in turn, was quoted by the Ottoman historian of the 16th century Tashikopruzade ^[2] . The famous orientalist Gibb used mainly the work of Ibn-Hajar ^[3] in the retelling of Tashkentopruzade ^[2] .

Another source is Ibn Arabshah (1392-1450) from Damascus, who lived for many years in captivity at Timur and subsequently wrote his biography. Academician Krymsky wrote: "In a strange way, the work of Ibn-Arabshah (1389-1460), which devoted many pages to Burkhaneddin, remained unknown to Gibb" ^[4] . Ibn-Arabshah was aware of the existence of the work of Aziz bin Ardashir, as he wrote: “This [historical work] is in Karaman and consists of four volumes. This was told to me by a man who swam in the sea of ​​this book and absorbed pearls from there ” ^[5] .

The circumstances of the execution of Burkhaneddin and the seizure of his state by the Ottoman Empire are described in the memoirs of Johann Schiltberger , captured by the Ottomans shortly before the death of Burkhaneddin at the Battle of Nikopol (1396) and who fell into the retinue of Bayazid and his sons. Johann personally participated in the campaign to join Sivas ^[6] .

Correspondence of Kadi Burkhaneddin with the rulers of neighboring states and between them is also a source of information about the life and work of Burkhaneddin ^[7] .

At the beginning of the XIV century, under the pressure of the hulaguids, the Seljuk Koni Sultanate collapsed, many small beiliks ( emirates , principalities) remained on its fragments. Around 1335, Eretna Bey, one of the Mongol governors, proclaimed independence from the Hulaguids and, although he was subordinate for some time to the Mamluks , he founded the emirate with its capital, first in Erzincan and then in Kayseri . The rulers of the beyliks constantly fought among themselves over the territory, the borders of their principalities were blurred. The descendants of Eretna Bey ruled in the beilik Eretna until Kadi Burkhaneddin declared himself the new ruler in 1381 ^[8] .

Origin and early years

The first of the ancestors of Ahmed, who moved to Asia Minor (to Kastamon ), was called Mohammed Rasul Sevink from Khorezm ^[9] . He came from the Oguz tribe Salur ^[10] . Great-great-grandfather Ahmed was born already in Kastamonu , possibly around 1290 ^[9] . He was spotted by a Kadi from Kayseri, who gave him his daughter as his wife and helped him get his job. According to Aziz Astrabadi: “And since then, his sons and grandchildren ... constantly held these posts ...” ^[9] . So, four generations of men in the family were Cadi ^[11] . A. Krymsky writes about Burkhaneddin: “the son of Cadia, the grandson of Cadia, the great-grandson of Cadia and the great-great-grandson of Cadia” ^[4] . Ahmed's great-grandfather married a woman from a noble Seljuk family and their son Suleiman Sirajeddin, Ahmed's grandfather, was already of the most respected origin. Suleiman married the daughter of the last ruler of the Koni Sultanate ^[12] . Sirajeddin’s son, Shemseddin Muhammad, was traditionally a Kadi family in Kayseri. Speaking about the ruler of Eretna, Ibn-Arabshah wrote about Burkhaneddin’s father: “He had a number of emirs and dignitaries, viziers, among them were Gadanfar ibn Muzaffar, Faridun, Ibn al-Muayyad, Hajj Keldi, Hajj Ibrahim and others, among them the great was the father of Burhanuddin ” ^[13] .

Ahmed was born 3 Ramadan 745 years (January 8, 1345) ^[14] . Ahmed’s mother was of noble birth - she was a relative of Sultan Giyaddin Kay Khosrov , her father was Abdullah-Celebi, a vizier and the son of an influential Seljuk official, Jalaleddin Mahmoud Mustevfi ^[15] . She died when Ahmed was only a year and a half ^[16] . Ahmed was initially educated under the guidance of his father. He studied Persian and Arabic, logic, laws, horseback riding, sword wielding and archery ^[11] .

In 757 (1356), accompanied by his father, he went to continue his studies in Damascus , and two years later in Cairo . Researchers believe that this trip was compelled for father Ahmed, probably, he hid from Kayseri for political reasons. In Cairo, Ahmed studied canon law ( fiqh ), the law of inheritance ( ), hadith and tafsir . Then he returned to Damascus in 1362 and began to visit Kutbiddin ar-Razi (Muhammad ibn Ali Jafar), from whom he studied poetry for a year and a half. Qutbiddin died in 1364. Ahmed's father died at about the same time, but earlier. After the death of the teacher, Ahmed returned home ^[11] .

After the return of Ahmed in 1364 to Kayseri, Eretnaoglu Mehmed Bey appointed his qadi and married his daughter ^[14] . In 1365, Mehmed Bey died. Either he died during the campaign against the rebel vassals of Haji Shadgeldi, Haji Ibrahim and Kylych Arslan ^[11] , or was killed as a result of intrigue ^[17] . The role of Ahmed in his death is not clear ^[11] . The famous Scottish Orientalist Elias Gibb, citing Ibn Hajar, reports that Ahmed Burkhaneddin married the daughter of the ruler of the Beilik. After that, for some unclear reason, their friendship turned into hostility, and Burkhaneddin killed the father-in-law and seized power ^[18] .

The son of Mehmed Bey, Alaeddin Ali, was only 13 years old, his incompetence and inability to rule led to the loss of authority. Taking advantage of these unrest in the state, Karamanogullary captured Nowhere and Aksaray . In 1375, Karamanid Alaeddin captured Kayseri and Alaeddin Ali fled to Sivas. In 1378, Kadi Ahmed Burkhaneddin returned Kayseri, having expelled Alaeddin Karamanoglu, and Alaeddin Ali appointed Kadi as his vizier. The power of Kadi Burkhaneddin and his desire to rule on his own led to the conflict and struggle between the bay and the vizier, in which the vizier emerged victorious. Kadi Burkhaneddin received both administrative and military power, he was awarded the title of governor ( Beylerbey , called Seljuks "melikü'l-ümera") ^[19] .

During his visitor, Kadi Burkhaneddin took measures to improve the situation in the country. Emir Haji Shadgeldy took Amasya away from Alaeddin Eretnaoglu. A conflict arose between Shadgeldy and Kadi Burkhaneddin over the possession of the city ^[20] . After the death of Alaeddin Ali-Bey from the plague in Kazabad in 1380, the People’s Council wanted to appoint Burkhaneddin as the naib (regent, representative, deputy; Arab. نائب ) of Alaeddin’s seven-year-old son, Muhammad, but Burkhaneddin refused, and as a result, the Turkmen Beyul became the naib married to the widow of Alaeddin. Many were unhappy and believed that Burkhaneddin would be the best ruler. This worried Kılıç Arslan, he decided to eliminate the opponent, but Kadi Burkhaneddin found out about the conspiracy and managed to kill the enemy first. This happened on February 19, 1381. The popular assembly supported the Kadi and appointed Naib Burkhaneddin. Kadi Burkhaneddin later, in the same 1381, liquidated his main rival, judge Amasya Haji Shadgeldy and declared his sovereignty in Sivas. His name was read in a hutb , he sent messengers to the sultans and emirs in Anatolia , to Syria and Iraq, and announced his accession ^[11] .

Board

With reference to Saadeddin, Gibb reports that Ahmed Burkhaneddin captured Sivas and Kayseri and reigned twenty or thirty years ^[18] . This exaggeration, according to sources, Kadi Burkhaneddin ruled 18 ^[14] or 17 ^[11] years. The years of his reign as a sultan are full of ongoing conflict with the rebellious battles of the house and with wars against such powerful opponents as the Karamanids , Ottomans , Mamluks and Ak-Koyunlu ^[14] .

Kadi Burkhaneddin skillfully played on the ambitions of the Beys of neighboring emirates to push them together, he used the Turkmen and Mongol nomads to strengthen the army ^[21] . He almost managed to restore the beilik to its original borders, but when Kadi occupied Malatya, which was in the zone of influence of Mameluk Egypt, a powerful Mameluk army was directed against Burkhaneddin (in 789 (1387/88) according to Ibn-Hajar) ^[22] . Mamluk forces in alliance with some Asia Minor emirs in 1388 besieged Sivas for a month. Unable to defeat Kadi, Sultan Barkuk made peace with him ^[21] .

In 1389, the Ottoman Sultan Murad pogid in the Battle of Kosovo . His successor, Bayazid, hastily set off for Bursa because the vassal beys in Anatolia rebelled. The anti-Ottoman coalition included the emirs of Karaman, Aydin, Sarukhan, Mentesh, Germiyan and Hamid. Karamanoglu Alaeddin, son of Bayazid, and Kadi Burkhaneddin were their leaders ^[21] . Alaeddin occupied Beysehir and advanced to Eskisehir, Hermianoglu Yakub II returned his lands, and Burkhaneddin captured Kir-Sheri ^[23] . In May 1390, Bayazid was in Afyonkarahisar , preparing for a march against Karamanoglu. He recaptured Beysehir and besieged Konya . At this time, Suleiman Jandaroglu , who returned to Kastamonu, entered into an alliance with Kadi Burkhaneddin against Bayazid to help Karamanoglu. Apparently, this threat forced Bayazid to abandon the siege of Konya and sign an agreement with Karamanoglu. In 1391/92, Bayazid attacked Suleiman, but Burkhaneddin came out in support of his ally. A Venetian report on April 6, 1392 states that Manuil Paleolog , being Bayazid’s vassal, was about to join the Ottomans ’expedition to Sinop , the port of Dzhandarids. This expedition ended with the annexation of the Beylik territory with the exception of Sinop ^[24] . Suleiman died. Then, despite the protests and threats of Burkhaneddin, Bayazid occupied . But Burkhaneddin finally attacked Bayazid near Korumlu and forced him to retreat. Burkhaneddin reached Ankara and Sivrikhisar. Besieged by the forces of Burkhaneddin, the emir Amasya Ahmed, son of Shadgeldy, accepted Ottoman help against Kadi Burkhaneddin and transferred the fortress to the Ottomans (794/1392) ^[25] . Schiltberger , a captive who served in the Bayazid retinue, described it this way ^[26] :

In 1391 or 1392, the took . The court poet Kadi Burkhaneddin, Aziz bin Ardashir, portrayed the result of the battle as a victory for Burkhaneddin, but the letters of Manuel Paleolog , vassal Bayazid, who participated in the expedition, show that this was not so ^[24] . Local dynasties recognized Bayezid as their overlord, but on the way back the army was attacked by Burkhaneddin ^[23] .

In 1393, the State of Burkhaneddin became the most powerful rival of the Ottomans in Anatolia, and the beyliks were divided into two parties, some supported Burkhaneddin, and the other Osmanov. This year, Bayazid made a number of campaigns against Burkhaneddin and captured several cities and fortresses. In 1394, Kadi Burkhaneddin made a campaign against Karaman. Around about 1394, the rulers of the bailiks received letters from Timur urging them to obey him. Burkhaneddin ordered the executives of the newly arrived ambassadors to be executed, “having chopped off the heads of the chiefs of the Temur’s messengers, hanging their heads on the necks of the survivors, led them to be shown in their lands” ^[27] . And Alaeddin Bey Karamanoglu seized the opportunity and agreed to become a vassal and ally of Timur ^[28] . Thus, Kadi Burkhaneddin Ahmed, the ruler of Sivas, was between two enemies ^[28] . In 1397, Burkhaneddin was forced to ask for help from his former enemy, the Mamluk sultan, promising to become his vassal ^[14] . Burkhaneddin needed help against Kara-Yuluk Osman-bey ^{[k 2]} , the founder of Ak-Koyunlu, advancing from the East ^[14] . In his letter to Bayazid, Timur mentions Burkhaneddin and the alliance he concluded with the former enemy, the Mamluk sultan :

With the help of Barkuk, Burhanetdin managed to cope with the enemy ^[14] . Then Burkhaneddin, having concluded an alliance with Kara-Osman (Kara-Yuluk Osman-bey), fought against the rebellious Beys Amasya and Erzincan ^[14] .

Burkhaneddin's death

Burkhaneddin was killed in the battle with Osman Kara-Yuluk in 1398 in Karabel. The Ottoman chronicler reported that it was in the Harput mountains, where Burkhaneddin hid from Bayazid I ^[14] . In 1398–1399, the son of Burkhaneddin Zeynel ruled in Beilik, but soon Sivas was absorbed by the Ottomans ^[18] .

Schiltberger and Ibn Arabshah describe events related to the death of Burkhaneddin. According to them, there was a conflict between Kara-Osman and Burkhaneddin related to Osman’s failure to migrate ^{[k 3]} . Kara-Osman suddenly appeared with a detachment in the camp of Burkhaneddin, forcing him to flee. However, he did not have time to hide and was captured. Kara-Osman besieged Sivas and demanded that the son of Burkhaneddin surrender the city, after the refusal he executed the poet ^[32] .

The son of Burkhaneddin turned for help to Bayazid, who sent his eldest son with a 40 thousandth army. Thus, the lands of the state of Burkhaneddin passed to Bayazid. As Schiltberger writes, “I also participated in this campaign” ^[6] . According to Schiltberger and Ibn Arabshah , Burkhaneddin was executed in the month of Zul al-Qad of the Islamic calendar , that is, in July-August 1398. However, other dates are given in the sources ^[14] . F.K. Brun analyzed data from sources about the death of Burkhaneddin and came to the conclusion that the date 1398 is correct ^[33] . The sources do not have enough information about where he was buried, but it is believed that he was buried in a place called Turbbe Kadi Burkhaneddin in Sivas. Tombstones are stored in Gok Madrasa ^[11] . According to the Islamic Encyclopedia, the inscription on the still-preserved tomb of Burkhaneddin in Sivas does not contain a date of death ^[14] .

Children

• Son: Alaeddin Ali (Zeynel, Zeynelabeddin) ^[34] . The Ottoman historian Neshri dated the death of Zeynel in the year 846 of Hijra (1442/43) ^[35] .
• Son: Mehmed-celebi (died in 1391). The burial is in Sivas ^[36] .
• Son: Abbas ^[37] .
• Daughter: Habiba Selchuk-Khatun (died in 1446/47) ^[37] . The burial is in Sivas ^[14] . This name was given to her because her father’s grandmother was the granddaughter of the Seljuk Sultan Kai-Kavus II ^[14] .
• Daughter: She was married to Nasireddin Dulkadiroglu ^[38] .
• Daughter: Rabia ^[37] .

Legacy

Burkhaneddin wrote works on Islamic law and poetry. The most famous of the writings of Kadi Burkhaneddin was his “Terjih” - comments on the principles of jurisprudence in Arabic. Burkhaneddin also wrote in Arabic a Sufi treatise, which he called "The Elixir of Happiness" ^[40] .

In the British Museum, among the Ottoman manuscripts, the sofa of his poems is kept. It is preserved in a single copy. This is a lifetime copy with thumbnails ^[41] . "Sofa" is dated 1393 and contains more than 20 thousand lines of poetry. The volume is divided into two sections that are not equal in volume, the first contains 1,500 gazelles , and the second 20 quatrains ( rubyes ) and 119 tuyugs — short mystical and erotic poems ^[42] . According to Gibb, Burkhaneddin was the only poet among the Western Turks who used an old poetic form called tuyug. Tuyug is a short poem of four lines, the first, second and fourth of which rhyme (a-a-ba) ^[17] .

Burkhaneddin's sofa has features that distinguish it from other, later collections. In later times, it was customary not to give gazelles names in sofas, but to sort them alphabetically by the last letter of the rhyme. In the last beat of the gazelle in later times, it was customary to call the author's pseudonym (tachallus). The gazelles in Burkhaneddin’s couch are not sorted alphabetically, Burkhaneddin didn’t have a pseudonym yet, he did not name his name in his poems ^[43] . Prosody (rhythm) in his poems has metric flaws that would not have been possible in later times. Both thematically and rhythmically, his gazelles continue the traditions of Persian lyric poetry, albeit in the Turkic language ^[14] .

Poems of Burkhaneddin

Languages

About the languages ​​of the works of Kadi Burkhaneddin sources write in different ways. Badr al-Din al-Aini (1360-1451) wrote that Burkhaneddin composed verses in Arabic , Turkic and Persian ^[45] . A. Krymsky repeats the same set of languages ^[44] , as also indicated in the article about Kadi Burkhaneddin in the Turkish Islamic Encyclopedia ^[46] . Claude Caen names Arabic , Turkic and Persian , but clarifies: despite the fact that Burkhaneddin sometimes wrote in both Turkic and Arabic, he was still mostly a Persian-speaking poet ^[47] .

If the Persian language is called all the sources, Arabic is called almost everything except the Brief Literary and the Great Russian Encyclopedias, then there are disagreements in which Turkic language (or which Turkic languages) is written. According to the Soviet Brief Literary Encyclopedia and the Great Russian Encyclopedia, Burkhaneddin wrote in Azerbaijani , Persian and Turkish languages ^[48] .

Azerbaijani language version

One of the first to study the poetry of Kadi Burkhaneddin, Fuat Köprülü, in his various articles and books, put forward the opinion that the “Sofa” by Kadi Burkhaneddin has all the features of Azerbaijani Turkic ^[49] . Turkish historian Ismail Hikmet, who authored one of the first academic studies of Azerbaijani literature, believed that "the most valuable work of Kadi Burkhaneddin is the Sofa written in Azerbaijani Turkic" ^[49] . According to the historian Ismail Uzuncharyshly, Burkhaneddin’s Turkic verses are written in the Azerbaijani dialect ^[50] . The encyclopedia of Iranik refers Burakhneddin Kadi to Azerbaijani poets ^[51] .

Each edition of the Encyclopedia of Islam has an article where Burkhaneddin is called among poets who used the “Azerbaijani dialect” ^[52] or the Azerbaijani language ^[53] . For example, the Turkologist A. Jafaroglu in an article on the Azerbaijani language in the Encyclopedia of Islam mentions Kadi Burkhanedin as a poet who wrote in this language ^[53] .

According to the Turkologist I. Beller-Hann, the poetry of Kadi Burkhaneddin represents one of the early stages of the development of the language “Turc Ajami”. So Beller-Hann calls the non-separate language "the direct predecessor of the modern Azerbaijani language." ^[54]

Azerbaijan region of the Old Anatolian language

According to the Turkish philologist M. Ergin, who published the Sofa, the language of poetry of Burkhaneddin refers to the Old Anatolian period, but to the "field of the Azerbaijani language" ^[55] . According to the Turkish philologist Khatija Toren, the language of Burkhaneddin’s poetry was the Old Anatolian Turkic language ^[56] , although in an article about the work of Kadi Burkhaneddin in the Turkish Islamic Encyclopedia , Toren clarified that the language of Burkhaneddin’s poetry belongs to the Azerbaijani region of the Old Anatolian language. A similar opinion was shared by ^[57] .

Version of the Old Anatolian Language

A number of other authors voiced the point of view that at the time of Burkhaneddin there was one common language of the "Asia Minor Turks", and there was no clear line between the dialects of the Old Anatolian Turkic language . The editor-in-chief of the journal “ Soviet Turkology ” and the publication “Comparative Historical Grammar of Turkic Languages” E. R. Tenishev ranked Burkhaneddin among poets who write in the “Seljuk (Old Anatolian-Turkic, Old Ottoman) written and literary language” ^[58] . Academician A.N. Kononov , a linguist-Turkologist, believed that Burkhaneddin wrote in the Turkic language, only "revealing connections with the Azerbaijani language." According to Kononov, “it is impossible to see the peculiarities inherent in the Azerbaijani language in the language of Divan Burkhaneddin Sivassky, since at that time it was impossible to draw a clear line between the West Guz and Azerbaijani dialects” ^[59] . The Turkologist V. G. Guzev in his monograph on the Ottoman language also pointed out that in those days the language of the Turkic tribes who settled in Anatolia was unified: “In the XIV and XV centuries, the number of works in the language of Asia Minor Turks increased sharply. It refers to them .... Sofa of Burkhaneddin of Sivassky " ^[60] . Further, V. G. Guzev explains that the term "Old Ottoman", which is called the language of the "Asia Minor Turks", is conditional and the language itself is more accurately called the "Old Anatolian Turkic language" ^[60] . The Old Ottoman language had two dialect zones: western and eastern. According to Guzev, at that time there were no separate languages, there were only dialects, to some extent having the features of the Turkish and Azerbaijani languages, and "the language of the monuments created in the eastern part reveals features that bring it closer to the Azerbaijani language" ^[61] .

Some Turkish scholars also adhered to the version of the Old Anatolian language as the language of Burkhaneddin's poetry. The Turkish scholar Nuri Yuje in an article on the Ottoman-Turkish language claimed that Burkhaneddin wrote in the Old Ottoman (Old Anatolian) language ^[62] . This point of view continues the direction set by Gibb, the first researcher of the poetry of Kadi Burkhaneddin, and calls the languages ​​of the divan Burkhaneddin only two dialects of the same language, common to all Anatolian Turks. As Gibb wrote: “His gazelles and rubyes are written in a clean, albeit rather peculiar West Turkic dialect, but tuyugs abound in East Turkic words and grammatical forms, which he does not use anywhere else” ^[45] .

Kadi Burkhaneddin was highly praised by his contemporaries and later historians. Ibn-Arabshah wrote about him: “This young man was very gifted, talented, on the path of knowledge of science, he even refused to sleep and in a short time thoroughly studied a number of sciences” ^[13] ; “He was a scientist, capable, noble and striving for maturity [knowledge] man, he stood out with his clear elegant expressions and words. Despite his very strong authority, he was close to the mass, was gentle in circulation. He was very educated, a poet, sensitive, thinking, pleasant, strong-willed, courageous and valiant man. He embodied the good and wisdom of the other world in himself and, without fear, distributed them in thousands. He loved learned people, held meetings with them, he kept close to the people, took care of them ” ^[63] . The historian Stavrides called him “one of the most outstanding personalities in Anatolia of the XIV century” ^[64] . Kadi Burkhaneddin ruled for seventeen years besides regency. Sources represent him as a good soldier and a brave ruler, patron of learned people. After the campaigns, he took the necessary measures to revive economic life, did not seek to introduce new duties, and cared about road safety ^[11] . “Courage and courage were akin to his nature,” Ibn Hajar wrote about him. However, he also had negative qualities. Gibb called his temperament "ambitious and aggressive."

Tashkentprizade and Saadeddin spoke of Terjikha as highly valued among the “ ulema ” of their time ^[17] . Burkhaneddin was the first poet of eastern Turkey, whose poems have been preserved (and can be attributed). Burkhaneddin's sofa is the oldest known work of this kind. Kadi Burkhaneddin was a poet who made a significant contribution to the development of Turkish poetry ^[46] , he is considered one of the prominent representatives of Turkish language literature of the XIV century ^[65] . In the history of Azerbaijani culture, Kadi Burkhaneddin also occupies a prominent place, along with Nasimi having played an important role in the development of Azerbaijani literature ^[66] . Along with Nasimi, Burkhaneddin is considered the founder of the Azerbaijani Aruz ^[67] . Burkhaneddin’s sofa is of great importance for the study of vocabulary, grammar, and dialectology of the southwestern group of Turkic languages, in particular, the Azerbaijani language in historical aspect. The vocabulary of the Divan does not have significant differences with the vocabulary of the modern Azerbaijani language, but it differs significantly from the lexical composition of the sofas of other Turkic poets ^[65] .

According to Badr al-Din al-Aini, Burkhaneddin wrote “beautiful” poems ^[14] . Apparently following Ibn-Hajjar, Tashkent Prizade says: “Mevlana Burkhan-ud-Din was a master of versification” ^[17] . Gibb called him “a wonderful man,” who “was, if not the first, then among the first early lyric poets of western Turkey” ^[17] .

There is an opinion that, despite the fact that he was an outstanding poet, he remained unknown, and he did not exert influence on either Azerbaijani or Ottoman poetry ^[68] . Von Hammer does not even mention him ^[17] . Although historians (Tashkent Prizade, Khoja Saadeddin, Katyab-chelebi) wrote that Kadi Burkhaneddin was a famous poet, Ottoman poets never mentioned him ^[46] because he lived outside the Ottoman Empire and he was not given much space in Ottoman sources ^{[ 46]} . Subsequently, the first explored Burkhaneddin’s sofa and published some of his poems by P. Melioransky (Excerpts from the sofa of Ahmed Burkhan-ed-din Sivassky, 1885), the next was E. Gibb (History of Ottoman poetry, 1909) ^[69] .