Original Ottoman Turkish Text

Şarâb u hem kebâb meclis kuruldı
Kâfir kızı gelüp kadeh sürüldi
'Ali Paşa didi han anı gözle
Ki ne meclis bu sohbetde olundı
Şarâb içmegine Han Bâyezîd'üñ
'Ali Paşa kâfir kızı bulundı
Buña dek Âl-i 'Osmân içmediler
N'ola 'Osmân kâfirler çok olundı

In English

1. A party of wine and kebab was set up; the infidel girl came and offered the cup.

2. Ali Paşa said: "Khan, watch this; see what manner of gathering was held in this company."

3. For Khan Bayezid's drinking of wine, Ali Paşa found the infidel girl.

4. Until then the House of Osman did not drink; alas, many infidels came to be (around) Osman's line.

Literary and Historical Commentary

The Despot's Sister

Bayezid's dealings with the Despot are told in the sixty-second chapter. After Lazar's death at Kosovo, Vılkoğlu, that is Lazar's son, sends an envoy with gifts to Bayezid and congratulates him on his throne. In a letter written in his father's name he offers the beautiful daughter whom Lazar had pledged to give to Bayezid, that is his own sister, saying "take your slave girl, let her go and serve". The girl is sent and joins Bayezid. For his sister's sake Smederevo and Golubac are left to the Despot, but Nicopolis is not given; this arrangement lasts until the Timur affair. This part of the chapter ends with the sentence: "Bayezid Han learned the ways of the drinking party from the Laz girl, with Ali Paşa's help."

An Accusation

One of the plainest criticisms in the work lies in these couplets. A party of wine and kebab has been set up and the infidel girl has offered the cup; the second and third couplets name Ali Paşa as responsible for this gathering. The last couplet turns the accusation into a historical claim: until then the Ottomans did not drink. Ali Paşa is the son of Çandarlı Halil, and in the rest of the same chapter he plays a part in the story of the kadıs' corruption; elsewhere in the work too he is shown as a source of bribery and bad customs. The last line is obscure in meaning. "N'ola 'Osmân kâfirler çok olundı" can be understood as a complaint that infidels, that is converts and people of foreign origin, had multiplied around Osman's line; this reading is not certain. Âşıkpaşazâde's critical view of the reign of Yıldırım Bayezid and his suspicion of foreign influence at court are not hidden in these lines.

Bibliography

  • Âşık Paşazade, Osmanoğulları'nın Tarihi, ed. Kemal Yavuz, M. A. Yekta Saraç, Istanbul: K Kitaplığı, 2003, pp. 400-401 (transliterated text, bâb 62).