Mehmed I (Çelebi Mehmed) is the sultan who reunited the Ottoman lands scattered after the Battle of Ankara, and he began that work from Amasya. In literary history his name appears above all as a patron: poets such as Ahmedî, Şeyhî and Ahmed-i Dâî were in his service or under his protection. Even so, he is also said to have written poetry, and the Türk Edebiyatı İsimler Sözlüğü (Dictionary of Names in Turkish Literature) records him as a "divan poet" and quotes a ghazal in his name. This five-couplet ghazal, which uses his own name, "Muhammed", in its final couplet instead of a pen name, is the only poem known to be attributed to him.

This page is devoted to Mehmed I as a poet and to the state of the sources on that question. The attribution of the ghazal rests on a late source; the biographical anthologies of poets (tezkire) of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries give Mehmed I no entry. The ghazal is presented on a separate page in this category, with its original text, a modern Turkish rendering and commentary.

Life

Mehmed I was the son of Bayezid I by Devlet Hatun; he was born in 788 (1386) or 789 (1387). In Şevval 801 (June 1399) he was sent as governor to the province of Rûm, which included Amasya, Tokat, Sivas and Ankara. After the Battle of Ankara in 1402 he withdrew to Amasya, held his ground in the region by defeating Kara Devletşah and the local beys, and won the support of the scholars and notables of Amasya. In 1413 he won the eleven-year struggle with his brothers İsa, Süleyman and Musa and became sole ruler; he also suppressed the Şeyh Bedreddin affair and the rising of Düzmece (the False) Mustafa. His son Murad II was born in Amasya in 1404, during his governorship there. Mehmed I died in Edirne in 824 (1421) and was buried in the Green Tomb (Yeşil Türbe) in Bursa. For the details of his life see Çelebi Mehmed: Amasya'dan Edirne'ye Osmanlı'nın İkinci Kurucusu.

The State of the Sources

What is known of Mehmed I as a poet is slight and largely late. In his entry in the Türk Edebiyatı İsimler Sözlüğü, Ömer Savran states the position plainly: he is one of the Ottoman sultans who, according to the sources, are said to have written poetry, but there is no information that he composed any work. The same entry gives a five-couplet ghazal in its "Examples from his Works" section, taking the text from Coşkun Ak's book Şair Padişahlar (Poet Sultans), published in 2001 (p. 46). This citation does not show from which manuscript anthology (mecmua) or early source the ghazal comes; since we have not been able to see Ak's book, we leave the question open.

The early anthologies of poets are silent on the matter. In Sehî Beg's Heşt Bihişt, the second class, devoted to poet sultans and princes, begins with Murad II and ends with Prince Korkud; the section Latîfî devotes to the sultans likewise counts seven sultans, beginning with Murad II. In the anthology of Kınalızâde Hasan Çelebi the name of Mehmed I appears in the entry on Şeyhî: it is told there that the poet, who was also known as a physician, diagnosed and cured a grave illness of the sultan. Âşık Çelebi, writing of Mehmed II (the Conqueror) in his Meşâirü'ş-Şuarâ, gives a general verdict:

Selâtîn-i Âl-i Osmân'dan egerçi cümlesinden şi'r dimek menkûldur … Ammâ ittifâk üzre evvel sâhib-i mahlas merhûmdur.

In English: It is reported that all the Ottoman sultans composed poetry; but by common consent the first sultan to have a pen name was the late Mehmed II. This sentence leaves room for the tradition that Mehmed I may also have written poetry, but it does not name him and quotes no example. That the final couplet of the ghazal contains the poet's own name (Muhammed) rather than a pen name does not contradict Âşık Çelebi's statement that Mehmed II was the first sultan to use a pen name; this observation is ours.

In short, Mehmed I's standing as a poet rests on a single ghazal quoted in his name and on a general tradition that all the sultans wrote verse. Until a manuscript source for it is shown, the ghazal should be treated as an attribution. We too present the text with this reservation, noting the question of attribution on the poem's page as well.

Works

No divan, mesnevi or other literary work by Mehmed I is known. The only text recorded in his name is the ghazal discussed below. Nor is there any record that his poems survive gathered together in an anthology.

Literary Circle

Mehmed I's real place in literary history is as a patron. The TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi names the following figures around him: Ahmedî, who presented his Tervîhu'l-ervâh to him; Şeyhî, counted among the founders of Turkish literature, who was for a time in his service; Ahmed-i Dâî, the poet of the Çengnâme; the physician Muhammed b. Mahmûd Şirvânî; and the Ibn Arabshah brothers. The Türk Edebiyatı İsimler Sözlüğü writes that the poetry gatherings (meclis) in which poets, statesmen and artists came together were first formed in his time, and that the poets and scholars who enjoyed his protection included Şeyhî, Arabshah of Syria, Fazlullah, Muhyiddin and Kara Yakub.

Part of this circle is directly connected with Amasya. According to Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar, the poet Ahmedî died in Amasya in 814 (1411-12) as Mehmed I's chancery secretary, and was succeeded in that post by Mahmûd Gubârî Çelebi, one of the poets of Amasya and son of the famous calligrapher Yahyâ-yı Rûmî. Ahmedî's poems and life are presented on our site in the Ahmedî (Tâceddin İbrâhim) section. Amasya's role as Mehmed I's headquarters in the years of the Interregnum also ties the city's literary life at the beginning of the fifteenth century to his circle.

His Poem

The ghazal attributed to Mehmed I begins with the line "Cihân hasm olsa Hak'dan nusret iste" and has five couplets. Its redif (refrain word) is "iste" ("ask for"), and its rhyme is the "-et" sound in the words "nusret, himmet, hidmet, şerbet, kudret, vüs'at". The poem has no love theme; it is a ghazal of counsel and holy war: it advises that even if the whole world should be hostile, help be sought from God and prayer from the saints, that the sword be drawn for the faith, that the four caliphs be remembered, and that one never turn one's face from the enemy. It is understandable that such words should be put into the mouth of a ruler who had fought his brothers for the throne for eleven years; but we do not know when the attribution was made. The original text of the ghazal, its modern rendering and a detailed commentary are on the Ghazal 1 page in this category.

Chronology

788 (1386) or 789 (1387): Birth.

Şevval 801 (June 1399): Sent as governor to the province of Rûm, centred on Amasya.

1402: Battle of Ankara; withdrawal to Amasya.

1404: Birth of his son Murad II in Amasya.

814 (1411-12): Death in Amasya of the poet Ahmedî, his chancery secretary (according to Hüsameddin).

1413: Defeats Musa Çelebi and becomes sole ruler.

824 (1421): Death in Edirne; burial in the Green Tomb in Bursa.

Bibliography

Primary sources

Academic studies

Official sources

  • Coşkun Ak, Şair Padişahlar, Ankara: Ministry of Culture Publications, 2001, p. 46 (as quoted in TEİS).
  • Sehî Beg, Heşt Bihişt, ed. Halûk İpekten, Günay Kut, Mustafa İsen, Hüseyin Ayan, Turgut Karabey, Ankara: Ministry of Culture and Tourism, 2017 (e-book), p. XVI, contents of the classes.

Books

Online sources