The Ottoman dynasty has many princes remembered for the sword and few remembered for the pen. Korkut belongs to the second group. This son of Bayezid II, born in Amasya, was counted as the throne's stand-in for a few weeks while still a boy; for nearly twenty years he ran a court at Manisa where scholars, poets and musicians gathered; in 1509 he sailed to Egypt without his father's knowledge, on one of the most contested journeys in the dynasty's history; and in 1513, under his brother Selim, he was strangled. Korkut wrote Arabic books on jurisprudence, ethics and Sufism, collected his Turkish ghazals in a small divan, and was known for his calligraphy and his playing of instruments. He is perhaps the only member of the Ottoman house with authored works of his own beyond poetry.

Birth in Amasya and Family

The sources give no explicit record of Şehzade Korkut's year of birth. Some accounts say 872 (1467), others 874 (1469-70) or simply 1470; Nabil al-Tikriti prefers to write "about 1468" when he mentions him. Here the birth is taken to fall somewhere between 1467 and 1470. On the city of his birth the sources agree: his father Bayezid II was then sanjak governor of Amasya, and Korkut was born there. His mother was Nigâr Hatun. Korkut was one of Bayezid's eight princes and the middle one of the three sons who were still alive in his father's last years; Ahmed was older than he, Selim younger.

In one of his works he writes his name as Ebülhayr Mehmed Korkut, while in official documents he uses only Korkut. Where his first schooling began differs from source to source. One account says he received his first lessons in Istanbul beside his grandfather Mehmed the Conqueror; another record, drawing on Müstakimzâde's Tuhfe-i Hattâtîn, reports that as a small child he took calligraphy lessons in Amasya from Şeyh Hamdullah Efendi. How the two reports are to be fitted into a single childhood cannot be settled with the records at hand. No detailed document survives for his Amasya years either.

In Istanbul at His Grandfather's Side

Korkut's move to Istanbul has to do with the balance of power inside the dynasty. In 1479-80, at the wish of Mehmed II, Bayezid's sons were summoned to Istanbul to be circumcised. In the account that rests on Kemalpaşazade, once the ceremony was over the older princes were given sanjaks, Selim was sent back to his father, and Korkut was kept with his grandfather. The academic reading based on Alderson explains the political reason as follows: Mehmed II wished to hold one of the grandsons in the capital as a kind of hostage against a possible rebellion by the princes, and for that reason Korkut, Bayezid's son, and Oğuzhan, Cem's son, stayed in Istanbul until their grandfather's death. In this arrangement the boy Korkut was at once his grandfather's close grandchild and a guarantee of his father's loyalty in the sanjak. It appears that at the palace he received the special training given to those meant to acquire the qualities of a ruler, became accomplished in the religious sciences, and advanced far enough in Arabic to compose works in it.

The Regency of 1481

Mehmed the Conqueror died on 3 May 1481. His son Bayezid was in Amasya, his other son Cem wanted the throne as well, and the men of the state were divided between the two. According to the tradition, the grand vizier Karamanî Mehmed Pasha supported Cem and İshak Pasha supported Bayezid. When the Janissaries rose, İshak Pasha placed the boy Korkut on the throne as acting deputy sultan (kaymakam) until his father should arrive. The length of the regency is given with small differences: some accounts say seventeen days, others two weeks, another speaks of eighteen days. Whether it was a day more or a day less, the picture is the same.

Tursun Bey, a witness of the time, writes that Korkut was "presented to the sultanate in trust", that the slave corps was waiting in appearance for him and in truth for his father, and adds that a great joy filled the streets when news of the regency spread. In Tursun's wording one senses that Korkut was described as a real sultan and that expectations were raised. During this brief time the Janissaries' pay was increased, and Korkut left a good impression among them that was remembered in later years. How much say the boy had in the decisions is not known; in the chronicles the weight rests on İshak Pasha. Even so, as Funda Demirtaş stresses, the regency began Korkut's political life "at the very top of the pyramid" and became for him a source of hope of reaching the throne in the later struggles among the brothers. After Bayezid came to Istanbul and took over the sultanate, Korkut stayed in the capital for some time and followed from there the struggle between his father and his uncle Cem. One source says he went back to Amasya; the other records do not confirm this return.

The Sanjak of Manisa

Korkut was sent out to a sanjak in Zilkade 888 (December 1483). Kemalpaşazade writes that when Şehzade Abdullah, the sanjak governor of Karaman, died, Şehinşah, who was in Manisa, was sent to Karaman, and Korkut was appointed in his place. An archival record of 1488, reporting that at Manisa Sinan Bey was put in place of his lala Sarı Ahmed Bey after the latter's death, also confirms that Korkut was sent to this sanjak in those years; the date 1491 found in some accounts contradicts these documents and has not been accepted. Korkut stayed in Manisa with his mother Nigâr Hatun until early 1502.

The sources on his administrative activity are brief. The governorship of Saruhan coincided with the period in which the Ottomans were fighting Venice and its allies; when the allied fleet besieged Mytilene in 1501, the troops the prince sent helped bring about the enemy's withdrawal. Finding the revenue allotments (has) of his sanjak insufficient, Korkut had new additions made to his income; some of these allotments lay in İzmir. It is also recorded that while he was at Antalya and Manisa he protected and helped the captains Oruç and Hızır. In 1504 one of his sons died during a plague outbreak, as Venetian sources report. From archival documents it is understood that he had two daughters, Ferahşad and Fatma Sultan, and that his sons, whose names and number are not given, all died before him. Some sources write that only the daughter named Ferahşad survived, some that two sons died as infants; no exact number can be given.

Scholars, Poets and Instruments at Manisa

What set Korkut apart in the eyes of his age was the circle he gathered at Manisa. Âşık Çelebi, in his tezkire Meşâirü'ş-Şuarâ, praises him as the prince who busied himself most with learning and refinement among the princes of Rûm, and notes that at Manisa his table was open to all comers and the hand of his generosity reached out to men of accomplishment. In his palace he gathered scholars, poets and artists and showed each the regard their worth deserved. It is known that poets named Gazâlî, Fedâyî, Serîrî of Manisa and Sevdâyî were in his circle, though little is known of them. He was very fond of Gazâlî of Bursa, nicknamed "Deli Birâder" (Mad Brother), and of his faithful companion Piyâle Bey, and would not let them leave his side. Gazâlî accompanied Korkut on the Egyptian journey as well and wrote the work Dâfiu'l-gumûm in his name.

An anecdote about Gazâlî reflects both the closeness between them and the prince's temperament. One night at a drinking party, Korkut, offended by something Gazâlî said, ordered him killed. Gazâlî, who knew the prince well, told the chief gatekeeper charged with killing him that on waking in the morning the prince would repent and have him killed too, and asked to be hidden. Next morning the prince, hearing that Gazâlî had been killed, flew into a rage; when the truth came out he rejoiced and showered the chief gatekeeper with gifts. The story rests on Âşık Çelebi and has no documentary support, but it shows what memory kept of Korkut's character. After Korkut was put to death, Gazâlî is said to have wandered for a time in dervish dress and then come to Bursa and become sheikh at the Geyikli Baba lodge. Filiz Kılıç thinks this may also have been connected with a wish to settle in the city where the prince's grave lay and so to be near him; this is a guess.

The prince's library also became famous. In Latîfî's Tezkire it is said that this library, which resembled a mountain, could be carried only by many strings of camels. No figure is given and the expression may be exaggerated; yet that a prince's bookshelves should be spoken of in this way shows his reputation. His many books, which he himself says were kept in the fortress of Manisa, were later brought to Istanbul by Selim.

Calligraphy, Music and the Pen Name Harîmî

At first glance Korkut's artistic identity may look like a palace cliché; the sources make it concrete. In calligraphy he is said to have been a pupil of Hamdullah Efendi, the Şeyhü'l-hattâtîn (Sheikh of Calligraphers), and to have written a very beautiful hand. Besides copying the Qur'an he also copied religious and Sufi books; his father Bayezid II gave him money and robes in return for books he wrote and sent to the palace in 1508 and 1509. A copy of the Qur'an now kept in a museum is said to be from his hand and to be his only known calligraphic specimen.

He is also described as a master of music. A musician named Zeyne'l-âbidin, from Iran, was his teacher, and Korkut played every kind of instrument. In the account based on Kınalızâde, he asked his brother Ahmed for the famed master of the kemençe, Zeynelâbidîn, and had him brought to him. An instrument of his own invention, called "gıdâ-yı rûh" (in some sources "rûh-efzâ"), is said to have been admired by the masters of music of the day; nothing is known of its construction, only its name and the story. Yılmaz Öztuna gives a list of eight instrumental pieces composed by him.

In poetry his pen name is Harîmî. Latîfî and Kılıç write that he took it from his intention to visit the Haram-i Şerif; another account says he chose the name because he put on the pilgrim's garb (ihram) when he set out for Egypt on pilgrimage. He gathered his poems in a small divan. The copy that has come down to us is not the original divan that the sources of the time called "perfect", but a compilation formed when Ali Emîrî Efendi brought together the verses belonging to Korkut. This copy, in the Millet Library, contains 52 ghazals, an Arabic poem of two couplets and two Turkish couplets. It was copied in ta'lik script by Haşim-i Mekkî in 1324 (1908-09); that is, the manuscript we have is not in the prince's own hand but in that of a much later copyist. Most of the ghazals have five couplets, and most are written in the aruz meter fâilâtün fâilâtün fâilâtün fâilün.

Kılıç, going through the nazire anthologies (Pervâne Bey's Mecmûa-i Nezâir and Nazmî of Edirne's Mecmaü'n-Nezâir), establishes that most of the ghazals are replies (nazire) to various poets, among them Ahmed Paşa, Necâtî, Şeyhî, Şâhidî, Nizâmî, Hâfî-i Edirnevî, Çâkerî Sinân Bey, Zülâlî and Sücûdî. She notes that proverbs and idioms are remarkably abundant in his poems and that harmony is achieved especially through repetition of words and letters. Kılıç calls him "a poet of middle rank"; in his ghazals divine and human love, the pain suffered from the beloved, loneliness and the sorrow of having no friend come to the fore, and in some couplets Sufi elements and praise of himself and his art are seen. A couplet said to have been written on the Egyptian journey voices the wish to abandon the throne and go into exile: Tâc u kabâyı terk idüp uryân olayum bir zemân / Gurbetde seyrân eyleyüp püyân olayum bir zemân (Leaving crown and robe, let me go unclad for a while; wandering in exile, let me run free for a while). The opening couplet of another ghazal runs: Işka düşdün ey gönül ney gibi nâlân ol yüri / Zülf-i dil-ber gibi var hâli perîşân ol yüri (You have fallen into love, O heart; go, wail like the reed flute; go, be as distraught as the beloved's tresses).

His Arabic Works

All of Korkut's works are in Arabic, and most deal with the religious sciences, ethics and counsel. The principal ones are these:

  • Kitâbu fi't-Tasavvuf (also called Davetü'n-nefsi't-tâliha ile'l-a'mâli's-sâliha and Kitâbü Harîmî fi't-tasavvuf): a Sufi didactic work of 262 folios in the Süleymaniye Library. Korkut wrote it in 1508, during the years of his retreat, stating that he had no claim to the sultanate, and presented it to his father. The book contains poems in Arabic, Persian and Turkish; besides Harîmî's own verses it includes poems by Yunus Emre, Hâtemî, Neşet, Abdülkerîm and Şeyh Baba Yûsuf. It also touches on political subjects such as Murad II's abdication, the need to free the Muslim captives at Rhodes, and Kemal Reis's being assigned to that task.
  • Kitâbu Vesîleti'l-Ahbâb: completed in Cairo; it covers ethical subjects such as the merit of the pilgrimage, the road to Mecca, obedience to parents and keeping one's word. In this work Korkut explains to his father his reason for going to Egypt and includes hadiths on the relation between father and son.
  • Kitâbu Halli İşkâli'l-Efkâr fî Hilli Emvâli'l-Küffâr: a juristic treatise compiled from the opinions of jurists on matters such as captives taken in war, the division of booty, marriage to and sale of concubines. Ahmet Hamdi Furat treats Korkut, in the context of this work, as "a Shafi'i jurist in the Ottoman dynasty".
  • Şerhu Elfâzi'l-Küfr (also known as Hâfızü'l-insân an lâfızi'l-îmân): Korkut says he wrote it because he could not find an adequate book on words of unbelief. It is devoted to theological and philosophical questions; it opens with the question of who is a Muslim and who an apostate, and has sections on faith and unbelief, what annuls faith, and the rulings on apostasy.
  • Korkudiyye: Sehî Bey names it as a collection of fatwas, Latîfî says it is an Arabic book of fatwas; nothing is said of its contents.

Kınalızâde states that he himself saw the many notes Korkut wrote in the margin of Jurjani's Şerhu'l-Mevâkıf; some sources attribute the work directly to him, but this attribution is disputed. In a copy in the Nuruosmaniye Library, someone using the pen name Harîmî wrote notes in the margin of a commentary by Jurjani on a work of Ibn Sina and also wrote Turkish poems under the same pen name. Korkut's name does not appear in the text; going by the pen name, these works have been attributed to him, and Nabil al-Tikriti has even suggested that he received an ijazah with them in 1479, in his early youth. Since the chain of attribution is weak, this claim should be received with caution.

Korkut knew the religious sciences such as jurisprudence and hadith well, held that Sharia principles should take precedence over customs and local usage, and followed the Shafi'i school. It is said that he kept an intellectual distance from the Sufis, yet showed no rigid bigotry and was tolerant in religion. His wavering stance toward the political struggles of the period and his frequent changes of mind have been taken as a reflection of a melancholic nature. Ibn Iyas, the Mamluk chronicler who saw him in Cairo, describes Korkut as a man of medium height, fair-haired and thin.

Transfer to the Sanjak of Teke

The turning point of Korkut's life begins in 1502. The allotments in Saruhan, some of them in İzmir, had earlier belonged to the grand viziers and had been given to Korkut; when Hadım Ali Pasha became grand vizier in 1501 he asked that they be assigned to the grand viziers again, and relations between the prince and the vizier broke down. Korkut, wishing to move a little closer to Istanbul in the race for the throne, probably relying on the advantage that his deputy sultanate gave him, asked on the ground that the climate of Manisa did not agree with him that Bergama be given to him. His request was refused.

Under the influence and prompting of his elder brother Ahmed, governor of Amasya, Korkut was transferred in 1502 to the sanjak of Teke (Antalya); at the same time the zeamet of the sanjaks of Hamîd and Lazkiye (Denizli) was attached to him, but he insisted that he wanted to return to Manisa. Kemalpaşazade presents the transfer as the prince's own preference for Antalya, in which he gave up Saruhan; here the chronicles can be seen to diverge. In any case, the prince who wanted to draw nearer the center was sent to a more distant sanjak. Amasya appears in the story a second time: his brother, governor of the city where he was born, had a hand in his removal from the center.

In Korkut's place Alemşah, governor of Menteşe (Muğla), was first brought to Saruhan; Alemşah died the same year. Then Mahmud, governor of Kastamonu, was appointed, and he too died in 1507. Each time Korkut wished to return to Saruhan, and each time Hadım Ali Pasha's second grand vizierate (1506-1511) stood in the way. By then Bayezid II, because of illness and a gentle nature, had withdrawn from the administration in his last years and made the grand vizier the most influential force in government and in the choice of an heir. Bayezid fell gravely ill in 1508 and 1509; despite the French physician's verdict that he would not live long, he recovered in the spring of 1511 but could not leave his bed. Ali Pasha's preference was for Ahmed, and Bayezid, too, showed Ahmed a special regard.

In these circumstances Korkut wrote his father a letter saying that he no longer wished to hold the sanjak, that from now on he wanted to devote himself to scholarly work, and asking for an allowance from the poll-tax revenue. When his resentment could not be soothed by letters, Bayezid sent the former Anatolian chief judge Alâeddin Ali (Fenârî) to Antalya to counsel him. According to Kemalpaşazade and Âlî, Korkut answered him, "I need neither sultanate nor province", and even refused the offer to add back the İzmir allotments that had been taken from him. In the end he agreed that the allowance he asked for be granted and that an official be appointed to look after his administrative affairs; a berat of November 1508 recorded this. The prince withdrew to Antalya Castle. According to Âlî, the viziers thought, "In the end we have persuaded him", and Bayezid took a half-pleased attitude, saying, "At least let him amuse himself this way." Kemalpaşazade ties Korkut's lack of ambition for the throne, his retreat and his devotion to learning to this episode. Five months later Korkut suddenly left Antalya.

The Journey to Egypt in 1509

For a prince to leave the realm was forbidden, whatever the reason. Behind this ban stood the example of Cem Sultan, twenty-eight years earlier. Having lost the Battle of Yenişehir to his elder brother in 1481, Cem had taken refuge with the Mamluk sultan, returned to Anatolia with the support he received there, and, defeated again, had gone to the Knights of Rhodes. The affair lasted fourteen years; Ottoman-Mamluk relations were spoiled, in the war that began in 1485 and ended in 1491 Bayezid could not turn his whole strength against that front, and the Western powers and the papacy used Cem as a card against the Ottomans. Korkut knows this; he knows too that if he announced the journey it would not be allowed, even for the pilgrimage, and that if he went without telling he would be counted a rebel. According to Demirtaş, he chose to go without permission because he found the grief of being prevented heavier than being counted a rebel.

The account based on Kemalpaşazade says that Korkut made his preparations in secret so that no one would stop him. He agreed with a ship captain named Akbaş, had five ships of his own made ready, and loaded his baggage and treasure aboard. The number of people with him varies by source: the chronicles speak of eighty-seven slaves and about fifty close men, one record says eighty-seven slaves and forty-nine men, while Kemalpaşazade writes that he had only six or seven trusted men. The date of departure also moves in the sources between the beginning of Muharram 915 (late April 1509) and 21 Muharram 915 (11 May 1509). He loaded his heavy baggage on a rencber ship and sent it to his father with a letter of apology, writing that he had seen the Prophet in a dream and been invited to the pilgrimage. Bayezid learned of his son's departure on 18 May 1509. Fearing a new Cem affair and a fresh breach in Ottoman-Mamluk relations, he sent an order to Korkut's lala İskender Bey, whom he had left as deputy in Antalya, and to the other men there, to stay at their posts and continue their duties.

The Debate over the Prince's Intent

Why Korkut went to Egypt is the point on which the sources differ most. Most of the Ottoman chronicles of the period and the years after either do not tell the event at all or mention it only as a passing detail in a section devoted to another event. Gelibolulu Mustafa Âlî writes that historians avoided telling it because it was regarded as a matter of shame, and, saying that he has no such reluctance, relates the event in detail. The common narrative of the Ottoman writers rests on three reasons: the intention to make the pilgrimage, the wish to pursue learning, and the resentment over the taking of his allotments. It is also reported that in the letter he wrote to his father Korkut said he had no claim to the sultanate and that his intention was to go on the pilgrimage and spend his life in worship. In Gökbilgin's reading, Korkut meant to leave Anatolia and go to Egypt, which he saw as a "land of peace and quiet", and to settle in Jerusalem or Damascus and occupy himself with learning and worship.

Demirtaş, on the other hand, argues that these reasons were not innocent. The first support she shows is the timing: in Muharram 915 (April 1509), when Emir Allan, the second devâtdâr of the Mamluk sultan, was about to be sent to Bayezid as envoy, news that the gravely ill Bayezid had died spread in Egypt, and a funeral prayer in absentia was even held for the sultan at the Al-Azhar mosque. When the news proved false, Emir Allan was sent instead to congratulate the sultan on his recovery (Ibn Iyas). Demirtaş says that Korkut's going to Egypt on this news can be read in two ways: either as leaving throne and crown behind, or as seeking help for throne and crown. Most writers of the period chose the first reading, and made Korkut say "I need neither sultanate nor province" at Antalya, and, in the presence of the Mamluk sultan, "Because I gave up the love of throne and crown, I left the land inherited from my forefathers."

Demirtaş objects to the telling of this second saying. Ibn Iyas, who witnessed the events, does not mention a Korkut who refused to sit on the throne beside the sultan; Âlî, who wrote nearly a century later, tells it as though he had seen it. Moreover, Korkut's later conduct contradicts these words: in March 1512 he answered favorably the call of the men of the state, "If you desire the sultanate, come quickly and join the Janissaries", came to Istanbul and sought the Janissaries' support, and after Selim ascended the throne he again answered favorably the letters of invitation written in the names of statesmen. That he sent his baggage to his father with a letter of apology also shows that he did not believe the rumor of his father's death. Demirtaş notes that the Ottoman writers put the second thesis, which they could not state openly, in the mouth of Şehzade Ahmed: when Ahmed learned that his brother Selim had crossed into Rumelia, he said to his close men, "One of our brothers, forgetting the customs of sultans in order to reach his aim, took refuge with the sultan of Egypt. Wishing for the sultanate of Rûm, he went to the Arab lands and asked help of the ruler of that country." This is a researcher's assessment and should not be taken as a final verdict; the chronicles do not show Korkut's inner world directly.

Reception at Damietta and Cairo

According to Âlî, Korkut feared throughout the voyage to meet the corsair ships of the Knights of Rhodes; thanks to a favorable wind he covered in a week a journey of a month and arrived at Damietta. Because he did not wish to set foot on Mamluk soil without the sultan's permission, he did not disembark. When the customs officers took him for a merchant and wanted to levy duty, the captain Akbaş explained that the ships and cargo belonged to Korkut Khan, son of the Ottoman sultan. Astonished, the officers asked the prince which way he would go; he said that the sultan should be informed and that he would wait until an answer came. The letter of the governor of Damietta reached the sultan Qansuh al-Ghawri while he was at a council session, and was read out in the open. The divan was pleased that the prince had not landed without permission, and it was decided to receive him. According to a detail Ibn Iyas reports, in July 1509 the sultan had the governor of Damietta brought to the capital and, on the ground that he had been wanting in the respect shown to the prince, had him beaten in his presence and fined.

The preparations in Cairo were splendid. By the list Âlî gives, nine strings of horses, nine strings of mules and twenty strings of camels were set aside to carry the prince's baggage, a hundred and fifty horses and seventy strings of camels for the baggage of his retinue, and forty strings of camels for the kitchen; nine thousand ashrafi gold pieces, nine robes of honor and forty pairs of drums and kettledrums were sent as well. The prince did not leave the ship until the reception party had reached the shore. The date of the great welcome ceremony differs in the sources: Âlî and Hammer say 9 Safer 915 (29 May 1509), the dates Ibn Iyas gives fall at the beginning of June, and the mismatches between day and date have not escaped Demirtaş. The sultan had a mansion called Berâbihiyye prepared for the prince's residence at Bulak. For the banquet, provisions such as five hundred sheep, two thousand chickens, two hundred geese, fifty quintals of honey and butter and fifty-three mudd of rice were used. Ibn Iyas writes that the hospitality was truly extravagant and was the exact opposite of Qaitbay's treatment of Cem.

The audience took place in June 1509; Âlî records 14 Safer 915 (3 June), while Ibn Iyas records the sultan's sending twenty horses on 23 Safer (12 June). The prince was mounted on a horse with a golden saddle and rode through the middle of Cairo up to the citadel. The sultan rose to his feet; in Âlî's account the prince kissed the sultan's neck and the sultan kissed the prince's eyes. Ibn Iyas ties the sultan's rising to the fact that the prince had reigned for a time. According to Âlî, the sultan invited the prince to sit with him on the throne; Korkut, saying "I have given up the love of throne and crown", did not sit, and in the end sat on a stool beside the throne. This story is transmitted only from Âlî and need not be accepted as it stands. Korkut told the sultan that he had seen the Prophet in a dream three times and had set out without his father's permission. The sultan thought it proper that he go on the pilgrimage after news that he had come to Egypt and was well had been sent to his father and his consent obtained; according to Demirtaş, this attitude is the first sign that things were not going the way the prince had hoped from the start.

Fourteen Months in Egypt

The fourteen months in Egypt were as much a surveillance as a visit. Qansuh al-Ghawri set him a daily allowance of up to five hundred hasene, while Hoca Sadeddin writes that he allotted three thousand florins each month. Ibn Iyas reports that on 1 Şevval 915 (12 January 1510) he took part in the ceremony of the Feast at the end of Ramadan, and that the sultan assigned the prince two thousand dinars a month. Korkut was invited to the mawlid, mahmil and festival ceremonies; at the banquet for the Prophet's Birthday given on 29 June 1509, the sultan seated him on his right, ahead of the Shafi'i judge. In the cold of October-November the sultan had him moved to the mansion of Eşref Canpolat in the quarter of Judge Abdülbâsıt; the prince stayed there a few days and returned to Berâbihiyye.

All the same, Korkut was not allowed to leave Cairo. He intended to go to Jerusalem; he also wished to go to Tripoli and stay there until the pilgrimage season, but when the sultan heard of this he sent men after him by ship and prevented it. He wished to join the pilgrim caravan; the sultan did not allow it, since Bayezid's approval had not arrived. An Ottoman emir who brought the forty thousand gold pieces Bayezid had sent for the poor of Mecca and Medina set out from Cairo with the mahmil on 28 January 1510; Demirtaş notes that this emir encouraged the prince to return to his homeland and that the news he brought was probably effective in keeping him from the pilgrimage. In the letters he wrote after his return to his father, to Hadım Ali Pasha and to Koca Mustafa Pasha, Korkut says that the Mamluks, though they knew at first that they liked him and would let him go where he wished, afterward stood in his way; that after his lala İskender Bey informed him that the things he wanted would be sent with a ship and a man, they never allowed him to go to Damascus; and that they even suspected he would flee and take refuge with the Safavids. In the same letters he says, "princes who come from outside like us have no standing with them; the regard shown us was for the sake of the sultan." In a letter to his lala in Antalya he says that he had brought a bow for shooting arrows but had forgotten his swords, and asks that these be sent with the ships coming to Egypt.

The sultan thought that the prince had come to ask his help in reconciling with his father, and did not wish to endanger the Ottoman-Mamluk peace. By then the two states had drawn close against the common enemy, the Safavids; the Mamluk sultan had rejected Shah Ismail's offer of union in 1502 and in 1507 had prepared an army against the Safavids. In this setting Qansuh al-Ghawri turned down those requests of Korkut that would disturb the peace with Bayezid. On 22 August 1509 he sent Emir Allan to Bayezid as envoy; Allan returned to Cairo on 7 July 1510, after about eleven months, and reported that Bayezid had treated him very well. Through the sultan's mediation the prince was pardoned. In the letter he sent to Bayezid, the sultan wrote that he regarded Korkut as his own child and that any honor done to him would be counted as done to himself; he called him a very mature and learned young man, said he did not find the idea of staying in Egypt right, and reported that in talks lasting a month he had made the prince accept that a son must obey his father.

With this letter Korkut's requests were also conveyed to his father. Saying that the climate of Antalya did not suit him, he asked to live at Alâiye; among his requests were that Antalya, Alâiye, Manavgat and the surrounding districts be given to him, that the twelve thousand florins from the Chios tribute be raised to thirty thousand or, failing that, be met from the poll tax of the Christians around Istanbul, that no lala or defterdar be sent from the center to the places under his administration, and that the appointment and dismissal of the fortress commanders be left to him. According to most of the Ottoman chronicles, the real reason for the return was the unease felt by both the prince and the sultan at the absence of the father's consent; Demirtaş, alluding to Hoca Sadeddin's image of the "Egyptian cage", writes that for a prince kept under constant watch, going home meant in effect being set free.

The Return

On 4 Rebîülâhir 916 (11 July 1510) Korkut took leave of the sultan; the sultan clothed him in a robe of honor worked with gold and gave him permission to return. The prince was sent with his baggage from his mansion at Bulak to Rosetta. The sultan set aside a fleet of twenty ships to take him to his sanjak. The Knights, as in the Cem affair, were watching the return route with corsair ships in order to draw political and material gain from Korkut too, but the prince reached Antalya without meeting these ships. The Egyptian ships stayed in the harbor of Antalya for about a week. The Knights attacked the Egyptian fleet on its return, when it lay in the Gulf of Çin near Antioch, and captured all the ships. On receiving the news, Korkut learned that the Mamluk sultan had sent Seydi Yunus to Istanbul to obtain cannon and ship materials, and informed the center that it would be right to put off his own move.

After returning to Antalya, Korkut sent his father a letter of apology with gifts; Bayezid accepted the apology and left him in his old sanjak. When the envoy of the Egyptian sultan came to Istanbul, the prince's allotments were raised to forty times a hundred thousand akçe out of respect for the sultan. Not content with this, Korkut complained of the climate of Antalya and wished to go to the Aydın region; he asked that Tire be given in place of Antalya, and İzmir, Ayasuluk and Menemen in place of Alâiye, and said that if his requests were not accepted he would go again to Egypt or to Rhodes. On learning that Saruhan would be given to his younger brother Selim, he wrote to his sister that this meant Selim was being set above him, and said, "If they show no regard from now on, shall I go to Egypt again, or flee to Rhodes?" He did not do this, but left Antalya without permission and went to Manisa (Zilhicce 916, March 1511).

The Şahkulu Revolt and the Journey to Istanbul

Korkut's journey toward Manisa coincided with the attacks of Şahkulu Baba Tekeli, who had raised a great revolt in the Teke region. His men and belongings coming after him were attacked; İbn Kemal also says that this revolt was the reason for his sudden move from Antalya to Manisa. According to Kılıç, the Shiite rebels of Teke attacked the prince and his retinue, and the prince took refuge in Manisa Castle. In a report by the judge of Bursa dated 3 May 1511, however, it is stated that Korkut marched against Şahkulu, was defeated at Alaşehir, fled and shut himself in Manisa Castle. Because of the successive defeats of the Ottoman forces and the disorder that followed, the sanjak of Saruhan was given to him again.

From Manisa Korkut began to watch the movements of his brothers Ahmed and Selim closely. He was anxious about Ahmed's threats against him, and corresponded with Selim, who had crossed to the Rumelian side, giving him advice. The events between Selim and their father, Ahmed's coming as far as the vicinity of Istanbul and then turning back, and Prince Mehmed's acting on his own in Karaman alarmed him further. When Ahmed moved against him, Korkut, with a few men, suddenly went to Mihalıç and from there by sea to Istanbul, took refuge with the Janissaries and settled in a mosque there; the next day he was the guest in the house of a Janissary named Yazıcı Kemal. Hoca Sadeddin ties this arrival to the invitation to the throne given in haste by certain statesmen who, as Selim's supporters multiplied, feared for their own fate. Kılıç, for her part, reports that he came in disguise and on the pretext of longing for the city, wanting to take the throne with the Janissaries' support; there are also those who write that he found almost no supporters in the capital.

Not finding the support he needed among the Janissaries, Korkut told them that he did not want the sultanate, that he had come to prevent Ahmed from ascending the throne, and that he would even seize the money his father was sending to Ahmed and distribute it among them. When he met his father on 6 April 1512 he explained that he had come to Istanbul to escape from Ahmed. The money he distributed and his words that he had no quarrel with Selim were conveyed to Selim, who was near Istanbul. According to the sources of the period, Korkut went as far as Çekmece to meet Selim, talked with him for a while on horseback, and came as far as Edirnekapı and parted. According to a Venetian source, the next day, without waiting for the accession ceremony, the Janissaries secretly put him on a ship so that no harm should come to him and sent him to Manisa. Although he was older than his brother, Korkut agreed to leave the sultanate to him and took part in the welcoming ceremony at Yenibahçe. Selim ascended the throne in 1512.

Return to Manisa and Death

Korkut remained loyal to Selim at Manisa and informed him of Ahmed's attempt to make an alliance with him. But his frequent emphasis on his loyalty in the letters he sent gave rise, in court circles and in the sultan himself, to the opinion that he was eager for the sultanate. In a letter to Selim he voiced his anxiety that Selim thought ill of him and reproached him; Selim gave this letter a cold reply. Selim and the administrators about him regarded Korkut's existence as dangerous to the office of the sultanate. According to Kılıç, Korkut's request for an increase in the places under his administration was rejected and Selim decided that he still harbored ambition for the sultanate.

According to Hoca Sadeddin's Tâcü't-tevârîh, Korkut was done away with because he fell for the forged letters inviting him to the sultanate which Selim sent, and answered them favorably. Feridun Emecen sees this as the reflection of an effort to place the matter on a lawful footing; the detail should therefore not be taken as an established fact.

Learning that Selim was marching against him with ten thousand men, Korkut, with his loyal companion Piyâle at his side, fled Manisa in secret and headed for the Teke region in order to go to Egypt. According to an anonymous Ottoman history in Greek, he wanted instead to go toward İzmir and Bergama, put to sea and take refuge at Rhodes. He was caught in a cave at İstanoz (Korkut-ili) and, while being taken to Bursa, was strangled near the town of Eğrigöz (Emet) by the chief gatekeeper Sinan Ağa. The sources conflict over the place of death: some records give Emet, others Eğriboz. Here Emet is taken as the basis because of its more detailed record; no document has been seen that would settle the matter between the two accounts. The muhallefât register listing the belongings he had with him when he was killed is dated 5 Muharram 919 (13 March 1513), which shows that the date of death is either the day the register was drawn up or a day before. His body was taken to Bursa and buried on 17 March at the Tomb of Orhan Gazi.

Filiz Kılıç cites in a couplet what the prince said while begging his brother for his life, that he had his eye on nothing and wanted only a small place where he could converse with the two people he loved: tek bana Birâder'le Piyâle hem-sohbet olsun / kâ'ilem yirüm taht-ı câhdan bedel taht-ı çâh yâ bir kûşe-i hân-kâh olsun (Let only Birâder and Piyâle be my companions; I would be content that, in place of the throne of rank, my seat be a well-side seat or a corner of a dervish lodge; the wording of the second line is obscure and this rendering is approximate). This account has the character of a tradition; its source is the tezkire tradition.

His Tie to Amasya

Korkut's political fate was settled where the misfortune of a prince and the severity of a dynastic custom met. Amasya appears in this story twice: as his birthplace and as the sanjak of his elder brother Ahmed. His transfer to Antalya at Ahmed's prompting shows that the governor of the city where he was born had a hand in his fate. As for his calligraphy lessons, it is recorded that he took them as a small child in Amasya from Şeyh Hamdullah Efendi. No work, endowment or architectural trace of his has been identified in Amasya; the tie is therefore made through his birthplace and his father's sanjak. No firm document has been found.

What is known of Korkut lies in chronicles, tezkires and manuscripts. The manuscripts of his Arabic works are kept in libraries such as the Süleymaniye; his divan was published by Filiz Kılıç in 1996 and prepared anew by Emine Atmaca in 2020. Many princes at the Ottoman court wrote verse, but very few left works of their own authorship; Korkut, among that few, continues to be remembered for his pen despite his political defeat.

Chronology

1467-1470: Born in Amasya (exact year unknown).

1479-1480: Sent to Istanbul for circumcision at the wish of his grandfather Mehmed II, and kept there.

3 May 1481: Death of Mehmed II; Korkut becomes deputy sultan until his father arrives, for a period varying from two weeks to seventeen days.

December 1483 (Zilkade 888): Appointed governor of the sanjak of Saruhan (Manisa).

October 1488: Archival record that Sinan Bey was put in place of his lala Sarı Ahmed Bey at Manisa.

1501: Sends troops from Manisa to help Mytilene; Hadım Ali Pasha becomes grand vizier the same year.

1502: Transferred to the sanjak of Teke (Antalya).

1504: One of his sons dies in a plague outbreak.

1508: Writes the Kitâbu fi't-Tasavvuf and presents it to his father; in November 1508 a berat is issued concerning his allowance and the appointment of an official.

Late April-May 1509: Leaves Antalya in secret for Egypt; Bayezid learns of it on 18 May 1509.

29 May-June 1509: Welcomed with great ceremony in Cairo; received in audience by the Mamluk sultan.

12 January 1510: Attends the ceremony of the Feast at the end of Ramadan with the sultan.

11 July 1510: Sets out on the return with the Mamluk sultan's permission.

March 1511: Leaves Antalya without permission and goes to Manisa; the Şahkulu revolt falls in this period.

6 April 1512: Meets his father in Istanbul; meets Selim at Çekmece and then returns to Manisa.

13 March 1513 (5 Muharram 919): Strangled near Emet; buried on 17 March near the Tomb of Orhan Gazi at Bursa.

Sources

Academic studies

  • Emecen, Feridun. "Korkut, Şehzade." TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi, vol. 26, 2002 (islamansiklopedisi.org.tr/korkut-sehzade). islamansiklopedisi.org.tr
  • Demirtaş, Funda. "Osmanlı Kroniklerine Göre Şehzade Korkud'un Mısır Macerası." Erciyes Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Enstitüsü Dergisi, XLVII, 2019/2, pp. 67-91.
  • Furat, Ahmet Hamdi. "Osmanlı Hânedanında Şâfiî Bir Fakîh: Şehzade Korkud." Ekev Akademi Dergisi, 44, 2010, pp. 193-211.

Other sources

  • Kılıç, Filiz. "Harîmî, Şehzâde Korkud." Türk Edebiyatı İsimler Sözlüğü (teis.yesevi.edu.tr), 2014; updated 2020. teis.yesevi.edu.tr
  • Kılıç, Filiz. "Osmanlı Hanedanından Bir Şair: Şehzade Korkut." bilig, no. 2, Summer 1996, pp. 203-219.
  • Sakıp Sabancı Museum, Şehzade Korkut artist page (sakipsabancimuzesi.org). sakipsabancimuzesi.org
  • Wikipedia (English), "Şehzade Korkut" (auxiliary source only). en.wikipedia.org

Online sources