Dö c u ı ruı i Tİ 151 > /, j > c •/ L t »t f f<?

E S İhl> E "Tatars" (Mongols) of the thirteenth Century D E S 1 9 8 4 . i 0 4

E M E L ESIN (Istanbul)

D E S C R I P T I O N S O F T U R K S A N D " T A T A R S " ( M O N G O L S ) O F T H E T H I R T E E N T H C E N T U R Y , I N S O M E A N A T O L I A N SOURCES

/. Turks and Tatars in the verses and chronicles of Djalâluddîn Rûmî (ca. 604-672 H./1207-1273)

I

1

Tek-Esin Vakfı

Tek-Esin Vakfı

DR. E M E L E S İ N

K Ü T Ü P H A N E S İ

DR. EMEL ESİN KOLEKSİYONU

Do C u t Wt >7i ft) > j , j> c m i*x f ?8 V~

Descriptions of Turks and "Tatars" (Mongols) of the thirteenth Century

EMEL E s i N (Istanbul)

D E S C R I P T I O N S O F T U R K S A N D " T A T A R S " ( M O N G O L S ) O F T H E T H I R T E E N T H C E N T U R Y , I N S O M E A N A T O L I A N SOURCES

Tek-Esin Vakfı

Tek-Esin Vakfı

Descriptions of Turks and "Tatars" (Mongols) of the thirteenth Century

EMEL ESIN (Istanbul)

D E S C R I P T I O N S O F T U R K S A N D " T A T A R S " ( M O N G O L S ) O F T H E T H I R T E E N T H C E N T U R Y , I N S O M E A N A T O L I A N SOURCES

/. Turks and Tatars in the verses and chronicles of Djalâluddîn Rûmî (ca. 604-672 H.I1207-1273)

Djalâluddîn Rûmî, who through his grandmother the Khvarazmian princess,1

was at least one - quarter Turkish and composed Turkish verses,2 was naturally better acquainted with Turks than with "Tatars". He describes in his poetry various Turkish tribes of his native Balkh and of Anatolia with striking realism although often in metaphoric guise. One almost 'sees' the Turkmen tribes, moving in a rythm compared to the migrations of birds, from their kislak (winter abode) to the yayla (mountain pastures).3 When the summary alacuk is pitched, barking dogs defend its precincts against strangers, until the Turkmen, with a thundering voice like the lion's roar, chases them away to let the visitor approach.4 The humble fare of the Turkmen, tutmac (noodles) and rare meat, is compared by Djalâluddîn Rûmî with the grace of Gad, attained through ardu­ous merit. In contrast to Rümî's friendly mention of the Turkmen, the "Guzz" (Oguz) are seen as bloodthirsty, like 'Üdj (Og, son of Anak)5 , evidently in reminiscence of the Oguz raids to Balkh in 548—61/1151—65.6 The home land of the Turks - including the Turkmen - appears to be the land of Khitâ,7 a term apparently interpreted in the sense given to it in the eleventh century when Khitâ/Khitây included not only Northern China, but Turkish lands not yet penetrated by Islam.8 This concept, although corrected by Rashîduddîn, was nevertheless propagated down to the Timurid period. "The Turk of Khitâ" is described by Rûmî as inexperienced in Near-Eastern duplicity and an easy prey to dishonest merchants.9 A Turkish prince, qualified as a'djami(inexperienced), is seen, after an early morning cup of wine, clamouring for a minstrel, to wake him up from his stupor.10 The repetitious laments of the Near-Eastern bard get however on the nerves of the Turkish prince who threatens to decapitate him. The name of the Yağma tribe, interpreted in the signification of plunder, is played upon in allegories in which the Yağma warrior, brave like a lion, pillages the enemies of Islam.11 The Turks are often hailed by Rûmî with the epithets of " L i o n " and "Sword" (arslan and kîtic), possibly in connection with the name Kîlîc Arslan, repeated in the Selcukid dynasty.12 The bellicose habits of the "Terkens" (the Turkish queen-regents who had extensive powers) is however

Tek-Esin Vakfı

Tek-Esin Vakfı

Emel Esin

disapproved and Rümı enjoins them to remain at home and leave heroism to the Turks.1 3

The Selcukid dynasty again may have been meant with the metaphor of the "Turk of the firmament" (the sun) who, riding his chariot - drawn by the constellation Taurus - shouts to announce that he is about to conquer the w o r l d . 1 4 O n the other hand, the fair-skinned Turks and Anatolians (Rümîs) were, in Near-Eastern literature, solar and diurnal symbols, in contrast to the dark, hence nocturnal Indians.15 The Turks are, in Rümî's poetry, also the embodiment of love, which like a burning candle, draws and consumes in its flame, the moth-like admirers.16 Love, likened to a Turk, rides victoriously to the city of Djand in Türkistan (the citadel of the eponym Selçuk).17 The "peri­l ike" Turks 1 8 are represented in mixed mongolid-europid features, with a radiant lunar face 'a rosy skin' compared to the pomegranate blossom and narrowly-slit eyes.19 The good looks of some Turkish tribes are particularly emphasized. Dr. M . Cunbur who made an extensive research in this subject, noted the Cigil, whose beauty equalled that of the painted images of their land and who were dressed in brocades, as well as the Turks of the regions of Taraz (on the Talas valley), of the Kıpçak and of Bulgar,20 as some of the most often mentioned in Rümî's allegories of worldly temptations. A fair maid of Bulgar, remarking that her lover, although in her company, still recited poetry in which he complained of the cruelty of the unyielding beloved, enjoined the poetically-talented admirer to leave her and to seek his beloved in Kütü.21 Kütü, an unidentified place, has been the object of various comments. The Turkish commentator Isma'il Ankaravî (died H . 1041/1631) supposed that Kütü must be a city far removed from Bulgar and that the maid from Bulgar represents worldly love, while Kütü is a parable of divine love.22 Elsewhere however, Rûmî cites Kütü as a city where people with shallow hearts live.2 3 Ankaravî then concludes that Kuutü was perhaps the name of a city or of cities in general (like the Mongolian khoto?) or perphaps a metaphor for the world, in which case the Turkish significance of the word kutu would have been intended (receptacle, category, professional group).2 4 Nicholson identifies Ktü as the Uygur capital Koço. 2 5 During the Mongol period some Uygur dignitaries including (some­what later) a son of the Buddhist Sisi Baksî, had come to Anatolia and Rûmî might have been acquainted with natives of Koco.2 6

Djalâluddîn Rûmî had left Balkh before the Mongol invasion which occurred there in 617-18/1220-21. He therefore must have come into contact with "Tatars" only in Selcukid Turkey, when the Mongol incursions, first repelled in 1231-32, became frequent and culminated in the victory of Baycu Noyan in 1241-43. Nevertheless, the slight acquaintance with Mongols is discernible in the scarcity of reports on visits of Tatars in Aflâkî's chronicles and in the almost

Descriptions of Turks and "Tatars" (Mongols) of the thirteenth Century éû3

legendary aspect in which the land of the Tatars is evoked by Rûmî. The Turks of Khitâ are said to perfume their hair with the "musk of the Tatar country", which must have been located somewhere near Khotan, indicated elsewhere as grazing-ground of the musk-deer.27 The accounts of the Mongol invasion of Central Asia were yet often narrated among the refugees from Balkh living in Konya and Djalâluddîn's eyes overflew with tears, when the destruction of his native city was recalled.28 But Djalâluddîn's deep faith in Providence saw, even in the calamnity which had befallen the Muslims, the promise of a new dawn, the conversion of the Mongols to Islam. This hope may have been roused by some Mongols who became his disciples. The father of Nüruddîn Ğacâ, as well as Nüruddîn himself (died 1272), a prince of Kırşehir in Anatolia, in Selcukid, later in Mongol service, had "Tatar" connections29 (Nüruddîn's wakfiyya was written both in Arabic and Mongolian and signed, by witnesses, several of whom were Mongol dignitaries and their nökers). Djalâluddîn saw in the Mongols the Turks mentioned in an apocryphal hadlth, who as army of God, marched from their Northern lands, to punish the3 0 sinners. The hope of the conversion of the Mongols to Islam was expressed, according to commentators, in several instances. Such are the verses which allude to the martyrdom of Nadjmuddîn Kubra of Ürgenc, in H . 618/1221, who died, holding firmly the forelock of the Mongol who killed h i m : 3 1

"We are the munificent ones who hold gems" " N o t paupers who hold nought but vo id" " W i t h one hand we drain the cup of martyrdom" " W i t h the other hand, we grasp the forelock of the unbeliever".

A gazal, recited by Ulug 'Ârif Ğelebi, Djalâluddîn's grandson, in pre­sence of Gazan Khan, was equally interpreted by the monarch as a prediction of the Mongols' conversion:32

"Thou fearest the Tatar, in thine ignorance of G o d " " I advance towards the Tatar, as bearer of two hundred standards of faith"

Kazan (Gazan) Khan saw himself as the standard-bearer of Islam and had these verses woven to a fabric from which his enthronement gown was made.

O n the occasion of 'Ârif Celebi's visit to Kazan Khan, İltüzmis Khatun, a daughter of Kutluğ Temür Küregen Kongurat33 , who had been khatun of Abaka and Kaykhatu Khans, organized a sema in her tent (Mavlavî rites in which mystic gyrations were performed to the sound of religious music). This seems to support Aflâkî's claim that Keygatu/Keykhatu had entered Konya only as pilgrim, because he had seen Djalâluddîn Rümî's spirit in dream and the saintly poet had requested from him not to molest his c i ty . 3 4

Tek-Esin Vakfı

Tek-Esin Vakfı

¿ 0 4 Emel Esin

II. The "Tatars" in the Velayet-name (chronicles of a saint) of Hadji Bektas Veil (diedH. 669/1270)

Although the available copy of the chronicles of Hadji Bektas, the redaction of which is ascribed to the fifteenth century author Uzun Firdevsi, is only dated in H . 1034/1624,35 the manuscript reflects events even earlier than the thirteenth century and gives also a vivid image of the "Tatars". The legendary style of the chronicles, in which the sequence of time is wholly ignored, is in contrast with the realism of some descriptions, including those concerning the Tatars. Mr . A . Golpinarli, the authoritative scholar of Anatolian mysticism, outlines the ana­chronisms in the genealogy attributed to Hadji Bektas, but also draws attention to their value from the point of view of the historian of culture.36 The saint appears as a descendant in the fourth generation of the 'Al id Musa ul-Kázim who had died in H . 183/799, five centuries earlier. Hadji Bektas's forefathers are depicted as the kings of Khorasan, perhaps a reminiscence of the 'Al id kingdoms of Tabaristan, in the I X t h - X t h centuries. The 'Abbasid caliph Al-Ma'mün whose benevolence to the 'Alids caused his end, is accused of murdering one of them. The genealogy, even if fictitious, points to links with 'Al id circles of Khorasan. Golpinarli also notes the connections with the Kalandar order, Tukan, may in Golpinarfi's opinion, point either to Tüs in Khorasan, or to Turfan, in Eastern Turkistan. In this latter case, the connections would be extended to the lore of the 'Al id imams, in the tadhkira literature of Eastern Turkistan.3 8 Hadji Bektas is said to have been initiated by Ahmed of Yesi, the saint of Turkistan (died H . 566/1162).39 The episode of the sojourn in a cave of Badakhsán, guarded by a dragon (which rose to celestial heights), from which Hadji Bektas punished the people of Badakhsán with a drought,4 0 is particularly evocative of the immemorial dracontine legends of Central Asia.41 Kutbuddln Haydar, the son of a king of Turkistan who became a disciple of Ahmed of Yesi and was sent by him to Khorasan42, appears also in the chronicles of Hadji Bektas.43

The chronicles attribute the Mongol invasion to the curse of the saint of Urgenc, Nadjmuddln Kubrá, killed during the Mongol invasion,44 who how­ever is here a friend of the Mongols.45 Angered by the slight shown to his work by the Caliph of Baghdad, Nadjmuddln induces Óingiz Khan to send his son Kávüs (Hiilegii) to punish the Caliph. Golpinarli remarks that the same action is ascribed elsewhere to the astronomer Nasiruddln of Tüs.4 6 After Baghdad, Kávus intends to occupy Rüm (Anatolia) but is stopped by the intervention of Hadji Bektas, who sends as deputy Kara-tonl/ Dján Baba (Dján Baba, clad in black), to Erzindjan. Kávus and his Khatun who are Christians decide upon an ordeal, invoking God's judgment between Christianity and Islam. Dján Baba

Descriptions of Turks and "Tatars" (Mongols) of the thirteenth Century ¿ 0 5

emerges unhurt from a boiling cauldron. He requests that the Christian priest should also be tried with him by fire. Both step into flames and the Christian priest is consumed, with the exception of the fingers with which he had grasped Djân Baba. The Khatun (possibly Dokuz Khatun, the Christian wife of Hülegü is meant) attempts unsuccessfully to poison Djân Baba. The Tatars then confess to Islam and request a territory from the Selcukid Sultan 'Alâuddîn. The name of this monarch, as well as the mention of Erzindjan, s^m to suggest some connec­tion wi th the events of 1231 -32 during which 'Alauddln Kayqubad had checked a Mongol incursion from Erzurum 4 7 . 'Alauddln is sai4 in the chronicles, to have bestowed to the Tatars the mountains of Sivas and Kayseriyye as yayla (pasture) and the area between Ğorum and Ankara, as kislak (winter abode).

The Tatar lords then held a toy (festivity) in the plain of Malya, between Kîzîlça Khalvet (the Red Hermitage) and Tekke Kaya, to pay homage to Hadji Bektas. Both these places were abodes of the saint. The names of the Malya plain, as well as of a "Red hermitage" (Kızıl şavma'a) occur in the vakfiyya of the prince of Kîrsehir Nuruddîn Ğâca48 , a disciple of Djalâluddln Rüml4 9 , who as narrated by A f l l k l , had also met Hadji Bektas. The same episode is repeated in the latter's chronicles, Nüruddîn's surname being however changed into Khodja.5 0 One may conclude with Gross5 1 that the "Tatars" of the Hadji Bektas chronicles must have lived in the neighbourhood of Kırşehir and that the Mongols enumerated in the vakfiyya of Nüruddîn Ğâca were among them.

The chronicles state that the "Tatars", although Muslims, had "idols" which they concealed.52 the "idols" were sent to Tatar colonies, wrapped within a loaf of bread. Aware of this, Hadji Bektas sent his disciple Höy Ata (Father Hoy) to the palace of the Mongol king who had succeeded to Kâvus. The mention of "idols", together with the name Höy, recalls Rasiduddln's report of the " idol (or Buddha) temples of Khöy" 5 3 , a city on the border of Anatolia and Adhar-baydjân. Höy Ata found the "idols" which he placed on a heap of logs to which he set fire. He throned in ritual bagdaP* posture, on the flaming logs. Awed by this sight, the Tatars hastened to produce the hidden "idols" which they threw in the same fire and all confessed to Islam. Höy Ata lived and died among the Tatars and his tomb is said to be in the village of Baliseykh. The Mongols had recognized in the posture and wonders of the Turkish Islamic seykh the tradi­tion of the Inner-Asian holy man.

1 See Aflâkî, Manâkib ul-'ârifin, T . Yazıcı edition (Ankara, 1961), p. 2. 2 See M. Mansuroğlu, "Mevlânâ Celâleddîn Rûmî'de turkçe beyt ve ibareler", Turk diliarasürma

yiltıği (Ankara, 1954).

Tek-Esin Vakfı

Tek-Esin Vakfı

¿06 Emel Esin

3 M. Cunbur, "Mevlânâ'nın eserlerinde Turk boyları", Bildiriler, I. Mevlâna semineri (Ankara, 1973), p. 59.

4 R. A. Nicholson, The Mathnawi of Jalâluddin Rûmi (London, 192b), verses V/2940-bO, Alacuk, tutmaç: see G . Clauson, An Etymological dictionary of pre-Thirteenth century Turkish (Oxford, 1972), s.v.

5 Nicholson, op. cit. in note 4, verses 11/3046, V/78. b Ibn ul-Athîr, Al-Kâmilfi't-târikh (Cairo, H . 1348) X I , pp. 176-83. 7 See note 4 supra. 8 P. Pelliot, Notes to Marco Polo (Paris, 1959), I, p. 217 (reference to Kâsgarî). Cf. K. Jahn, Die

China Geschichte des Rasiduddin (Wien, 1971), 19. For the Timurid period significance, see D. Ross, Mirzâ Haidar Dughlat's Târikh i-Rashidi (London, 1895), index, .Khitay".

9 Djalalûddîn Rûmî, Mathnavi Ankaravî edition (Istanbul, 1257 FL) , V I , pp. 401-407. 10 Ibid., V I , pp. 151-58. 11 Cunbur, op. cit. in note 3, p. 59. 12 Djalalûddîn Rûmî, Dîvân, lithographic edition (Lucknow, H . 1302), pp. 721-22. 13 Cunbur, p. 85. 14 Ibid., p. 82. 15 Nicholson, op. cit. in note 4, verse 1/190 and Rûmî, Dîvân, op. cit. in note 12, p. 216. 16 See notes 14, 15 sup. 17 Cunbur, p. 76. 18 Cunbur, p. 82. 19 Ibid., p. 74. Nicholson, verses 11/3149, 01/4131. Rûmî, Dîvân, p. 88. 20 Cunbur, 56-57, 68-71. 21 Nicholson, verses III/1414, V/886. 22 Rûmî, Mathnavi, Ankaravî ed., I I I , p. 232. 23 Ibid., V , p. 886. 24 Clauson, s.v. 25 Nicholson, English translation, note to verse III/1414. 26 F. Sümer, .Anadolu'da Moğollar", Selçuklu ara\tırmalari dergisi, I (Ankara, 1970), 16, 22, 82,

84, 92, 95, 114. 27 Tatar musk: Cunbur, 63. Musk of Khotan: Nicholson, distich V/2473-74. 28 Aflâkî, op. cit. in note 1, p. 16. 29 Ibid., 134, 497-98. Rümî's letters to A. R. Akyürek, Mektübât-i Celâluddîn Rûmî (istanbul,

1937), s.v. index. O n Nüruddîn and Mongol witnesses, see A. Temir, Kırşehir emîri Caca-oğlu Nûr el-Dîn'in 1272 târihti arapça-mogolca vakfiyesi (Ankara, 1959), 200-206 (on Nüruddîn), 178-219 (Mongol witnesses of the valçfiyya).

30 Aflâkî, 981. 31 See W. Barthold, Turkestan v epoxu Mongol'skago nasestviya I, (Moscow, 1900), p. 163, the

biography of Nadjmuddîn Kubrâ, as given in the Sadjarat ul-Atrâk, Add. 2618 of the British Museum.

32 Aflâkî, 848-49. 33 O n İltüzmis Khatun see Rasiduddin Façllullah, DjâmT ut-tavârîkh, ed. A. Alizâde, III (Baku,

1957), pp. 92, 231,360, 363. 34 Aflâkî, 331-32,611-13, 848-59. 35 A. Gölplnarlî, Manâkib-i Hünkâr If aâ Bektaf-'t Velî (istanbul, 1958), pp. I - X X X V I . 36 Ibid., pp. 99-110. 37 See Ross, op. cit. in note 9, index, s.v.

Descriptions of Turks and "Tatars" (Mongols) of the thirteenth Century *07

38 Gôlpînarlî, op. cit. in note 35, p. 151. Literature on 'Alid imâms of Eastern Turkistan: E . Blochet, " L a Conquête des états nestoriens d'Asie Centrale par les Shi'ites", Revue de l'Orient chrétien, 25 (Paris, 1925-26). I owe this reference to the kindness of Prof. Richard.

39 Gôlpînarlî, fols. 30-36. 40 Ibid. fol. 28 verso.

41 See E . Esin, „The dracontine arch and the apotropaic mask in Turkish symbolism", Art and

archaeology research papers, I V (London, 1974). 42 'Alï Shïr Navâ"î, Nesâ'im ul-mababbe, ed. K. Eraslan (Istanbul, 1979), p. 383. 43 Gôlpînarlî, fols. 27-30. 44 See note 31 sup. 45 Gôlpînarlî, fols. 81 verse 94. 46 Gôlpînarlî, pp. 117-18. 47 O . Turan, „Keykubâd I " , Islam Ansiklopedisi (Istanbul, 1955) pp. 653-54. 48 Temir, op. cit. in note 29. ms K i, line 14; ms K 2, line 47.

49 See note 29 sup. 50 Gôlpînarlî, pp. 113-15 (note to fol. 60 v.).

51 E . Gross, Das Vilajet-nâme des Haggi Bektasch (Leipzig, 1927). Nûruddîn's Vakfiyya : see note

29 sup. 52 Gblpînarti, fols. 91-94. 53 Rasiduddin, op. cit. in note 33, p. 90. 54 O n the bagdas and other postures which appear in Turkish Buddhist texts and their extension to

dervish orders, see E . Esin, .Oldrug-turug", Kunst des Orients (Berlin, 1971/72).

Tek-Esin Vakfı

Tek-Esin Vakfı