Abstract
AN EXAMPLE OF REFLECTION OF POLITICAL LIFE IN CLASSICAL LITERATURE: SULEYMAN-NAMAH OF FİRDEVSÎ-İ RÛMÎ (14-15. VOLUMES)
In this study, the reflection of the political atmosphere of the period in which it was written was rendered on Firdevsî-i Rûmî's Suleyman-namah-i Kabir. Firdevsî benefited from many sources for his work, which was the subject of the life of Prophet Solomon and presented to Sultan Bayezid. One of these highlights is the Torah. An important part of the personality and events in the work originate from Torah. Again, the work contains many epic and legendary elements. It is seen that the political events of the period in which they were written had a very important place in Suleyman-namah and were the source of the fiction of the work. For this reason, in the study, it was aimed to reveal the effect of the political atmosphere of the period on the Suleyman-namah and the study was limited to the volumes 14-15th of the work.
In the 14th and 15th volumes, the ascending of Prophet Solomon and the struggle for the throne are explained. According to the Torah, there is no struggle for throne that Prophet Solomon experienced. Despite this, the fact that Firdevsî had set up such a struggle for throne brings to mind the events between Bâyezid - who the work was presented to him- and his brother Cem Sultan. Firdevsî chose to explain this struggle over the life of the Prophet Solomon. Many issues that were contained in the book such as the Abbasid caliph, which played an important role in the Islamic World of the period- even though it was symbolic- the issue of the massacre of the siblings, influence of the queen mother's on politics, the manners of the palace and state, the ways of punishment, the condolence, enthronement, ambassador acceptance ceremonial etc. reflects the politic atmosphere of the period. All these examples reveal the fact that Firdevsî, who has dominated the historian side, included and evaluated the events of his period over the life of Prophet Solomon. Likewise, it is a good example to the extent to which the social and political lives of their periods were effective in the works written in the classical literature tradition.
Keywords
Clasical Turkish literature, Firdevsî-i Rûmî, Suleymân-nâme, reflections of political life.