TÜRK KÜLTÜRÜNDE HAŞHAŞ (AFYON BİTKİSİ) KULLANIMI (11-14. YÜZYIL ANADOLU’SUNDA)

Abstract

In addition to being consumed as a food product in the Middle Ages, the poppy was recommended to people as a medicinal drug to urge sleep, aid digestion, and relieve coughs and diseases related to the stomach and intestine. The poppy’s seeds, tunic, and milk have been used since ancient times and in the Middle Ages, they were used in madrasahs, dervish lodges, zawiyahs, and folk medicine due to their sedative, analgesic, analgesic, stupefying and also recreational properties. It is seen that poppy, which is mostly known as a food, medicine, and mind-numbing feature, has been used as an organic fertilizer, energy, commercial and industrial product, and as a motif in works of art over time. This study deals with the statement and usage areas of poppy which is an important cultural factor in historical, medical, and sufistic works in the Middle Ages. It is aimed to determine why and how poppy was used in the historical period in the Middle Ages, especially in Anatolia. In the study covering the 11-14. centuries, mixed research methods, literature review, and text analysis techniques were used. This article is important because it is the first study to address the statement of poppy in historical, medical, and Sufistic sources about and the reasons for its use with a holistic approach when considering the context of Anatolia. Few academic studies shed light on the position and development of poppy in folk medicine in the Middle Ages, so it is thought that this study will contribute to the literature. It is also hoped that it will contribute scientifically to studies on Anatolian medical history regarding the dysfunction of the mind and blinding of the mind due to drug use and research on Medieval Turkish history. After conquering Anatolia, the Turks continued the thousands-year-old poppy culture and used poppy mostly as food and medicine. The poppy was mentioned in different ways in historical, medical, and Sufistic sources about the Middle Ages. It was mentioned to exemplify and explain a subject, to express its harms to human mental and spiritual health, or its benefits were stated provided that it was used in moderation. While the use of poppy as food does not pose a problem, the use of opium poppy outside the fields of pharmacy and medicine causes physical, mental, and spiritual health problems.

Keywords

• middle ages
• poppy
• opium poppy (drug)
• 11-14. century
• anatolia
• treatment