DİVAN ŞİİRİNDE FARKLI TÜRLERİYLE YER ALAN BİR SAVAŞ ALETİ: KILIÇ

Abstract

Turks, known as the army-nation, have always been famous for their military abilities on battlefields since their emergence in the history pages. Turks made some warfare tools used in the wars almost as a part of their body, and besides their bravery and heroism on battlefields, they also drawn attention with their skills in using these tools. Even though it has become a cultural and historical motif in the modern age, the sword, which is the most important weapon used on battlefields for centuries, has a special place for Turks. Turks are a community that has been manufacturing swords and using it with dexterity on battlefields since old times. The sword has always been one of the most important warfare tools for them, along with the bow and arrow. Turks, who used the sword in wartime, sheathed it in times of peace and took pen instead. In this regard, various literary works have been written in an allegorical style to compare pen and sword which, are always the integral parts of the Turkish society. Apart from these works written in divan literature with mesnevi verse style titled “the debate of sword and pen”, it is also seen that the sword takes place in different forms in many poems. In divan poetry, the beauty elements of the beloved are often described by likening them to warfare tools. The sword, which is an important element between lover and beloved in divan literature, appears as a warfare tool in which the beloved’s eyelash and dimple are likened to it. In addition, when divan literature is examined more closely, it is seen that the poets put the sword into their poems with all its details and many varieties. Poets who were conversant with the sword, which was the most important warfare tool of the period they lived, never refrained from using its different types in their poems. When we look at these types of swords mentioned in divan poetry, we come across different sword names such as “Hindî”, “Mısrî”, “Dımışkî”, “Kirmanî”, “firengî”, “gaddâre”, “meç”, “murassa”, “cevher-dâr”, “belârek”, “zer-nişân”, “siyeh-tab”. These swords, which are included in divan poetry, are generally named based on the place of production, the material of manufacture, the ornaments on them, their shape and sharpness. On the other hand, it is seen that the sword with its different types took place in poems until the 18th century. It can be thought that the invention of firearms in the 18th century and the usage of these weapons in the Ottoman Empire could be considered effective in this situation. As indicated in our study, it is noteworthy that the poets who used sword types in their poems were mostly from the 16th century. These sword types, which are forgotten nowadays, can be seen clearly in the poems of divan poets. Because not only Turks were an army-nation but also divan poets did not ignore the life around them. Divan literature, in which even the sword can find a place for itself with its different types, is actually a unique treasure for Ottoman historians in this respect. Just as literary researchers need to make use of historical documents and texts, historians may come across some political, social and military information in the literary texts. In this article, it will be examined through the couplets which sword types were reflected to Turkish literature by poets in the Ottoman period and how these poets used these swords in their literal works.

Keywords

• türkler
• osmanlı
• divan şiiri
• kılıç
• kılıç türleri