Journal of Ottoman Legacy Studies (Nov 2020)
III. SELİM DÖNEMİ OSMANLI DENİZCİLİĞİNİN XVIII. YÜZYIL DİVAN ŞİİRİNE YANSIMALARI
Abstract
Navigation which was developed especially with the conquerring of the Karesi Principality to the Ottomans started in the Ottoman Empire in 1354; upon the conquest of Gallipoli, opening point to the seas, the tendency of Ottomans towards Rumelia and the seas increased. A new momentumin maritime was achieved when Fatih Sultan Mehmed transferred the Ottoman fleet to the Golden Horn after the conquest of Istanbul and gave importance to the construction of the new navy. The Ottoman Empire accessed to Mediterranean Sea, Black Seas and Aegean Sea upon conquering of Crimea firstly and then the conquest of Euboea and Albania. After the peace treaty signed with the Venetians, Yavuz Sultan Selim conquered Syria in 1516 and Egypt in 1517, the Ottomans dominated the Indian Ocean through both the Mediterranean and the Red Sea. The victory of Preveze in 1538, the Cerbe in 1560, the conquest of Cyprus in 1571 reinforced the Ottoman rule of the Mediterranean. In 1645, the Ottoman made sail to Crete. However, the previous great victories lagged behind. Even though the works such as Tuhfetü’l-Kibâr Fî Esfâri’l-Bihâr were written by Kâtip Çelebi in order to get power from those days in that times, the victory of Crete, which struggled the Ottoman Empire for 24 years, was hardly achieved and the next process was defending to keep obtained areas. The diwans of XVIII century, in which almost every single event is described in the forms of history, kasida (eulogy) and poetry, such as the construction of new buildings, Ramadan, Eid, Nawruz, Gran Viziership, celebrations, births of sultan's sons, circumcisions feasts, successes achieved in the war, even if not as much as before, the feasts given to the ambassadors, the construction of pavilions and mansions, carry the traces of the events of this period. In our article, since the navy and fleet of the period of Selim III were mentioned in the divans written in this century, poets such as Ebûbekir Celâlî, Sürûrî, Şeyh Gâlib, Sünbülzâde Vehbî, Lâzikîzâde Feyzullah, Neyyir Abdülhalîm Dede, Enderunlu Fâzıl, Fâik Ömer Efendi, Ebûbekir Kânî, Ferrî and Antepli Aynî, who mentioned the innovations made by Selim III in the navy and fleet and their poetries were included. Diwan poetry is full of traces of social life in the period of Selim III. In the period in question, the kasidas in the diwans of poets do not address the beloved and do not contain abstract meanings. The ships are not in “Love Sea ” but in the navy and seas. Diwan poets discuss the navy of the period of Selim III, the reforms made in the navy, the galleons acquired for the navy, the reconquest of Egypt, the grand admirals of the period such as Küçük Hüseyin Pasha, Ghazi Hasan Pasha of Algiers, Ali Pasha, their holy wars and the events that took place in this period. In the Ottoman Empire, maritime, which is in a large part of social and cultural life compared to today, made great progress in the period of Selim III , and took its share from the extensive reforms made in almost every field. III Selim, who took over a devastated navy after the Chesme Battle and understood the importance of maritime education, brought ship engineers from Europe, built ships and opened engineering schools. With the renovations and restructuring it realized thanks to the Code of Laws which he prepared for the navy, he succeeded in the reforms that he could not succeed on land and took his place in history as the father of modern Turkish maritime. His efforts and achievements on maritime and navy attracted the attention of the people and the poets of his period, and the engineering schools he opened, the shipyards, the galleons and frigates built in the shipyards, which are called three lockers, and their launching from the slipway to sea have gone down in history. In fact, during the period of Selim III, so many important events and reforms took place that the poets almost experienced no difficulty in dating Selim's actions and writing eulogies to him. This study is an indication that Divan literature is not detached from living life, and that it has its share from real life. Whether they were sailors or not, poets who were in social life gave clues to the sultans of the period they lived in, or the ode they wrote to the grand admirals and the sea power of the period passed into history. These works enlightened not only on the sea life of Ottoman society but also on Ottoman history. Divan poets were living witnesses of the reforms of the period of Selim III and their poems are mirrors of the period they lived. What is reflected is the literary and historical document of the truth.
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