Basiri (died 1534, Khorasan), was a prominent poet in the 16th century. He left the Timurid court and found patronage in Constantinople (now

Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...

), where he wrote poetry for Ottoman

sultan Sultan (; ', ) is a position with several historical meanings. Originally, it was an Arabic abstract noun meaning "strength", "authority", "rulership", derived from the verbal noun ', meaning "authority" or "power". Later, it came to be use ...

s. Basiri brought the poetic works of

Jami Nūr ad-Dīn 'Abd ar-Rahmān Jāmī (; 7 November 1414 – 9 November 1492), also known as Mawlanā Nūr al-Dīn 'Abd al-Rahmān or Abd-Al-Rahmān Nur-Al-Din Muhammad Dashti, or simply as Jami or Djāmī and in Turkey as Molla Cami, was a ...

and Nava'i to the Ottoman court.

Biography

Basiri's place of birth is disputed. Both

Aşık Çelebi Pir Mehmed ("Mehmed the Pir"; 1520–1572), better known as Aşık Çelebi ("Gentleman Bard" in Turkish), was an Ottoman biographer, poet, and translator. Born in Prizren, he served as '' kadi'' (judge) in many towns of the Rumelia. His majo ...

and Qinalizade state

Khorasan KhorasanDabeersiaghi, Commentary on Safarnâma-e Nâsir Khusraw, 6th Ed. Tehran, Zavvâr: 1375 (Solar Hijri Calendar) 235–236 (; , ) is a historical eastern region in the Iranian Plateau in West and Central Asia that encompasses western and no ...

, while Latifi and Ahdi state his origins were in "

Ajam (, ) is an Arabic word for a non-Arab, especially a Persian. It was historically used as a pejorative—figuratively ascribing muteness to those whose native language is not Arabic—during and after the Muslim conquest of Iran. Since the ea ...

" or the fringes of "Ajam". He was known as ''Alaca'' because of his skin disease (

leprosy Leprosy, also known as Hansen's disease (HD), is a Chronic condition, long-term infection by the bacteria ''Mycobacterium leprae'' or ''Mycobacterium lepromatosis''. Infection can lead to damage of the Peripheral nervous system, nerves, respir ...

). A

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

émigré from the Timurid court, Basiri emigrated to the

Aq Qoyunlu The Aq Qoyunlu or the White Sheep Turkomans (, ; ) was a culturally Persianate society, Persianate,Kaushik Roy, ''Military Transition in Early Modern Asia, 1400–1750'', (Bloomsbury, 2014), 38; "Post-Mongol Persia and Iraq were ruled by two trib ...

Confederation. Basiri wrote for the Aq Qoyunlu rulers and in 1487 traveled to

Herat Herāt (; Dari/Pashto: هرات) is an oasis city and the third-largest city in Afghanistan. In 2020, it had an estimated population of 574,276, and serves as the capital of Herat Province, situated south of the Paropamisus Mountains (''Se ...

, joining

and Nava'i. After visiting Constantinople (now

) in 1491, Basiri took the opportunity to join a mission to

Bayezid II Bayezid II (; ; 3 December 1447 – 26 May 1512) was the sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1481 to 1512. During his reign, Bayezid consolidated the Ottoman Empire, thwarted a pro-Safavid dynasty, Safavid rebellion and finally abdicated his throne ...

, and quickly gained the patronage of the Ottoman sultan. He brought the works of Nava'i and

to the Ottoman Empire. Basiri wrote poetry in Turkish and

, and it was in Persian that he wrote two lines mourning Jami's death. Basiri died in 1534.

Notes

References

Sources

* * * {{Authority control 16th-century Persian-language poets 16th-century Iranian poets 1543 deaths 16th-century poets from the Ottoman Empire 15th-century poets from the Ottoman Empire Poets under the Aq Qoyunlu Iranian emigrants to the Ottoman Empire Poets from the Timurid Empire