''Kesik Baş'' is a '' mes̱nevī'' written in

Old Anatolian Turkish Old Anatolian Turkish or Old Turkish, also referred to as Old Anatolian Turkic, (, Perso-Arabic script: اسکی انادولو تورکچه‌سی), was the form of the Turkish language spoken in Anatolia from the 11th to 15th centuries. It dev ...

. It tells the story of how

Ali Ali ibn Abi Talib (; ) was the fourth Rashidun caliph who ruled from until his assassination in 661, as well as the first Shia Imam. He was the cousin and son-in-law of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. Born to Abu Talib ibn Abd al-Muttalib an ...

(the cousin, son-in-law and companion of the Islamic prophet

Muhammad Muhammad (8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious and political leader and the founder of Islam. Muhammad in Islam, According to Islam, he was a prophet who was divinely inspired to preach and confirm the tawhid, monotheistic teachings of A ...

) battled against a giant so that the severed head of a devout Muslim would regain his body and thereby would be able to rescue his dear ones. The work spread in

Anatolia Anatolia (), also known as Asia Minor, is a peninsula in West Asia that makes up the majority of the land area of Turkey. It is the westernmost protrusion of Asia and is geographically bounded by the Mediterranean Sea to the south, the Aegean ...

in the Middle Ages, and it is generally attributed to Kirdeci Ali. The work is part of an array of works that were originally transmitted orally being read out in gatherings or during religious celebrations. The work was first brought to awareness of scholars by

Mehmet Fuat Köprülü Mehmet Fuat Köprülü (December 5, 1890 – June 28, 1966), also known as Köprülüzade Mehmed Fuad, was a highly influential Turkish sociologist, Turkologist, scholar, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Deputy Prime Minister of the Rep ...

in 1918. The text is written in a register of spoken vernacular Turkish, marked by a limited and mostly Turkish vocabulary, except for words belonging to the world of religion, which are of

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

origin. It also contains a large number of verbs and many instances of direct speech. It infrequently uses

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 ...

syntactic constructs.

Copies

Noteworthy copies of the work include: * N. Y-462 of the ''Türk Tarih Kurumu''’s Library datable to 1732–3 * A 3881 in the

National Library A national library is a library established by a government as a country's preeminent repository of information. Unlike public library, public libraries, these rarely allow citizens to borrow books. Often, they include numerous rare, valuable, ...

Ankara Ankara is the capital city of Turkey and List of national capitals by area, the largest capital by area in the world. Located in the Central Anatolia Region, central part of Anatolia, the city has a population of 5,290,822 in its urban center ( ...

* A copy printed in

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 ...

in 1893 and included in the book entitled ''Hikāye- i Mevlidü’n Nebī'' * No. 1344 in the Üsküp Gazi Hüsrev Bey Library dated to 1618 * Ms. 06 Hk 3953/1 located in the National Library in Ankara. The manuscript is undated, but may be dated to the 17th-18th century

References

Sources

* {{cite journal , last1=Cazzato , first1=Irene , title=The ''Kesik Baş'': Some Remarks on a Medieval Turkish Legend , journal=Eurasian Studies , date=2022 , volume=19 , issue=2 , pages=237–265 , doi=10.1163/24685623-12340116 Turkish language Mathnawi Islamic literature Turkic literature Works about Ali