''Tezkire'' (), from

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 ...

'' tadhkirah'' meaning "something that causes one to remember" or "memorandum",Kiliç, Filiz. (2007). “The Tezkires of Poets: Indispendable [sic
Sources in Our Literature History”">ic">Kiliç, Filiz. (2007). “The Tezkires of Poets: Indispendable [sic
Sources in Our Literature History” translated from Turkish to English by the website of publication. ''Türkiye Arastirmalari Literatür Dergisi'' (''TALID'') ''5''(10): 564 (abstract; entire essay is 543-564), talid.org. Accessed May 5, 2023. is a form of bibliographical dictionary or bibliographical compendium which flourished in the 16th-century Ottoman Empire. The most widely known are the ''tezkires'' of poets, but the books also focused on the works of government officials and artists in general. First seen in early Arab literature before the 10th century, they then made their way into

Persian literature Persian literature comprises oral compositions and written texts in the Persian language and is one of the world's oldest literatures. It spans over two-and-a-half millennia. Its sources have been within Greater Iran including present-day ...

and later

Ottoman literature Turkish literature () comprises oral compositions and written texts in the Turkish language. The Ottoman Turkish, Ottoman form of Turkish, which forms the basis of much of the written corpus, was highly influenced by Persian literature, Persi ...

. One of the most famous Persian ''tezkires'' is the

Tazkirat al-Awliya ''Tazkirat al-Awliyā'' ( or , lit. "Biographies of the Saints")variant transliterations: Tadhkirat al-Awliya, Tazkerat-ol-Owliya , Tezkereh-i-Evliā etc. is a hagiographic collection of ninety-six Sufi saints (''wali'', plural ''awliya'') and th ...

Fariduddin Attar Faridoddin Abu Hamed Mohammad Attar Nishapuri ( – c. 1221; ), better known by his pen-names Faridoddin () and ʿAttar of Nishapur (, Attar means apothecary), was a poet, theoretician of Sufism, and hagiographer from Nishapur who had an immense ...

. The most important ''tezkire'' in Chagatai-Turkic is ''Majolis un-Nafois'' by

Ali-Shir Nava'i 'Ali-Shir Nava'i (9 February 1441 – 3 January 1501), also known as Nizām-al-Din ʿAli-Shir Herawī ( Chagatai: نظام الدین علی شیر نوایی, ) was a Timurid poet, writer, statesman, linguist, Hanafi Maturidi mystic and ...

Ottoman poetry ''tezkires''

The ''tezkires'' of poets were written between the 16th and 20th centuries in the

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 ...

n area. They contain information on both poets and their poetic work, and are written both in

prose Prose is language that follows the natural flow or rhythm of speech, ordinary grammatical structures, or, in writing, typical conventions and formatting. Thus, prose ranges from informal speaking to formal academic writing. Prose differs most n ...

and verses making the ''tezkire'' genre unique. A valuable source of information for today's scholars, they also present a type of ego-document due to the combination of objective with subjective material. The bibliographical notices mention birthplace, family, teachers, profession, personal anecdotes, comments on personality or character, place and date of death, and quotations from poetry. The first ''tezkire'' of Ottoman literature was named ''Heşt Behişt'' (Eight Springs). It was the work of Sehi Bey of

Edirne Edirne (; ), historically known as Orestias, Adrianople, is a city in Turkey, in the northwestern part of the Edirne Province, province of Edirne in Eastern Thrace. Situated from the Greek and from the Bulgarian borders, Edirne was the second c ...

(1471?-1548) and was completed in 1538. 2 other editions would follow until 1548. It narrated the work and life of 241 poets and was very well received and supported by the Ottoman high social circles. A distinguished ''tezkire'' is the ''Tezkiretü'ş-Şuara'' (Memoirs of the Poets) of Latifî of

Kastamonu Kastamonu, formerly Kastamone/Castamone () and Kastamon/Castamon (), is a city in northern Turkey. It is the seat of Kastamonu Province and Kastamonu District.

(1491-1582), the second in chronology and is the one with most extant copies (91). It was finished and presented to

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 ...

Suleiman I in 1546. Another important one comes from

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 ...

; ''Meşairü'ş-Şuara'' (Senses of Poets), published in 1568, covers the work and life of 427 poets. It is the 3rd in chronology, and the second by the number of extant copies (30). The 4th ''tezkire'' is the one from Ahdi of Baghdad, of

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 ...

origin, and is named ''Gülşen-i Şuara'' (Rosebed of Poets). Unlike the previous three, it covered only author's time contemporary poets. It was finished in 1563, and was dedicated to Prince Selim, afterwards known as Sultan Selim II. Other well known ''tezkire'': * Riyazi - ''Riyazü'ş Şuara'' *Faizi - ''Zübtedü'l-Eşar'' *Mirzade Mehmed Efendi - ''Salim Tezkiresi'' *Ali Güfti - ''Teşrifatü'ş Şuara'' *Davud Fatin - ''Haitmetül-Eşar'' *

Kınalızâde Hasan Çelebi Kınalızâde Hasan Çelebi (c. 1546 – 1604) was an Ottoman Empire, Ottoman poet and bibliographer of the 16th century. His main work is the ''Tezkiretü'ş-Şuara'' (Memoirs of the Poets), one of the best known Ottoman ''tezkires'' (bibliograph ...

- ''Tezkiretü'ş-Şuara''

References

{{reflist, 2 Turkish literature Persian literature Arabic literature Turkish words and phrases Arabic words and phrases

Ottoman poetry ''tezkires''

See also

References