Abstract
New Information on the Life of Yahya Nazîm Çelebi
What is known about the life of Yahya Nazîm Çelebi (d. Jamâziyelâhir 1139/January 1727), one of the most important naat poets of classical Turkish literature and one of the great composers of Turkish music, is mainly based on the poet's work Dîvân-ı Belâgat-Unvân-ı Nazîm, the poet's contemporary poetical treatises and various biographical compilations. For a long time, no contribution has been made to his biography, which was constructed many years ago based on these basic sources. In this article, for the first time, newly discovered information about Nazim's career, salary transactions, relatives and relatives, and the house he lived in are discussed based on archival documents. The fact that these data, which fill some gaps in existing biographies, confirm some information and correct some inaccuracies, are extremely important for the poet's art as well as his life is evident from the relationship between the metaphors and similes in his Divan and his duties. It has been tried to be shown through the example of Nazîm that Ottoman archival documents are the primary sources to be consulted for the biography of similar names, since the people described as the Ottoman elite were essentially bureaucrats. Hence, in addition to contributing to the biography of Yahya Nazîm Çelebi, this study also has an indirect purpose of reminding the importance of archival documents for literary history research.
Keywords
Yahya Nazîm, literary history, biography, Ottoman bureaucracy .