Prince with Daddy Issues Seeks Sisterly Support: Two Ego Documents Penned by Şehzade Korkud

Document Type

Article

Journal Title

The Journal of Ottoman Studies

Publication Date

2024

Abstract

Following a brief analysis of self-narrative writing among Ottoman royals towards the turn of the sixteenth century, this article argues for consideration of “collective biography” as a methodological approach before presenting two “ego-documents” by one of those royals. Şehzade Korkud (d. 1513), who left behind several small samples of self-narrative, also wrote two clear examples of ego-documents, a treatise to his father Bayezid II (d. 1512) defending his decision to go on the ḥajj, and a fearful letter to his sister Sofu Fatma (fl. 1512) seeking political guidance in the midst of a politically tense succession struggle. The treatise, Wasīlat al-aḥbāb, is summarized and analyzed here, while the letter is transliterated and translated in full.

Comments

NOTE: This article is available in English and in Turkish.  

This article is freely available online.  

Publisher Statement

The Journal of Ottoman Studies has been published continuously since 1980 and has carried the pluralist heritage of the Ottomans to contemporary academe by bringing together Ottomanists from different countries as well as from different disciplines and schools of thought. 

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