The_Trail_of_the_Poet

 Âşık Sefil Ali Âşık Sefil Ali was born in the village of Yazır, which is affiliated with the Boğazkale district of Çorum, in 1847. While Âşık Sefil Ali was born in the village of Yazır, which was initially affiliated with Sungurlu but later became part of Boğazkale in 1987 when it became a district. Âşık Sefil Ali's ancestry can be traced back to a Turkmen tribe known as Deveci oğulları. At a young age, Sefil Ali lost his parents due to an epidemic disease. After working as a shepherd in the village for a while, young Ali, upon returning to the village one evening, told the owners of the cattle, "I will no longer graze your cattle; find another shepherd for yourselves." The next day, he went to Çorum from the village and obtained a saz (a traditional Turkish musical instrument) for himself. He taught himself how to play the saz and started singing poems. Sefil Ali, who spent his life in the company of his friends and in conversations, passed away in 1907 at the age of si...

 Âşık Veli Âşık Veli (1793 - 1853, Şarkışla, Sivas, İğdecik) was a folk poet. He was trained by his master Kemter. While his works were influenced by Hacı Bektaş-i Veli, he primarily focused on themes related to earthly love. He also used pen names such as Kul Veli, Veli Abdal, and Veli Dede. Life: He was born in the village of İğdecik, which is connected to Şarkışla district of Sivas. His father's name is Hüseyin, and his mother's name is Kamer. Âşık Veli is estimated to have been born in the 1790s, and it is known that he died in 1853. According to information obtained from his relatives, he is said to have died at the age of 60. At the age of ten, he lost his mother, and shortly after, his father as well. He worked as a shepherd under the care of others. At the age of 16 or 17, he met Kemter Baba, who lived in the village of Emlek Kale, and became his apprentice. He frequently mentioned his master Kemter in his poems. It is rumored that in 1853, when he was in his sixties, h...

 Âşık Kusûrî Âşık Kusûrî was born in 1193 (1779) in the village of Kızılcaşar, which is connected to Ayvalı district of Darende. His real name is Ömer, and he was first mentioned in a poem by Deliktaşlı Ruhsatî with the verse "Kusûrî's eye resembles a spring." Through the research conducted by Eflâtun Cem Güney and M. Kaya Bilgegil, it has been determined that Kusûrî married six times and traveled with his family to various places both in Anatolia and outside Anatolia. The poet, who served as an imam for a long time, occasionally had to seek the patronage of some well-known individuals. Towards the end of his life, he came to the village of Güzeloğlan, located in the Altınyayla district of Şarkışla, and passed away there at the age of seventy-five. It is apparent from his poems that the poet led an adventurous, troubled, and suffering-filled life, and in his final years, he turned towards Sufism. It is estimated that Âşık Kusûrî gained wide fame during his lifetime. He pr...

 Ruhsatî Ruhsati, whose real name is Mehmet, is a village poet. He was born in the Deliktaş district of Sivas in 1835 and spent almost his entire life there. His father's name is Mehmet. According to Eflatun Cem Güney, his mother's name is Safiye. Ruhsati became an orphan at the age of 12 and was unable to receive a proper education as a result. His expressions in his poems indicate that he married four times and had 23 children from these marriages. Ruhsati spent a long time as a laborer under Ali Ağa, one of the landlords in Deliktaş. He worked in various jobs such as millwork, hired labor, and shepherding. Ruhsati occasionally went abroad for work and later served as an imam in his village towards the end of his life. He was arrested due to some of his expressions in his poems. Ruhsati is a passionate lover. In his poems, he used different aliases such as Ruhsat Baba, Aşık Ruhsat, Ruhsat, and mostly Ruhsati. He was unable to play an instrument. Throughout his life, he encoun...

 Seyrani The exact birth date of Seyrani from Develi (formerly known as Everek) is uncertain. There are records indicating that he was born in 1800 or 1807. He was born in Develi, which is now a district of Kayseri province. His real name is Mehmet. His father was Hoca Cafer Efendi, a mosque imam from a poor neighborhood. Despite facing economic difficulties during his childhood, Seyrani was able to receive a religious education thanks to his father. Since there is limited information available about Seyrani's life, people have tried to fill this gap by creating legends and anecdotes about him. As Seyrani's fame spread, bards from neighboring provinces and districts would frequently come to Develi to engage in poetic competitions with him. Seyrani would showcase his skill and eventually make them give up. However, Develi no longer satisfied him, and he desired to go to Istanbul. Most likely in 1839, the year Sultan Abdülmecit ascended the throne, Seyrani arrived in Istanbul. Du...

 Bayburtlu Zihni Bayburtlu Zihni (1795-1859) is a poet known for his works in both Divan and folk poetry genres. His real name is Mehmed Emin, and he is referred to as Bayburtlu Zihni because he was born in Bayburt. He studied in Erzurum and Trabzon madrasas (religious schools). Later, he went to Istanbul and worked as a scribe in various places. He gained recognition for his poems and qasidas written in the Divan poetry genre. He later returned to Bayburt. In 1828, when the Russians occupied the city, he left Bayburt. After the occupation, he returned to Bayburt again. In 1834, he went on a pilgrimage to Mecca and visited Egypt. Later, he stayed in Erzurum and Istanbul. He worked as a civil servant in various places in Anatolia. On his way back to Bayburt, he died in Olasa (now Bahçeyaka) village near Trabzon. Bayburtlu Zihni wrote his poems in both syllabic meter (hece) and Arabic meter (aruz). The poems he wrote in Arabic meter were published posthumously under the name "Divan-...

Dadaloğlu Dadaloğlu (real name: Veli) is a folk poet who opposed the settlement policies of the Ottoman Empire towards Anatolian Turkmen. He is known to have been born in the Tomarza district of Kayseri in the late 18th century and died in the mid-19th century. He lived a semi-nomadic life between the Cukurova and Binboğa mountains. There is no precise information about his birth and death dates. Period There were two different types of literature in the Ottoman Empire: folk literature and court literature. Court literature, known as Divan literature, was written in a mixture of Ottoman Turkish, Persian, and Arabic words. This language was not used in daily conversations and was not understandable to the majority of the population. On the other hand, folk literature was created using the colloquial language spoken by the people and mostly consisted of oral literary works. The most common form of folk literature is the poetry genre called "koşma." The sung version of koşma wit...