Between Two Worlds Kafadar.pdf

major story in Ottoman chronicles, is reported here without much significance
attached to it; nor does it imply anything in terms of the future of the
venture. More strikingly, it is not followed by the replacement of Suleyman Pasa
by his brother, later Murad I, as in the other chronicles, which thus convey an
image of a seamless Ottoman leadership in the Thracian conquests.[146]
Emir Sultan , another major figure of the Ottoman chronicles and the son-in-law
of Bayezid I, appears in this vita but in a much lesser capacity.[147] He comes
to Anatolia in the company of Seyyid `Ali and is appointed the standard-bearer
of the latter's army by Haci Bektas . While moving from victory to victory in
Thrace, the conquerors fall upon a town where they cannot find any water to
perform their ablutions. Emir
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Sultan , seemingly unhappy with his rank or the amount of recognition he is
getting, hastens to strike his stick on the ground, and a spring emerges. One
might expect the other gazi-dervishes to be pleased with this performance, but
peer recognition should not be taken for granted among this competitive lot
despite their mystical-heroic vocation. Seyyid `Ali first reprimands Emir Sultan
for his "hastiness" (tizlik ) (i.e., for showing off) when there are so many
others with power and then bumps him off with a lethal glance. After burying the
deceased next to the water source he had discovered, the dervish-conquerors move
on to new adventures.[148]
It has been proposed by Irene Beldiceanu-Steinherr that Seyyid `Ali (alias Kizil
Deli) may well be Haci Ilbegi , the leading figure among the Karasi warriors who
joined the Ottoman forces upon the incorporation of their principality by Orhan
Beg, which occurred in several stages beginning in the 1330s.[149] While Ottoman
historiography has by and large represented the inclusion of the Karasi gazis as
a fraternal integration of like-minded warriors who were happy to serve the
struggle for the faith under Ottoman leadership, there are several indications
that the relationship was not so smooth. The Karasi, after all, not only were
the only ones to adopt the title of khan in that frontier environment but also
must have had no mean claim to the championship of gaza, since they derived
their descent from Danismend Gazi. Additionally, some of the Karasi warriors
incorporated by the Ottomans, namely Haci Ilbegi and company, apparently also
had claims to a Seljuk lineage.[150] Whether such claims were ever accepted by
their neighbors or even their own subjects is not dear, but it hints at the
nature of the Karasi self-image.
Given all this, it is not surprising to find laconic but distinct traces of
discord between these warriors and the Ottoman ruler. Some of the anonymous
chronicles, after reporting the pro-Ottoman version of the victory of 1371
against Serbian forces by the Meriç (Maritsa) River, relate a variant in which
it is a superhuman effort by Ilbegi that defeats the Serbs while the Ottoman
army is still asleep. Some of these chronicles also relate that Ilbegi was
executed under the orders of Murad I, and by a kul to boot, while most of the
chronicles prefer to omit the formers demise altogether. Whatever the precise
nature of his death, it is curious that later Ottoman cadastral surveys include
no freehold or endowment in the name of a conqueror like Ilbegi . It may well be
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