Between Two Worlds Kafadar.pdf

popularity, such as the `Antarname (the exploits of a Bedouin hero) and
Ebamuslimname (the life of Abu Muslim, who as a historical character played a
central role in the transfer of power from the Umayyads to the Abbasids).[8] It
is impossible to determine when Turkish renderings of such epics started to
circulate, but over time translations appeared in writing. Thematic and
narratological continuities indicate that some of the later epics simply
reworked parts of the earlier ones for new contexts and audiences.
In fact, a keen consciousness of a continuum in the frontier traditions is
evidenced by later works that explicitly refer to earlier ones. The
Danismendname , for instance, which is set in immediate post-Mantzikert Anatolia
and recorded first in the midthirteenth century, starts out by telling us of the
abandonment of gaza activity since the glory days of Seyyid Battal Gazi, a
legendary Arab warrior, as recorded in legends about him, before it moves on to
the story of the rekindling of the gaza spirit by Danismend Gazi. The story of
Seyyid Battal Gazi itself includes characters from the vita of Abu Muslim, such
as the latter's comrade and brother-in-law Mizrab , who also turns out to be
Danismend's grandfather, thus appearing in all three narratives.[9] The
Saltukname , which consists of lore compiled in the 1470s concerning the figure
of a dervish-warrior, Sari Saltuk , who seems to have lived in the thirteenth
century, begins likewise with references to the earlier layers of the gaza
traditions, in this case to both Seyyid Battal Gazi and Danismend Gazi.[10]
The consciousness of the legacy of earlier gazis and the urge to situate later
gazis within the framework of that legacy find a more poetic formulation in the
image of `Askar , the horse of Hamza , the uncle of the Prophet and the
protagonist of a cycle of extremely popular narratives called Hamzaname . This
holy horse, who enjoys a miraculously long life, serves, after Hamza , both
Seyyid Battal Gazi and Sari Saltuk . Around the beginning of the Sari Saltuk
narrative, he sees "his ancestor" Seyyid Battal in a dream and is instructed as
follows: "My dear [literally, "the comer of my liver"]! Go on and make your some
[huruc ] .... Go to the bla-bla cave; there you will find `Askar , the horse I
used to ride. And also take the war equipment... all the arms of Lord Hamza are
there."[11]
Later layers of gaza lore were aware not only of different stages in the
― 64 ―
long history of the "struggle for the faith" but also of its different
geographical settings. Whereas Seyyid Battal Gazi had been based in Malatya in
eastern Anatolia, the scene of gaza had moved westward and northward under Melik
Danismend , and even farther west and into the Balkans with Sari Saltuk . And
because what constituted the frontier was changing, the conditions of frontier
warfare, life, and cultural activity at the time of the Arab conquerors must
have been different from those of the Danismendids , which must have been
different from those of the late-thirteenth-century frontier in western
Anatolia. As frontier areas and powers changed, so did frontier culture. The
earlier narratives that survived must have been constantly remolded, through
oral retelling and transmission, before they came to be recast in writing.
The transmission of these narratives over time, place, milieux, and media
59