Abstract
FEHMÎ (d. XVI. yy.?) and HIS FETİHNAME of RHODES
Rhodes, which has commercial, military and geopolitical importance for Mediterranean and Anatolian geography, was ruled by diverse nations throughout the course of history. When the island captured by the Knights of St. John in 1309, island became the center of anti Ottoman activities, and Mehmed the Conqueror’s campaigns to conquer the island failed. After this date, Rhodes question which remained stagnant for various reasons, solved in June 1522 with the extensive campaign of Suleiman the Magnificent, in order to include the island to Turkish territories and secure the Mediterranean trade roads, and the island was conquered 20 June 1522. As an important conquest for the Turkish history, conquest of Rhodes had both commercial, political and military, and eternal consequences, and this event was written in several fetihnames. The most famous of these, is the Fetihname of Rhodes of Celalzade. As it is already known, fetihnames, which tell a conquest from beginning to end, would become poems known as tehniye. An unknown sample of this kind, which have many examples in classical Turkish literature tradition, is inspected by us and become the subject of this paper. In these days which coincides with the 500th anniversary of the conquest of Rhodes, Fehmi’s- a 16th century poets (d. 16th century) Fetihname of Rhodes, is tried to be presented to scholarly world. In our studies in Republic of Turkey State Archives, Ottoman Archives Topkapı Palace Archives document 0364, we have seen that this piece, which includes fetihname and the date, which was given by the poem. As it was found in the palace archives it is clear that this poem was presented to sultan. It is important for both fetihname literature and its poem, who has been unknown to this date.
Keywords
Suleiman the Magnificent, Rhodes, fetih-name, kaside, Fehmi.