Abstract
BIOGRAPY, LITERARY IDENTITY AND WORKS OF KASIM SHEYBANI OF ANTIOCH
Assumed to be born between 1440-1450 in Ötençay village of Belen county, called as Bakras by then, in Antioch, Kasim Sheybani is known to be from Bursa, or rather Inegol where his tomb is located, because he arrived in Bursa in the later stages of his life according to the Ottoman period biographical sources. The same sources state that Kasim Sheybani was a Khalwati Sheik and acted as the deputy of Izzeddin Ali al-Karamani, who was the caliph of Yigitbashi Ahmad Shemseddin Marmaravi, Sheik of Khalwati order. Recently published studies repeat this information. However, Kasim Sheybani clearly mentioned his hometown, his tribe, his religious order and the cult he followed in his work entitled as Cevahiru’l-Akhbar. In that regard, Kasim Sheybani is from Bakras county in Antioch, his father’s name is Sheik Isa, his grandfather’s name is Idris, his great-grandfather’s name is Khalil, his tribe is Sheybani, his order is Vafaiyye, and his cult is Hanafism. The reason why the sources state him as a sheik of Khalwati is because he is confused with a Kasim of Larendi who lived in the same period. It is also because of the same confusion due to the same names that noktaci and the date of death as 1534 are falsely attributed to him. The aforementioned sources only mention Cevahiru’l-Akhbar as a work by Kasim Sheybani. Similarly, the recent academic publications relate only one work as belonging to him. However, it is discovered that Kasim Sheybani has another work called Nasihatnama which is a mixture of prose and poetry. This study aims to clarify the confusion in the biography of Kasim Sheybani, introduce his works, and define his literary identity in the light of the newly discovered work, information, and documents.
Keywords
Kasim Sheybani of Antioch, Cevahir al-Ahbar, Nasihatnama.
