Period of Mehmed the Second: Constructive relationship between "Ottoman Sultan" and Divan Literature

Mehmed II, also known as Mehmed the Conqueror, is acknowledged as the founder of the Ottoman Empire and the initiator of what is referred as the "Ottoman Sultan" in many prominent works (İnalcık's et al.) conducted on the concerning period in Ottoman history, the 15th century. Accordingly, in this century, the total image of Ottoman Sultan had been formed through the corresponding and complementary realms of the military, political, cultural, and many others. Being a patrimonial society as such, the Ottomans saw the cultural successes and improvements as much an important part of the image of Sultan as military or political accomplishments and victories. Herein, two important points came to the fore with respect to the image of the sultan: First, the construction of this image through poetry put literature in a closer relationship with the military, political, or economical. Second, it paved the way for an interdependency and interaction between the literary field and the sultan. Thus, in the 15th century, an intrinsic relationship and even a common destiny between Divan literature, particularly poetry, and the sultan dominated the Ottoman literary field. In keeping with this objective, in this thesis, I illustrate the reciprocal and configurational relationship between the construction of the image of the sultan and the literary field with a specific eye towards what is called "Acem etkisi" (Iranian influence) and the rise of qasida form – viz., the important literary trends and tendencies of the 15th century Key Words: Divan literature, the Ottoman sultan, Mehmed the Conqueror, the perception of sultanate, qasida