Statesman,
scholar and poet (b. 1344, Kayseri - d. 1398, Sivas). His real name was
Burhaneddin Ahmed. His father Şemseddin Mehmed was the judge of Kayseri. He
began taking lessons at the age of five and when he was fourteen, he was educated
in Arabic, Persian, reason and philosophy.
Due
to a civic disorder in Kayseri, he went to Damascus with his father and stayed
there for four months. When the chaos was over, he went back to Kayseri. In
1358, when he was fourteen, he went to Egypt with his father and completed his
studies there, specializing in canon law. Later on, he took lessons from Niyazi
Kutbeddin in Damascus on religion and exact and mathematical sciences. Kadı
Burhaneddin went on pilgrimage to Mecca and on his way back he went to Aleppo
and stayed there for a year. After his father’s death, he was appointed as the
judge of Kayseri by Mehmet, the Son of Eretna in 1365. His justice and evasion
of compromise with anyone brought him fame and affection among the people.
After the death of Mehmet Bey, his son Ali Bey took over the governorship of
the principality, but during his loose control, there emerged rebellions and
the economy was damaged. Karamanoğlu Ahmet Bey took the opportunity to invade
Konya and Niğde, and the Mongols besieged Sivas. Kadı Burhaneddin saved Ali Bey
from capture by Alaaddin Bey, while he was enjoying his time at a Turkish bath
and this led Burhaneddin to a political career. He pushed the Karamanoğlu army
out of Kayseri revealing his military skills, which consequently brought him
even greater recognition.
In
1378, Kadı Burhanneddin was appointed as grand vizier and continued in this
office for three years during a time of military success and economical
progress. In 1381, the ruler of Eretna died of the plague and Kadı Burhaneddin
was appointed to the regency of Sivas, where he remained in office for a year.
In 1381, he declared his sultanate and established a state in his own name. He
had prayers held in his name and issued coins. His years as Sultan passed in conflict
and he had to fight against the principalities around him to keep the
Principality of Eretna, which was breaking up, under his control. Against the
threat of Timur, he established alliances with Memluklular and other
principalities. In 1394, Timur sent an emissary to demand Kadı Burhaneddin to
break the alliance but Kadı rejected his demand.
He
consequently came up against the Ottoman Empire due to political events. He
preferred to keep in close relationship with the Ottomans during the reign of
Murat I, and while the Ottoman army fought against the Serbians, he was
provoked into taking the opportunity to launch an attack, however he refused
the idea, declaring that kind of deed would satisfy Islam. The situation
reversed during the reign of Yıldırım Beyazıt. In 1391, the Emir of Amasya made
an agreement with the Ottoman Empire and left Simalu, one of the best-fortified
castles of Amasya to the Empire. Kadı Burhaneddin, as he was reluctant to have
borders with the Ottoman Empire, attacked and took the castle of Simalu. In
1392, the armies of Kadı Burhaneddin and Yıldırım Beyazıt fought on the plain
of Çorumlu and Kadı Burhaneddin defeated the Emperor’s army. However, he was
defeated in the war against Karayülük Osman Bey, one of the rulers of
Akkoyunlu, and he was executed in Sivas in 1398. His grave is located in the
courtyard of Kadı Burhaneddin Primary School in central Sivas.
Vehbi
Cem Akşun made attempts to restore the neglected grave of Kadı Burhaneddin, and
wrote a book with the title Sivas Sultanı Kadı Burhaneddin (Kadı
Burhaneddin, the Sultan of Sivas). His aim was to make use of the income from
the book to restore the grave; however, he never attained his aim. The
information given in this book indicates that Kadı Burhaneddin was regarded as
a Saint and the people would visit his grave to pray. Furthermore, it is
pointed out in the book that there is a riddle on the grave, which reads,
“Deck yourself out
If your man doesn’t love you
Go and pray for Kadı Burhaneddin”
This
is read by people for the reconciliation of husbands and wives.
Having
become a judge at the age of twenty-one, vizier at thirty-four, Regent and
Sultan at thirty-seven and reigned for seventeen years, Kadı Burhaneddin was
fifty-four when he died. This statesman, whose life was spent among constant
conflict, was one of the most active rulers of Anatolia. This is why some
writers give him the title “Ebu’l Feth” (Father of the Conquest). The book
containing the most detailed life story of Kadı Burhaneddin is Bezm ü Rezm
(Joy and Fight) by Esterebâdî, the official historiographer of Kadı. The name
of the book, consisting of two words bezm, meaning congress of joy, and rezm,
meaning fight, are the words that exactly summarize the life story of Kadı
Burhaneddin. Another important work on Kadı Burhaneddin is the book by Yaşar
Yücel named Kadı Burhaneddin Ahmed ve Devleti (Kadı Burhaneddin Ahmed
and His State). The book reveals that Kadı was a statesman who liked scholars,
organized scientific meetings three times a week and who was tolerant to his
people and courageous against his enemies.
He
wrote two books on canon law, İksîrü's-Sâdât fî Esrâri'l-İbâdât (Spell of the Sounds in the Mystery
of Worship) and Tercîhü't-Tavzih (To
Prefer the Explanation) and a Divan* consisting of his odes and tuyuğ*. The
608-page book includes 1313 odes, 3 staves, 20 rubai* and 16 tuyuğ*. The Divan*
was published by the Turkish Language Association in 1943.
His
poems carry the traces of Sufism and indications of his curious and adventurous
soul. He never signed his name or a pen name on his odes. He wrote poems in
Turkish, Persian and Arabic. The only hand-written copy of his Divan*,
including his odes, tuyuğ*, rubai* and verses in Azerbaijani is at the British
Museum. Besides being a glorious poet, Kadı Burhaneddin had a scientific and
political influence and is famous not only as a poet, but as a statesman, a man
of politics, a scholar who wrote in Arabic on canon law and its practice and as
a judge.
WORKS:
Divan
(Divan*, 1944), Tercihü'l-Tavzih (a work on canon law), İksürü's-Saadet
fi Esrarü-l İbâdât (a work in Arabic on canon law, at the library of Hagia
Sophia).
