Abstract
On the Different Versions of the Gülşen-i İnşâ that Mahmud b. Edhem Presented to Sultan Bayezid II
The first examples of artistic prose in Turkish literature began to be seen from the 14th century. Sheikh Mahmud bin Edhem, who wrote one of the important texts of this genre, Gülşen-i İnşâ, is a writer who was born in Amasya at the beginning of the 15th century and presented his important works to the Bayezid II. According to some sources such as Keşfü'z-Zünûn and Ottoman Authors, first summarized Gülşen-i İnşâ and then produced another work consisting of an introduction and two parts by making selections from this summary. However, there is no independent study about the accuracy of this information, which is repeated in modern studies, the existence of these versions and their structures. In this study, the results of our research to determine these three versions of Gülşen-i İnşâ, whose copies have not been identified until today, will be shared. The most basic results of the study are the identification of three different versions of Gülşen-i İnşâ, whose copies have not been identified until now, together with their copies, and revealing their similar and different aspects.Another important result is the correction of some inaccurate information in the sources based on our findings about the structures of these versions.According to our findings, which we proved in our study, Mahmud bin Edhem did not choose to summarize Gülşen-i İnşâ or choose from this summary, as stated in the sources. He first translated some parts of Gülşen-i İnşâ, which he wrote intensively in Turkish, into Persian, and created a concise version by removing some parts of this Persian version.
Keywords
Mahmud b. Edhem, Gülşen-i İnşâ, version, münşeât.