Ankara’s Unknown History: XVIIIth Century Poet Râzî and His Poems About Ankara

Abstract

In this article the Ottoman poet Râzî, his works, poetry and poems written on Ankara is examined and the transcriptions of poems are evaluated. There is no information about the poet’s life among the biographical sources of Ottoman literature. When Razi’s historical poetry is investigated, it is discovered that he was born in 1668-1669 and died after 1740-1741. Looking closer at Râzî’s poems, it can be deduced that he lived his whole life in Ankara. Moreover, we understand that he was a dervish of the Mevlevî and Bayramî orders. For now, he is known only by a single collection of poetry and there is no information if he wrote any other book. His divan poetry is in manuscript form and only one copy has reached the present day. He generally wrote mystical poems. The most important thing about Râzi’s poems is the information he gives about eighteenth century Ankara. We have almost no knowledge about the social and cultural life of Ankara in the Ottoman period. In Râzî’s collection of poetry, there are 42 poems written about Ankara, making his poetry an important resource. In this sense, it can be accepted as Râzi’s works are a treasury of information about the history and culture of Ankara.