Kesik Baş

Kesik Baş is a mes̱nevī written in Old Anatolian Turkish. It tells the story of how Ali (the cousin, son-in-law and companion of the Islamic prophet Muhammad) battled against a giant so that the severed head of a devout Muslim would regain his body and thereby would be able to rescue his dear ones.^[1] The work spread in Anatolia in the Middle Ages, and it is generally attributed to Kirdeci Ali.^[2] The work is part of an array of works that were originally transmitted orally being read out in gatherings or during religious celebrations.^[3]

Folio from Ms. 06 Hk 3953/1. Stored in the National Library in Ankara

The work was first brought to awareness of scholars by Mehmet Fuat Köprülü in 1918.^[1]

The text is written in a register of spoken vernacular Turkish, marked by a limited and mostly Turkish vocabulary, except for words belonging to the world of religion, which are of Arabic origin. It also contains a large number of verbs and many instances of direct speech. It infrequently uses Persian syntactic constructs.^[4]

Copies

Noteworthy copies of the work include:

• N. Y-462 of the Türk Tarih Kurumu’s Library datable to 1732–3^[5]
• A 3881 in the National Library of Ankara^[5]
• A copy printed in Istanbul in 1893 and included in the book entitled Hikāye- i Mevlidü’n Nebī^[5]
• No. 1344 in the Üsküp Gazi Hüsrev Bey Library dated to 1618^[5]
• Ms. 06 Hk 3953/1 located in the National Library in Ankara. The manuscript is undated, but may be dated to the 17th-18th century^[6]