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Hiroyuki Ogasawara, “The Quest for the Biblical Ancestors: the Legitimacy and Identity of the Ottoman Dynasty in the Fifteenth-sixteenth Centuries.” , Turcica, 10.2143/TURC.48.0.3237135, 48, 37-63, 2017.05, Almost all fifteenth century Ottoman historians claimed that the Ottoman dynasty stemmed from Japheth, the son of Noah. Japheth was generally regarded as the ancestor of the Turks in early Muslim historiography. During the latter part of the reign of Bayezit II, however, some sources claimed Esau, the son of Isaac, to be the Ottoman’s original ancestor. The sons of Esau were said to have been kings because Isaac prayed to God on Esau’s behalf, and Esau was also regarded as the ancestor of the kings of Rum. This account originated in the writings of Muslim historians such as Mas‘ūdī, and the higher authority of Esau encouraged Ottoman historians of this period to accept him as the ancestor of the dynasty. Nevertheless, in the mid-sixteenth century onwards Ottoman historians returned to the Japheth origin, because Japheth was “the authentic ancestor” according to Muslim historiography. This changing attitude towards the ancestors of the Ottoman dynasty might reflect the development in the identification and legitimisation of the Ottomans.. |
