Abstract:

Istanbul was the capital of three great empires such as Roman, Byzantine and Ottoman throughout the ages and was one of the largest and most magnificent cities on the world even though before the conquest of the Ottoman. After the conquest, the city has become a center of attraction and civilization with its changing face through reconstruction activities and Mehmed the Conqueror’s efforts to transform the city into a cultural center. Numerous works have been written about this city, which is frequented by pilgrims and poets, and some of these works are composed as shehrengiz. Shehrengiz, which reveals the cultural and social life of the Ottoman Empire, is the subject of both the beauty of a city and the beautifuls in the city. Written in the first quarter of the 16th century for the first time by Mesihi [D. 1513] to Edirne, shehrengiz kept its classical form and continued until the end of the 18th century. These works, which were written in plain language with the mesnevi verse form, were especially popular in the 16th century. Shehrengizes are not only a literary work, but also contains many folkloric elements related to the culture and social life of the time and place where it was written. The first information about the Shehrengiz of Istanbul, whose author is unknown, was obtained from Agâh Sırrı Levend's Turkish Literature in the city-engizler and city-engizler in Istanbul. The only known copy of this work, is in the Erzurum Atatürk University Library, Seyfettin Özege Collection, Agâh Sırrı Levend Books named "Sehrengizler Mecmuası" with the shelfmark 322-339. Based on a verse, it is thought that it was written during the reign of Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent, in the form of the mesnevi verse and total number of verses are 108. In this article, after giving a general information about the genre of shehrengiz, the shape and content characteristics of the work are emphasized and in the last chapter, transcripted text from the only known copy of the work is presented.

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