Dadaloğlu
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Dadaloğlu is one of the literary titans of the Turkish oral tradition. He is a nomadic Turkish warrior minstrel who is thought to have lived approximately between the late eighteenth century and early nineteenth century in the region of Taurus mountains. He is famous for his poems against Ottoman Empire's forced settlement policies directed at the nomadic tribes. His poems give insight to the nomadic Turkish life, the fights among tribes, and the rebellion of tribesmen.
Koçaklama* The Roads Over the Sublime Mountain are Ours
Kalktı göç eyledi Avşar elleri
Ağır ağır giden eller bizimdir
Arap atlar yakın eyler ırağı
Yüce dağdan aşan yollar bizimdir
Belimizde kılıcımız kirmani
Taşı deler mızrağımızın temreni
Hakkımızda devlet etmiş fermanı
Ferman padişahın dağlar bizimdir
Dadaloğlu’m yarın kavga kurulur
Öter tüfek davlumbazlar vurulur
Nice koç yiğitler yere serilir
Ölen ölür kalan sağlar bizimdir
Avşar tribe rose and migrated,
The slowly moving folk is ours.
Arabian horses shorten the distances,
The roads over the sublime mountain are ours.
The swords on our waist are kirmani,
The heads of our spears pierce stone.
The state has issued the death warrant of us,
The warrant is Sultan's, the mountains are ours.
Dadaloğlu, tomorrow brings fights,
Guns will sing, the war drums will be hit,
Many valiant warrriors will fall,
Many will perish, yet the remaining will be ours.
English: Hüseyin Alhas
Surrendering a Horse
Yara yara bir kavgaya girmedik
Sağa sola kılıçları vurmadık
At üstünde döğüşerek ölmedik
Ok değmeden gözlerimiz kör oldu
Birden kapıştılar kulunu, tayı
Kanı garrah oldu yoksulu, bayı
Böyle sağ gezmeden ölmemiz iyi
Mahşerece söylenecek şor oldu
Bütün iskan oldu Avşarlar, Kürtler
Yürekten mi çıkar ol acı dertler
Mezada döküldü boynu uzun atlar
At vermemiz iskânlıktan güç oldu.
Öğüt versen öğütlerden almayan
Çağırınca mencilise gelmeyen
Yurtlarının kıymetini bilmeyen
Her birisi bir kötüye kul oldu
Der Dadaloğlu’m da sözün sırası
Yara biter bitmez dilin yarası
Mağırıbınan maşırığın arası
Size bol da bizim ele dar oldu
We did not charge into a fight gloriously,
We did not do justice to our swords,
We did not die fighting on horseback,
Our eyes went blind without the touch of an arrow.
All of a sudden, they swarmed upon the foal and colt,
The poor, the rich were plundered.
It was better to die than to live like this;
Thus we faded into a bitter song to be sung till the end of days
Avşars, Kurds settled entirely,
Hearts were fettered by sorrow.
Horses with long necks ended up in auction,
Surrendering a horse was harder than the forced settlement.
Those who did not heed advices,
Those who did not come when summoned to the council,
Those who did not appreciate the value of their homeland,
All became subjects to a wicked man
Dadaloğlu says it is time to speak:
The wounds may heal, yet not those inflicted by tongue.
Between the west and the east
Was ample for you, yet became unbearable for our folk.
English: Hüseyin Alhas
*Koçaklama is a form of epic folk poem that focuses on heroism and gallantry in combats (Başgöz 331).
Source: Başgöz, İlhan. "Turkish Folk Stories about the Lives of Minstrels." The Journal of American Folklore, vol. 65, 258. (2022): 331-39. JSTOR.
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