Vlad II Dracul: An Ottoman Turkish Name in Book VI of Hašt Bihišt
Vlad II Dracul: An Ottoman Turkish Name in Book VI of Hašt Bihišt

Summary/Abstract: It has been recognized that the Ottoman chronicle of Idrīs Bidlīsī (1457–1520), the Hašt Bihišt, was replete with religious concepts, imagery, and allusions from outside the “Persian language” of Idrīs’ Hašt Bihišt in which many non-Persian forms and expressions had found their natural place. Idrīs had no hesitation to use Arabic words, terms, and quotations for especially those cases where the structure of the text (as a sophisticated and hyperliterate text) would not fit in any paradigm of classical Persian. It is only the Ottoman Turkish language that he strongly refused to use. The present short note deals with an Ottoman Turkish name in Idrīs’ Hašt Bihišt VI, indicating that because the Ottoman Turkish language (as the main language of his sources) was so rich and vast, despite his deliberate efforts he could not escape its influence.

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