Discerning The Truth About Osman Gazi

10 Pages 2605 Words

One of the primary frustrations of Ottoman historians from the last two centuries is the lack of objectivity and historical fact in some of the original writings—namely the Anonymous Chronicles and Asikpasazade’s History. Some have gone as far as saying that these writings have little to no value, while other historians have based their theories mainly upon events reported in the aforementioned works. Though, to cast aside any source based on the fact that it displays political bias or folklore instead of history would be a blunder from which we might not be able to recover, save the discovery of another, better “original” source. Holding out hope for something like this is worthless, though, and disregarding one’s responsibility as an historian. There must be a middle ground—distinguishable from the chronicles—to stand upon when viewing Ottoman history. As a result, the Anonymous Chronicles and Asikpasazade’s History need to be contextualized, not simply thrown out from the discussion. Many historians have tried to do this, but after all is said and done, many also neglect to comment on what the sources actually do end up offering us. After each source has been dismantled into its constituent parts (which can usually be separated in to categories of political biases, personal/familial interest, among other things) these categories need to be resurrected and pasted back together, albeit in a different manner than before. In this paper, an attempt will be made to discern the accomplishments and embellishments of a particularly important Ottoman historical figure—Osman. He is arguably the central figure in the beginnings of the sedentary civilization which propagated and prospered into an empire, transforming the Middle Eastern world and shaping the growth of European civilization.
Before deconstructing the original sources, it is important to understand their context and what information they bring to the tabl...