Kashifi (Ottoman poet)
Kashifi (also spelled Kaşifi or Kashefi; or – died 15th century) was an Ottoman poet of Iranian origin. He wrote the Ḡazā-nāma-ye Rum, an epic Persian-language poem about the lives of Sultans Murad II (1421–1444) and Mehmed II (). Biography Details about Kasifi's personal life are scant. The date of his birth is unknown, although he flourished in 1456 or . According to Osman G. Özgüdenlı, his place of birth is also unknown. According to Sara Nur Yildiz, however, he was originally from Baku (present-day Azerbaijan Republic), which at that time was part of the domains of the Shirvanshahs. "Kashifi" is a pseudonym he used to refer to himself in his only extant work, the Ḡazā-nāma-ye Rum. The poet wrote few details about himself; he traveled through parts of the Islamic world and lived for some time in Aleppo and Urfa (Ruha, ancient Edessa), which were then ruled by the Mamluks, but was forced to leave these areas due to political upheaval. After a lengthy, difficult period during which he endured many hardships, Kashifi reached Constantinople, which had recently become the capital of the Ottoman Empire, where he worked for some time as a jester and minstrel, and lived in