Osmanlı döneminden günümüze Saraybosna müslüman mezar taşları

This study aims to research the Muslim gravestones during Ottoman period in Bosnia-Herzegovina dating from the period 15th to 19th century by comparing them with the ones in İstanbul, Edirne, Bursa and İznik and to find out the extent of the influence of the earlier periods on today’s gravestone building in the region. The regions of Sarajevo, Mostar, Livno and Glamoç where there are many Ottoman gravestones were specifically chosen in order to carry out the study. In these regions, 277 gravestones were identified and inventoried in terms of their forms, epigraphs and motifs. Each gravestone in the inventory was sketched and the epigraphs on them were deciphered. Besides, taking other studies on the subject into consideration, the gravestones in the region of Bosnia-Herzegovina were analysed. 193 gravestones of them were identified in Sarajevo. This city was a little town until the 15th century but after the Ottoman conquest it became the most important city of the region. First Muslim gravestones’s samples might have been imported to this area from İstanbul or Uskup. Some tombstones does not have epitaphs and they would have been erected during conquest for Ottoman soldiers or Ottoman rulling class who died in Sarajevo. Gravestones which were belonged to 16th century have Arabic epitaphs which begins with “kad entekale el-merhûm…” are very few. Afterwards epitaphs were written in Ottoman Turkish language and frequently those epitaphs began with “Hüve’l-Hayyü’l-Bâkî” or “Ah mine’l-mevt”. However, in 16th century some inscriptions on tombstones are written in Bosnian language by using Bosançitsa alphabeth. Bosnian people after the Ottoman conquest became Moslem but learning Ottoman Turkish language takes long time so they preferred to write inscriptions in Bosnian language. Muslim gravestones in this area are not well-decorated as in capital cities of Ottoman Empire. Women gravestones in this city has only one shape which is called pediment. Very few samples have different form which are in mosque’s hazire or graveyards. Those tombstones belong to upper class families and probably are imported from İstanbul or Üsküp for them. In addition to that some women tombstones have fes but those are very few. Men gravestones have turban. This form is the basic form of Ottoman tombstones. In the center of empire, this basic form was developed by stone-makers. They were educated by masters who are working in palace. They were the members of ehl-i hıref However, in Sarajevo stone-makers had very few models and they were not the member of palace’s artist groups. In Sarajevo center there is a tombstone which has unique form. It is in Ali Pahsa Mosque. M. Mujezinoviç claimed that this grave belongs to son of Tatar Shah. Food stone and head stone are well-decorated, all these symbols can find other tombstones in Sarajevo. These symbols are birds, axe, hand, arrow, bow, yataghan, moon, knobs, animal. On facede of stones there is not any inscription. This grave is dated back to 15th century. Women tombstones have few symbols especially in 19th century, whose facade of stones is decorated by circles, flowers and very few of them have trees (cypres tree). In conclusion, it has been found out that the present-day gravestones of Muslim Bosnians in the region of Bosnia-Herzegovina are built under the influence of both the Ottoman culture and the Bosnian culture of the Middle Ages, and that the gravestones have become a symbol for Muslim Bosnians. However, the present-day gravestones in Turkey differ from the ones in Bosnia-Herzegovina in that they are not built under the influence of the Ottoman culture. This is because Turkey and Bosnia-Herzegovina underwent different developments in the course of their history, especially in the 21st century. Specifically, the Turkish Republic, established after the collapse of the Ottoman Empire, underwent a swift transition period due to fundamental revolutions leading to a different social structure. Keywords: Ottoman gravestones, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Sarajevo muslim gravestones.Bosna-Hersek’in başkenti Saraybosna 15. yüzyıla gelene kadar küçük bir kasabayken Osmanlı döneminden sonra şehir görüntüsü almış ve ardından da bölgenin önemli şehirlerinden birisi olmuştur. Günümüzde hâlâ bölgede Osmanlı döneminden kalan mezar taşları bulunmaktadır. 2007 yılında Saraybosna’da yapılan katalog çalışmasında 15. yüzyıldan 21. yüzyıla kadar tarihlenen 193 mezar taşı tespit edilmiştir. Bölgede kullanılan Osmanlı dönemi mezar taşı modellerinin ilk örnekleri İstanbul ya da Üsküp şehirlerinden 15. yüzyılda gelmiş olmalıdır. İlk gelen mezar taşı modellerinin bazılarının üzerlerinde herhangi bir kitabê bulunmadığı da Kovaçi mezarlığındaki 15. yüzyıla ait olduğu düşünülen kitabêsiz mezar taşlarına bakılarak ileri sürülebilir.16. yüzyıla ait olan ve sayıca çok az bulunan kitabêlerde “kad entekale el-merhûm…” biçiminde başlayan Arapça kalıplar yerini Osmanlı Türkçesi ile yazılmış kitabelere bırakır. Mezar taşlarının üzerindeki kitabêlerde sıklıkla “Hüve’l-Hayyü’l-Bâkî” ve “Ah mine’l-mevt” kalıplarının kullanıldığı anlaşılmaktadır. Bölgedeki Osmanlı dönemi Müslüman mezar taşları hiçbir zaman imparatorluk merkezindeki kadar biçimsel çeşitlilik göstermez, ama biçimleri göz önüne alındığı zaman özgün oldukları söylenebilir. Kadın mezar taşları üçgen alınlıklı, az bezemeli ve gösterişten uzak modellerdir, fakat birkaç istisnai durum da söz konusudur. Erkek mezar taşlarında ise çeşitlilik başlıklardan kaynaklanmaktadır. Çalışmanın sonunda Saraybosna’daki mezar taşlarının hem Osmanlı hem Ortaçağ Bosnasının kültürel etkileri altında yapıldığı ortaya çıkmış ve bu mezar taşları Müslüman Boşnakların sembolü haline gelmiştir. Anahtar Kelimeler: Osmanlı Mezar Taşları, Bosna-Hersek, Saraybosna mezar taşları