fighting against the infidel Christian akritai, who
(463/1071–573/1178) in the wake of the conquest
were however themselves often recruited from
of Asia Minor The story of the exploits of Sayyid
among Turkish mercenaries 199 Thus the border-
Baṭṭāl Ghāzī, whose oral roots may be sought as
lands were to a certain extent also a zone of inter-
early as the arrival of the Dānishmendids in Ana-
action with overlapping socio-cultural spheres
tolia,202 became incorporated into the religious-
As a result of the Mongol invasions the impact
heroic epic cycle of the important frontier city of
of the ghāzī s in eastern Asia Minor was again
Malatya,203 and is set within the historical context
augmented through renewed waves of Central
of the Arab-Byzantine frontier battles before they
Asian Turkish tribes which also contained large
gradually turned into Turko-Byzantine wars 204
numbers of wandering dervishes, fleeing from the
In the tale Baṭṭāl, who carries the sword of the
invaded Central Asian and western Iranian prov-
hominoid dragon Ẓaḥḥāk,205 and other heroic
inces
figures, friends as well as foes, are referred to as
This frontier life on both sides of the border
dragons 206 The inherent ambiguity of the myth-
was profoundly different from that of the more
ical creature is graphically depicted in several
stable and peaceable hinterlands The epic prose
scenes Baṭṭāl enters an underworld populated by
literature that developed on both sides of the
fire-spitting dragons which he holds at bay by
centuries-old frontier zone, both Byzantine and
drawing a magic circle 207 However the emerald-
Arabo-Turkish, gives an insight into this phe-
headed serpent king, who possesses knowledge
nomenon Epics include the Turkish romance of
of the healing properties of plants, comes to greet
Sayyid Baṭṭāl and the Byzantine Greek chivalric
the warrior, who eight days later is pulled up to
epic of Digenis Akritas of the eastern frontier
the surface of the earth by holding on to the tail
Owing much to the Arabic folk prose epic Sirāt
of a giant dragon 208 The dragon also appears as
al-amīra Dhāt al-Himma (also known as Dhu
a defender of the faith in dreams threatening to
’l-himma or Delhemma),200 the latter relates the
swallow those who do not convert to Islam,209
fabulous exploits of the early Muslim frontier
while at the same time its open mouth is evoked
warrior al-Baṭṭāl and his companion, ʿAbd
to symbolise a grave calamity 210
al-Wahhāb, during the early wars against Byzan-
Close parallels are found in the Türkmen
tium in the Umayyad period The acts of heroism
epic romance Dānishmend-nāma (“Book of
carried out on the Byzantine frontier by the Arab-
Dānishmend”), also based on orally transmitted
Christian warrior Digenis include the feat of van-
traditions and composed in the twelfth or early
quishing a dragon 201
thirteenth century The hero, Malik Aḥmad
Heroic deeds of this type provided the key ele-
Dānishmend Ghāzī,211 founder of the eponymous
ment for such Turkish Anatolian wondrous epics
Dānishmendids who in the early twelfth century
as the Baṭṭāl-nāma Resembling the Byzantine
were as powerful as the Saljuqs, appears as a ghāzī
hero, who is mentioned in the Baṭṭāl-nāma, the
in Anatolia fighting the Christian warriors of the
pseudo-historical al-Baṭṭāl becomes a prototype
First Crusade in Cappadocia 212 In the romance
of popular Turkish literature as ancestor of the
he is identified with Sayyid Baṭṭāl 213 Both the
Türkmen ghāzī state of the Dānishmendids
ghāzī s214 and Malik Dānishmend,215 whose heroic
199 Mélikoff, 1960, vol 1, p 49, and eadem, “Ghāzī,” EI 2
206 Idem, pp 124, 144, 233, 269
II, 1043b; Bauer, 1995, pp 57–8 For a discussion of the
207 Idem, pp 255–6
atmosphere of religious heterodoxy and socio-cultural syn-
208 Idem, pp 256–8
creticsm which developed in the wake of the early Ottoman
209 Idem, p 175
conquest, cf Lindner, 1983, pp 1–50
210 Idem, p 295
200 For a monograph on the epic, see Steinbach, 1972 Cf
211 The title malik (“king”) was granted to one of
Canard, “Dhu ’l-himma, or dhāt al-himma,” EI 2 II, 233b
Dānishmend’s successors, Amīr Ghāzī Gümüshtigin, by the
201 Jeffreys, 1998, pp 155–6 For illustrations of Akritas-
ʿAbbasid caliph al-Mustarshid for his victories against the
like warriors slaying a dragon, see Frantz, 1940–1, pp 87–91;
Christians, the Armenians of Cilicia and the Franks of the
idem, 1941, pp 9–13
County of Edessa Cf Bosworth, 1996, p 215; Mélikoff, 1960,
202 The earliest surviving manuscript of the Baṭṭāl-nāma,
vol 1, pp 104–6
however, dates to 1436–7 Dedes, 1996, p 13
212 Eadem, 1960, pp 162, 260–2, vol 2, pp 75–7; Franke,
203 Canard, “Dhu ’l-himma, or dhāt al-himma,” EI 2 II,
2000, pp 133–4
233b; Dedes, 1996, pp 9–14
213 Mélikoff, 1960, vol 1, p 103
204 Dedes, 1996, pp 1–2
214 Eadem, pp 333, 347, 381, 408
205 Idem, pp 113, 114, 151, 196, 202, 204, 214, 270, 282,
215 Eadem, p 387 and pp 346–7, see also p 448
284, 306 and 308
232