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A historical commander of the Umayyad-Byzantine wars who became, in the Turkish epic tradition, a warrior-saint.
His real name was Abdullah. Battal is not a name but an epithet denoting his martial prowess. The sources differ about his patronymic and the origin of his family: some say he was of Arab descent; Ibn al-Athīr, on the other hand, holds that he descended from manumitted clients attached to the Umayyads.
He was active in the eighth century under Umayyad rule, and particularly between 717 and 740, in the Umayyad-Byzantine conflicts in Anatolia. He is likely to have taken part in the siege of Constantinople of 717 under the command of Maslama b. Abd al-Malik. His campaigns are concentrated on Caesarea, Afyon and Eskişehir and on the regions of al-Jazīra and Syria — that is, in the places where Byzantine-Muslim warfare actually occurred.
He fell a martyr around 740 at Akroinon, near present-day Seyitgazi (Eskişehir), fighting against Byzantine forces.
His Circle of Influence — Turkish sources, and particularly the Battalnâme, thought to have been composed between the eleventh and thirteenth centuries, transformed this Arab commander into a classic Turkish epic hero. Kalenderî, Bektashi and Alevi circles venerated him as a warrior-saint.
His Tomb and Complex — The "discovery" of his grave in the Seljuk period — attributed to a dream seen by the mother of Alâeddin Keykubad — set in motion the building of a shrine and a culture of pilgrimage, and in time the settlement of Seyitgazi grew up around this centre.
Miracles
What follows are reports which appear in the source as transmissions; the atlas records them not as "thus it happened" but as "thus the sources transmit".
The finding of the grave through a dream. The emergence of his grave in the Seljuk period is attributed to a dream seen by the mother of Alâeddin Keykubad. The building of the shrine and the culture of pilgrimage began with this report. (Source: TDV DİA, BATTAL GAZİ)
Differing Scholarly Views
🔴 The historical person is not the legendary person. There are two separate Battal Gazis in hand: Abdullah, the Arab commander who fought in the Umayyad army in the eighth century, and the hero of the Battalnâme. The second took shape centuries after the first and in another language; the atlas does not confuse these two layers.
"Battal" is not a name. It is an epithet denoting his martial prowess; his real name was Abdullah.
His descent is disputed. Some sources say he was of Arab descent; Ibn al-Athīr holds that he descended from manumitted clients attached to the Umayyads.
Three traditions have embraced him differently. Kalenderî, Bektashi and Alevi circles have claimed him as a warrior-saint; the atlas does not place one of these readings before the others (rule #9, principle 5).
Sources
- TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi (DİA) — Ahmet Yaşar Ocak · vol. 5, pp. 204-205, entry “BATTAL GAZİ”
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