Abstract
This study aims to investigate the narratives of Suleyman Shah, who was a central figure in the migration and settlement processes of the Ottomans’ ancestors. The narrative will be deconstructed in consideration of the contemporary sources, the ethnographical evidence, and the archival resources and accordingly, it will be figured out on what grounds it has emerged and incorporated into the main corpus of the Ottoman narrative sources. Moreover, it is attempted to identify to whom the tomb in the Qalat Jabar actually belongs, which is commonly attributed to Suleyman Shah. Contextualizing and problematizing the narrative of Suleyman Shah in the Ottoman sources and in the related literature, it seeks to shed more light on the issue of the origins of the Ottomans, which is one of the most important and yet obscure topics regarding the debates on the ancestors of the Ottomans. The intricate accounts and the narratives dispersed in the different chronicles has rendered the issue further complicated. The study aims to provide a suggestive step towards overcoming the inadequacy of the comparative and critical studies on the fundamental narratives concerning the founders of the state and in doing so, it is hoped to contribute to the discussions about the foundation of the Ottoman state.