Bamsi Beyrek

Bamsi Beyrek (also known as Bey Böyrek, Bamsı Alp, Bey Birye, Beğ Beyreg, Bey Beyrek, Bay Börek and Bağ Böğrek, Turkish: Bamsı Beyrek) is a character in the Book of Dede Korkut and in Turkish, Azeri and some Altai legends and fairy tales. Despite his stories being far-stretched, it is believed that he may have indeed been a real person.

Bamsi Beyrek
Book of Dede Korkut character
First appearance	Legend II
Last appearance	Legend XI
Created by	Anonymous
In-universe information
Full name	Bamsi Beyrek Khan/ Bamsi Beyrek Bey
Aliases	Bey Böyrek Bey Birye Beğ Beyreg Bey Beyrek Bay Börek Bağ Böğrek
Gender	Male
Position	Oghuz pince/ Oghuz Khan
Family	Bay Büre Khan (father) Unknown mother Unknown younger siblings
Spouse	Banu Chichek (Legend II) Unknown wife (Legend XI)
Children	Unknown daughters Unknown sons
Relatives	Uruz Koja Khan (father-in-law) Bay Bichen Khan (father in-law)
Religion	Islam
Nationality	Oghuz Turks

Beyrek's character has also been adapted in the Turkish TV series, Diriliş: Ertuğrul, and its sequel, Kuruluş: Osman, by the same actor in both series, Nurettin Sönmez.[1] Burak Aksak also named one of his films "Bamsı Beyrek" about a love experienced in Oghuz Turks.[2] The film is centered around Legend II of the Book of Dede Korkut, the dastan is mainly about Bamsi. In Bamsı Beyrek, he is portrayed by Uraz Kaygılaroğlu.[3]

In the Book of Dede Korkut

Character and appearance

Bamsi Beyrek was the best friend of Salur Kazan, the main character in the stories. He was also one of the four most handsome men of all the Oghuz noblemen but was quite emotional and he took irrational steps sometimes. His horse's name was Dengiboz or Bengiboz and it was of grey colour.[4]

Birth and "how he got his name"

Legend II (Bamsi Beyrek, Son of Bay Büre Bey or Bamsi Beyrek of the Grey Horse according to translator Geoffrey Lewis[5]) is centered around Beyrek. In the legend, it says that once the Oghuz princes all gathered up somewhere. The father of Beyrek, Bay Büre, wept when he saw everyone had a son besides him. The princes asked why he was crying, he replied that it was because he doesn't have a son to carry on his family. The princes all started to pray that Bay Büre would get a son. Bay Bichen[a 1] also prayed that he would get a daughter that he would marry to Bay Büre's son. And they sooner or later got the children they wanted.

Mention of Beyrek's name in the second legend of the Book of Korkut Ata

Bamsi got his name after Bay Büre sent his merchants to bring some presents. As time went by, the merchants arrived in Constantinople and bought some items, however, on their way back to Bay Büre, they were attacked by some infidels. The son of Bay Büre himself came and helped the merchants by killing all the infidels who attacked them. The son of Bay Büre didn't have any name as an Oghuz Turk was given his name when he beheaded an infidel. So the son of Bay Büre decided to receive these presents from his father instead of introducing himself. When the merchants came back to Bay Büre, they started kissing the young man's hand, the young man had already arrived and didn't tell his father about anything. The merchants then came to know that the young man was the son of their great Khan, Bay Büre Khan. They also told Bay Büre about what had happened in the infidels' attack, and the young man's father found out that his son had cut off the heads of his enemies. Then the young man was given the name of Bamsi Beyrek in a gathering of the Oghuz princes.

First marriage

After he got his name, Bamsi Beyrek met with the daughter of Bay Bichen, her name was Banu Chichek. After Beyrek gave a deer to Banu's nurse, they spent some time together after which both of them came to know more about each other, they even have a disagreement in which both had an arm wrestle.[6] Bamsi Beyrek also gave her a golden ring as a sign of their engagement. When Bamsı Beyrek went back to his father, his father was already aware of his desire. And after passing a lot of resistances, including having to face Yaltajuk, Banu's evil lover who convinced everyone that Bamsi was dead, Bamsi Beyrek happily got his love, Banu Chichek, and married her.

Korkut appeared as a character in this epic, he helped Bamsi outwit Chichek's evil brother, Crazy Karchar. Karchar later repented.

Abduction and death

He was then later mentioned again in Legend XI, this epic was focused on a civil war which happened between the Outer Oghuz and the Inner Oghuz. Once every three years Kazan Khan lets both branches of the Oghuz nobles come to his tent and take anything they wish. One year, he lets the Inner Oghuz come to his tent before the Outer Oghuz arrived. The Outer Oghuz nobles were outraged at being slighted, and they swear enmity to Prince Kazan. Beyrek was from the Inner Oghuz and his wife[a 2] was from the Outer Oghuz. Uruz Koja,[a 3] the Bey of the Outer Oghuz, invites Bamsi Beyrek, his son-in-law, to join the rebels in an effort to test his loyalty. Beyrek refuses to rebel against Kazan, and Uruz kills him. Kazan and the Inner Oghuz come to the Outer Oghuz to avenge Beyrek's death. In the ensuing fight, Kazan kills Uruz Koja. The Outer Oghuz nobles beg Kazan's forgiveness, which he grants, and Uruz Koja's house and lands are pillaged.

TV adaptation

This section documents his adaptation into the Turkish TV series, Diriliş: Ertuğrul and Kuruluş: Osman. In the series, his name is spelt in Turkish as "Bamsı Beyrek".

Bamsı Beyrek
Diriliş: Ertuğrul character Kuruluş: Osman character
Nurettin Sönmez as Bamsı Beyrek in Kuruluş: Osman
First appearance	"Pilot" (Diriliş: Ertuğrul episode) (2014)
Based on	Bamsi Beyrek
Portrayed by	Nurettin Sönmez
In-universe information
Full name	Altuğ oğlu Bamsı Beyrek[b 1]
Aliases	Bamsı Alp Bamsı Bey Bamsı Alpbaşı[b 2]
Nickname	"Dağ Ayısı" (transl. "Mountain Bear")
Gender	Male
Position	Alpbaşı (transl. Chief Alp, formerly) Çavuş (transl. Sergeant)
Affiliation	Kayı tribe
Family	Altuğ Alp (biological father) Süleyman Şah (adoptive father) Hayme Hatun (adoptive mother) Ertuğrul Bey (adoptive brother) Turgut Alp (adoptive brother) Doğan Alp (adoptive brother)
Spouse	Hafsa Hatun (formerly Helena)
Children	Aslıhan Hatun (daughter) Aybars Bey (son) Sıddık Alp (adoptive son)
Religion	Islam
Nationality	Oğuz Turks

Storyline

His story begins in Diriliş: Ertuğrul where he is orphaned after the Mongols kill his family, and is raised by Hayme Hatun and Süleyman Şah, and becomes a close friend and companion of Ertuğrul Bey. At first, he didn't want to get married and thought of his horse as his wife and his two swords, that he used to fight with, as his children, however, after meeting a Byzantine Tekfur's daughter, he immediately fell in love with her, her name was Helena. Helena's father had been killed by his own adoptive son. The killer's name was Vasilius. Vasilius thought that he could manipulate Helena into believing him that Ertuğrul had killed the Tefkur and then marry her later. However, Bamsı showed the truth about Vasilius to her and married her.[7][8] Ertuğrul also kills Vasilius later in a fight when Vasilius attempted to capture the Sultan of the Selçuk Sultanate of Rum. Helena also converted to Islam and changed her name to Hafsa.[7][8] Later, they got their daughter, Aslıhan,[7][8] who was skilled with a sword, and their son Aybars,[7][8] who at first loved to read and study but later, to make his father happy, started using the sword more often too. In season 4, he became the Chief Alp, succeeding his blood brother, Turgut, and preceding his companion, Abdurrahman Gazi in Diriliş: Ertuğrul.

After 10 or 15 years, into Kuruluş: Osman, where Hafsa and Aslıhan die in a plague and Aybars is also martyred, Beyrek supports Ertuğrul's son Osman, no matter what and even leaves the tribe with him after his trails. He also helped convert Aybars' killer, Salvador, to Islam, who then converted and renamed himself as Sıddık. He also became Beyrek's adoptive son but was later killed, Bamsı became just as sad for him as he was sad for Aybars. He was really upset upon Ertuğrul's death, even the actor, Nurettin Sönmez, said he was left "teary-eyed".[9]

Character, appearance and other information

Bamsı Beyrek was a very loving person especially to his wife and children, he would count the days since they died and wouldn't stop remembering them for anything. He also treated his adoptive son, Sıddık, with as much love as he did for his son, Aybars. He was jolly nearly all the time, had a funny character by nature, and would joke a lot. His fighting style was also unique as he used two swords rather than one and he was an aggressive warrior.[8][7]

In Diriliş: Ertuğrul, Banu Chichek[b 3] also made an appearance, however, she married Beyrek's best friend, Doğan Alp.[7][8] In the same way, another character from the Book of Dede Korkut, Selcan Hatun, also made an appearance in the series.[10] Selcan later appeared again in the sequel to the show, Kuruluş: Osman, with Bamsı. Both the Dumrul Alps in the two series are also characters from the Book of Dede Korkut.[11]

Grave

A grave marked as 'Bey Böyrek Bamsi Beyrek Turbesi' is in the village of Erenli (Beyrek was also captured by the castle of the same name of the city the village was centred in, Bayburt) in modern Turkey.[12][13] This grave is thought to be Beyrek's, however, it could be of someone with the same name. Even though, Bamsi is traditionally thought to be fictional, it is believed by some people that he was indeed a real person because of this grave.[12] Dede Korkut's grave is said to be in the village of Masat,[13] however, he is also likely to be fictional.

Notes

1. Not to be confused with Uruz Koja.
2. Not to be confused with Banu Chichek.
3. Not to be confused with Bay Bichen.

1. transl. Bamsı Beyrek, son of Altuğ
2. transl. Chief Alp Bamsı
3. As Banu Çiçek.[7][8]

References

1. "Kuruluş Osman'ın Bamsı'sı Nurettin Sönmez kimdir? Kaç yaşında ve nereli?". Milliyet (in Turkish). Retrieved 23 October 2020.
2. "Bamsı Beyrek filminin konusu nedir? Bamsı Beyrek filminin oyuncu kadrosunda kimler var? – Magazin haberleri". web.archive.org. 26 May 2020. Retrieved 23 October 2020.
3. Aksak, Burak (13 October 2017), Dede Korkut Hikayeleri: Bamsi Beyrek (Comedy), Uraz Kaygilaroglu, Berat Yenilmez, Deniz Baysal, Erdal Tosun, BKM, retrieved 27 November 2020
4. "Türk Söylence Sözlüğü - Deniz Karakurt" (PDF). web.archive.org. 6 November 2013. Retrieved 2 December 2020.
5. Lewis, Geoffrey (1974). The book of Dede Korkut. Internet Archive. Harmondsworth, Penguin. ISBN 978-0-14-044298-4.
6. The Study of the Value of Woman and Family in Dede Korkut Stories.
7. "The History of Bamsi Alp – ZOOMTV.ID | Alternative Media". Retrieved 25 October 2020.
8. "The History of Bamsi Alp – ITVSERIAL.COM | The Source of Islamic TV Serials". Retrieved 24 October 2020.
9. "Bamsi actor leaves fans teary-eyed as he writes about 'Kurulus:Osman' new episode". www.thenews.com.pk. Retrieved 4 January 2021.
10. "Selcan Hatun kimdir ve ne zaman öldü? Kuruluş Osman Selcan Hatun'un tarihi hayatı". www.hurriyet.com.tr (in Turkish). Retrieved 25 October 2020.
11. GradeSaver. "Book of Dede Korkut Characters | GradeSaver". www.gradesaver.com. Retrieved 25 October 2020.
12. "Is Diriliş: Ertuğrul historically accurate? (Part 1 – The Kayi Tribe)". Ammar ibn Aziz Ahmed. Retrieved 26 October 2020.
13. "Bayburt'taki mezarına ziyaretçi akını | Erzurum Pusula Gazetesi" (in Turkish). Retrieved 26 October 2020.