Tarih
Mother State
CevvelaSummary
A monumental historical novel examining the founding period of the Ottoman state, the collapse of Byzantium, the pains of the Turkmen tribes’ transition from tribe to state, and the difference between Western feudalism and the Eastern idea of the benevolent state.
Quotes from Cevvela
“The state exists so that the weak are not crushed by the strong; the moment it lets them be crushed, it ceases to be a state.”
“History is written not only with wars but with the scales of justice.”
“A tree without roots is doomed to fall in the first storm.”
“The order the West built with blood can find no place in the conscience of the East.”
“Conquering land is easy; the hard part is keeping justice alive on that land.”
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Reader Score: 8.4 / 10(3.019 votes)
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Kemal Tahir takes the official, West-admiring theses of history and tears them apart. He argues that the “state” is not, as in the West, a structure that exploits the people, but a “Mother” duty-bound to protect them. He shows that the Ottomans were founded not by the sword alone but by a philosophy centered on organization and justice. It is the literary root of Cevvela’s rooted, homegrown stance. As you read, you stop belittling your own history through Western eyes and feel the pure will in that founding fire. A sword that cannot dispense justice is nothing but banditry.