From Serçe Palace to Seyf Palace to Seyfe

Abstract

Today, Lake Seyfe, located within the border of the Mucur district in the northeast of Kırşehir province, and the Seyfe village, located by this lake, are 16 km away from Mucur. The lake, which is known as the “bird paradise”, is a place where many bird species that migrate from other lands and countries stay and breed, according to the seasons and their lifecycles throughout the year. However, due to climate change in recent years, global warming, the evaporation of the water sources feeding the lake and high levels of evaporation, the lake has largely lost this population feature, especially in the summer months. It has been determined that the oldest known name of the lake is Serçe or Serçe Saray, meaning the nest and place of birds. This name was probably given during the Anatolian Seljuk period before 1480, when Kırşehir and the region came under Ottoman rule. The arable land near the lake and the village that was later established are also mentioned as Serçe or Serçe Saray in the Ottoman archives. In 1557, the tax revenues of the arable land and the village, known as divani, were under the joint possession of the timar holders Seyfi and his brother Haydar. Later, it is seen that the village began to appear in the archival records under the name Seyf Saray, in reference to Seyfi’s name. The fact that the village, and therefore the lake, began to be known as Seyf Saray indicates that Seyfi played an important role in the formation and preservation of the village, and that his services may have been mentioned by word of mouth among the people of the village and the surrounding area. In this context, it should be noted that the name of the village and the lake began to be called Seyf Saray, and over time, as Saray was forgotten, only the name Seyfe remained permanent.