62 chapter 1
Muhammad’s face—peace be upon him—and [returned to] teach the
laws of Islam to the tribe of Oğuz ...On the other hand, different groups invented different stories; two texts of
kapıkulu ( janissary) origin, namely the Historia Turchesca and Constantine
Mihailović’s memories, preserve a tradition presenting either Osman or his
father as peasants. Colin Imber notes insightfully that “it is conceivable that
[this tradition] arose from the direct experience of the devşirme men who
served in the kapıkulu corps”.69
69 Imber 1994, 128, 136. The same tradition is also preserved in the chronicle of Oruç. On the
presence of such legitimizing legends in Byzantine and post-Byzantine Greek chronicles
see Moustakas 2011 and especially 2012.