(modern Turkish: Nasreddin Hoca) is the label of the most prominent protagonist of humorous pro se narratives in the whole sphere of Turkish-Islamic influence, ranging from the Balkan area to the Turkic-speaking peoples of Central Asia. Naṣr al-Dīn is a legendary character whose historical existence none of the various theories regarding his alleged lifetime has succeeded to prove beyond doubt. The character from the 10th/16th century onwards increasingly served as a point of crystallisation for an otherwise amorphous popular trad…