Nasreddin Hodja - Who is Nasreddin Hodja?

There are many stereotypes about which Turkish jokes are told such as Bektashi jokes, Laz jokes, and Nasreddin Hodja Jokes. Here, I will mainly talk about the most traditional and witty one, Nasreddin Hodja.

Nasreddin Hodja

Nasreddin Hodja is an important cultural icon in Turkey. Everybody knows him and can tell you at least couple of his jokes. Nasreddin Hodja actually lived in Aksehir, Turkey in the 13th century. His father was the village imam in their village, and Nasreddin Hodja took after the duty after his father's death. He is also known to teach lessons at the village school and to act as the kadı (judge that resolves the issues between people) at the same time.

Since he is very famous and there are not enough written documents about him from his time, facts about Nasreddin Hodja are definitely mixed with some myths as well. Looking at his jokes, we can tell many things about Hodja. He was an imam (religious leader that leads prayer at the mosque), teacher and kadı (judge). He was husband to a wife and he was pretty poor, struggling with the difficulties of life in different ways. He often had a hard time to support his family, and tried several jobs for this. He was honest, if we don't count the little tricks he played once in a while. Lastly, he had a donkey that was an important part of his life and his jokes.

Jokes of Nasreddin Hodja take their topics from the simple daily village life of the 13th century, but many jokes contain wit and humor of universal value. He sometimes does foolish things, sometimes acts weird but always comes to a smart and funny conclusion that makes you smile and think at the same time. On the next page, there are some Nasreddin Hodja Jokes, samples from the large pool of jokes about him.