Nasreddin Hoca was born in 1208 in Hortu village near town Sivrihisar (near Afyon) in the west part of Central Anatolia He moved in 1237 to Aksehir town to study under notably scholars of the time as Seyid Mahmud Hayrani and Seyid Haci Ibrahim He served as Kadi, Muslim judge, from time to time till 1284 which is the date of his death
Nasreddin Hoca was a philosopher, wise, witty man with a good sense of humor His stories have been told almost everywhere in the world, spread among the tribes of Turkic World and into Persian, Arabian, African and along the Silk Road to China and India cultures, later also to Europe Of course, all these stories currently attributed to the Hoca for about 700 years havent originated from him Most of them are the product of collective Humor of not only Turks but also other folks in the World
Nasreddin Hodja, or Hoca which means teacher in Turkish (c is pronounced in Turkish like dj or like J in John in English), is known as with different names in the world Some examples; Turks say Nasreddin Hoca; Kazakhs, Koja Nasreddin; Greeks, Hoja Nasreddin; Azerbaijanis and Iranians, Molla or Mulla Nasreddin; Arabs, Juha; and Tajiks, Mushfiqi And some spellings of Nasreddin: Nasrudin, Nasr eddin and Nasr aldin
The year 1996 was proclaimed Nasreddin Hoca year by UNESCO He is, now in 2004, 796 years old He signed the humor of the millennium at the top