Who is Nasreddin Hodja?

Nasreddin or Nasreddin Hodja (other variants include: Mullah Nasreddin Hooja, Nasruddin Hodja, Mullah Nasruddin, Mullah Nasriddin, Khoja Nasriddin) (1208-1285) is a fictional character in the folklore of the Muslim world from Arabia to Central Asia, and a hero of humorous short
stories and satirical anecdotes. 

There are frequent statements about his existence in real life and even archaeological evidence in specific places, for example, a tombstone in the city of Akşehir, Turkey. At the moment, there is no confirmed information or serious grounds to talk about the specific date or place of Nasreddin’s birth, so the question of the reality of his existence remains open.

Nasreddin appears in thousands of stories, sometimes witty, sometimes wise, but often, too, a fool or the butt of a joke. A Nasreddin story usually has a subtle humour and a pedagogic nature.The International Nasreddin Hodja festival is celebrated between 5 and 10 July every year in Akşehir.

In 2020, an application to include “Telling tradition of Nasreddin Khoja” in the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage list was jointly submitted by the governments of Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan,  Tajikistan, Türkiye and Turkmenistan.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nasreddin