3 Temmuz 2024 Çarşamba

60

 REFLECTIONS OF AN EXTERNAL WORLD

IN THE OTTOMAN MIND

THE PRODUCTION AND TRANSMISSION OF

KNOWLEDGE



Examining Committee Member

I certify that I have read this thesis and have found that it is fully adequate, in scope

and in quality, as a thesis for the degree of Master of Arts in History.

---------------------------------


Examining Committee Member

Approval of the Graduate School of Economics and Social Sciences

---------------------------------

Prof Dr. Erdal Erel

Director

iii

ABSTRACT

REFLECTIONS OF AN EXTERNAL WORLD IN THE OTTOMAN MIND

THE PRODUCTION AND TRANSMISSION OF

KNOWLEDGE

IN THE 18TH CENTURY OTTOMAN SOCIETY


September 2011

This thesis attempts to investigate Ottoman “perception of knowledge”. The

construction of collective perception of knowledge, various knowledge concepts,

spaces for knowledge production, modes and channels of transmission are analyzed.

It discusses the role of oral and written modes of transmission and claims that the

loosening classical organizational structure of the Empire and the social

transformation experienced in the 18th century, had an impact on the society’s

perception of knowledge. It is assumed in this thesis that knowledge was being

transmitted by three different layers of society, namely “high-ranking professionals”,

“secondary professionals” and the “public”. The main argument of this thesis is

being tested by the empirical data showing the professional status of knowledge

transmitters, the books they owned, and the contents of the books which were

classified with respect to the kind of knowledge they possessed. The empirical data

used consists of 2 registers of kısmet-i askeriye, individual distinct records chosen

from Ba!bakanlık Osmanlı Ar!ivi Ba! Muhasebe Kalemi dating the first half of 18th

century, and one Üsküdar court record. This thesis carries the previous research done

on “Ottoman book culture” one step further for a better and meaningful interpretation

of the results, and views the role of books from the perspective of perception of

knowledge. Thus, it also hopes to provide an insight to the question of “Why did

printing come late to Ottoman world?” that has occupied the minds of Ottoman

historians for half a century.

Keywords; production, transmission, knowledge, Ottoman History, books, probate

inventory records

iv

ÖZET

DI! DÜNYANIN OSMANLI Z"HN"NDEK" YANSIMALARI

18. yy OSMANLI TOPLUMUNDA “BiLGi”N"N ÜRET"M" VE AKTARIMI

Tekgül, Nil

Master, Tarih Bölümü

Tez Yöneticisi: Prof. Dr. Özer Ergenç

Eylül 2011

Bu tez Osmanlı bilgi algısını konu edinmektedir. Kolektif bilgi algısının olu$umu,

Osmanlı’da farklı bilgi türlerini üretim mekanları, bilgi aktarım tarzları ve bu tarzlar

üzerinden olu$turulan farklı aktarım kanalları incelenmektedir. Sözlü ve yazılı kültür

pratiklerinin bilgi aktarımındaki rolü ve etkinlikleri tartı$ılmakta, 18.yy’da

deneyimlenen Osmanlı toplumsal de"i$im ve dönü$üm sürecinin aynı zamanda

kolektif bilgi algısını da etkiledi"i iddia edilmektedir. Bilgi aktarımının toplumda 3

ayrı katman tarafından gerçekle$ti"i varsayımına dayanarak, farklı katmanlarda yer

alan aktarıcıların mesleki statüleri, sahip oldukları kitapların adetleri ve Osmanlı

bilgi türlerine göre tasnifi gerçekle$tirilen kitap içerik analizleri ile bu iddia ampirik

veriler ı$ı"ında test edilmektedir. Konunun teorik çerçevesi 18.yy’a ait iki adet

kısmet-i askeriyye defteri, Ba$bakanlık Osmanlı Ar$ivi Ba$ Muhasebe Kalemi

tarafından düzenlenen münferit tereke kayıtları ve bir adet Üsküdar mahkemesince

düzenlenen kadı sicilleri ile ampirik olarak desteklenmektedir. Bu tez, bugüne kadar

Osmanlı kitap kültürü kapsamında yapılan ara$tırmaların ortaya koymu$ oldu"u

benzer sonuçları, farklı bir bakı$ açısı ile bir adım öteye ta$ıyarak, ara$tırma

sonuçlarının sebeplerini açıklamaya yönelik bir katkıda bulunmakta böylelikle

Osmanlı tarihçilerinin yarım yüzyıl boyunca zihinlerini me$gul eden “Matbaa

Osmanlı’ya neden geç geldi?” sorusuna da yanıt olabilme ümidini ta$ımaktadır.

Anahtar Kelimeler; bilgi, “bilgi üretimi”, “bilgi aktarımı”, “18.yy Osmanlı toplumu”,

sözlü kültür, kitap, tereke

v

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

It is my pleasure to thank those who have had valuable contributions to my thesis and

presented their support in a number of ways. First, I would like to to express my

warmest feelings to my husband Serdar and to my beloved son Hakan for their

enduring love and patience not only during the period of writing this thesis but also

for the wholly new experience of myself in the field of history. I would also like to

express my deepest gratitude to my friends Birgül, Reyhan and Sevgi for reading my

thesis and sharing their valuable comments with me sincerely although they were not

either historians or academicians. My dear brother Can and my friend Kemal also

supported me with their remarks while editing my English. My appreciation to all my

professors in the Department of History, especially to Prof. Dr. Oktay Özel and Prof.

Dr. Cadoc Leighton for their insightful comments on my thesis.

However, there’s somebody who deserves the most. He’s my advisor Prof. Dr. Özer

Ergenç. I offer my sincerest gratitude to him, who has supported me thoughout my

journey within history with his patience and vast knowledge in Ottoman history. I am

indebted to his neverlasting willingness to improve my Ottoman Turkish proficiency.

Without him this thesis, would not have been completed or written. Last but not the

least, I would like to thank Gürer and Sarper for their friendship and participative

support all throughout the program.

vi

TABLE OF CONTENTS

ABSTRACT…………………………………………………...……………… iii

ÖZET………………………………………………………………………….. iv

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS…………………………………………………… v

TABLE OF CONTENTS……………………………………………………… vi

LIST OF TABLES……………………………………………………………viii

LIST OF FIGURES………………………………………………………….....xi

CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION……………………………………………… ..1

1.1 Objectiveof the Thesis……………………………………..…….......7-10

1.2 Literature Review ………………………………………………...10-16

1.3 Methodology and Sources………………………………………....16-18

CHAPTER II: CONCEPTS DEFINING KNOWLEDGE ……………….. .19-29

2.1 Ilm…………………………………………………………… . …21-22

2.2 Marifet…………………………………………………..……….. .22-23

2.3 Hal……………………………………………..…………..............23-25

2.4 Hüner-Marifet…………………………..………………………. ..25-27

2.5 Adab………………………………………………………… …....27-29

CHAPTER III: CONSTRUCTION OF “PERCEPTION OF KNOWLEDGE”...

………………………………………………………………………………30-71

3.1 Spaces for “Knowledge” Production and Transmission..…………..31-49

3.2 Modes of Transmission…………………………………………. …49-63

3.2.1 Rituals………………………………………………. .49-51

3.2.2 Oral……………………………………………………51-55

3.2.3 Written………………………………………………. 55-56

3.2.3.i. Production of Books –Author and Copyist…

……………………………………………………...... 56-59

3.2.3.ii Book Trading and Demand ………………… .60-63

3.3 Individual and his Perception of Knowledge in Classical Period…..63-67

3.4 Individual and his Perception of Knowledge in

vii

Post-classical Period…. …………………………………………… 68-71

CHAPTER IV: KNOWLEDGE TRANSMITTERS………………… 72-97

4.1 Primary Sources of the Previous Research and Their Results……..72-74

4.2 Primary Sources of this Thesis …………..………………………...75-77

4.3 Defining Knowledge Transmitters…………………………………77-80

4.4 Transmitters Reflected in the Sources……………………………...80-96

4.5 Evaluation of the Sources…………………………………………..96-97

CHAPTER V: CONCLUSION……………………………………………98-102

BIBLIOGRAPHY………………………………………………………..103-107

viii

LIST OF TABLES

Table 1. Ottoman Medrese Cirricula……………………………………………33

Table 2. Results of Previous Research on the book-ownership ratio …………..68

Table 3. Sabev’s findings of book ownership with respect to owners’

Profession………………………………………………………………………..69

Table 4. Book ownership ratio in KA%S no. 22 and 31…………………………70

Table 5. Book ownership and the no. of books owned with respect

to owners’ profession in KA%C no. 22 and 31………………………………….71

Table 6. Analysis of KA%C No. 31 dated hijri 1124 (1712-1713) ……………..76

Table 7. Anaylsis of KA%C No. 22 dated hijri 1114-1115 (1703-1704)………..76

ix

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 1. Classifcation of Ottoman Knowledge………………………………16

Figure 2. Perception of Knowledge………………………………………… 31

Figure 3. Transmission of Knowledge in Medrese………………………… 35

Figure 4. Transmission of Knowledge in Tekke…………………………….. 37

Figure 5. Transmission of Knowledge in Hirfet Groups……………………...39

Figure 6. Transmission Channels of Knowledge to Cem’iyyet (Public)……...44

1

CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Objective of the Thesis

Civilizations tend to develop and revolve around meaningful concepts of an abstract

nature, which more than anything else gives them their distinctive character. ‘Ilm is

one of the concepts that has dominated Islam and given Muslim civilization its

distinctive shape and complexity.1 Arabic ‘ilm is fairly well rendered by the term

“knowledge”. However, Rosenthal argues that “knowledge” falls short of expressing

all the factual and emotional contents of ‘ilm.2 Although it is considered to be the

root of every innovation in human society today, and has been thus respected by

many civilizations as such, different civilizations may have emphasized different

aspects of knowledge. From a comparative perspective, it becomes, then, a valid

1 Franz Rosenthal, Knowledge Triumphant: The Concept of Knowledge in Medieval Islam, Leiden,

Netherlands, E.J.Brill, 1970, p.1. Franz Rosenthal (August 31, 1914 – April 8, 2003)was a German

orientalist, a prolific and highly accomplished scholar who contributed much to the development of

source-critical studies in Arabic in the US. His publications range from a monograph on Humor in

Early Islam to a three-volume annotated translation of the Muqaddimah of Ibn Khaldun to a Grammar

of Biblical Aramaic. He wrote extensively on Islamic civilization, including The Muslim Concept of

Freedom, The Classical Heritage in Islam, The Herb: Hashish versus Medieval Muslim Society,

Gambling in Islam, On Suicide in Islam and Complaint and Hope in Medieval Islam, as well as three

volumes of collected essays and two volumes of translations from the history of the medieval Arab

historian at-Tabari, Knowledge Triumphant: The Concept of Knowledge in Medieval Islam.

!"Ibid, p. 2

2

question if there were noticeable differences in the perception of the concept of

knowledge in Classical Antiquity, in the Christian West, in Islam, in China or in

India.

Rosenthal’s work, Knowledge Triumphant, specifically focuses on knowledge in

Islam. Rosenthal also attempts to answer the aforesaid question, in his concluding

remarks. He argues that in the merging of ethics with knowledge in Greco-Roman

philosophy in the Ancient World, in particular in Greco-Roman philosophy, ethics

always retained the greater attraction for the minds and emotions of the Ancients,

and exercised greater influence over them. He also states that the sphere of religion

was never fused that of knowledge as happened later on in Islam.3 In Greco-Roman

philosophy, identifying ethics with knowledge started with Socrates.4 For the

Western civilization created by Greek and Roman world, its medieval mind was not

moved by any magic spell emanating from the word “knowledge” or a belief in its

unsurpassed religious and worldly merit.5 On the contrary, Chinese and, in particular,

the Neo-Confucian thought was thoroughly dominated by the idea of inseparability

of knowledge from action. In the Chinese view, action, not knowledge, was the chief

concern of the individual and of society.6 The most fundamental concepts of Chinese

philosophy were “balance”, “harmony”, and the “Golden Mean”.7 To emphasize

further the variations around this theme, “action” faded into the background in India.

3 Ibid, p.335

4 J. Störig, “"lkça# Felsefesi Hint Çin Yunan”, trns. Ömer Cemal Güngören, Yol Yayınları, !stanbul,

1994, p. 238

5 Franz Rosenthal, nowledge Triumphant: The Concept of Knowledge in Medieval Islam, Leiden,

Netherlands, E.J.Brill, 1970, p. 337

6 Ibid, p.338

7 J. Störig, “"lkça# Felsefesi Hint Çin Yunan”, trns. Ömer Cemal Güngören, Yol Yayınları, !stanbul,

1994, p. 172

3

Instead, epistemology at its most abstract form came to fore as the abiding

preoccupation of Indian thinkers. Moreover, the discussions about the relationship of

knower, knowledge and the object known showed wide variations. Indian scholars

probed deeper into the abstract problem of knowledge than Muslim scholars ever did.

This speculation involved a great variety of terms each of which had specific

meaning. There was no single dominating term like ‘ilm in Arabic.8

Rosenthal claims that knowledge, was indeed, Islam. Throughout centuries,

perception of knowledge encompassed all the religious, philosophical, and mystical

trends and thus enabling it to be the most dominant and inclusive concept of Islamic

civilization which will be thoroughly analyzed in the second chapter.

To further focus on the main subject of this thesis, it becomes an important question

to answer as to what the Ottoman perception of knowledge was as the Ottoman

Empire was one of the most significant Islamic states. Firstly, the terms “perception”,

and “perception of knowledge” used within the context of this thesis need to be

clarified. In its simplest form, perception (from the Latin perceptio, percipio) is the

process by which an organism attains awareness or understanding of its environment

by organizing and interpreting sensory information. In other words, perception

involves a mental process of transforming sensory information which then is codified

as a concept by the use of linguistics. Transmission starts as perceptions become

codified as concepts. Through the transmission of concepts, a process of collective

mental construction starts and thus perception becomes socialized. This collective

mental construction of perception is defined as “knowledge” in this thesis.

8 Franz Rosenthal, Knowledge Triumphant: The Concept of Knowledge in Medieval Islam, Leiden,

Netherlands, E.J.Brill, 1970, p.339-40

4

Besides tracing the perception of knowledge and its impact on the Ottoman society,

this thesis also attempts to answer the following questions; were there different kinds

of knowledge; were there any differences in the individual’s perception of

knowledge between the classical and the post-classical period; who were the people

producing knowledge and for whom; who were the transmitters of knowledge; what

kind of effects did the comparative dominance of oral culture over written culture

have on perception of knowledge; was literacy a distinguishing feature in Ottoman

society; how were the written texts positioned in one’s social life, and how did they

correspond to one’s needs?

This thesis seeks to answer the aforementioned questions by analyzing the various

modes and channels of transmission of knowledge, the impact of the knowledge

transmitters on the formation of “perception of knowledge” and how all these factors

combine to create the stereotype individual of the Ottoman society. This thesis

argues that 18th century is a crucial period of transformation with signs of change in

both the production and the transmission of knowledge. Besides viewing the signs of

change from a theoretical perspective, it also uses probate inventory records of the

18th century. The books which were classified with respect to the distinct knowledge

they possess are used as a tool to trace the knowledge transmission mechanism.

It also sets the stage for the discussion that 18th century’s changing perception of

knowledge might be a precursor of 19th century’s intellectual dynamism, thus also

hopes to provide an insight to the question of “Why did printing come late to

Ottoman world?” that has occupied the minds of Ottoman historians for half a

century.

5

1.2 Literature Review

Albert Hourani challenged the so-called “decline” thesis with his essay “Changing

Face of the Fertile Crescent in the XVIII century” which was published in 1957. His

work exposed the dynamics of change in the eighteenth century and concluded that

Ottoman Muslim society in eighteenth century was not decaying and lifeless, but it

was rather a self-contained society “before” the full impact of the West.9 His essay

was rejecting the generally accepted assumption that it was the Western countries’

impact in the 18th century that which made Ottoman society self-sufficient. Another

researcher Sadji argues that Ottoman historians’ started to question the validity of

the “decline thesis” with their productive skepticism towards their sources and

intensive research using empirical data. She further claims that those empirical

studies offered a portrayal of internally dynamic Ottoman state and society which

could easily be compared to other societies and polities with a changing nature. 10

Although there is still an on-going debate on the validity of decline thesis, most of

the historians tend to regard 17th and 18th centuries as a period of social

transformation. 11

#" Albert Hourani , "The Changing Face of the Fertile Crescent in the XVIIIth Century," Studia

Islamica, VIII (1957), pp. 89-122"

10 Dana Sadji, “Decline, its Discontents and Ottoman Cultural History: By Way of Introduction”

Ottoman Tulips Ottoman Coffee, Leisure and Lifestyle in the Eighteenth Century, (ed. Dana Sadji),

New York: Tauris Academic Studies , 2007, pp. 6-7

11 There is still a debate going on between historians who view 17th and 18th centuries as a period of

“stagnation and decline”, and historians viewing the period as an “adaptation and transformation”. For

valuable research done on both views, pls.see: Halil Inacik, The Ottoman Empire: The Classical Age,

London, Phoneix, 1994, s.41-52; Inalcık, “Centralization and Decentralization in Ottoman

Administration”, Studies in Eighteenthcentury Islamic History, s.27-52; Cemal Kafadar, “The Myth of

the Golden Age: Ottoman Historical Consiousness in the Post-Süleymanic Era”, Süleyman the Second

and his Time, ed.Halil !nalcık and Cemal Kafadar, !stanbul, !sis Press,1993, s.37-48; Cemak Kafadar,

“The Question of Ottoman Decline”, Harward Middle Eastern and Islamic Review 4, no:1-2, 1997-

1998, s.30-75; Norman Itzkowitz, “Eighteenth Century Ottoman Realities”, Studia Islamica 16

(1962), s.73-94; Rifa’at Abou el-Haj, The Formation of the Modern State: The Ottoman Empire,

6

However, we do not know much about the Ottoman intellectual changes in this

transitional period of 17th and 18th centuries. Hathaway argues that knowledge of the

intellectual and cultural history of Ottomans is very limited; although, there has been

many valuable research done on the economic and social history of Ottomans.12

Kafadar also believes that its cultural history is one of the least studied areas and that

our knowledge on the perceptions of Ottoman elite and society as a whole, their

intellectual and emotional world, is still limited.13

As a part of cultural and intellectual history, most of the research done so far around

the world and in Turkey used “books” or “written texts” as their primary sources for

a better understanding of the minds of people. Thus, historians first focused on the

“history of books” which may be summarized as follows:

Studies on “history of books” or “book culture” in the West started with Ecole de

Annales in 1950’s, evaluating the importance and the place of books within

historical, social and cultural context. However, these studies mostly analyzed the

impact of printed books rather than manuscripts. The first of those studies was made

by Lucien Febvre and Henry-Jean Martin in 1958, named “L’apparation du Livre-the

Coming of the Book”. It was translated into English in 1976.14 Since then, the

Sixteenth to Eighteenth century, Albany, State University of New York Press,1991; Madeline Zilfi,

The Politics of Piety: The Ottoman Ulema in the Postclassical Age (1600-1800), Minneapolis,

Bibliotheca Islamica,1998; Ariel Salzmann, “An Ancien Regime Revisited: Privatization and Political

Economy in the Eighteenth Century Ottoman Empire”, Politics and Society 21, no.4 (1993) s. 393-

424; Cornell Fleisher, Bureaucrat and Intellectual in the Ottoman Empire: The Historian Mustafa Ali,

1541-1600, Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1986.

12 Jane Hathaway, “Rewriting Eighteenth Century Ottoman History”, Mediterranean Historical

Review, 19/1, 2004, p.29

13 Cemal Kafadar, Question of Ottoman Decline, Harward Middle Eastern and Islamic Review 4

(1997-1998),1-2: 56

14 Lucien Febvre, Henry-Jean Martin, “L’apparition du livre,” Paris: A.Michel, 1958 the translated

into English as “The Coming of the Book, The Impact of Printing 1450-1800”, London: NLB,1976

7

research done on “history of books” has gained ground in European and American

academia that has applied different methodologies to almost all of the sources.

Studies on Muslim book history are rather new. The first attempt to study the role of

the “book” in Islamic societies was made by George N. Atiyeh in his work “the Book

in the Islamic world: The Written Word and Communication in the Middle East”.15

For the societies living in the Ottoman Empire, the role of book in their lives has

been the subject of study only in the last few years. There are some studies covering

cities like Bursa (15-16th cc)16, Edirne (1545-1659)17, Istanbul (17th cc)18, Sofia

(1671-1833)19, Damascus (1686-1717)20, Cairo (17-18.cc)21, Rusçuk (1695-

15 Orlin Sabev, "brahim Müteferrika ya da "lk Osmanlı Matbaa Serüveni (1726-1746), !stanbul:

Yeditepe , 2006. p.26

16 Ali !hsan Karata$, “Osmanlı Tolumunda Kitap (XIV- XVI. Yüzyıllar)”, Türkler (der. C.Güzel,

K.Çiçek, S.Koca), Ankara: Yeni Türkiye (2002). Also please see his articles “Tereke Kayıtlarına göre

16.yy da Bursa’da !nsan-Kitap !li$kisi”, Uluda# Ünv. "lahiyat Fakültesi, V: 8/8, 1999 pp. 317-328 and

also “16.yy da Bursa’da Tedavüldeki Kitaplar” , Uluda# Ünv. "lahiyat Fakültesi, V:10/1, 2001 pp.

209-230. Karata$ analyzed the books in probate records found in 200 court registers in Bursa dating

16th century, classified them with respect to owners’ neighborhoods, to subjects and contents of the

books, their prices and found book ownership ratios for the mentioned period. His results indicate

book ownership as %37 in the period 1500-1525, %33 in 1526-1550 , %17 in 1551-1575 , and %13

in 1576-1600. In his second work, he classified 2094 books found in terekes consisting of 400

different books according to their genres, and gave a short description of the most preferred ones.

17 Ömer Lütfi Barkan, “Edirne Askeri Kassamına Ait Tereke Defterleri (1545-1659)”, TTK, Belgeler,

III/5-6, Ankara: Türk Tarih Kurumu, 1968

18 Said Öztürk, Askeri Kassama ait Onyedinci Asır !stanbul Tereke Defterleri(Sosyo-Ekonomik

Tahlil) (Istanbul: Osmanlı Ara$tırmaları Vakfı, 1995)

19 Orlin Sabev, “Private Book Collections in Ottoman Sofia, 1671-1833 (Preliminary Notes)”, Etudes

Balkaniques, 2003 No:1,pp. 34-82

20 Colette Establet, and Jean-Paul Pascual, “Damascene Probate Inventories of the 17th and 18th

Centuries: Some Preliminary Approaches and Results” International Journal of Middle East Studies,

24/3, Aug., 1992, s. 373-393. Christoph Neumann considers this study as the only statistical one of its

kind. “Colette Establet and Jean-Paul Pascual analyzed 450 court registers during 1700s in Aleppo

which was a city considred to have a high level of education. The book ownership among women

were very rare, but %18 of men owned at least one book.” Neumann argues that these findings were

not very different from that of Europe, and regards that it may even be considered as an evidence

showing that even the manuscripts may reach a large number of people. “Üç Tarz-ı Mütalaa”, Tarih ve

Toplum Yeni Yakla$ımlar, Sayı 1, Bahar 2005

21 Nelly Hanna, In Praise of Books, A Cultural History of Cairo’s Middle Class, Sixteenth to the

Eighteenth Century, New York: Syracuse University Press, 2003 , p. 85. Hanna analyzed the amount

of books in private libraries of both askeri and reaya class for the periods (1600-1610), (1703-1714),

(1730-1740), (1749-1759) in Cairo. Number of private libraries had been found as 73, 102, 190, 102

and the number of books owwned as 2.427, 3.535, 5.991, 2077 for the mentioned periods respectively.

8

1786)22, Eyüp (mid-18th cc)23, Istanbul (1724-26, 1747-48)24, Aleppo (18th cc)25,

Trabzon ((1795-1846).26 The latest and the most comprehensive work is Sievert’s

article covering 36 bureaucrats who died between 1700 and 1800.27 It is also

important to mention the work of Johann Strauss who analyzed the contents of the

books read in societies with different religious faiths in the 19th and 20th century

Hanna claims that in the 18th century, a new class or strata has been formed whose culture was

different from that of both the askeri class and ulema and also from rural culture. Additionally, she

argues that this middle urban class composed of artisans, merchants, craft members, $eyhs, and those

positioned in lower ranks of ulema hierarchy have been the determinant of reformist movements of

19th century.

22 Orlin Sabev, “A Reading Provincial Society: Booklovers among the Muslim Population of Ruscuk

(1695-1786)”, Third International Congress on Islamic Civilization in the Balkans, Bucharest,

Romania, 1-5 November 2006

23 Tülay Artan, “Terekeler I$ı"ında 18.Yüzyıl Ortasında Eyüp’de Ya$am Tarzı ve Standartlarına Bir

Bakı$: Orta Hallili"in Aynası”, 18. Yüzyıl Kadı Sicilleri I!ı#ında Eyüp’de Sosyal Ya!am (ed. Tülay

Artan), !stanbul; Tarih Vakfı, 1998, s.49-64. Artan in her study, analyzed the court registers of

Havass-ı Refia/Eyüp numbered 184, 185, 188 dating mid-18th century. By the use of probate records

in those registers, she presents a consumption group with respect to their profession, status, level of

income and housing. Although she mentions books found in tereke registers, her study was not fully

concentrated on books and readers. She indicates that only one woman had a book in her inventory,

and claims that this was the case with most of the women from dynasty with either no book ownership

or very few consisting of prayer books and mushaf-ı $erif.

24 Orlin Sabev, "brahim Müteferrika ya da "lk Osmanlı Matbaa Serüveni (1726-1746), !stanbul:

Yeditepe , 2006.

25 Abraham Marcus ,The Middle East on the Eve of Modernity , Aleppo in the Eighteenth Century,

Columbia University Press, New York, 1989, p. 237. With his finding, Marcus defines the book

culture as follows: “……A majority of the men and almost the entire population of women remained

outside the ranks of the functionally literate; others read and wrote for them. This condition of

restricted literacy remained a consistent feature of the community throughout the century. In practice

only a portion of the literate became members of a book-reading public. Books did not penetrate

deeply into people’s lives, and only in part because of restricted literacy. Both their availability and

contents severely limited their cultural impact. Copied and illustrated by hand, the books were

expensive and scarce. Only the better-off families and those with a long tradition of learning owned

sizable collections, some of them containing several thousand volumes, acquired by purchase or by

copying of extant manuscripts.”

26 Abdullah Saydam, “Trabzon’da Halkın Kitap Sahibi Olma Düzeyi (1795-1846)”, Milli E#itim, 170

(Bahar 2006), pp.187-201. He analyzed book ownership ratio within the mentioned period using the

records from 29 court registers. In his findings, %11.6 of total probate inventory records had owned 1-

2 books, %2.7 percent of the total owned 3-5 books. Those owning 1-2 books constitute %53.1 of the

book owners, and those owning 3-5 books constitute %12.3 of the book owners.

27 Henning Sievert, “Verlorene Schatze-Bücher von Bürokraten in den Muhallefat Registern” in

Welten Des Islams Band 3, edited by Silvia Naef, Ulrich Rudolph, Gregor Schoeler, Bern, Peter Lang,

2010, pp. 199-263. He studied the probate inventory records of 36 bureaucrats and pashas deseased

within the period 1700-1800, analyzed the educational background and their interest through the

books they owned, and classified the books, both the manuscripts and the printed books, according to

their content.

9

Ottoman Empire.28

The aforementioned research done on Ottoman local probate inventories attempt to

determine the role of books in the society by analyzing the gender, social status of

the Ottoman book owners, the content and price of the books. These studies, in

general also attempt to find the book ownership ratio in the society. However they

remain to focus on local data and are far from presenting an accurate and

comprehensive picture of a longer time horizon.

In general, their findings are consistent with each other, confirming that the most

preferred book was Qur’an. Religious books, and the books on Islamic judicial law

had a dominant position in probate inventories of Ottoman readers compared to those

books with non-religious content like history, natural sciences, and literature. The

literacy rate was low. The book ownership ratio in the Ottoman society were low

except in the ilmiyye, religious class. However these findings are far from being an

accurate tool to fully comprehend the underlying reasons for those findings in the

Ottoman society.

There are also some studies done on specifically selected probate inventories rather

than a time-series analysis which attempt to reconstruct the social history of the

Ottoman world through content of the books owned.29 However; these are not

28 Johann Strauss, “Who Read What in the Ottoman Empire (19th and 20th centuries”, Arabic Middle

Eastern Literatures, 6/1, 2003, pp. 39-76

29 Pls. See as an example; Selim Karahasano"lu, “Osmanlı !mparatorlu"unda 1730 !syanına Dair Yeni

Bulgular: !syanın Organizatörlerinden Ayasofya Vaizi !spirizade Ahmed Efendi ve Terekesi”,

Christoph Neumann, “Kadı Halil A"a’nın Kitapları”, Orlin Sabev, “"brahim Müteferrika ya da "lk

Osmanlı Matbaa Serüveni (1726-1746)”. Although Karahasano"lu’s study does not focus solely on

the books owned by !spirizade, he analyzes 173 books in his private library, with respect to their

names, prices, and total value of the books as a percentage of his total income. Neumann, analyzed the

books owned by Halil A"a deceased in 1751 who was a member of örf class , whose properties had

been confiscated. Halil A"a was called “Kadı Halil A"a” due to large volume of books he owned.

10

sufficient either to analyze the perception of knowledge in the Ottoman society or

determine its dynamics of change, or interpret the role of written texts from a wider

perspective.

This thesis also takes into consideration the use of other transmission channels of

knowledge in the society and various transmission methods practiced in addition to

analyzing the books owned and their position in the in the Ottoman systematic of

knowledge. This approach thus argues to provide a better understanding of the

society’s perception of knowledge presented from a wider perspective.

1.3 Methodology and Sources

Tereke or metrukat registers are the court records of the deceased Muslims showing

the distribution of the remaining estates of the deceased to their heirs according to

sharia, Islamic law. However, the practice was not obligatory.30 In this respect,

empirical evidence in “tereke registers” does not represent the society as a whole.

With the exception of cities like Bursa, and Edirne, kadıs, the judges would usually

record probate inventories as a part of the registers called “sicil-i mahfuz”, in which

all the correspondence with the state, notaries, royal edicts, testimonies, court expert

reports, lawsuits, etc. were recorded, including the probate inventories. Registers of

And Neuman formed his hypothesis on Ottoman intellectual mind through the books owned by Kadı

Halil A"a. Orlin Sabev’s book “!brahim Müteferrika ya da !lk Osmanlı Matbaa Serüveni (1726-

1746)” is a precious work considering the sources used, the database he formed, and his arguments.

His main objective is to evaluate the success of print, determine the profile of Ottoman readers of print

books, while viewing the print from a different perspective. He also gives valuable information on

Ottoman written culture.

30 Inalcık, Halil, “15. Asır Türkiye !ktisadi ve !çtimai Tarihi Kaynakları”, Osmanlı "mparatorlu#u

Toplum ve Ekonomi Üzerinde Ar!iv Çalı!maları, "ncelemeler, !stanbul: Eren, 1996, p. 188

11

“sicil-i mahfuz” were not used to record inventories specifically. This practice was

valid for all the Ottoman reaya, tax-paying subjects.

On the other hand, the probate inventory records of askeri class, administrative-taxexempt

subjects, was kept and registered by the “kassams” working on behalf of

Kadıasker and recorded on registers called “kısmet-i askeriye”. In those registers

only the probate records of the askeri class and the law suits related to inheritance

would be recorded. That is the first reason for using the kısmet-i askeriye registers as

the main primary source since it was assumed that those registers would contain

more probate records compared to “sicil-i mahfuz” registers.

The primary sources used in this thesis consist of basically the probate inventory

records registered in !stanbul Müftülü"ü %eriyye Sicilleri Archive. One of them is

kısmet-i askeriye register numbered 22 covering the period hijri 1114-15 (1703-

1704) having a total of 248 pages 31, and the next is kısmet-i askeriye register

numbered 31 dated hijri 1124 (1712-1713) with 200 pages.32 The second reason for

choosing those registers initiates from the assumption that there would be a larger

amount of books in the probate records of the deceased askeriye members. The third

and final reason depends on the assumption that the members of askeriye class would

be closer to sources where knowledge was produced, had an easier access to it, and if

there had been any significant changes in reading practices it would first be observed

in this group rather than the populace.

Although the aforementioned court registers constitutes the main database of this

thesis, randomly selected probate inventory records in Ba$bakanlık Osmanlı Ar$ivi

31 Kısmet-i Askeriyye %eriyye Sicilleri (hereinafter referred to as KA%S), No.22

32 KA%S, No. 31

12

Ba$ Muhasebe Muhallefat registers issued in the period 1700-1750 were also

analyzed.33

Additionally, the randomly selected court register of Uskudar dated hijri 1153-1154

(1741) was used to determine the book ownership of reaya, tax paying subjects.34

The reason for choosing Istanbul as the space of analysis rests on the fact that it was

both a center for production of knowledge and also the mostly developed center of

book market and trade as the capital of the Empire.

In this thesis, the ones having at least one book are selected in those registers, and the

names of the books owned are recorded. After finding the ratio of the book owners in

the society, the owners are then classified with respect to their social status as a

member of either örfiyye, kalemiyye or ilmiyye class. The books are then positioned

in Ottoman systematic of knowledge depending on their subject.

The main assumption of this thesis is that the Ottoman society had three different

main layers with respect to their functions as a knowledge transmitter. These were

mainly “high-ranking professionals”, “secondary professionals” and the “populace”.

It is also assumed that the group defined as “secondary professionals” was the main

group of people transmitting knowledge to masses enabling the construction of

collective perception of knowledge with their close contact with the populace,

whereas “high-ranking professionals” possessing the genuine knowledge were only

transmitting their knowledge to a very selected and distinguished group of people.

33 BOA, D-B%M-MHF/87-12435, MHF/158-12508, MHF/116-12465, MHF/25-12373, 12382,

MHF/44-12392, MHF/18-12366, MHF/21-12369, MHF/301-12652

34 Ülkü Geçgil, Fatih Ünv. Unpublished Master’s Thesis, “Uskudar at the begining of the 18th century

(a case study on the text and analysis of the court register of Uskudar nr. 402)”

13

This thesis focuses on the content of the books owned by the “secondary

professionals”, identifying the similarities between the books and attempting to trace

the process of change in collective perception of knowledge through those books.

However, keeping in mind that written texts were not the only source of knowledge,

various transmission practices are also analyzed in a comparative perspective with

the written world.

14

CHAPTER II

CONCEPTS DEFINING KNOWLEDGE

Since Ottomans were an Islamic state, in this part of the thesis, the value attributed to

knowledge in Islam and different definitions of knowledge throughout centuries will

be discussed.

Throughout the history of Islam, there were many definitions of “ilm”, and the

process of polishing and discussing them never stopped. Rosenthal gives more than

eight hundred definitions of knowledge. He gives the classification of these

definitions in a list that are neither historical nor in accordance with categories that

might have been used by Muslim scholars themselves. He attempts to arrange the

definitions according to what seems to be their most essential elements. He defines

the term under eleven categories;

Knowledge is the process of knowing and identical with the knower and the

known, or it is an attribute enabling the knower to know.

Knowledge is cognition.

Knowledge is a process of “obtaining” or “finding” through mental

perception. Similarly knowledge is a process of “comprehending”.

Knowledge is a process of clarification, assertion, and decision.

Knowledge is a form ($urah), a concept or meaning (ma’na), a process of

mental formation and imagination (tasavvur “perception”) and/or mental

verification (tasdik “apperception”).

Knowledge is belief. (ontological)

15

Knowledge is remembrance, imagination, an image, a vision, and an opinion.

Knowledge is a motion.

Knowledge is a relative term because it is used in comparison with the object

known.

Knowledge may be defined in relation to action.

Knowledge is conceived as the negation of ignorance.35

In its early usage, ilm was signified as accurate knowledge based on the Quran, its

exposition and the sayings and examples (Sunnah) of the Prophet. Gradually the

notion of ilm was broadened to mean “science”, and an alim came to signify a

scholar in a wide sense and a faqih came to mean a specialist in religious law. The

numerous definitions and expositions of ilm produced during the classical period

further expanded the notion of ilm. Religious, philosophical and mystical trends

merged to expand the boundaries of ilm, which came to signify not just science but

also thought and education, the deliberations of the philosophers as well as the

mysticism of the Sufis, the endeavors of the calligraphers and illustrators, the art of

the poets, and works of literature and belles-lettres.36

How was knowledge defined in Ottomans who had an Islamic identity, and what was

the value attributed to it?

Ulema in the Ottoman Empire were considered to be “alim”s, those who know. In

every imperial edict addressed to kadıs, they were titled as “evla u vulati’l

muvahhidin”- the highest in charge for administration of his territory since ulema had

both juridical and administrative authority-, “madenü’l fazl ve’l yakin”- those who

are considered to be the source of knowledge and virtue- , and “varis u ulumi’lenbiya’

ve’l mürselin”- those whose knowledge originates from that of the

35 Ibid,pp. 46-70

36 Ziauddin Sardar, “How We Know Ilm and the Revival of Knowledge”, Grey Seal Books, London

1991, p.2

16

knowledge of Prophet, heir of Prophet’s own knowledge. Those esteemed titles may

be assumed to indicate the value attributed to knowledge, and also to the ones who

“know” in the Ottoman society.37

In the following section, classification of the Ottoman knowledge is reconstructed

through the analysis of terms used by Ottomans in defining knowledge like ilm, hal,

haber, hüner, fen, sanat, marifet and adab.

Figure 1. Classification of Ottoman Knowledge

2.1 ‘!lm

‘"lm, in its practical use implies religious knowledge. Religious knowledge, in its

essence, is accepted as being unchangeable and absolute truth. Since knowledge of

God cannot be questioned, this unquestionable knowledge constitutes the basics of

religious knowledge. 38 This is called “nas” in Ottoman Turkish, which means

37 Özer Ergenç, “Osmanlı Klasik Döneminde “Sa"lık Bilgisi”nin Üretimi, Yayılması ve Kullanımı”,

p.1-2, MESA 2010 Conference Proceedings

38 Necati Öner, Bilginin Serüveni, Vadi Yayınları, Ekim 2005, Ankara, pp. 69-70

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17

dogmatic. There is dogmatic knowledge in all religions claiming to be universal

throughout time and space. Actually, what makes them universal is not the dogma

itself, rather it is the knowledge related to tradition and pragmatic fundamentals of

tradition constructed over dogma. This knowledge constitutes of varying

interpretations of God and indeed all the controversies between different religions lie

behind the knowledge of tradition and its practice. Rational thinking of men has

always been a part of varying interpretations of pragmatic fundamentals constructed

on dogmatic knowledge.

2.2 Ma’rifet

The term ‘ilm is defined as “knowledge”, the opposite of ignorance, and is connected

with a number of terms, the most frequent correlative of which is ma’rifet. On a more

general sense, ‘ilm, is knowledge of a religious character, and ma’rifet, is profane

knowledge. Marifet tends to be used for knowledge acquired through reflection or

experience, which presupposes a former ignorance. On the other hand, ilm is a

knowledge which may be described as spontaneous. In summary, ma’rifet means

non-religious knowledge and ‘ilm means the knowledge of God, hence of anything

which concerns religion.39

Ma’rifet is also defined as “knowledge, cognition” in Encyclopedia of Islam. It has

two separate definitions. The first one denotes a term of epistemology and

mysticism, while the second one denotes practical knowledge. Ma’rifet in mystical

thought is usually considered to be knowledge, ‘ilm, which precedes ignorance. It is

the knowledge, ’ilm, which does not admit doubt, shakk, since its object, the ma’lum,

39 “’Ilm”, EI2, p. 1133

18

is the Essence of God and his attributes. Cognition of the essence consists in

knowing that God exists, is one, sole and unique and that He does not resemble

anything and that nothing resembles Him. It is necessary to distinguish ma’rifet

based on proving indications, which, by means of “signs” constitute the proof of the

Creator. Certain people see things, and then see God through these things. In reality

ma’rifet is realized only for those to whom there is revealed something of the

invisible, in such a way that God is proved simultaneously by manifest and by hidden

signs. Definitions of ma’rifet given by the Sufis, and the mystical tradition also exist.

The Sufis cite the following hadith of the Prophet, “If you knew God by a true

ma’rifet, the mountains would disappear at your command.” Cognition is linked to

various conditions with which tasavvuf (Islamic mysticism) deals.40 Definition of

ma'rifet in mystic terminology may be associated with the knowledge of "hal".

The second definition of ma'rifet is secular knowledge, which is almost synonymous

with the term hüner which is borrowed from Persian. It is knowledge which is nonreligious,

acquired through practice and it includes today’s scientific knowledge.

2.3 Hal

The term “hal” is defined as a Sufi technical term, which can be briefly translated as

"spiritual state". The term “hal” belonged to the technical vocabulary of the

grammarians, the physicians and the jurists. In medicine, hal denotes "the actual

functional or physiological equilibrium" of a being endowed with breath, nefes; in

tasavvuf, it was to become the actualization of a divine "encounter" —the point of

40 “Ma’rifa”, EI2, pp.568-571

19

equilibrium of the soul in a state of acceptance of this encounter.41

The way to God is explained in one of the hadiths as follows: %eriat is my words,

!eriat akvalimdir(sözler), tarikat is my acts/practices, tarikat amel’lerimdir (i!ler),

hakikat is my inner circumstance, hakikat ise ahvalimdir (iç haller). After defining

the first three stages of religious life as !eriat, tarikat and hakikat, the mystics started

to analyze “makam” which were the various phases to be completed to reach the

final spiritual state, or “hal”. (salikin süluku (yolculuk) sırasında geçece#i

a!amalar)42 Famous mystic poet Rumi explains the difference between “hal” and

“makam” in his verses as;

Hal, o güzelim gelinin cilvesine benzer;

$u makamsa o gelinle yalnız kalı!tır.43

It is important to mention that in Sufism, the methodology of tasavvuf depends upon

knowledge of aforesaid spiritual state instead of education. Therefore, in Sufism it is

believed that knowledge can only be acquired by the help of instructors (mür$id), or

selected group of people who has reached the final spiritual state (mürid). The novice

therefore is required to be a member of his master’s circle.44 A book was only a

medium, which should be studied under the supervision of a master who would know

what to teach the disciple and how to explain the difficulties, the inner meaning,

according to time-honored and often experiential methods. That is why one finds

41 “Hal”, EI2, p.83

42 Annemarie Schimmel, "slamın Mistik Boyutları, trns. Ergun Kocabıyık, Kabalcı, !stanbul, 1999,

p.116, “Hal , Hakk’dan kalbe gelen bir (his, heyecan) manadır. Bu mana geldi"i zaman, kul onu

iradesi ve kesbi ile kendinden uzakla$tıramaz, gelmedi"i zaman da tekellüf ve zorla cezb ve celb

edemez.”

43 Ibid, p.116-117

44 Abdülbaki Gölpınarlı, Tasavvuf, Milenyum, Mayıs, 2000, pp.18-20

20

numerous remarks, especially among Sufis, against the use of books.45 The poet

Rumi had combined the book and the garden, expressing his pity for those who look

only at books, as it were, turn them into a library:

“If you are a library, you are not someone who seeks the garden of the soul”.46

Actually, this does not show a negative attitude towards books. It implies the

superiority of the mentor’s role in transmitting his knowledge to his pupil over the

role of books, and that books may only serve as a mediator in the process.

2.4 Hüner-Marifet

The term hüner is Persian, and it may be translated as technical skills required for a

specific art or craft. It is almost synonymous with the second definition of ma’rifet,

which was non-religious knowledge, like the knowledge of dance, music, art of

calligraphy, etc.

Fen may be translated into English as “science” or “rational sciences”. However, it is

interesting to note that, historically fen was almost synonymous with art (san’at). In

Arabic, san’ means “to make”, and san’at is occupation, or work. Fen, on the other

hand, in Arabic, was defined as the whole of principles or codes specified for a

particular occupation or art (san’at), the knowledge of which is acquired through

hand-ability and education, and an attempt to express an idea or an emotion which

would fully satisfy one both mentally and emotionally with its utmost beauty. We

may make an inference that science, fen, was considered like a craft or an art that

45 Annamarie Schimmel, “The Book of Life-Metaphors Connected with the Book in Islamic

Literatures,” s.85. in “The Book in Islamic World The Written Word and Communication in the Middle

East”, der.George N. Atiyeh, State University of New York Press, Albany, NY, 1995

46 Ibid, p.85

21

can be learned by those who have the sufficient ability from those who know the

technical details and the fineness of it. Both fen and san'at involve knowledge of

hüner. For example, knowledge of medicine was considered to be a type of hüner.

Ergenç’s article gives us valuable information on the perception of knowledge of

medicine. 47 A document dated 5th September 1573 (8 C. Evvel 981) is an imperial

edict sent to Kadı of Istanbul.48 It required measures to be taken upon the complaint

of Chief Physician Muhiddin. The nature of the complaint is quite remarkable in the

sense that it shows the prevailing conditions of the medical professionals or guild

members. This document shows that medical professions were working in a guild

system just like the other craftsmen. A physician who was the “master” of the guild

had to have “knowledge/wisdom, craft and art”. Knowledge and craft were

considered to be “learned” or comprehended theoretical knowledge while art

involved the act of accurately implementing them on patients. The art of a physician

initially involved the “diagnosis” of the patient’s illness which was then followed by

the application of the appropriate “medical treatment” for the diagnosed illness, that

is, the implemented skill which encompasses treating one by medication. Acquiring

such a skill required a long time within the guild under the guidance of a “master”.

Diagnosis had to be based both on one’s own experience and also the knowledge

47 Özer Ergenç, “Osmanlı Klasik Döneminde “Sa"lık Bilgisi”nin Üretimi, Yayılması ve Kullanımı”,

MESA 2010 Coonference proceedings.

48Ibid, .......“!stanbul Kadısına hükm ki, Gıyaseddin-zâde Muhiddin Dergâh-ı mu‘allâma mektûb

gönderüb, mahmiyye-i !stanbul’da ve memâlik-i mahrûsede ba‘zı kimesneler, cerrâh, tabîb ve kahhâl

nâmına gezüb, hengâme kurub ve dükkânlarda oturub, mücerred celb ü ahz-ı mâl içün Müslümanlara

tıbba mugâyir ve hikmete muhâlif $erbetler ve zehirnâk müshiller verüb ve âdet-i kadîme muhâlif

yaralar açub ve gözlere dahi üslûbsuz yapı$ub ve muhâlif otlar koyub, Müslümanların mal ve

canlarına zarar eri$dirdü"in bildirüb, min ba‘d bu gibilerin ma‘rifet ve ilimlerini ve san‘atlarında

ehliyetini imtihân idüb, hâllerine göre kâdir oldukların isbât eden kimesnelere ilâc edeler, deyü icâzet

verilmeyince, ânın gibilerin sergide ve dükkânda oturub hengâmegîrlik etmeyüb, Müslümanlara

muhâlif otlar vermeyüb, zarar eri$dirmeyeler, deyü tenbîh olunmak ricâsını i‘lâm itme"in …” (!zzet

Kumbaracılar, Eczacılık Tarihi ve !stanbul Eczaneleri, Yayına hazırlayan: Ömer Kırkpınar, !stanbul

1988, p.54).

22

transmitted from the experienced ones. Treatment was just as important as the

diagnosis and the success of the treatment depended on the exact combination and

well preparation of “medication”.49

Science of medicine (tıb), like other kinds of secular knowledge, was associated with

knowledge of hüner.

Tekeli defines knowledge of hüner as tacit knowledge which is not coded, may not

be easily pronounced, explained, or transmitted. This type of knowledge may be

obtained only within close relation with the master while living, seeing and

practicing. And thus it has a high tendency to be local. This knowledge which is

termed as embodied, may also be rephrased as “hüner”.50

2.5 ‘Adab

‘Adab, is regarded as synonym of Sunna, in its oldest use, with the sense of "habit,

hereditary norm of conduct, custom" derived from ancestors and other persons who

are looked up to as models (as in the religious sense, was the sunna of the Prophet

for his community). The oldest meaning of the word is that: it implies a habit, a

practical norm of conduct, with the double connotation of being praiseworthy and

being inherited from one's ancestors. The evolution of this primitive sense

accentuated, on the one hand, its ethical and practical content: adab came to mean

"high quality of soul, good upbringing, urbanity and courtesy" based in the first place

on poetry, the art of oratory, the historical and tribal traditions of the ancient Arabs,

49 Özer Ergenç, “Osmanlı Klasik Döneminde “Sa"lık Bilgisi”nin Üretimi, Yayılması ve Kullanımı”,

MESA 2010 Conference Proceedings

50 !lhan Tekeli, “Bilgi Toplumuna Geçerken Farklıla$an Bilgiye !li$kin Kavram Alanı Üzerinde Bazı

Saptamalar”, Bilgi Toplumuna Geçi! , (der) !lhan Tekeli, Süleyman Çetin Özo"lu, Bahattin Ak$it,

Gürol Irzık, Ahmet !nam, Türkiye Bilimler Akademisi Yayınları,Sıra No:3, Ankara,2002, p. 19

23

and also on the corresponding sciences: rhetoric, grammar, lexicography, metrics.51

Ibn Mukaffa’ in Abbasid period, had put the old Persian-Indian tradition into the

frame of Islamic culture. Especially with the works of Cahiz52, this Persian tradition

gave way to a new genre of literature named “adab”. According to Ch. Pellat, this

movement consists of three categories:

1. Moral and ethical oral stories and texts.

2. Literary-educational texts written for the administrators and high culture

elites, including poems and literary rules and their oral versions.

3. Genre of advice books named “nasihatname” regarding state government

written for the Sultans, administrators and the intellectuals.

For Cahiz, ‘ilm compasses all Islamic knowledge, whereas adab (edeb) compasses

moral-educational narratives of old times. 53

The other concept that needs to be mentioned under the category of adab is “haber”.

Because “haber” is the form of the abovementioned values that reached the public,

ahali. Haber may be translated into English as “information” or “news”. The plural

form of Haber is ahbar, and it is defined as written or oral knowledge perceived and

transmitted by senses.54 It comes from the Arabic root hubr (hibre) meaning to get

informed about, be noticed about, become aware of something. Common definitions

of “haber” include the fact that it may be perceived by senses, and if it is a revealed

knowledge, it may be about future. Scholars of speculative theology, kelam, accepted

51 “’Adab, EI2, pp.175-176

52 "Al-Jahiz - Introduction." Classical and Medieval Literature Criticism. Ed. Daniel G. Marowski.

Vol. 25. Gale Cengage, 1998. eNotes.com. 2006. 25 Apr, 2011 http://enotes.com/classical-medievalcriticism/

al-jahiz. Al-Jahiz is one of the best-known and most respected Arab writers and scholars. He

is credited with the establishment of many rules of Arabic prose rhetoric and was a prolific writer on

such varied subjects as theology, politics, and manners.

53 Halil !nalcık, Has-ba#çede ‘Ay! u Tarab, Nedimler, $airler, Mutribler, Türkiye i$ Bankası Kültür

yayınları, !stanbul, 2011, pp.15-16

54 “Haber”, !slam Ansiklopedisi, Türkiye Diyanet Vakfı, pp. 346-349

24

that for any information to be considered as a source of knowledge, it has to be

correct, transmitting reality or truth.

There are two concepts related to real/correct information; Haber-i mütevatir and

haber-i res’ul. Haber-i mütevatir is information given by a group of people for whom

it is rationally impossible to lie unanimously. People would learn about historical

societies, cities through haber-i mütevatir. It was considered to be almost factual. For

example, in the book written by the Ottoman historian Lütfi Pa$a-Lütfi Pa$a Tarihi-,

he mentions about an imperial letter written by Selim II to Shah Ismail, where the

information regarding Shah Ismail’s detrimental acts for all the Islamic societies had

already reached the limits of factual information (hadd-ı tevatüre yeti!mek) known

and accepted by everybody.55 The next related concept is haber-i resul which is

information transmitted by the Prophet Muhammad. Although there is consent

among scholars about the correctness of this kind of information, it has to be verified

that the information has been transmitted from the Prophet, or the verification of the

source of knowledge is required.

55 Lütfi Pa$a Tarihi, !stanbul, 1341, p. 213.... “…..!smail Bahadır aslahü’llah $anehu misal-i lazımü’limtisal

vasıl olıcak ma’lum ola ki; Hetk-i perde-i !slam ve hedm-i $eri’at-ı Seyyidü’l-enam-aleyhi’sselam-

itme"e kıyam-ı tam gösterdi"in hadd-ı “tevatüre” yeti$üb; nokta-ı tiynet-i mazarrat-nihadını ki;

merkez-i daire-i fitne ve fesaddır ezfar-ı tıq-i ate$bar ve hançer-i abdarla safhe-i hatte-i rüzgardan hak

eylemek kafe-i müslimine umumen ve selatin-i ulu’l-emr ve havakin-i zulkadirde hususen cümle-i

vacibatdan idü"üne …………”

25

CHAPTER III

CONSTRUCTION OF “PERCEPTION OF KNOWLEDGE”

Naima depicts the methods of transmitting knowledge and the features of

transmitters in his precious work, Tarih-i Naima.56 The most crucial features for a

historian, according to Naima, are expressed with three terms; “tefahhus”,

“teyakkun” and “tefakkud” in Ottoman Turkish which all nearly mean searching for

truth, a detailed search for learning the essence. Naima requires the transmitter to

search for the truth, and claims that only the ones who are knowledgeable will be

eligible to transmit historical knowledge. Additionally, he warns that the essence of

what is known may diverge from its original character while being transmitted from

one to another within public.

In the following sections, places and institutions where knowledge is produced, and

also the modes and practices of transmission of knowledge in the Ottoman society

$%"Naima Mustafa Efendi, Tarih-i Na’ima, (ed) Mehmet !p$irli, TTK Yayınları, Ankara 2007, V I, p. 4

“……..Evvela sadıkü’l-kavl olub, ekavil-i batıla ve hikayat-ı zaife yazmaya bir hususun hakikatine

vakıf de"il ise muttali’ olanlardan tefahhus idüb, teyakkun hasıl itti"i mevaddı yaza.Saniyen elsine-i

nasda $üyu’ bulan eracife iltifat itmeyub, vekayi’in mahüvel-akiini yazabilen ricalin mu’temed-ü

mevsuk akvaline ra"bet eyleye. Zira niçe umurun keyfiyyet-i vuku’ ve sebeb-i suduru erbabına

ma’lum iken, ukul-ı sahife ashabı tasavvurat-ı za’ifelerine mebni manalar virub, galat veyahud hiç aslı

yok sözler i$a’at iderler. Beynü’l avam $üyu’ bulmu$ bu makule türrehatı gerçek zan idüb, tefakkud

eylemeden nakl idüb yazanlar her ‘asırda katı çok bulunur.”"

26

will be analyzed. And we will see whether the transmitters search for the truth as

Naima depicts or diverge the knowledge from its original character.

3.1. Spaces for “Knowledge” Production and Transmission

Members of all social layers of society had access to various kinds of knowledge

with differing tones and content. Starting from the smallest social unit, the family,

traditions accumulated from previous generations and course of conduct would be

transmitted by parents. Transmission practices also existed in neighborhood/districts

(mahalle) where someone could acquire various kinds of knowledge from his friends,

elders of the neighborhood, district school, neighbors, coffeehouses and such. In its

outmost cycle of those practices, polities would have their own ideologies, and

would try to make its members be aware of this ideology codified in the knowledge

produced.

Like every empire, the Ottoman Empire needed an ideology of its own that would

protect its power and integrity for a long time, and also administrative structuring

that would maintain its subjects loyal to its ideology. Legitimization of its power

would be obtained by such administrative structures put in effect by the state

authorities. State administrators who were exempt from taxes were defined as

“askeri” class. Askeri class within itself divided into three groups as ilmiye, örfiyye

and kalemiyye. Members of all three classes were responsible both to administer the

state’s subjects, and also to educate newcomers joining into the system by

transmitting their knowledge from one generation to the next eliciting state’s

continuity. Members of ilmiye class would be educated in medreses, where as örf

members would be educated in the Palace School, and kalemiyye members would be

positioned in state’s bureaucracy where they would get their pragmatic education.

27

The Palace School was also important in the sense of transmitting the ideology of the

state. Members of örfiye class would have their education completed in this

institution. Depending on their competence, they would then be appointed to

positions either in the Palace or in the provinces. Barnette Miller in his work defines

the institution as such; “One of the most remarkable of their institutions and at the

same time one of the most remarkable educational institutions of its time, indeed of

any time, was the Palace School (Enderun) or great military school of state of the

Grand Seraglio.”57

The boys recruited by dev$irme method (levy of boys) called “Acemio"lanlar”,

would to be prepared for the Enderun School. The ones who had proved to be

competent with moral codes would be selected for the Enderun School.58 They

would continue their education by passing from one service of the Palace to the next

called “oda” or “ko"u$” each of which having a rank in its own hierarchical

57 Barnette Miller, The Palace School of Muhammad the Conqueror, Harvard University Press,

Cambridge, 1941, p.3. Miller, used the writings of foreigners especially French, Venetian and Britih

ambassadors about Palace School. He writes that the average period of education was 12-14 years,

the curricula of which almost equally consist of Islamic knowledge , martial art, and art of governing,

practical education and physical education. p. 4. Paolo Giovio, Bishop of Nocera, writing in 1538 of

the pages of the Palace School, says that “they are instructed in letters and arms in the same manner as

the children of the sultan.” p. 5. Ottaviano Bon, who held the post of Venetian bailo, the most

distinguished post of the diplomatic corps at Constantinople, wrote in 1608:

“The course that is pursued with the pages is not that of a barbaric people, but rather of a people of

singular virtue and self-discipline. From the time they first enter the school of the Grand Seraglio they

are exceedingly well-directed. Day by day they are continuously instructed in good and comely

behavior, in the discipline of the senses, in military prowess, and in knowledge of the Moslem faith; in

a word, in all the virtues of mind and bodys” p. 5

$&"Osman Ergin, Türkiye Maarif Tarihi, Eser Kültür Yayınları, Istanbul 1997, V: 1-2, pp. 12. Here,

Ergin makes a reference to “Edebiyat-ı Umumiye Mecmuası” written by Mehmet Refik Bey in 1913,

pp.277 “Bu $akirdan giderek muteber mansaplar ihraz edip devletin ve memleketin siyasi ve içtimai

hayatında birer uzuv olacaklarından Enderuna alınacakları zaman simaları kapı a"ası huzurunda

kiyafet ilmini bilir bir zata tetkik ettirilir, yüzlerinde sa’d ve meymenet görülenler mektebe alınır,

$irret ve fesat görülenler alınmazdı.”"

28

structure.59 The students would both serve and get their educations in the Palace

simultaneously.

The students selected to be educated in Enderun School were called “!ç O"lanları”

and they had three main responsibilities. a) Serving within the Palace and learning at

the same time, b) Getting an institutional education on both Islamic and rational

sciences, c) Getting an education either on art or bodywork depending on their

talent.60 The courses would mostly include the ones taught in medreses. However,

the curricula were differentiated from that of the medrese in four ways. The first

difference was the courses given on Turkish and literature. Secondly, courses

encompassed the subjects necessary for a soldier and an administrative. Thirdly,

courses on geography, cartography, history, politics, and art of war were also

included in their curricula. Fourthly, it also included activities like calligraphy,

bookbinding, illumination, carving, miniature painting, architecture and fine arts.

Obligatory education would last for 7-8 years, and then the students would get

specialized training depending on their aptitude for another 5-6 years.61 Enderun

School had qualifications that an institution of higher education would have.

However, teaching was not a specialized area of functioning and it did not have a

structured academic authority. Therefore it could not be depicted as an institution of

higher education.62 It was not a formal institution like medreses were.

$#"!lhan Tekeli-Selim !lkin, Osmanlı "mparatorlu#unda E#itim ve Bilgi Üretim Sisteminin Olu!umu ve

Dönü!ümü, Türk Tarih Kurumu Yayınları, Ankara,1993, pp. 19.

“The Palace School took its latest form in 17th century and divided into 7 rooms: Küçük Oda, Büyük

Oda, Do"ancılar Odası, Seferli Odası, Kiler Odası, Hazine Odası, Has Oda.”

%'"Yahya Akyüz, Türk E#itim Tarihi (Ba!langıçdan 1997’ye), !stanbul Kültür Üniversitesi Yayınları,

No:1, !stanbul 1997, p.81"

%("!lhan Tekeli-Selim !lkin, Osmanlı "mparatorlu#unda E#itim ve Bilgi Üretim Sisteminin Olu!umu ve

Dönü!ümü, Türk Tarih Kurumu Yayınları,Ankara, 1993, p. 20

%!"Ibid, p.20"

29

Several of the most popular books read in the Enderun Palace were; a translation of

the Arabian Nights into Turkish; the Sayyid Battal or Battal Ghazi, an epic of

struggle of an Arab hero against paganism in behalf of Islam, a story which enjoyed

a perennial popularity among Turkish soldiers and Arab peasants; the History of Fort

Vizirs, a compilation in prose of Turkish folk tales of different periods; and the Story

of Kalia wa-Dimma or the Royal Book (Humayun Nameh), a book of fables

translated from Indian into Pahlevi, thence to Arabic, and from Arabic into Turkish

in the reign of Murat III.63 The Persian language was the courtly language of the

nearer Orient and the key to the literature of chivalry and romance. Students of the

Palace School were promoted to the study of Persian as soon as they had attained

proficiency in Turkish and Arabic. The books most commonly read were the Book of

Advice (Pend-naama) by Ferid ad-Din Attar, the Gulistan and the Bostan of Saadi.64

Twelve different styles of calligraphy were taught in the Palace School. Students

who specialized in calligraphy usually aspired to secretarial positions in some of the

various lines of government service, or to the higher offices of government. Rycaut,

who was one of the first to study the Turkish polity, wrote about the calligraphers as:

“Those others who are of a contemplation, proceed with more patience of method,

and are more exact in their studies, intending to become Masters of their Pen, and by

that means to arrive to honor and office either of Rest (Reis) Efendi, or Secretary of

State, Lord Treasurer, or Secretary of the Treasury, or Dispensatory”. It was in the

63 Barnette Miller, The Palace School of Muhammad the Conqueror, Harvard University Press,

Cambridge, 1941, p.106. Miller here refers to 3 seperate sources: 1. Serai Enderun written by Albert

Bobovi in 1655 in Italian, which then translated in 1666 as Memoires sur les Turcs. Bobovi, was

enslaved by the Tatars and then sold to the Palace by Turkish merchants. He stayed for 19 years in the

Palace. 2. The Present State of the Ottoman Empire, written by Sir Paul Rycaut in 1670, p.32. 3. The

Travel Book of Evliya Çelebi. V:1, pp.132-139

64 Ibid, p.110. Miller, here refers to the book of Albert Bobovi mentioned in footnote no.85

"

30

Palace School that the majority of the official chroniclers were trained to become the

so-called palace historians.65

The third layer of “askeri” class was kalemiyye, the scribal elites, ehl-i kalem, the

men of pen who produced all the correspondence of the state and who kept its

financial records. The members of this group would be recruited either from the

Palace School where the örfiye members were educated, or from medreses. They

would themselves also educate the newcomers within the institution itself by a

method of transmission from the master to the pupil pragmatically.66 Kalemiyye

members would constitute of representatives of places called either kalem or oda

where all the correspondence of the state was recorded. Those representatives called

küttab, would be responsible for both civil and financial service, and it was the place

where Ottoman bureaucracy was reproduced.

Members of both örfiye and kalemiyye had two important qualifications. One of

which was that they would undergo an elimination scheme continuously throughout

their education. The second was their capacity of producing the most competent ones

with this elimination method.

Outside the boundaries of this formal system, there were various spaces and

institutions where the society produced its own knowledge. These were dervish

lodges, tekke and zaviye, where rituals of tarikats would be performed, professional

groups, hirfet grupları, where goods/services would be produced, and various

65 Ibid, p.107

66 !lhan Tekeli-Selim !lkin, Osmanlı "mparatorlu#unda E#itim ve Bilgi Üretim Sisteminin Olu!umu ve

Dönü!ümü, Türk Tarih Kurumu Yayınları, Ankara,1993, p. 7

"

31

communities with differing dimensions in the society as a whole. They would both

produce and transmit knowledge.

With this mechanism of producing and transmitting knowledge either by the state,

society or any other informal organizational structure, a stereotype individual of the

society was established in the Ottoman mind with its distinctive perception of

knowledge. Whether existed or not, this stereotype individual may be considered as

the role model of the society continuously shaped and reconstructed depending on

the changing collective perception of knowledge of the society. This complex

mechanism is illustrated below as;

Figure 2. Perception of Knowledge

Medreses were the only formal institutions of education in the Ottoman Empire as in

all Islamic countries. After graduating from sıbyan mektebs, elementary district

32

schools for boys and girls, where introductory Arabic courses were given and

reciting Quran was taught, individuals who would like to continue with their training

would enter medrese education. It was the place where religious knowledge was

transmitted formally and the only institution where students had an access to

systematized knowledge. Medreses were probably the most important institutions of

the empire since they had two important functions. One of their function was to train

people of religion, give religious knowledge that would be transmitted from one

generation to the next, acting as an educational institution. Some of the graduates of

medrese education would continue their occupation as scholars. However, the

medrese also functioned as a place for recruitment of “kadı”s for the empire who

were commissioned to towns and cities all throughout the empire having both

administrative and judicial authorities, fully representing the state. They may easily

be considered as the state’s tools used to transmit its ideologies.

In general, knowledge was being classified in medreses as transmitted/religious

knowledge, nakli ilimler, and rational/philosophical knowledge, akli ilimler.

Transmitted knowledge was the knowledge acquired by revelation and thus

transmitted from one generation to the next without questioning, and rational

knowledge was a product of human intellect and experience. Whether the knowledge

was transmitted or rational, final aim was same for both of them; that is, knowing,

understanding, and comprehending “God”. This feature of knowledge is a reflection

of Ottoman perception of knowledge in the classical period.

The curricula of the Ottoman medreses which remained almost unchanged from

sixteenth to nineteenth century with only varying emphasis on religious and rational

33

sciences is shown below; 67

Table 1. Ottoman Medrese Cirricula

Francis Robinson, in his article compares the curricula taught in the medreses of the

three empires up to the end of seventeenth century and aims to reveal the differing

balances maintained between the transmitted subjects, ulumi’l nakliyye and the

rational subjects, ulumi’l akliyye. One point which emerges clearly from a

comparison of the three curricula is the extent to which they all draw on the

scholarship of Iran and Central Asia, and particularly that of the thirteenth and

67 Orlin Sabev, "brahim Müteferrika ya da "lk Osmanlı Matbaa Serüveni (1726-1746), !stanbul:

Yeditepe , 2006, p. 241

Course

Name

Author/Work

Rational

Sciences

Sarf

Nahiv

Mantık

Adab

Me’ani

Nazari

Hikmet

Hendese

Hesap

Hey’et

Emsile-i Muhtelife

Muttarida

‘Avamil, Misbah, Kafiye, Elfiyye-i !bn Malik,

Kafiye’nin %erhi Molla Cami, Mugni’l-Lebib

!sagoci, Hüssam Kati, Muhyiddin Risalesi, Fenari ve

Ha$iyesi, %emsiye, Tezhib Talik ve %erhleriyle,

Kutbuttin-i %irazi, Seyyid, Kaea Davud, Sa’deddin, %erhi

Matali’

Ta$köpri %erhi, Mes’ud-ı Rumi, Hüseyin Efendi Kitabı,

Kadi Adud, %erh-i Hanefiyye, Mir

Telhis, %erh-i Muhtasar, Mutavvel, !zah-ı

Me’ani,Elfiyye-i Halebi

Hidaye, Kadimir, Lari, Hikmetü’l Ayn, Kütüb-ü %eyhayn

E$gal-i Telhis, Öklides

Bahayiyye, Ramazan Efendi, Çulli

%erh-I Ça"muni, Bircendi

Transmitted

Sciences

Kelam

(Akait)

Fıkıh Usulü

Fıkıh

Hadis Usulü

Hadis !lmi

Tefsir

Ömer-i Nesefi, %erh-i ‘Akaid, Hayali, !sbat-ı Vacib,

Akaid-i Celal, Mevakıf, %erh-i Makasıd, %erh-i Mevakıf

Tenkih, Tavzih, Mustasar-ı Münteha, %erh-i Adud,

Seyyid, Telvih,Fusul-ı Bedayi’

Halebi, Kuduri, Hidaye, Kadıhan, Bezzaziyye

Elfiyye, Nuhbetü’l Fiker, Ali el-Kari

Buhari, Müslim, some Müsnedler

Vahidi’nin Veciz’i gibi Kuran’dan iki misli büyük tefsir,

Vahidi’nin Vasit’i gibi Kuran’dan üç misli büyük tefsir,

daha büyük tefsir, Kadı Beyzavi

34

fourteenth centuries. Very few new texts emerge in the years from 1400 to 1700. In

all regions during the years 1400-1700 there was a vigorous industry of commentary

and in no area was this more vigorous under the Ottomans and Safavids than in law

and jurisprudence.” 68

Before the establishment of the medrese as an institution, there was partition and

disagreement between the philosophers/scholars on the essence of knowledge.

Educating religious men through medrese institution however, where the essence of

knowledge was already determined, the type of knowledge produced became more

static. This may be considered as the reason for an increase in commentaries rather

than original texts.69 Although called and specified as “commentaries”, some of

them were considered to be better than the original evaluation or the text. In Ottoman

Empire, it is sometimes hard to decide whether to consider a text as “original” or as

“copied”, where the copyist had added his own commentaries, !erh, overshadowing

the original author.70

While comparing the differing emphases made in the application of curricula,

Robinson proposes that, in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries Ottoman medreses

had kept a good balance between the rational and transmitted sciences, chalking up

distinguished achievements in mathematics, astronomy, and scholastic theology. But

by the end of sixteenth century, this balance had been upset and the rational sciences

were severely threatened. The Safavid and Mughal curricula, however, gave

68 Francis Robinson, “Ottoman-Safavids-Mughals: Shared knowledge and Connective Systems”,

Journal of Islamic studies 8:2 (1997), p.151

69 Ibid, pp. 154-155

70 Christopher Neumann, “Üç Tarz-ı Mütalaa Yeniça" Osmanlı Dünyası’nda Kitap Yazmak ve

Okumak”, Tarih ve Toplum Yeni Yakla!ımlar, No: 1, 2005, p. 61

35

considerable emphasis to the rational sciences. The Safavid curriculum, for instance,

offered medicine and mysticism, which did not exist in the other curricula. The most

notable Safavid emphasis, however, was in logic and scholastic theology. 71

Formal religious knowledge was being transmitted from a teacher, müderris, to his

student, molla, using both oral and written/textual methods in a systematic way in the

medreses. There were also groups that would vulgarize the knowledge produced in

the medreses and transmit to the public or masses. This group of transmitters is

represented with the term “hademe-i hayrat” in the figure below constituting of

imam, hatip, vaiz, ders-i amm or they were people from lower levels of ilmiyye

hierarchy with their direct contact to masses.

*+,-./)01)))))2.3456+55+74)78)!479:/;,/)+4)</;./5/)

71 Francis Robinson, “Ottoman-Safavids-Mughals: Shared knowledge and Connective Systems”,

Journal of Islamic studies 8:2 (1997), pp.155-56

36

Knowledge of Islamic mysticism would be transmitted within dervish lodges, tekke,

and places for Sufi gathering, dergah. Defined as knowledge of either “hal” or

“marifet” in the Ottoman systematic of knowledge, it would be transmitted to

mürids, disciples, who have entered the path of a particular mür!id, mentor.

The disciple, mürid, would need a mentor on his tough spiritual journey who would

help him pass the various “makam”s and show him the way. The mystics would love

the hadith saying “Religion is advice, din nasihattır”. They have accepted the

necessity of a mentor as “conditio sine qua non” meaning absolutely essential. 72

The best evaluations regarding the transmission of the knowledge of “hal” which

was the final spiritual state/the truth by the mür!id to his mürid were made by the

!eyhs of tarikats. Virani Baba who was the %eyh of Bekta$i tarikat had beautiful and

plain sayings on the necessity of a mür$id as a mentor to reach the Truth. 73

Mürid had to be affiliated with a mür$id. This knowledge could only be transmitted

by a mür$id who had reached the highest state of spirituality. We need to think those

who adopted the doctrines of any tarikat in two distinct categories in the Ottoman

society. The first would be those $eyhs-me$ayih who would stay in and be a part of

dervish lodges, tekke and zaviye where the knowledge of hal would be passed on

from mür!id to mürid. They were called either “tekkeni!in” or “postni!in”. The

)!"Annemarie Schimmel, "slamın Mistik Boyutları, trns. Ergun Kocabıyık, Kabalcı, !stanbul, 1999,

p.117

73 "... !mdî ey tâlib-i Hakk ve â$ık-ı Dîdâr-ı Mutlak !..E'l-hamdü'llahdan murâd Allahu te'âlâya

ınanmakdır ve Tengr-ite'âlâya inanmakdan murâd Allahu te'âlâyı farketmekdir. E"erdilersen, kendi

üzerine nazar eyle, zirâ özün bilen Hakkı bilür,özün bilmeyen Hakkı bilmez ve Hakkı bilmeyen

Dîdâra irmez ve Dîdârairmeyen sûreti ve sîreti hayvandır ve hayvan olanlar makâm-ı fakr-ıfahrîden

bî-haberdir. Her kim fakrda iktizâsı ne ise bilmese, ol kimesnee mür$ide irmemi$dir ve mür$ide

irmeyen Hakkı bilmemi$dir......."

"

37

second group would consist of those who would live in their own spaces but make a

visit from time to time to the tekke, follow some of the doctrines of the tarikat on

their own, take advice from the $eyh, or be a part of small talks named sohbet, made

by the postni$in me$ayih within the tarikat. They were called “tarikat müntesib”s.

*+,-./)=1)))))2.3456+55+74)78)!479:/;,/)+4)2/>>/)

)

Although the tekkes were apart from the formal organizational structure of the State,

they had many functions in the society. Kara defines the important functions of the

tekkes as follows: “…to provide unity and communication among public together

with cultural beliefs. Tekkes and camis functioned as today’s media organs. The

public learned and loved his religion, moral, literature, art and culture by the aid of

38

tekkes.”74 The ones who had been educated in tekkes, would only be able to take a

position in the tekke. Although they were left out of the official positions in the State,

with their perfect organizational structure between towns and villages, they could

keep their significance and exist for many centuries. 75 )

Craftsmen guilds, esnaf örgütleri, were also another organization for transmission of

knowledge for those who want to learn a profession to make a living. They could be

subjected to a classification as “those who sell retail” and those who are “service

providers/producers” of any sort. No matter which group they belonged to, these

craft groups were compelled to produce the required goods and services appropriate

to the standards set by the rules laid by the sultan and tradition. The fee they were to

receive in exchange for this service had to be a suitable amount for the parties and

was determined either by the official authorities or by a deal between the parties

themselves. The name of the rules and regulations which enabled this exercise was

called as “hisba” and the name of the tradition was called “fütüvve”.76 Knowledge

was transmitted orally from the master, üstad, to the !akird, apprentice, in the guilds.

“Fütüvvetname”s as literary genre were texts encompassing moral and ethical codes

required to be a member of the specified guild. They were written texts, the content

of which originated from anonymous oral cultural traditions. Thus, professional

knowledge was being transferred pragmatically demanding a face-to-face

relationship between the master and the apprentice. Since most of the people in the

urban cities were ehl-i hiref, member of a guild, besides their function of producing

74 Mustafa Kara, Din Hayat Sanat Açısından Tekkeler ve Zaviyeler, Dergah Yayınları, !stanbul, 1977,

p.126"

75 !lhan Tekeli-Selim !lkin, Osmanlı "mparatorlu#unda E#itim ve Bilgi Üretim Sisteminin Olu!umu ve

Dönü!ümü, Türk Tarih Kurumu Yayınları, Ankara,1993"

76 Hülya Ta$ , Osmanlı Klasik Döneminde Sa"lık Hizmetleri, Proceedings of Mesa 2010 Conference

39

and transmitting of knowledge within the guilds, they also had a function of

educating the society, namely ehl-i belde.

*+,-./)?1)))))))2.3456+55+74)78)!479:/;,/)+4)@+.8/A)(.7-B5)

Besides their social functions, public spaces like kahvehanes, bozahanes, hamams,

meyhanes, and mosques were important places where knowledge was transmitted

orally. They were called “mecma’i nas”, social gathering places, in Ottoman Turkish

in general. Their functions in the society will be mentioned in the following section.

Alan Mikhail argues that besides positing Ottoman coffee houses (mahalle

kahvehaneleri) as primarily a site for political subversion, we may also consider

coffee houses as a cultural space of socialization that served multiple functions

within the city. He tried to show how the Ottoman coffee house was a space of

overlapping functions in which a spectrum of ambiances and effects fluidly

40

combined to form a complex realm of social interaction.77 Mikhail also considers

Ottoman cafes as sites for important urban sensory experience-audition. He says “By

this I mean that in coffee houses what was most important was not what was seen,

but what was said and of course what was heard. Another way to make the same

point is to remember the common proverb that is still found in many Turkish coffee

houses: “gönül ne kahve ister ne kahvehane, gönül sohbet ister, kahve bahane”- The

heart desires neither coffee nor coffee house. The heart desires conversation. Coffee

is simply an excuse.”78

Ali Çaksu argues that the economic and political changes that took place in the 18th

century forced the once elite and relatively isolated Janissary corps out of its barracks

and into the city, where they found refugee in the institution of the coffee house.

While the Janissary coffee house was a place in which to drink coffee and smoke

tobacco, it was also a cultural salon, a rebel headquarters, a police precinct, a Sufi

lodge, a business office and a mafia club all rolled in one.79

In his work on social and economic history of 16th century Ankara, Ergenç attributes

the high consumption of coffee in the city not only to city dwellers’ preference but

also to high number of visitors coming to the city like merchants, nearby villagers

etc. He argues that high consumption of coffee may be considered as an evidence

77Alan Mikhail, “The Heart’s Desire: Gender, Urban Space and the Ottoman Coffee House”,

Ottoman Tulips Ottoman Coffee, Leisure and Lifestyle in the Eighteenth Century, (ed. Dana Sadji),

New York: Tauris Academic Studies , 2007, p.154

78 Ibid, p.154

79 Ali Çaksu ,“Janissary Coffee Houses in Late Eighteenth-Century Istanbul”, Ottoman Tulips

Ottoman Coffee, Leisure and Lifestyle in the Eighteenth Century, (ed. Dana Sadji), New York: Tauris

Academic Studies , 2007, pp.131

"

41

indicating the city’s dynamism as a center of trade.80 There is no reason not to

assume the same and even more dynamism for the coffeehouses in Istanbul.

Coffeehouses were the most important social places where informational knowledge

was transmitted intensively.

The other important public-drinking place was bozahouse, a place where boza was

made, sold and perhaps consumed. The boza is a thick liquid made from fermented

millet, as a beverage originated from pre-Ottoman times and boza-houses also served

as a social gathering place.81

Meyhanes, tavern, were public drinking places in which alcoholic beverages alone

or with various appetizers were consumed. Evliya Çelebi who uses the expression of

“esnaf- ı mel’unan-ı menhusan-ı mezmunan” for the tavern owners, there were more

than one thousand taverns operating in Istanbul and approximately six thousand

employees in these places.82 They were mostly used by non-Muslims.

Like coffeehouses, the hamam, public bath, was a social milieu created by people

from the diverse social strata of the Istanbul’s life in order to meet the cultural and

social needs of the city. The public bath, as well as being a place intended for

people’s bodily hygiene, was a meeting place and a center of social life, by serving

on certain days and hours of the week for men and women, though some were

strictly reserved for one or the other sex. Lady Montagu drew the parallel and spoke

of the public bath as “the women’s coffeehouse, where all the news of the town is

&'" Özer Ergenç, XVI. Yüzyılda Ankara ve Konya, Ankra Enstitüsü Vakfı Yayınları, Ankara, 1995,

p.153"

81Ahmet Ya$ar, The coffeehouses in early modern "stanbul:Public space, sociability and surveillance,

Yüksek Lisans Tezi, Bo"aziçi Üniversitesi,!stanbul, 2003

82 Ibid, pp.39-40

"

42

told, scandal invented, etc.” They were the only places where Ottoman women could

socialize in their restricted lives outside the closed doors of their houses.83

Camis, mosques and mescids, mosques without a minaret in which no Friday prayers

are pronounced, were also considered under mecma-i nas. Mescids were small places

of worship visited mostly by the neighborhood parish or the artisans of the nearest

bazaar. Mosques, constructed in the city’s most important place, were houses of

worship serving for the urban dwellers and the rural subjects coming for the city

bazaar.84 Especially on Fridays, a sermon would take place where social and

religious subjects were discussed among the cemaat. They were also important tools

for mass education. They were generally more important as places for gathering and

information exchange than were “houses of worship”. Ergenç, in his work on Ankara

gives examples from court registers which shows that it was obligatory that royal

edicts coming to towns would be read to public in public places including

mosques.85

Zilfi emphasizes the egalitarian feature of mosques in her work. 86 She argues that

unlike the Sufi’s tekke or the scholar’s medrese, profession of the faith was enough

to enable one to secure a place alongside fellow believers, take part in mosque rituals

and even address the assembled congregation. “Ritual and liturgy, condemning social

distinctions, in such moments erased them.”87 While only the medrese-trained ulema

83 Ibid, p.47

&*" Özer Ergenç, XVI. Yüzyılda Ankara ve Konya, Ankra Enstitüsü Vakfı Yayınları, Ankara, 1995,

p.151"

&$"Ibid, p. 151"

&%"Madeline C.Zilfi, Dindarlık Siyaseti, Osmanlı Uleması, Klasik Dönem Sonrası, 1600-1800, Birle$ik

Yayınevi, Ankara 2008"

87 Madeline C.Zilfi, Dindarlık Siyaseti, Osmanlı Uleması, Klasik Dönem Sonrası, 1600-1800, Birle$ik

Yayınevi, Ankara 2008, pp.129-130

43

had the right to enter the medrese, the mosques were common to all. Within the

mosque, the non-medrese-trained held sway. Depending upon the terms of a major

mosque’s endowment, a number of ders-i ‘aam ( public lecturers) held classes for

medrese students and for the interested public.88 Distinct from the personal relation

between müderris, teacher and molla, student, in medreses, and between mür!id and

mürid in tekkes, in mosques imam/vaiz/ders-i ‘amm, prayer leader, would transmit

his knowledge to ahali, public.

Travellers and merchants were also representing another channel of knowledge

transmission. Although they did not have any specified spaces, they were serving as

cultural agents between different societies, transmitting what they heard and what

they had learned about the traditions of the other societies.

The whole mechanism of production and transmission of knowledge through various

institutions and the channels to reach cemiiyyet, public, analyzed above is illustrated

in the figure below;

88 Ibid, p.131"

44

))))))))))))))))))))))*+,-./)C1)))))))2.3456+55+74)DE344/:5)78)!479:/;,/)A7)D/6F+GG/A)

3.2 Modes of Transmission

3.2.1 Rituals

Rituals had an important role as a channel for transmitting knowledge, especially

within tekkes where tasavvufi knowledge was transmitted and within guilds.

Rituals also found place both in Palace traditions and populace daily life. It had a

language of its own, with formulations and symbols, could appeal to vast majority,

with its messages easily understood. With its universal language, it did not take place

of oral culture, but rather they always co-existed with one another.

45

The sufi dervishes had many rituals. If the dervish would be considered eligible and

competent enough, they would make a ceremony where he would wear a new hırka,

coat, and he would hold the hand of his !eyh, symbolizing the transmission of

knowledge from his $eyh. This ritual would be named as ilbas-ı hırka. Yet another

important ritual was the wearing of a tac, crown. 89 Both rituals were a sign of

handing in spiritual knowledge. Even in very early times, the mystics realized the

danger of corruption for the rituals. The famous mystic poet Yunus Emre, in his

verses, emphasizes that the crown and the coat were just simple symbols, and that the

real dervish would not be recognized either by the crown or the coat.

“Dervi!lik hırka ile tac de#il, dervi!lik ba!tadır tacda de#il”. 90

Rituals were one of the most used modes of transmission within guilds. In rituals,

symbols and concepts like tying a special belt (ku$ak) to the pupil who had

sucessfully deserved to be a master were used. The messages were easily transmitted,

while enabling transmission of knowledge from one generation to the next without

any change.

In his work where he questions the meaning and content of rituals, Goody rejects

Durkeim’s claim that assumes a universal “duality of the two kingdoms” of the

sacred and the profane and defining rituals as sacred having only religious content.

Goody claims that rituals may be religious, sacred, secular, ceremonial or magical in

content, and emphasizes that in some societies the distinction of profane and the

sacred is not as clear as in West. He believes that the scholars defending this

&#"Annemarie Schimmel, "slamın Mistik Boyutları, trns. Ergun Kocabıyık, Kabalcı, !stanbul, 1999,

p.249-50

#'"Ibid, p.250

46

dichotomy had been influenced by “rationalistic variety of positivism” valid in late

19th century in European societies as marked by the tendency to treat the actor as if

he were a rational, scientific investigator acting "reasonably" in the light of the

knowledge available to him.91 He also claims that even the social organizations and

their functions were not universal, and there are no clear and distinctive boundaries

between them in various societies as they are in Western societies.

3.2.2 Oral

Oral mode of transmission of knowledge was always preferred over written texts in

Islam. Francis Robinson’s article is worth to mention here on the subject. He

questions the origins of negative response of Muslim world to printing for so long,

and he articulates about oral mode of transmission and its significance in Islam. He

says “To be able to understand late use of print, we need to spend a little time

examining the system of transmitting knowledge as it flourished over 1200 years

from the beginning of Islam. At the heart of this system of transmission is the very

essence of knowledge for the Muslim, the Quran. For Muslims the Quran was the

word of God-His very word. “Quran” itself means “recitation”, al-Quran, the

recitation, the reading out loud. It is through being read out loud that the Quran is

realized and received as divine. Muslims strive to learn as much of it as possible by

heart.” The Quran was always transmitted orally. This was how the Prophet

transmitted the messages he had from God to his followers. When these messages

were written down a few years after the Prophet’s death, it was only an aid to

memory and oral transmission. This has been the function of the written Quran ever

#("Jack Goody , “Religion and Ritual: The Definitional Problem”, The British Journal of Sociology,

Vol. 12, No. 2 (Jun., 1961), pp. 142-164"

47

since.92 The oral transmission of the Quran has been the backbone of Muslim

education. The methods of learning and transmitting the Quran influenced the ways

all other knowledge was transmitted. For instance, one can consider the publication

of a book in the early Islamic centuries. Its writing down like that of the Quran was

merely an aid to oral publication. The author would dictate his first draft either from

memory or from his own writing and then the copyist would then read it back to him.

Publication would take place through the copyist reading the text to the author in

public, usually in a mosque. During this process the author might make additions or

amendments and several readings might have been required before he gave his final

approval. This was known as his “ijaza”, which means “to make lawful”. Thus the

author gave permission for the work “to be transmitted from him”. Further copies

had real authority only when they had been read back to the author and approved.93

There would be the names of all those who had transmitted the text going back to the

original author on that ijaza. The pupil had no doubt that he was the trustee in his

generation taking part in the great tradition of Islamic learning being handed down

from the past. This shows that person to person transmission was at the heart of the

transmission of Islamic knowledge. The best way of finding the truth was to listen to

the author himself. Muslim scholars constantly travelled across the Islamic world so

that they could receive in person the reliable transmission of knowledge. When a

scholar could not get knowledge from an author in person, he strove to get it from a

scholar whose “isnad”, or chain of transmission from the original author, was

#!"Robinson, Francis, “Technology and Religious Change: Islam and the Impact of Print”, Modern

Asian Studies, 27/1, Special Issue: How Social, Political and Cultural Information is Collected,

Defined, Used and Analyzed (1993), p.234

#+"Ibid,.p. 235

"

48

thought to be the closest.94

In the Islamic tradition the heart is the seat of the intellect and the instrument par

excellence of original knowledge of which mental activity is a relatively externalized

reflection. True knowledge is the knowledge of the heart, and it is here that man

carries within himself the real “book” of knowledge. This “book” is composed of

unwritten words. It is the inner chamber wherein the spoken word in the highest

sense of the term, which means none other than the Word of God, reverberates. This

inner “book” is not available for all to “read”, for not everyone is able to penetrate

into the inner chamber of his or her being, which is the heart, nor possesses a purified

heart as white as the snow which has not yet become sullied by the darkness of

man’s passionate soul. Yet, this inner “book” has resonated and still resonates within

the being of certain men and women and through them has left its deepest effect

upon the intellectual life of Islam, not only in the domain of theoretical Sufism but

also in later Islamic philosophy. One must never forget that to know something really

well and to commit in this knowledge by heart has made possible, not only in Sufism

but also in Islamic philosophy, the continuation of an ever-renewed oral tradition

which has played such an important role in the Islamic education system and the

modality of the transmission of knowledge from teacher to disciple over the

centuries.95

#*"Ibid, p.237

95 Seyyed Hossein Nasr , “ Oral Transmission and the Book in Islamic Education: The Spoken and the

Written Word”, “The Book in Islamic World The Written Word and Communication in the Middle

East, içinde, der.George N. Atiyeh, State University of New York Press, Albany, NY, 1995, p.65

49

The oral tradition has affected the manner of reading and interpreting the written

text, its teaching and transmission, and the role of certain texts and commentaries in

the educational circles of the Islamic world. The oral tradition also provides a direct

link between the student and the master who might have lived generations ago,

enabling the student to study the teachings in question in depth and to concentrate on

one or two works which are then penetrated inwardly over a whole lifetime rather

than to study horizontally the text of many works written by the same master. But

usually the oral tradition and the spoken word created a different type of intellectual

ambience from the modern one, an ambience in which one or two works surrounded

by a vast oral commentary came to constitute knowledge in depth of teachings of the

traditional authority. The oral tradition transformed the written book from the

definitive text which was the sole basis of the ideas to be understood to the gate of a

whole living world for which the book became the point of departure.96

Abraham Marcus interprets the oral culture of the Aleppines in the 18th century as:

“The masses for their part continued to see written literature as having little direct

relevance to their lives. Within their largely oral culture they were able to obtain

most knowledge, skills, and news without much recourse to the written word. Oral

transmission, not books and classrooms, shaped their stock of knowledge, or what

amounted, in a real sense, to their education. They learned from parents, peers,

elders, religious readers, and masters. From them they absorbed what they knew

about artisanal skills, weather, and a multitude of other matters.97

96 Ibid, pp. 65-66

97 Abraham Marcus ,The Middle East on the Eve of Modernity , Aleppo in the Eighteenth Century, ,

Columbia University Press, New York,1989, p. 239

50

The aforementioned channels, institutions and spaces involve personal and face-toface

interaction and educational methods thus indicating that knowledge was being

transmitted mostly with aural, instead of visual methods, indicating noticeable

dominance of oral culture on Ottoman individual and society.

3.2.3 Written

Eisenstein, in her work on Print Revolution98 claims that disparities between oral

and written cultures are due to intellectual differences of societies, and she matches

literacy with developed societies, while matching oral cultures with traditional

societies. With the articulation of sociologists, linguistics, cultural anthropologists

and historians in this debate, and especially with the empirical results of the research

done by Jack Goody as a cultural anthropologist, Eisenstein’s argument no longer

holds true. Recent studies drawing attention on the continuities before and after the

invention of print do not support the arguments of Eisenstein and her followers.99

N. Hudson analyzed dialectical pattern of attitudes towards writing and he argued

that an early enthusiasm for the powers and benefits of written language in the 17th

century was widely challenged in the mid 18th century. He claimed that perceptions

of writing since Renaissance was ambivalent and conflicting, not as uniformly

reverent or hostile. 100 “Harvey J. Graff has rightly referred to a “literacy myth” that

#&"Elizabeth L. Eisenstein, The Printing Revolution in Early Modern Europe, CUP, Cambridge v.s.,

1983"

99 Christopher Neumann, “Üç Tarz-ı Mütalaa Yeniça" Osmanlı Dünyası’nda Kitap Yazmak ve

Okumak”, Tarih ve Toplum Yeni Yakla!ımlar, No: 1, 2005, p. 58

(''"Nicholas Hudson, Writing and European Thought 1600-1830, Cambridge Unv. Press, Cambridge,

1994, p. 2"

51

can be traced back to the Enlightenment- a confidence in literacy as the triumph of

light over darkness, and as the foundation of democratic liberties.”101

Although Ottoman’s cultural preference has been oral, “writing” and “speech”

always co-existed side-by-side. State affairs and its administrative traditions have

always been written from the very beginning, the literate have both owned and wrote

books, pamphlets, poems, biographical works, shared literary texts among

themselves, and public had an acquaintance with “writing” through marriage and

purchase-and-sale contracts, testaments, court registers. Written and oral practices

were not totally dissociated from one another with distinct boundaries, culturally and

perceptually they were co-existing and overlapping with each other.

In the following section, the production, distribution and acquisition of books which

were the main tools of written mode of transmission will be examined. It’s

worthwhile to analyze how books were produced, and for whom, for a better

understanding of the relationship between individuals and books, and valuation

criteria for books.

3.2.3.i. Production of Books –Author and Copyist

We do not know much about the process of writing in the Ottoman world. In Europe,

there were places called “scriptorium", literally meaning a place for writing

commonly used to refer to a room in medieval European monasteries devoted to the

copying of manuscripts by monastic scribes. Comparatively, there were no such

places for copying in the Ottomans.

('(" Ibid, pp.2. Here Hudson refers to Harvey J.Graff, The Literacy Myth: Literacy and Social

Structure in the nineteenth century city, Academic Press, New York, 1976, preafce, pp. xii-xvii. "

52

We know that the Palace was one of the places for copying books. Information about

the workings and organization of manuscript production at the court is beginning to

come to light with the emergence of such documents such as the Ehl-i Hıref register

or the accounts of the wages paid to those artists on the court payroll as part of the

Ottoman state bureaucracy. For the Ottomans, regional governmental and legal

accounts, kadi sicili documents dating from fifteenth century to the early twentieth

century, endowments, vakfiyye, the little published Ehl-i Hıref register, and other

related accounts are important sources of information for the cultural structure of the

court and the organization of the art production at the court during the Ottoman

period. Among these documents are account books showing the expenditure incurred

during the preparation of an illustrated manuscript, which furnish us with the name

of the artists involved and their assistants, as well as those of the bookbinders and

their associates. One section of the Ehl-i Hıref register, now published in

chronological order, gives the names of all those involved in manuscript production,

citing their origin (Persian, Georgian, Hungarian, etc), sometimes their provenance,

and the date of their entry into the court service, details of their successor, their

monthly wages and deaths. These documents do not, however, indicate the specific

manuscripts for which these binders or artists were responsible.102

The calligraphers were always the first group to be written in Ehl-i Hıref defters,

which may be interpreted as the Ottoman’s moral valuation given to “writing” and

“writers”. In sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, the name of the group was written

as “katiban-ı kütüb-ı hassa”, and in eighteenth century as “cemaat-ı katiban-ı

102 Zeren Tanındı, “Manuscript Production in the Ottoman Palace workshop”, Manuscripts of the

Middle East 5 (1990-91)

53

kütüb”.103 The number of calligraphers increased up to sixty in the end of sixteenth

century. The main function of the group was to copy the religious, philosophical,

scientific, literary and historical works. One of their major jobs was the copying of

the Quran. Besides copying, they were also responsible for repairing previous

works. They would also work for ornamenting some of the architectural buildings or

structures. For example, Ahmet Karacahisari, one of the famous calligraphers,

worked for the calligraphy of the Suleymaniye Mosque.104

There were also three other groups related to calligraphers, which were miniaturists,

nakka!, binders, mücellit, and ink-producers, mürekkepçi. It is interesting to note that

there were no specified groups which were responsible for the preparation of the

“paper” to be used which constituted an important effort. We may assume that, either

they were obtaining paper from the market or the calligraphers themselves were

involved in the production of paper.105 In the beginning of the 18th century there

were three calligraphers registered in Ehl-i Hıref Defters, and then decreased to two.

Their daily allowance was 30 akçes which constituted the highest among the palace

artists.106

Among the Ottoman guilds, there were plenty of guilds related to the production of a

book like nakka!, müzehhip, mücellit, sahhaf, ka#ıtçı, mühreci, mürekkepçi, divitçi

and kalemtra!. Only, there were no copyists and calligraphers organized under a

103 Bahattin Yaman, Osmanlı Saray Sanatkarları 18.yüzyılda Ehl-i Hıref, Tarih Vakfı Yurt Yayınları,

!stanbul, 2008 p.36

('*"Ibid,p.37

('$"Ibid, p. 38

('%""Bahattin Yaman,Osmanlı Saray Sanatkarları 18.yüzyılda Ehl-i Hıref, Tarih Vakfı Yurt Yayınları,

!stanbul, 2008 p.40

"

54

guild. Christoph K. Neumann, in his article ”Üç Tarz-ı Mütalaa”, assumes that since

the only institution known to have a studio for copyists and calligraphers was the

“palace” itself where only five or six people employed, the production of

manuscripts were highly decentralized which enabled the copyists to copy more

freely.107

In a court register dated 1114/1703, a lady named Safiye Hatun in her will, orders ten

Mushaf-ı $erif ,Quran, to be bought from her inheritance, after her death. She also

demands that 10 Qurans will be given to those who know how to read Quran

elaborately and payment would be made to those who deserve in return of praying

for her soul.108

How would those responsible for her will acquire 10 Qurans and from where? Would

there always be a sufficient supply of Quran or other books in demand in booksellers?

How would the book-sellers supply them? Or, would the one in such a

demand resort to mobile book-sellers who were selling their books in their backpacks

while walking around the streets like Evliya Çelebi mentions in his Travel Book?109

107 Christoph K. Neumann, “Üç Tarz-ı Mütalaa”, Tarih ve Toplum Yeni Yakla!ımlar Sayı 1, Bahar

2005, p.60

108 KA%C, Register no:22, pp.26 “Mahmiye-i !stanbul’da Kızılta$ mahallesinde sakin iken bundan

akdem vefat iden Safiye Hatun ibnet El-Hac Süleyman bin Murad’ın zevc-i metrukesi hafızü’l-kitab

zümre-i teberderandan fahrü’l-ayan El-Hac Mustafa A"a bin Evliya meclis-i $er’-i hatir-i lazımü’ttevkirde

müteveffat-ı mezburenin medyunu Yusuf bin Abdullah mahzarında üzerine da’va ve takrir-i

kelam idüp “ zevcem müteveffat-i mezbure Safiye Hatun ibnet El-Hac Süleyman bin Murad hali

zarazında fevtinden 10 gün mukaddem ben diyar-ı aherde iken bi-emri’l-lahi-teala vefat eyledi"inde

“cem’-i terekemin sülüsünden 100 guru$ ile ıskat-ı sal’atım görüle, ve yine sülüs-ü malimden 100

guru$ ile 10 kıta Mushaf-ı $erif i$tira olunub, fukara ve sülehadan müstehakkıma virilüb anlar dahi

kıraat eyledikte sevabı ruhuma ihda eyleyeler ve sadriye-i sagire kızım Ay$e’nin ………”

109"Evliya Çelebi, Seyahatname, V.1, pp.325. “Esnâf-ı sahhâfân: Dükkân 60, neferât 200, zîrâ ayak

sahhâfı çokdur. Bunlar dahi dükkânların niçe bin kitâb-ı gûnâ-gûn ile zeyn edüp ayak sahhâfları

"Mültekâ ve Dürer [u]Gurer'im eydir ammâ Ke$$âf'ımı ke$f edüp Tarîkat-ı Muhammedî'den ayrılman,

ey kitâbdır" deyü torba tobra kitâblarla ubûr ederler”

55

3.2.3.ii Book Trading and Demand

Was there a developed book market in Ottoman capital? How were the books in

demand being acquired? What were the role of book-sellers, sahhaf, in trading and

copying of books? Our current knowledge on book markets and sahhafs are very

limited. However Erünsal enlightens us on the subject with his work based on

primary sources on sahhafs. 110

The book trade in Istanbul must have developed significantly toward the end of the

sixteenth century because Ebu’l-Hasan Ali bin et-Temgruti, who was an ambassador

in Istanbul from 1589 to 1591, wrote in his memoir that “lots of books could be

found in Istanbul, libraries and the bazaar were full to the brim, and books were

bought to Istanbul from all around the world.”111

A. Galland was an orientalist who maintained good relations with Istanbul’s

secondhand booksellers and bought many works. In a journal covering the period

from 1672 to 1673, Galland recorded the books he purchased or came across, as well

as interesting information about secondhand booksellers.112 It is known that many

Western Orientalists, such as Greaves, Pocoke (1604-1691), Ravius, Colbert, and

Erpenius, collected a significant number of manuscripts for libraries in their

countries during the seventeenth century and that they sent these works home

through firms such as the Levant Company. It seems that the activities of the

Europeans rose to disturbing levels because the Grand Vizier %ehit Ali Pasha- who

110 !smail Erünsal, Osmanlılarda Sahhaflık ve Sahhaflar: Yeni Bazı Belge ve Bilgiler, Osmanlı

Ara!tırmaları 29 (2007) pp. 99-146"

111 Ibid, p. 107

112 Ibid, p. 110

56

was a renowned book collector- enacted a law at the beginning of the 18th century

banning the sale of books to foreigners.113

This is mostly about Orientalists or foreign embassies’ demand for Ottoman, Arabic

or Persian books from Istanbul book market. They do not give much information on

the acquisition channels of books owned by Ottoman individuals and sahhafs. How

would the sahhafs, Palace members or the interested Ottomans acquire their books?

Secondhand booksellers, especially those in Istanbul, acquired books through a

variety of different channels. The palace played a significant role in this issue. Many

times, the belongings of individuals were confiscated and entered into state treasury.

The most valuable or useful books were sent to royal library, and the rest were

auctioned off in the Bezzazistan or in the courtyard of the Fatih Mosque.114 Another

method of obtaining books was through the auction of works included in the

inheritance of deceased individuals. If bibliophiles and scholars did not donate the

books they collected while they were living, their books were either divided among

their heirs or auctioned off after their deaths, and the resulting income duly

shared.115 Another way of moving books out of the Palace was gift-giving to various

guests, diplomats, and officials. 116

113 Ibid, p. 111

114 Ibid, p. 122

115 Ibid, p. 125

116 Ibid, p. 123. Here, Erünsal makes a reference to Travel Book of Evliya Çelebi where he mentions

the books that has been given by the Sultan from the Palace to him. “...heman hünkar tiz

hazinedarba$ıyı ça"ırın ve devat ve kalem getürün diyüp dest-i $erifine kil-i cevahir-nisarın alub bir

hatt-ı $erif yazub Sen ki hazinedarba$ısın, Evliya’ya bir Kafiye ve bir Monla Cami ve bir Tefsir-i Kadı

ve bir Misbah ve bir Dibace ve bir Müslim ve Buhari ve bir Mülteka’l-ebhur ve bir Kuduri ve bir

Gülistan u Bostan ve Risabü’s-sibyan(!) ve bir Lugat-ı Ahteri al-hasıl yigirmi kıta müluk içün tahrir

olunmu$ kitab-ı nefiseleri hazine kethüdası fi’l-hal getürüb ve kendüler tilavet itdükleri Yakut-ı

Müsta’simi hattıyla bir Kelam-ı !zet ve bir murassa’ gümü$ devat ve bir Hind sedefkarisi ‘ud levhalı

pi$-tahta ihsan idüb...” Evliya Çelebi Seyehatnamesi, ed. Orhan %aik Gökyay, V.I, !stanbul 1996,

pp.102-103

57

A significant number of books were sent to Istanbul’s secondhand booksellers’

bazaar from the Islamic world’s oldest cultural centers, including Baghdad,

Damascus, Aleppo, Jerusalem, and Cairo, as well as various cities in Persia, which

was also an important area for book production.117 Even the historian Tarihçi

Mustafa Ali wanted to return to duty in Cairo because of its famous secondhand

book market. From the fourteenth through sixteenth centuries, Cairo was an

important place for Ottoman scholars, as well as European Orientalists interested in

Islamic culture, to acquire books. 118

Lale Uluç surveyed the archival lists of holdings of private libraries of Ottoman

intellectuals, bureaucrats and elite.119 She searched for codi-cological evidence from

the illustrated luxury editions of the works of classical Persian authors found in the

Istanbul collections. Both in Akkoyunlu and Safavid periods, Shiraz has been an

important place of high quality manuscript production. Significant quantity of Shiraz

illustrated manuscripts with their unique style in the Topkapı Palace dating 16th

century shows that they were in considerable demand in Ottoman capital.120 There

were 200 illustrated manuscripts dating back to the 16th century Safavid period.

Almost half of these manuscripts had been produced in Shiraz.121

These findings show that Istanbul was one of the main centers of book trade in the

world, having precious and rich collections. However, it’s hard to estimate how

much of this interest originated from Ottomans who really enjoyed reading and how

117 Ibid, p.126

118 Ibid, pp. 120-121

((#" Lale Uluç, “Türkmen Valiler $irazlı Ustalar Osmanlı Okurlar XVI. Yüzyıl $iraz Elyazmaları”,

Türkiye !$ Bankası Kültür Yayınları, 2006, !stanbul

120 Ibid, p.19

121 Ibid, p. 474"

58

much of it from those who just wanted to own them as a precious commodity in their

collections.

Knowledge produced in various spaces and transmitted by various channels had a

determinant impact on the individuals. The perception constructed with this impact

in the Ottoman minds is a composite of different knowledge types. This composite

knowledge forms the basics of a collective definition regarding one’s view of

external world, reason of his existence, and his general attitude to life. In the

subsequent sections the perception of knowledge in Ottoman “classic”122 period

constructed as a collective mind of the society and its propensity to change in the

“post classic” period tendency to will be scrutinized.

3.3 Individual and his Perception of Knowledge in Classical Period

In this section, knowledge of the individual of the classical period will be analyzed

with respect to the organizational model established by the Ottoman State and the

stereotype individual as perceived in the Ottoman society.

In most biographical works, there are four adjectives used in describing almost all

individuals’ personal traits, which are mütedeyyin, religious, mütevekkil, patient, one

who leaves his destiny in the hands of God, fazıl, virtuous, and salih, righteous.

There was not much room for personal qualifications. Those qualities may show us

the society’s prototype, or the ideal-type of individual that was constructed by the

state and society, which were also compatible with the state’s ideologies

implemented via its organizational structure. The individual who does not question

(!!" Here the term “classic” refers to the period between 14th and 16th centuries, whereas

“postclassical” refers to the period of 17th and 18th centuries of Ottoman Empire.

59

the dynamics of the system outside his own boundaries and who would believe in

pre-ordination of life by the Divine would perfectly fit the established and idealized

system of life.

Ergenç defined the features of a stereotype individual in the classical period as

follows: “He was “mütedeyyin”, pious, “ulü’l emre itaatkar”, obedient, who did not

hold himself responsible for the world order and its future, and who did not question

the established order, with no enthusiasm to change either his locality or his

attitudes.123 The basis of Ottoman order was the well-being of “reaya”, tax-paying

subjects of the Empire. This was the most fundamental tool by which the Sultan

legitimized his rule. In the social order established for the well-being of the reaya,

the residential immobility of reaya, defined as horizontal, and also vertically within

social strata tied the reaya to his residence and the social stratum that he belonged

to.

The most important organizational structure of the classical period was the system of

timar. The success of the timar system depended on the regular tax payments of the

reaya throughout the empire which demanded a strict immobility both horizontally,

residence wise and also vertically, strata wise. Those strict, yet sometimes set aside

regulations offered by the organizational system had sociological effects both on the

individual and society. Locality was demanded, in other words. The state demanded

the reaya to be “defterlü”, registered, and any request to change residential area

required the permission of both the previous timar-holder and also the subsequent

123 Özer Ergenç, “!deal !nsan Tipi üzerinden Osmanlı Toplumunun Evrimi Hakkında bir Tahlil

Denemesi”, paper presented in XI. International Congress Of Social and Economic History of Turkey,

Bilkent University, Ankara,17-22 June, 2008

60

timar-holder. For the sake of the continuation of the world-order, nizam-ı ‘alem,

social mobility was restricted. If timar was the system regulating the relationship

between the reaya and the state, the neighborhood, mahalle, was the determinant of

the relationship between the individuals themselves. Mahalle was the main

governmental unit in an Ottoman city. It was a place where most of the people

recognized each other, were responsible for each other’s behavior and lived in social

solidarity. With its definition in the Ottoman period, it was a part of a city where the

believers who prayed in the same “mescid”, small mosque lived with their

families.124 In Ottoman law, the people living in the same neighborhood were joint

guarantors of each other. All residents of a mahalle were held responsible in a case

which remained unsolved.125 There were many payments made collectively, like

renovation expenses of the mosque, the mescid, the school, the neighborhood

fountain, the salaries of the clergy, the teachers, and some of the tax payments called

“avarız”.126 Dismissal of some of the individuals from the mahalle was even

possible with a justified decision. The right to live in a mahalle required obedience of

a set of rules determined collectively by its members. There existed a collective

consciousness among individuals, constituted by a whole set of unwritten

regulations, like traditions and especially ethical codes.

The order of “hırfet”, professional groups 127 had their own regulations. Supply was

determined according to demand. There, the number of the people in those “hırfet

124 Özer Ergenç, XVI.Yüzyılda Ankara ve Konya, Ankara Enstitü Vakfı Yayınları, Ankara, 1995, p.

145, “.....aynı mescidde ibadet eden cema’atin aileleriyle birlikte ikamet ettikleri $ehir kısmıdır.”

125 Özer Ergenç, XVI.Yüzyılın Sonlarında Bursa, TTK Yayınları, Ankara, 2006, p.170

126 Ibid, p.172

127 Hirfet, in Arabic means art, work, performance, and labor done to make a living. The plural of

which is hiref. In the Ottoman era, hırfet or hiref, came to mean competents of manufacturing. The

61

erbabı”, professional groups, was fixed, and it was forbidden for anyone coming

outside to take part in that profession. Besides the regulations demanded of the

members, there were also some moral codes and required behavioral qualifications.

This whole set of regulations, called “fütüvvet” in Ottoman Turkish, was to be

transmitted from one generation to the next. In this organizational structure where the

traditions were dominant, transmission was accomplished by symbols, ceremonies

and rituals, like tying a belt to the student who has proven his competency for master

hood. Knowledge of the “hüner” kind, was transmitted pragmatically, in their long

educational period where they learned the “sır”, secrets of the profession, just like in

mystic sects. The career path to master hood was quite tough. Along the way to

master hood, the apprentice would learn his trade and also some ethical and moral

codes which were required of him to be a member of the guild.128 The primary

responsibility of the heads of guilds was supervision of the group members.

However, their secondary responsibility was to educate their students which was

termed as “!akird çıkartmak” in Ottoman Turkish. This education was the most

important element which would enable the continuity of their trade. Once the

“!akird”, student was considered to be competent, his passage from student to master

in his career path, would only be legal with his master’s permission.129

A child born in this environment, with the help of the then available level of

technology, would be equipped with cultural values and when he reached puberty he

would be a member of his father’s group. When he reached a certain age, he would

artists would be named as ehl-i hiref. See; Mehmet Zeki Pakalın, Osmanlı Tarih Deyimleri ve

Sözlü"ü, I, p. 509

128 Özer Ergenç, XVI.Yüzyılın Sonlarında Bursa, TTK Yayınları, Ankara, 2006, p. 181

129 Ibid, p. 190

62

attend the “sıbyan mektebi”, elementary school near the mosque, which was

established by a waqf and learn how to read and write. However there was no

widespread need for elementary schooling. Since the values of the society were

transmitted from one generation to the next orally, acquisition and improvement of

professional competence depended highly on practice acquired by seeing, hearing

and watching the masters. Novices would attain the values of their culture from the

religious stories heard in mosques, coffeehouses, from “fütüvvetnames” which were

stories about the traditions of his trade. He would be informed about something when

he hears a royal edict coming from Istanbul read by a “çavu!”, official Ottoman

messenger, or hear a story when there was a farewell ceremony for the pilgrimages

from the city’s “namazgah”, a place where pilgrimages start their journey. 130

It can be said that the individual’s perception of knowledge in the classical period

was harmonious with the state’s organizational structure, with the society’s social

and spatial immobility, with its local character and practice- a society fed by oral

traditions.

Knowledge was not acquired within institutions, rather it was knowledge acquired in

one’s life experience. Starting from birth, individuals would learn previous

generations’ cultural values and the basics of social order firstly from their families,

then from those in their own group, profession, and neighborhood, or from

“ihtiyaran”, elites of the society.

130 Özer Ergenç, “Osmanlı Klasik Döneminin !deal !nsan Tipi Üzerine Dü$ünceler”,paper presented

in XI. International Congress of Social and Economic History of Turkey, Bilkent University, Ankara,

17!22 June 2008

63

3.4 Individual and his Perception of Knowledge in Post-classical Period

In this section, the effects of the social transformation experienced in 18th century on

the perception of knowledge of the individual will be discussed.

It has been shown that starting from the late seventeenth century, the change in the

Ottoman social order was inevitable. Rural unrest starting with the Celali rebellions,

the formation of a professional army as a response to Western military superiority,

the reduction of the impact of the timar-system, the formation of central treasury as a

response to the increase in government’s deficit, imposing of new taxation

formulations, establishment of new recruitment criteria and change in the profiles of

those entering the civil service constitute only some of the causes of change. They all

led to a change in the functions of the Ottoman state’s organizational and

institutional structure.131 It is necessary to mention that, throughout the centuries, the

Ottoman institutions remained the same officially in documents, while their

functioning in fact changed. New practices were always implemented without totally

abolishing the previous ones, old and new remaining in effect side by side, until the

old practices simply faded away.

In this part, the effects of changes which occurred in the functioning of some of the

institutional structures and led to a change in the Ottoman individual, compared with

that of the classical period will be considered.

The timar-system was a central and absolute model observable throughout all the

Ottoman lands. However, the spatial hegemony of the empire broadened. New

131 For the causes of change during this period pls. see. Halil !nalcık, “Military and Fiscal

Transformation in the Ottoman Empire,1600-1700," Archivum Ottomanicum VI, 1980, pp. 283-337.

64

territories had to be administered and governed and there were regional disparities.

The timar system in the classical period was based on the by then prevailing

technologies for transportation, which were based on human and animal power.

Throughout the vast lands of the empire, with its ethnic, religious, cultural and

traditional disparities, the Ottoman State could not govern all the territories under the

timar system. With almost a hundred percent increase in population by the end of

sixteenth century throughout the Mediterranean, and a relative deficit in the total

production of goods and services, individuals with no land, attempted to change their

residential areas. Vertical mobility within social layers of the society and residential

mobility forced the state to make changes in the functioning of classical institutions

of the empire. Individuals started migrating to cities. Horizontal mobility started,

with people moving out of their neighborhoods to big cities where the society was

more heterogeneous. Thus, we see the growth of regional cities and towns and rise of

the urban commercial classes by the end of seventeenth century.

Changes in military technology and the spread of firearms forced the state to change

its traditional military organization and the government had an increasing need for

mercenary troops. This need also coincided with the supply of the landless peasants,

searching for new opportunities and willing to become soldiers and change their

social status. The state had to transform its military organization from seasonal sipahi

cavalry using traditional arms into a professional army capable of using firearms.

The timar system started to lose its previous function, whereas the kul system started

recruiting from a greatly expanded pool with differing origins, traditions and

education. It was a burden for the state to pay their monthly payrolls, thereby

pushing the new comers to squeeze into guilds to make a living. There was now a

65

vertical mobility where people from the “reaya”-tax-paying subjects class converted

to a tax-exempted status of “askeri” -ruling class.

This change in social strata which is defined as vertical mobility may account as the

next most influential factor which had an effect on the individual. This mobility has

been considered as “ihtilal”-disturbance of “nizam-ı alem”- world order by some of

the contemporaries. The new order was different from what had been perceived as

the world order in the previous period.

This horizontal and vertical mobility also differentiated the individuals’ knowledge.

An increase in the rate of change of knowledge, slowly led knowledge to loose its

locality. The rate of communication of knowledge between neighborhoods, cities and

even states and the need for systematic knowledge increased. In this changing and

developing world, individuals were in immediate need of having an access to

knowledge, whether formal or not. We may assume that people started to regard texts

as more confidential and easily accessed while trying to survive in their new world,

leaving their home towns where knowledge was local and communication was oral.

Besides changes in the timar and kul systems leading to both horizontal and vertical

mobility, there were also important changes within the human element of the

Imperial Council. The main central organ of Ottoman Administration, the Imperial

Council, had four categories of members; the viziers, the scribes represented by the

treasurer, the chief of the council’s scribes, and the chief translator, the military men

represented by commander of Janissary corps, and the ulema represented by the

Kadıasker, judicial chiefs of Rumeli and Anatolia. In summary there were three

groups functioning in the administration; örfiyye , men of arms, kalemiyye, men of

the pen and ilmiyye, men of faith. During the classical period, örfiyye members were

66

the most powerful. However, with the Empire’s change in foreign politics, ilmiyye

and especially kalemiyye members gained strength. Most of the viziers began to be

recruited from kalemiyye group. It shows a distinct change of politics in the

recruitment process of the administration. This may even be considered as a sign of

changing valuation criteria of knowledge. The appointment of those who were

literate, who had the ability to interact with foreign ambassadors, who had

knowledge about the outside world, and who were more intellectual may be

considered as a determinant factor in shaping the foreign politics of the Ottoman

Empire. Although it was not a factor that had a direct impact on all members of

society, changes in the characteristics of the elite administrators may be assumed to

have had some impact on lower social layers over time.

67

CHAPTER IV

KNOWLEDGE TRANSMITTERS

In this chapter, the main hypothesis of this thesis will be tested. The channels

through which the knowledge produced and transmitted will be analyzed. There are

two problematic in this analysis. The first problematic is how knowledge produced in

different spaces was being transformed into a collective perception. The second

problematic is whether this process of production, transmission of collectively

constructed perception of knowledge showed any signs of change during the early

18th century which is believed to be an era of social transformation. To be able to

answer those questions, the theoretical perspective on the subject given in the

preceding chapters will be analyzed by using the empirical data from the Ottoman

primary sources. Thus, empirical data analyzed by various historians previously and

the sources used in this thesis will be scrutinized thoroughly.

4.1 Primary Sources of the Previous Research and Their Results

The results of the previous research done on the same subject which includes

Istanbul done by Ozturk for the 16th century, Ruscuk and Sofia by Sabev for the 18th

68

century, and Salonica by Anastassiadou for the 19th century is shown below132

23H:/)I1))))J/5-:A5)78)K./L+7-5)J/5/3.ME)74)AE/)H77>N794/.5E+B).3A+7))

Place Period Total No. of Terekes No. of Book Owners

(% of total)

!stanbul133 1595-1668 1003 239

(%24)

Rusçuk134 1695-1786 358 65

(%18)

Sofya135 1671-1833 1111 180

(%16.2)

Salonica136 1828-1905 835 54

(%6.46)

Results of Ruscuk and Sofia covering 18th century which were found to be %18 and

%16.2, respectively. The same ratio for Istanbul in the 16th century seems higher than

expected which was %24. Sabev thinks that it was reasonable for Istanbul as the

capital of the Empire to have a higher ratio of readers than the provinces. However,

the ratio of %6.4 for Salonica for the 19th century still deserves an explanation.

Being a comprehensive one of the research on the subject, Sabev analyzed 335

probate inventory records in 56 court registers of askeri class covering the period

from 1724-26 to 1747-48 and determined the records having 3 or more books as his

database. 137 Then he classified 335 records with respect to owners’ profession. He

(+!" Orlin Sabev, "brahim Müteferrika ya da "lk Osmanlı Matbaa Serüveni (1726-1746), !stanbul:

Yeditepe , 2006, p. 272"

133 Said Öztürk, Askeri Kassama Ait Onyedinci Asır "stanbul Tereke Defterleri, pp.174-176

134 Orlin Sabev, “A Reading Provincial Society: Booklovers among the Muslim Population of Ruscuk

(1695-1786)”, Third International Congress on Islamic Civilization in the Balkans, Bucharest,

Romania, 1-5 November 2006"

135 Orlin Sabev, “Private Book Collections in Ottoman Sofia, 1671-1833 (Preliminary Notes)”, Etudes

Balkaniques, 2003 No:1,pp. 34-82"

136 Meropi Anastassiadou, “Des defunts hors du commun: les possesseurs de livres dans les

inventaires apres deces musulmans de Salonique”, Turcica, V.3, 222, pp.197-252

(+)" Orlin Sabev, "brahim Müteferrika ya da "lk Osmanlı Matbaa Serüveni (1726-1746), !stanbul:

Yeditepe , 2006."

69

defined the professional groups as religious, military and administrative, bureaucrat,

and craftsmen. The results of his findings for Istanbul, compared with his previous

research done for Ruscuk and Sofia is shown below;138

))))))))))23H:/)01)))))))O3H/LF5)8+4;+4,5)78)H77>)794/.5E+B)9+AE)./5B/MA)A7)794/.5F)B.78/55+74)

Career Istanbul/Owning

3 or more books

Sofia/Owning

2 or more

books139

Rusçuk/Owning 2 or

more books140

Ulema –

Religious class

(including

those having

Efendi or

Molla titles)

227 19 7

Military 59 11 4

Bureaucrats 14 2 -

Craftsmen 8 5 1

Other 18 9 4

Total 335 46 16

In all three cities, the book ownership ratio was clearly the highest in the religious

class. Especially in Istanbul, 227 out of 335 records were from religious class, which

is almost %68.

4.2 Primary Sources

There are two groups of primary sources used in this thesis. The first group consists

of two registers of probate inventory records, tereke defterleri, belonging to askeri

138 Orlin Sabev, "brahim Müteferrika ya da "lk Osmanlı Matbaa Serüveni (1726-1746), !stanbul:

Yeditepe , 2006. p.275"

139 Orlin Sabev, “Private Book Collections in Ottoman Sofia, 1671-1833 (Preliminary Notes)”, Etudes

Balkaniques, 2003 No:1,pp. 34-82"

140 Orlin Sabev, “A Reading Provincial Society: Booklovers among the Muslim Population of Ruscuk

(1695-1786)”, Third International Congress on Islamic Civilization in the Balkans, Bucharest,

Romania, 1-5 November 2006"

"

70

class called kısmet- askeriyye. One of them is numbered 22 dated 1114-1115/ (1703-

1704) with 248 pages, and the next is numbered 31 dated 1124 /(1712-1713) with

200 pages.

The second group consists of individually distinct probate records selected randomly

from Ba$bakanlık Osmanlı Ar$ivi, Ba$ Muhasebe Kalama collections showing

ownership of at least one book and recorded in the period of 1700-1750.

The database formed using the first group of primary sources was thoroughly

analyzed and the results were systematically classified and shown in various tables

enabling us to draw general conclusions. The individual records of the second group

on the other hand, consists of distinct records that support the general conclusions

drawn.

The database of the first group of primary sources was formed from the records of

those deceased who owned at least one book. Then this database had been analyzed

to find the book ownership ratio for the specified periods which is illustrated below.

))))))))))))))))))))))23H:/)=1)P77>)794/.5E+B).3A+7)+4)!QRO)471)II)34;)0S)

Place Period Total No. of Probate

Inventory Records

No. of book owners /

( % of total)

!stanbul 1703-1704 223 36 / %16.14

!stanbul 1712-1713 215 39 / %18.14

Total 438 75 / %17.12

71

Since there was only 10 years of lag between the two periods, the findings of the two

registers were combined for a better view. The book ownership in this combined

database had been found as %17.12.

In this thesis, the same method had been used to determine the professions of those

owned books. The professions defined in this thesis are ilmiye (religious), örfiye

(military), and kalemiyye (scribes-bureaucrats) which were similar to Sabev’s

categorization. In addition to that, number of the books owned by relevant

professions were also determined which is shown below:

23H:/)?1)))P77>)794/.5E+B)34;)AE/)471)78)H77>5)794/;)9+AE)./5B/MA)A7)794/.5F)))))))))))

B.78/55+74)+4)!QRO)471)II)34;)0S1)

Career

No. of

people

owning

at least

one book

/ % of

total

(Register

no: 31)

Number

of books

owned /

% of total

(Register

No: 31)

No. of

people

owning

at least

one book

/ % of

total

(Register

No: 22)

Number

of books

owned /

% of total

(Register

No: 22)

Total

number

of

books/

% of

total

!lmiye 18 / %50 580 /

%78.2

17 / %

42.1

501 /

%79.7

1081

(%80)

Örfiye 10 /

%27.77

132 /

%17.8

18 / %

21.1 23 / %3.7

155

(%11.4)

Kalemiyye 1 / %2.77 10 / %1.3 - -

10

(%0.8)

Others 7 /

%19.44 19/ %2.5 14 / %

36.8 86 / %13.6

105

(%7.8)

Total 36 741 38 630 1351


73

best resembling copy of the original knowledge. They were assumed to be positioned

in the highest rank of their profession. They would appeal to only a very limited,

distinguished and elite students. This group did not transmit knowledge to masses

directly. The members of this group would most likely be a “müderris” in medreses,

a “pir” or an “üstad” in guild organizations, a “mür!id” or a “!eyh” in tekkes that

were defined in previous sections. Professionals were either müderris or mür$id

producing and transmitting religious knowledge or “üstadan-ı ehl-i hıref” which

means experienced masters of a craft, with a knowledge of the traditions of the

organization transmitting knowledge of “hüner” kind. The distinctive feature of the

knowledge possessed by this group was that it was not “censurable”, in other words,

they were not a kind which could be advanced or developed further. It involved

information which was passed on from the “master” only to the “apprentice” and that

“it was required from the master to meticulously keep the details as secret as an

indication of his mastery”. In this regard, the knowledge stayed within the

profession. It was basically the reason why the rate of transmission and nature of the

accumulated knowledge displayed a long-term stagnation.142 A müderris would

expect his students to transmit his knowledge without changing its original version.

Actually, this is how Islamic knowledge could indeed remain unchanged throughout

centuries. While this approach prevented new pursuits, after a while those

professionals would be continuously using the same knowledge with little interest to

enrich or reproduce it.

142 Özer Ergenç, Osmanlı Klasik Döneminde “Sa"lık Bilgisi”nin Üretimi, Yayılması ve Kullanımı”,

MESA 210 Conference Proceedings

74

The second layer constituted of individuals defined in this thesis as “secondary

professionals”. This group was not totally aware of the source of knowledge. They

did not themselves produce knowledge, rather, it is assumed that they were on their

way to get specialized either on their own profession or any subject of their interest.

Their knowledge may not have been the “original” or resemble closely the original

knowledge. They may have learned mostly anonymously from previous generations,

or they may understood either the commentaries or the shortened and simplified

versions of original texts. But more importantly, they were the ones whose

transmission of knowledge was trusted and publicly accepted. This important feature

would enable them to appeal to masses. They would be members of an ancillary

profession, or would be supplementary staff like a vaiz, preacher, who did not

receive medrese education but had some shallow religious knowledge, an imam, who

transmitted religious knowledge or daily practices of worship that he had heard from

others. The preachers included in this group had very differing qualities from that of

ulema although they both were a member of ilmiye class. Zilfi, who had analyzed the

“Kadızadeli Movement” emphasized the differing positions of the sermons with

respect to hierarchical organizational structure of ulema class. She wrote; “The

Ottoman vaizan had received their initial training in their home provinces rather than

in capital. Their training –heavily mixed with the theory and practice of public

oratory- was barely comparable to the Istanbul medreses’ ten-plus graded years in

the law. Most members of the preacher corps were less educated. Their task stressed

exhortation rather than explication, and repetition of notable sermons of the past

rather than original sermons. Apart from differing recruitment patterns, training and

career expectations, perhaps the chief difference between the vaizan and the ulema

75

resided in their actual functions. Ulema as judges had narrow and prescribed

interaction with the public. As professors they dealt not only with the literate, but

with the most select of the literate, the budding of the ulema.” 143

A person who was an örf member but called by his fellows as “kadı” due to his rich

private library, or a “musinn” or “ihtiyar”, elder individuals in the neighborhoods

having anonymous knowledge from their ancestors, having experience and who had

gained the community’s trust were also evaluated under this group.

The main group focused in this study is the “secondary professionals” as is defined,

since they were the ones transmitting their knowledge to the public, or ahali, having

a face-to-face contact with the populace and assumed to have a dominant role in

determining the level of the public’s perception of knowledge.

The questions of how knowledge was perceived by masses, what the type of

knowledge transmitted to public were, what the role of written transmission of

knowledge was compared to the traditional modes of oral and ritual transmission are

attempted to be answered through the books owned by the knowledge transmitters.

4.4 Transmitters Reflected in the Sources

Regarding the two probate inventory records that have been already defined in

section 4.2, the two tables were formed illustrated below. The first table was formed

according to probate inventory register numbered 31 dated 1124/ (1712-1713) and

the second table was formed according to probate inventory register numbered 22

dated 1114-1115/ (1703-1704). Although they were recorded at differing time

143 Madeline Zilfi, Osmanlı Uleması Klasik Dönem Sonrası 1600-1800, çev. Mehmet Faruk Özçınar

Birle$ik Yayınevi, Ankara, 2008, p. 164"

76

periods, they both gave results whict support each other. Thus, the two registers were

analyzed together.)))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))

))

) ))23H:/)C1))))Q43:G5+5)78)!QRD)"71)II);3A/;)E+T.+))

) ) )))))))))))))))))))))))SSS=NSSS?)USVW0NSVW=X)

)))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))23H:/)V1))))Q43:G5+5)78)!QRD)"71)0S);3A/;)E+T.+))

) ) )))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))SSI=)USVSINSVS0X

!!" " " " " ! "##$%!

Total

number of

inv.

Inv.

with

books

No. of

books

Inv. With respect to

no.of books owned

Title of the

owners

No.of book

owners with

respect to their

titles

Mushaf Ulum-i

Nakliyye

Tabakat,

Vefayet

Risale,

Tevarih,

Adab,

Menkıbe

Siyer

Fütüvvetname

!#$"

%&'(#)*#+,"

-%."

/01234"56"#7&"

85594""

'!!":1;:<:;=>?4,"

@:AB5=A"

A:A?2"

#." !" """ "! !" ""

C2?28:" #" !" "" "! "" ""

D2EFD2G2" $" !" "" "! "" ""

H621;:" $" !" !" "! !" ""

I4A>;" #" ! " " " "

&'()*! !!" " " " " "

/01234"56"#.7%%"

85594""

'#.":1;:<:;=>?4,"

"

@:AB5=A"

A:A?2"

#" !" "" "" !" ""

C2?28:" 7" 7" 7" 7" 7" 7"

D2EFD2G2" !" !" "" "" !" ""

H621;:" J" !" !" !" !" ""

&'()*! #." " " " " "

/01234"56"%%">1;"

K532"85594""

'J":1;:<:;=>?4,"

@:AB5=A"

A:A?2"

7" 7" 7" 7" 7" 7"

C2?28:" 7" 7" 7" 7" 7" 7"

D2EFD2G2" 7" 7 " 7" 7" 7" 7"

H621;:" J" !" !" !" !" ""

&'()*! J" " " " " "

"

! /01"

" L5"15A"501"

"

"

!

"#! ! ! ! ! ! "##$%!

Total

number of

inv.

Inv.

with

books

No. of

books

Inv. With respect

to no.of books

owned

Title of the

owners

No.of book

owners with

respect to their

titles

Mushaf Ulum-i

Nakliyye

Tabakat,

Vefayet

Risale,

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77

The parameters used in the formation of the tables are; total number of probate

inventory records in the registers, the number of the records where the deceased

owned books, the titles of those deceased owning books showing their social and

legal status, the total number of the books in the registers, and the general content of

the those books depending on the kind of knowledge they possess. The deceased who

owned books in the registers have been analyzed under 3 groups. Numerical

distribution and its cluster point were used in determining those 3 groups.

Accordingly, the 3 groups were defined as those owning 1-9 books, 10-33 books and

those owning over 33 books.

All the books recorded in probate inventories were classified under 5 groups for a

better analysis as such; 1) Mushaf-ı !erif, Kuran’ı Kerim, enam-ı !erif, ecza-ı !erif

and yasin-i !erif. The books under this group are represented by the main book of

Islam, Kuran-ı Kerim and books that contain some of the surahs and verses of the

Quran. 2) The books that were studied in the medreses either under transmitted

sciences, ulum-ı nakliye, or rational sciences, ulum-ı akliye covering formal religious

knowledge. 3) The books that contain mystic knowledge written by famous

mutasavvıfs, sufi mystics, or biographical books of them. They were all termed as

books of tabakat and vefayat. 4) Books of adab like tevarih, e!’ar, menkıbe, siyer,

siyasetname or mecmua, miscellany or risale, pamphlets which contain samples of

such. 5) Fütüvvetnames giving the rules and regulations of the guilds.

The two tables formed with the above mentioned parameters enable us to make the

evaluations regarding knowledge transmitters of the society for the specified time

periods.

78

In both of the tables the number of those deceased who owned books were

significantly low. When the group who owned 1 to 9 books is analyzed, most of the

books they owned were from the group (I), namely Mushaf-ı $erif. Also, we see that

those who were recorded without any titles either did not own any books or owned

only one or two Mushaf-ı $erif or Enam-ı $erif, in other words only books from the

group (I). This shows us that literacy rate was still very low in the Ottoman society in

the 18th century. Because we may claim that most of those who had Mushaf-ı $erif in

their probate records did not know any Arabic language and had Quran in their home

as a religious ritual or a symbol of their faith. Based on these findings, we may

suggest that the knowledge produced in the society was being transmitted orally by

the transmitters mentioned above.

The analysis of the sources with the parameters of the titles of the book owners and

the content of their books enable us to make some further conclusions. Those who

are titled as “efendi” who were either a member of ulema or any din görevlisi,

religious official, own books from the groups (I), (II), and (IV). In the second table,

there were no records of books from the group (III), or namely vefayet and tabakat

books. However, since there were efendis owning the books from group (III) in the

first table, we may say that some of the ulema owned “tabakat and vefayet” books

representing content of mystic knowledge showing that efendis, who were a member

of ulema, were at the same time a tarikat tekneni!in or a müntesib of a tarikat.

Besides those affiliations, they also had interest in books of adab. Although it’s not

clearly reflected shown in the tables, they owned muhtasar, brief or summarized

versions of standard religious books $erh, commentaries, fetva collections. Thus

showing that both groups of knowledge transmitters that were defined as primary and

79

secondary professionals in previous sections in a theoretical perspective have been

represented under “efendi” titled group. However, the fact that most of the books

recorded were muhtasar versions, puts the secondary professionals forward.

The books owned by those deceased who were titled as “çelebi” did not show any

significant or distinctive qualities to make a meaningful analysis.

Those deceased who were titled as “bey”, “be$e”, or “a"a” who were clearly a

member of örf, military class mostly owned books in group (IV), namely the books

having the content of adab. This may show that they did not have a special mission

besides transmitting the values of their own class.

Although there were guild members in the probate records, there was no single book

of fütüvvetname, the book of rules and regulations of a specific guild. guilds. This

implies that the knowledge of hüner was being transmitted orally or pragmatically

from üstads to $akirds in the guilds, while transmission of their ethical values were

the subject of rituals.

Lastly, the tables show that, within the specified period of two registers, oral and

pragmatic methods of transmission of knowledge were still dominant in the Ottoman

society although there was a sign of propensity to written modes of transmission.

What leads us to this conclusion is the fact that in 16th and 17th centuries the books

found in tereke registers were both lower quantitatively and were not differentiated

so much as far as their contents were considered.

The specific examples from the sources which support the general conclusions drawn

will be given below.

80

In the following section, the content of the books owned by the members of the layer

defined as “secondary professionals” will be analyzed. For example, there are 12

books contained in the tereke register of Abdülrezzak Efendi who died in 1124/1712

who was an imam of Orta Camii.144 If Mushaf-ı $erif and Sadr-ı $erif books are left

aside, he owned “Tarikat-ı Muhammediye”, mecmua (collection of diverse texts,

usually for the collector’s private use) and “Muhtasar”. There are only two books

from the curricula of the medreses which were “Dürer” and “Mülteka”. Mostly

recorded as “Dürer” however originally named “Dürer ve Gürer” was a book

frequently used as a reference and written by Molla Hüsrev (d.855/1480). The full

name of the book studied in Ottoman medreses was "Dureru'l-Hukkam fî !erh-i

Gureri'l-Ahkâm".145 Since it was a book of Islamic jurisprudence (fıqh) appealing to

daily lives, it is found in most of the tereke registers. “Mülteka” was also a book

from the medrese curricula on Hanefi jurisprudence. It was written by !brahim

Halebi. This was also a book that could be referred to for everyday practices.

“Tarikat-ı Muhammediye” was also a very frequently found book in tereke registers.

Due to its contents it may also be considered as a history book. It was written by

Yazıcıo!lu Mehmed Bîcân (855/1451) and considered to be one of the books which

constituted the base of Islamic culture. It was one of the most popular books

cherished by the public for centuries long. It was about Muhammad the Prophet’s

life, giving explanations of Islamic perspective of world. 146 Apart from those books,

Abdürrezzak Efendi owned some miscellany called “mecmua” containing diverse

144 KA%S, 31, p. 87

145 Ali !hsan Karata$ XVI. Yüzyılda Bursa’da Tedavüldeki Kitaplar, Uluda" Ünv. !lahiyat Fakültesi

10/1, p. 212

146 Ibid, p.215

81

texts like poems, tales, prays, and even some sample lawsuits. Recorded in tereke

registers either as Mutavvel or Muhtasar, was a famous work of Sa’deddin Taftazânî

(d.722/1322) on rhetoric. It was a book that was studied in medreses, being a

commentary made to the book named "Telhîsu'l-Miftâh" of Celâleddîn Muhammed

b. Abdurrahman el-Kazvînî (d.739/1338). There were two commentaries made by

Taftazani, the longer of which was called Mutavvel, while the shortest one was called

Muhtasar.147 The book recorded as “Muhtasar” in tereke records may also refer to

the shortened version of the book named “Fıkh-ı Ekber $erh-i Muhtasar”. This was

a shortened version of the book written by !mam-ı Azam- the founder of Hanefi

school. These books were the type of books which included knowledge pertaining to

large number of people, understood more easily than the curricula of the medrese and

came across in the practical lives of the public and possessed simple answers to the

religious faith questions.

!brahim Efendi, the judge-adjunct, naib of !stanköy148 owned 9 books. He was

assumed to be qualified as “secondary professionals” since he was a member of

middle ranked ulema. The books that he owned were suitable for a role of

transmitting judicial knowledge in the society. He owned “sakk mecmuası”, various

miscellany and some story books. Sakk mecmuası were reference books showing the

rules and procedures of filing a lawsuit in Ottoman courts. Those books were mostly

written by judges or scribes who had long years of judicial experience in courts. The

naib of !stanköy would most probably, by the help of sakk mecmuası as his reference

tool, appeal to those who were in search for legal procedures.

(*)"Ibid, p. 216"

148 KA%S, 31, p., 107

82

Ders-i amm, the public lecturer, El-Hac Ömer Efendi owned 10 books like Tuhfetü’l

Müluk, Gülistan, Menasihü’l Hac, Muhtasar, and Molla Camii149 . Gülistan was a

book written by Sa'dî-i !îrâzî (ö.691/1292) that was studied in medreses. It was

mainly aiming to regulate social routines. Sadi glamorized his work with stories

some of which were based on his own observations, while some were based on

hearsay. There were many books written as its commentary by various authors. It

was dedicated to Persian Atabek named Ebu Bekir, summarizing Sadi’s life

experience. It was considered to be a masterpiece of Persian literature with its plain

and simple language, highly esteemed by masses.150 Tuhfetü’l Mülük was a

pendname, the book of advice. Menasihü’l Hac was a book explaining the route of

pilgrimage. Molla Cami was a book frequently found in tereke registers. Molla

Câmî (b. 1414 - d. 1492), was a Persian philosopher. He was considered to be a

mystic luminary. The content of the books in the private library of Ömer Efendi as a

ders-i amm were well-matched for somebody transmitting his knowledge in daily

religious practices.

There was a hierarchy in Ottoman ilmiyye class. The graduates of medrese would

first be sent to provinces in Anatolia as a kadı, judge, and spend their first years of

experience in provinces. And later, they would come back to the capital after their

fulfillment of duties as province judges. The tereke register of Hüseyin Efendi who

was a judge in Anatolia is worth to mention. He owned 17 books.151 Although he

should have been included in the “professional group” due to the number of books

(*#"KA%S, No.31, p. 35"

($'"Ali !hsan Karata$ XVI. Yüzyılda Bursa’da Tedavüldeki Kitaplar, Uluda" Ünv. !lahiyat Fakültesi

10/1, p. 214

151 KA%S No:31, p. 54

"

83

he owned, when the contents of his books are analyzed, it was found that his private

library was distinct both from that of high-ranking professionals like müderris,

Kadıasker, highest rank of judges, and also from that of “secondary professionals”

like imam/ vaiz/ ders-i ‘amm. Although his library included “Dürer” and “Mülteka”

which were studied in medreses, he also owned “mecmua”, miscellany or books with

diverse texts, “duaname”, prayer books, “Pendname”, book of advice, “Van Kulu

Lügatı”, dictionary. As a provincial judge, he did not own books that included

sophisticated religious knowledge, rather he owned books which would meet the

needs of the public in the provinces that he would be serving about daily religious

practices, It may be assumed that as he moves up on the hierarchical ranks of

ilmiyye, his private library would become more refined and rich meeting his

professional needs.

Karahasano"lu, emphasizes the distinctive position of the preachers, vaiz, of

Ayasofya Mosque in his work where he reconstructs the rebellion of 1730 using the

tereke register of !spirizade Ahmet Efendi, the preacher of the Ayasofya Mosque

during the mentioned period.152 Friday preachers were appointed by the Palace and

the peak of their career path was their appointment to Friday sermons of Ayasofya

Mosque.153 Being a preacher in Ayasofya was a powerful position since most of the

administrative elites were attending Friday sermon of this Mosque. The tereke

register of !spirizade, for this reason, was quite different from the terekes of the

aforementioned preachers. It was much more heterogeneous and rich. His books also

($!" Selim Karahasano"lu, “Osmanlı !mparatorlu"u’nda 1730 !syanına dair Yeni Bulgular: !syanın

Organizatörlerinden Ayasofya Vaizi !spirizade Ahmed Efendi ve Terekesi”, OTAM 24, 2008, pp.97-

128"

153 Ibid, p.101"

84

may be considered as an evidence of differences of individual’s knowledge within

the hierarchical structure of ilmiyye class. The private libraries of those positioned in

the higher ranks of the hierarchy, would include a variety of books enabling them to

fulfill the expectations of the elite audience that they were appealing to.

Hafız, one who can recite the Qu’ran, !brahim owned only 5 books, one of which

was Mushaf-ı $erif and the next was Mevlid-i $erif, both of which were fully

compatible with his profession. 154 Although all lengthy poems about the birth of

Muhammed, his life, and small passages about his life, his miracles are termed as

Mevlid, in Islamic literature they constitute a kind of literary genre. The most

prominent work of this genre was "Vesîletü'n-Necât" , means of salvation, dating 15th

century, written by Süleyman Çelebi in Turkish. There is no reason not to assume

that circumcision feasts, when hajıs would return from pilgrimage, in farewell

ceremonies to soldiers, when somebody was deceased or at sacred nights Hafız

!brahim Efendi would recite Mevlid-i $erif and he would keep his book with himself

in case he needs assistance.

Ulvi Ali Efendi, who was one of “reis katips” , scribe, in the kalemiyye, had 10

books including “Kanunname” and “Hilye-i Hakani”.155 “Hilye-i Hakani” was an

anonymous work including the stories and tales of the prophets. It was one of those

works that was frequently owned due to its simple language and the messages it

included. “Kanunname” was a book of Ottoman documents about Sultanic law which

Ulvi Efendi would mostly refer to in his profession. It cannot be said that Ulvi Efendi

($* KA%S no:31, p.36"

"

85

had the knowledge from original sources. He was literate and reading mostly tales

and anonymous books probably sharing his knowledge with other fellows of his

class.

When the tereke registers of those who were a member of örfiyye class with their

A"a titles are analyzed, some similarities in the books owned could easily be

determined. El-Hac Hasan A"a who died on his way to pilgrimage had 57 books.156

Although the amount of the books he owned resembles that of a high-ranking

professional’s library, the content of the books shows that he was a member of a

mediocre culture. Besides the recognized books on fıqh, Islamic jurisprudence like

“Kitab-ı Buhari”, “Feteva-i Ali Efendi”, “Mutavvel”, “Dürer Gürer”, “!erh-i

mevakıf”, and “Kadıhan” , he also had many books on differing subjects including

history books, popular religious books, books of advice of government, like;

“Tevarih-i Ali”, “"skendername”, “Tercüme-i Kemal Pa!azade”, “Nusretname”,

“Menakıb-ı "mam Azam”, “Kıssa-i Bürde”, “Hadis-i Erbain”, and “Türki tefsir”-

Turkish Quranic commentary books. “"skendername” was written by Ahmedî

(d.815/1412), with an annex of Ottoman History is considered to be one of the first

of its kind. It is an epical poem about the tales of the life, ideals, lovers, and the

conquests of Iskender the Great.157 “Tevarih-i Ali”, “Tercüme-i Kemal Pa!azade”,

“Nusretname” were also historical books like “"skendername”. “Kasîde-i Bürde”

was a famous eulogy written by el-Busirî (d.1213/1296). Believed to have

miraculous deeds among Muslim believers, this eulogy was translated to many

156KA%S No:31, p. 128

($)"Ali !hsan Karata$ XVI. Yüzyılda Bursa’da Tedavüldeki Kitaplar, Uluda" Ünv. !lahiyat Fakültesi

10/1, p. 220

86

languages and had many commentaries.158 “Hadis-i Erbain” was a booklet of 40

hadiths enlightening the daily lives of public. He also owned a Turkish Quranic

interpretation called “Türki tefsir”. Rather than an “alim”, El-Hac Hasan A"a,

although literate, better fits the “secondary professionals” group whose knowledge

may be considered to be shallow, acquired by anonymous sources and easily

understood and interpreted.

The tereke register of Ahmed A"a bin Mustafa owning 10 books is worth to mention

with interesting books recorded.159 “"bretname” is one of them. "bretname was

written by E$refo"lu Abdullah Rûmî, (? - 1469) , who was known as E$ref-i Rûmî ,

one of the most prominent names of Turkish Mystic literature. The next one is “Ebu’l

Leys” which was written by Semerkandî (d.373/938) about ritual worship which was

very popular among masses.160 Ahmed A"a also owned “Yusuf and Züleyha” which

was written by many people with different versions, about the life of Prophet Yusuf

and Zuleyha from the Quran. “A!ık Pa!a” is another popular book. Although

recorded as A!ık Pa!a in documents, the name of the book was “Garibname” written

by A!ık Ahmed Pa!a (d.730/1330) with 12.000 verses. It had 10 sections and written

to educate people. “Garibname” was very effective in Anatolia which was

considered to be one of those books ensuring Ottoman unity. It has been observed

that Ahmed A"a as an Ottoman reader, preferred works in Turkish, literate genres

based on stories rather than religious books.

158 Ibid, p. 219

($# KA%S, No:31, p.130

(%'"Ali !hsan Karata$ XVI. Yüzyılda Bursa’da Tedavüldeki Kitaplar, Uluda" Ünv. !lahiyat Fakültesi

10/1, p. 213

87

There are 11 books in the tereke register of Yakub A"a.161 Besides books on history

and Tarih-i Sultan Osman, there is one Turkish book called “Türki kitab” and one

book named Lamii which is probably the work of Mahmûd b. Osmân el-Bursevî

(d.939/1532) named “Dîvân-ı Lamiî” and also a translation of Lamii named “Hüsn-i

Dil”. 162

Ba$ Kapucuba$ı El-Hac Halil A"a, a member of örfiyye class, died in 1164 / (1750-

17551) owned 36 books.163

Ba"dat A"ası Es-Seyyid Ali A"a, a member of örfiyye class, died in 1101/ (1689-

1690) owned 10 books.164 However, they were not recorded separately. All 10 books

were recorded as “alai kütub”- old and disorganized books and magazines with

disjointed folios.

Mirahur-ı evvel, head of royal horse barn, Ali Bey, from örfiyye class owned 14

books who died in 1114/ (1702-1703).165 He owned a book called “baytarname”,

book of veterians, which he needed for his profession. He was also mainly interested

in reading Turkish books since he owned “Türki !ehname”, Turkish book of advice

of governing, “Türki mecmua”, Turkish miscellany. As a member of military class,

he also owned “Tuhfetü’l Kibar” written by Katip Çelebi on naval history. The book

“Acaibü’l Mahlukat “ was a book on astrology and geography. Siyavu$ Ahmed bin

Abdullah Bey, member of örfiyye class, died in 1100/ (1688-89) owned 5 books.166

(%("KA%S, No:31, p. 162"

(%!"Ali !hsan Karata$ XVI. Yüzyılda Bursa’da Tedavüldeki Kitaplar, Uluda" Ünv. !lahiyat Fakültesi

10/1, p.218"

(%+"BOA, D.B%M-MHF/301-12652"

(%*"BOA, D.B%M-MHF/21-12369"

(%$"BOA, D.B%M-MHF/21-12382"

(%%"BOA, D.B%M-MHF/18-12366"

88

They were kelam-ı kadim, lügat, dictionary, and Gülistan.

It was interesting that the governor of Diyarbakır !brahim Pa$a167 who died in 1128/

(1715-16), member of örfiyye class did not own any books just like Yeniçeri A"ası

Çolak Hasan A"a168 who died in 1120/ (1708-1709) who did not have any books

recorded in his tereke. There were also two deceased from the örfiyye class who

owned only one religious book. One of them was “Kandiye muhafazasında memur

Dergah-ı Ali Yeniçerileri 14.cemaatiden Hasan Çelebi” who owned only one book

of Mushaf-ı $erif.169 The other one was “sabıka Azak defterdarı olup hala Girit

defterdarı olan” Mustafa Efendi, provincial treasurer of Crete, owned only one book

of kelam-ı kadim. 170

Revan muhafızı ve seraskeri !brahim Pa$a, member of örfiyye class in the city of

Revan who died in 1147/ (1734-35) owned 71 books written on differing subjects.171

Although he was a member of military class, his private library included books on

religion, jurisprudence, history, books of literature, poetry books, poem books, a

book translated from Italian, miscellanies, and also a printed book named “Tuhfetü’l

Kibar” written by Katip Çelebi on naval history. Besides being literate and

interested in reading books either for his own profession or just for enjoyment, he

may also be a collector of books because he had calligraphic Quranic books written

by famous calligraphers like Süleymani Üsküdari. He also had many copies of a

book named “tarih-i mirant”, which was a Persian history book. Owning many

copies of the same book may also indicate that he was a collector of precious books.

(%)"BOA., D-B%M-MHF/21-12392"

(%&"BOA, D.B%M-MHF/21-12369"

(%#"BOA, D.B%M-MHF/12373"

()'"BOA, D.B%M-MHF/12465"

()("BOA, D.B%M-MHF/12435"

89

Neumann, analzed in his article the tereke of Halil A"a who died in 1751 and owned

62 books. Although he was not a “kadı” officially, but a member of örfiyye class, he

was called among his own class as “kadı” since he owned so many books. Neumann,

argues that his library was quite different from that of an “alim” in a medrese.172 He

had a rich private library with history books found in the terekes of other örf

members, menakıbname genre. Besides biographical works of Ottoman elite, he also

owned reference books on fıqh, Islamic law, hadith and tefsir, Quranic interpretation.

However there were no fetva (religious legal decisions) books which give practical

religious information that the kadıs would mostly demand, no miscellanies of Arabic

grammar and no booklets called “sakk mecmua” which would give practical

information on how to file a lawsuit. Besides, there were not any fundamental books

that were a part of Ottoman medrese curricula like sarf (Arabic grammar rules),

nahv, Arabic literature rules, logic, kelam, speculative theology and usul-ı fıqh, rules

of Islamic law. Thus, Neumann righteously claims that private library of Halil A"a

was different from a library of a professor in the medrese.

In Sievert’s article where tereke registers of 36 bureaucrats who have died within the

period 1700-1800 have been analyzed173, 5 out of 36 bureaucrats’ tereke records

have been published in its appendix. And these published records have also been

used an analyzed in this thesis from a differing perspective. Published records

include; Bahir Mustafa Pa$a deceased in 1765 owning 13 books,174 Teryaki Mehmet

172 Christoph K. Neumann, “Osmanlı Okurları ve yazma koleksiyonları I: Kadı Halil A"a’nın

kitapları”, Simurg, Simurg Yayıncılık, !stanbul, Ekim 2000, No: 2-3, pp.446-458"

()+" Henning Sievert, “Verlorene Schatze-Bücher von Bürokraten in den Muhallefat Registern” in

Welten Des Islams Band 3, edited by Silvia Naef, Ulrich Rudolph, Gregor Schoeler, Bern, Peter Lang,

2010, pp. 199-263.""

()*"D.B%M.MHF 50/51, 12710, 12718, 12719"

90

Pa$a deceased in 1750 owning 17 books,175 Abdurrahman Pa$a deceased in 1752

owning 87 books, 176 Numan Pa$a deceased in 1752 owning 33 books,177 and

Divo"lu el-Hac Mustafa deceased in 1757 owning 11 books.178 Four out of five were

a member of örfiye class with their “Pa$a” title. With respect to their books owned

they all qualify as a member of the group “secondary professionals”. The books

owned were very similar to those owned by secondary professionals of this thesis.

There were history books like; Tarih-i Ra!id, Tarih-i Naima, Tevarih-i Taberi,

Tarih-i Ali Osman, Tarih-i Hamis, Tuhfetü’l Kibar which is about Ottoman naval

history written by Katip Çelebi, and Tarih-i Peçevi. There were books on geography

like Cihannüma by Katip Çelebi and also books of advice like Pendname, Ahlak-i

Alai, $ahname. There were popular religious books like a booklet of prays written by

!mam el-Cezûlî which was believed to cure physical and psychological illnesses

called “Delâil-i Hayrât”, praying books like Ed’iye mecmuası, Duanâme,

Muhammediye, miscellanies about varying subjects like religion, medicine,

astrology. Adab books like kıyafetname, harbname, literary genre like Yusuf and

Züleyha, books of miscellaneous poets were included in those 5 terekes. Although

relatively few, there were also religious books on Islamic law like fetva books,

commentary books, Dürer ve Gürer, Mülteka which all involve practical information

for daily lives of Muslims It has been observed that the books consist of wide range

of subjects including religion but mostly hüner and adab genre.

175 D.B%M.MHF 12586"

176 D.B%M.MHF 12606"

177 D.B%M.MHF 12641"

178 D.B%M.MHF 12664"

91

Besides the inheritance probate inventories of the askeri class, tereke records of the

Uskudar court register dated 1741 numbered 402 also analyzed.179 Since this register

was for those people who were from reaya class, it is assumed to portray the

populace in terms of book ownership and it was selected randomly. Although it may

seem as a low probability that this one court register would represent the data of all

the remaining public, it is argued that court registers for the same period from

different neighborhoods of the city, would come up with similar results. In this

register , 302 records out of 392 were lawsuit records. And there were 12 tereke

registers, 4 of which belonged to non-Muslims and 8 of which belonged to Muslims.

There were “no” books recorded in any one them. It may be argued that for the

period being analyzed and even for previous periods, oral transmission was still

dominant with respect to written for the masses with no specific necessity for written

texts in their daily practices.

4.5 Evaluation of the Sources

Since high-ranking “professionals” appeal to a very limited and distinguished group

of people, and responsible for transmitting their knowledge to this elite group, it is

hard to assume a determinant role for them in changing or transforming the

perception of “knowledge” of masses, even though they represent the group owning

the highest number books.

()#"Ülkü Geçgil, Fatih Ünv. Basılmamı$ Yüksek Lisans Tezi, “Uskudar at the begining of the 18th

century (a case study on the text and analysis of the court register of Uskudar nr. 402)”

"

92

It has been shown that the books owned by the group defined in this thesis as

“secondary professionals” having a profound effect on societal perception of

“knowledge”, include mostly anonymous books that were transformed to written

textual forms from oral traditions embodying oral practices, and religious books

which were in the form of commentaries, shortened and summarized versions of

original books enabling easier cognition, and fulfilling daily religious practical

needs. Even the historical and literate texts considered to be the knowledge of

“adab” were comprised of anonymous knowledge transmitted orally from previous

generations with popular culture features.

Although there were signs of a change, the quantitative analysis of books show that

they were not still widely-used in early 18th century. Literacy was not a

distinguishing feature in the society. Those who were illiterate could easily join or be

a part of a literate group. There were no strict boundaries between orality and written

culture. Books were not the only way of possessing and transmitting knowledge and

the traditional modes of transmission were still dominant. The members of religious

class still owned the highest amount of books. However, we observed gradual signs

of change both in the amount of books owned by lower-ranking members of askeri

class and also in the content of the books owned.

Masses acquired their knowledge from the group defined as “secondary

professionals” and the increase in the amount of books owned by this group, as well

differentiation of the contents of the books they owned had a determinant role in the

formation of public’s perception of knowledge.

93

CHAPTER V

CONCLUSION

The results of both theoretical and empirical research of this thesis were given at the

end of each related chapter. Therefore, in this concluding chapter the general

evaluations drawn from our results will be discussed thoroughly.

Philosophically, knowledge which is defined as the relation between what is known

and who knows, guides all of the mindful deeds of mankind. What dictates our

actions is the knowledge that we practice.180 For centuries throughout the history of

mankind, humans attempted to push or enlarge the boundaries or the limits of their

knowledge. This thesis discussed the transformation of the Ottoman society’s

perception of knowledge in the 18th century which was assumed to have a profound

impact on the behavior of individuals.

Firstly, individuals’ perception of knowledge has been analyzed within the context of

the social and organizational structure prevailing in the Ottoman classical period.

Within this period, the prototype of society was the one who fully absorbed the

(&'"Necati Öner, Bilginin Serüveni, Vadi Yayınları, Ekim 2005, Ankara, s.92"

94

knowledge transmitted by his congregation. The collective mind of the society and

the state’s authority which was established through its socially immobile structure

were consistent with individuals’ perception of knowledge. Individuals’ behaviors

did not lead to a serious conflict. In this organizational structure which expects

immobility, both socially and spatially, knowledge of people living locally and

having face-to-face interaction with each other was also local, and was based on oral

practices. Literacy was not a distinguishing feature in their society.

With loosening social and organizational structure of the classical period leading to

horizontal and vertical mobility, individuals became a part of a more complex body

of relationships. Their perception of knowledge having a profound behavioral impact

started to conflict with the collective mind and state authority. Experienced not only

in Ottomans but in all civilizations as a parallel, the new social consciousness

sprouted within the society which may be summarized with Fletcher’s words as

“……whose minds were less the captives of traditional culture than were the minds

of older traditional elites.” 181

This new consciousness starting from the group of people defined as “secondary

professionals” who were positioned between the learned and the populace, would in

the 19th century broaden its content and expand its impact.

Valuable research done on the subject mostly emphasized the relative abundance of

book ownership in ilmiye class; however, in this thesis, transmitters of knowledge

having a pivotal influence on masses regardless of their profession have been the

(&("Joseph Fletcher, “Integrative History: Parallels and Interconnections in the Early Modern period,

1500-1800.”Journal of Turkish Studies, volume: 9, 1985 s. 51"

95

main concern. Therefore, the collective perception of knowledge of the Ottoman

society has been analyzed from a different perspective. Although, at first sight

there’s no clear notice of 18th century literacy level, the comparative analysis

between 16th and 18th century shows that there was a higher propensity to own books

in the 18th century. But, this propensity was not still dominant in the 18th century.

During the 18th century, it has been shown that besides the ilmiyye class, in other

ruling classes too, the number of the books owned have started to increase gradually

and the contents of the books have become more diversified. A new group of people

emerged who were neither a member of the learned elite nor of populace. Although

varying in their content, most of the books owned were the written forms of oral

practices and culture. An increase in the amount, and the variety of content was

considered to be an early sign of increasing use of books by “secondary

professionals”. The tacit knowledge or the knowledge embodied in those who

possessed it started to be codified. The codification of knowledge enabled mass

transmission and communication.

It has been shown that in early 18th century, oral culture was still dominant among

the masses, and that knowledge was local and acquired through face-to-face

channels, consisting of pragmatic knowledge well adapted for everyday practices and

necessities. Knowledge of secondary professionals who transmitted their knowledge

orally, was also still fed by oral culture since their books owned were the written text

forms of oral traditions. It may easily be concluded that books were not still a part of

people’s daily lives. Although it has not been undertaken in this thesis, it is claimed

that the same conclusion would be true for a longer term periodic analysis and this

period was a forerunner of a change.

96

A comparative analysis for 16th and 18th centuries on book ownership could not be

statistically proved. There are basically three reasons for this deficiency. Firstly,

instead of ilmiyye, örfiyye and kalemiyye classes that were used by previous research,

different parameters have been used in this thesis, namely; professionals, secondary

professionals and the public. Secondary professionals have been the main concern.

Therefore, a comparative analysis using the data of the research done for previous

periods could not be made. Secondly, a comparative analysis for 16th and 18th

centuries would be far beyond the limits of a master’s thesis. Thirdly, if I had

concentrated more on the comparative and empirical analysis for a period of three

centuries, my arguments that I wanted to emphasize would fall short of my

expectations.

Most of the research done in the West on the role of books takes Enlightenment as a

point of reference. With the use of terms and concepts coined in the West in the 19th

century like “Enlightenment, Industrial Revolution, Scientific Revolution,

Individualism, Democracy” , they attempt to explain 19th century Western supremacy

as if it started way back from the 16th century in an anacronic and teleological way.

This thesis opposes this teleological approach in history writing. It claims that the

path to modernity should not necessarily follow the same pattern as it did in the

West, and that there is not “one” modernity, rather “multiple” modernities traced in

various cultures and civilizations. Therefore, it did not take “modernity of the West”

as its point of reference. Instead, it claims that “parallel” social, economic and

cultural changes starting from the late 17th century all around the world lead to a

change in perception of knowledge of masses. If the fact that there are more than

“one” modernity is accepted, starting from the late 17th century, especially in the 18th

97

century, we may easily trace that Ottoman individuals’ knowledge is no longer local,

rather it has differing contents. The outcome of this change would be detected more

easily in the 19th century. The 19th century reformist movements may be rooted in

this changing perception of knowledge.

98

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