OTTOMAN IMPERIAL WOMEN’S CONTRIBUTION TO THE
TANZIMAT (1839-1876)
THE CASE OF BEZMIALEM AND PERTEVNIYAL
VALIDE SULTANS
My thesis examines Ottoman imperial women’s contribution to the Tanzimat era (1839-
1876), a period characterized by various attempts to reform the Ottoman Empire and
curtail the nationalist movements of ethnic groups within its territory. I focus on two
queen mothers who lived during this period; Bezmialem Sultan (1798?-1853) and
Pertevniyal Sultan (1810?-1884). Scholars rarely mentioned them in regard to the
Tanzimat. Comparing their endowment deeds and focusing on many untapped archival
sources, memoirs, travelers’ accounts, contemporary chroniclers, their own writings, as
well as artworks dedicated to them, I show how⎯through their mosques, schools and
hospitals⎯both endorsed various pioneering projects. A closer examination of these
projects reveals that they followed slightly differing patterns of patronage, sometimes
also different from their sons’ patronage, even though they first and foremost had to
support the legitimacy of their sons’ rules. These two queen mothers subtly guided not
only their commissions’ construction, but also how individuals should experience these
buildings. They mixed traditional concepts with new patterns in both architecture and
function. The Tanzimat era can be better understood by analyzing the involvement and
patronage of its queen mothers and evaluating diverse layers of power; the harem as an
alternative site of power should not be disregarded. In this sense, my thesis contributes to
the rich academic works concentrating on women’s patronage in the fifteenth to
eighteenth centuries.
Keywords: Valide sultan, queen mother, endowment deed, vakıf, vakfiye, architectural
patronage, hospital, school, mekteb, rüşdiye, Tanzimat.
v
ÖZET
Tezim Osmanlı hanedan kadınlarının Tamzimat dönemine (1839-1876) olan katkılarını
incelemektedir. Çalışmam Osmanlı İmparatorluğu’nun çeşitli reformları hayata
geçirmeğe çalıştığı ve bünyesindeki değişik etnik grupların milliyetçi eğilimlerini
bastırmaya gayret etiği bu dönemde yaşayan Bezmialem Valide Sultan (1798?-1853) ve
Pertevniyal Valide Sultan (1810?-1884) üzerine odaklanmaktadır. Tamzimat ile ilgili
daha önceki araştırmalar bu iki valide sultanın katkılarından pek söz etmezler. Tezim
vakfiyelerini karşılaştırmalı olarak inceleyerek, daha önce incelenmemiş arşiv
kaynaklarına inerek, hatıraları, seyahatnameleri, çağdaş vakanüvisleri, valide sultanların
kaleme aldığı mektup ve hatıraları ve kendilerine vakfedilmiş sanat eserlerini göz önüne
alarak, banisi oldukları cami, hastane ve okullar vasıtasıyla bu iki valide sultanın
dönemlerinde öncü projelere ön ayak olduklarını göstermektedir. Her ne kadar valide
sultanların baniliğinin amaçlarından birinin oğullarının iktidarına meşruiyet katmak olsa
bile, projeleri yakından incelediğimizde valide sultanların baniliğinin zaman zaman
oğullarınınkinden farklı olabileceği ortaya çıkmaktadır. Her iki valide sultan sırf binaların
inşa edilişine yön vermekle kalmayıp aynı zamanda bu binaların nasıl kullanılması
gerektiğini de belirtmişlerdir. Tamzimat dönemini valide sultanların iktidara katılımlarını
ve baniliklerini inceleyerek daha iyi kavrayabiliriz, böylece önemli iktidar
katmanlarından olan haremi gözardı etmemiş oluruz. Bu çerçevede tezim onbeş ve
onsekizinci yüzyıllarda Osmanlı hanedan kadınlarının baniliği üzerine yapılan değerli
akademik araştırmalara katkıda bulunmaktadır.
Anahtar Kelimeler: Valide Sultan, vakıf, vakfiye, mimari banilik, hastane, okul,
mekteb, rüşdiye, Tanzimat.
vi
ACKNOWNLEDGEMENTS
I could accomplish my dissertation with the help of numerous people to whom I am
greatly obliged. First and foremost I express my profound gratitude to my advisor Nina
(Ergin) Macaraig who led me through the strenuous path of research. Her professional
guidance and remarkable support enabled me to finalize this project. My special thanks
go to my committee members Lucienne Thys Şenocak and Nazan Maksudyan, who
inspired me with their own works on women from the inception of my project. They both
carefully read my drafts and provided very valuable and beneficial comments and
suggestions. Günsel Renda has generously shared her time, scholarly erudition and books
throughout my journey. Reşat Kasaba created a special opportunity for me at the
University of Washington as an exchange student and enabled me to present several
chapters of my dissertation at his seminars while providing me with insightful comments.
I am greatly indebted to Selim Kuru who generously granted his time to guide me
into the intricacies of the Ottoman language. Not only his deep knowledge, but also his
witty and humorous character enlightened my way and helped me greatly whenever I felt
lost in my journey. Hamza Zafer also illuminated my path with his knowledge in
religious studies and Qur’anic interpretations.
I am grateful to the Koç University, the Department of Archeology and History of
Art for providing generous financial assistance and distinguished learning environment.
The positive attitude of the department has always helped me remove several hurdles in
my path. Thanks to their financial support, I could attend Yorgo Dedes’ classes at the
Ottoman Summer Language School in Cunda and develop my knowledge on the Ottoman
language and paleography. I am also grateful to the staff of the Graduate School of Social
vii
Sciences and Humanities at the Koc University, especially to Tuğçe Şatana whose
administrative knowledge and skills helped me advance in my journey.
My work greatly benefited from the help and guidance of many librarians. The
close collaboration of several staff in the library of the Koc University and the University
of Washington provided several useful sources to me. Their constant effort made my
journey possible. I am also deeply grateful to Ekrem Sırma, at the Prime Ministry
Ottoman Archives, Mevlüt Çam and his team, particularly Öznur Sağlam, at the General
Directorate of Pious Foundations and Esra Müyesseroğlu at the Topkapı Palace Museum
for making available useful archival documents to me. The Library of Congress provided
me generously their sources. Osman Gültekin, the President of Pertevniyal High School
Alumni Association and Ercan Kazel, the Assistant Headmaster of Cağaloğlu High
School kindly gave their time and provided me useful materials of their institutions.
Sarper Yılmaz shared his articles on the hospitals of the Holy Land prior their
publication. I am also obliged to Nedret İşli for allowing me to use and reproduce Divan-ı
Şeref Hanım from his private collection. I am also grateful to my friends Mehmet Kentel
and Sabiha Göloğlu for their insightful comments and suggestions. I am deeply indebted
to Seda Toksoy and İdil Ülgen. The former mastered photos of several mosques and
presented them with a professional touch. The latter performed Donizetti Pasha’s two
compositions, one devoted to the queen mother Bezmialem and the other to her son
Sultan Abdülmecit, offering their different portrayals in music.
Lastly, I am deeply thankful to my family: first and foremost to my graceful and
very supportive parents, Alâattin and Üren Yolaç; unfortunately they both passed away
during my dissertation. Form my childhood on they generously financed and supported
viii
my education. From them I have learned that learning could erase the ignorance, but
becoming a good person was another important education. My aunt Leman Yolaç-Fotos
and my uncle Evan Fotos always extended their emotional and financial support at
various stages of my life whenever I needed it. My sincerest gratitude goes to Bob and
Ross Pollock. I am lucky to have Bob as my husband who continuously believed in my
journey. During some tenuous moments when I lost my own self-confidence he knew
how to boost it. Without his help I could not finalize this project. Ross was my great
technical assistant in finding and formatting several texts and images, as well as the final
draft of my thesis. His help was the sine qua non in accomplishing my dissertation.
ix
TABLE OF CONTENTS
ABSTRACT ................................................................................................................................. iv
ÖZET ............................................................................................................................................. v
ACKNOWNLEDGEMENTS ...................................................................................................... vi
TABLE OF CONTENTS ............................................................................................................ ix
LIST OF TABLES ....................................................................................................................... xi
LIST OF FIGURES .................................................................................................................... xii
NOTES ON TRANSLITERATION AND TRANSLATION ................................................. xix
GLOSSARY ................................................................................................................................. xx
INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................................ 1
I. SOURCES ON QUEEN MOTHERS AND THEIR OWN LETTERS: GLIMPSES INTO THEIR
LIVES ..................................................................................................................................................... 5
II. HISTORIOGRAPHY ..................................................................................................................... 22
III. PLAN OF THE THESIS .............................................................................................................. 30
CHAPTER I. THE VAKFIYES OF BEZMIALEM AND PERTEVNIYAL SULTANS ....... 36
I. ENDOWMENTS IN OTTOMAN SOCIETY ................................................................................ 39
II. CHANGES OF THE VAKIF SYSTEM IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY ............................ 43
III. THE SIMILARITIES AND DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE TWO VAKFIYES ................ 47
THE COMMON TEXT IN PRAYER SECTIONS AND ORIGINAL VAKFIYES ............................. 56
THE PERSONAL VOICE OF THE QUEEN MOTHER ......................................................................... 59
CONVEYING THE IMAGE OF PIOUS VALIDE SULTAN AND THE IMPORTANCE OF
RECITATIONS ................................................................................................................................................. 64
TEXT AND IMAGE ......................................................................................................................................... 84
CODA ................................................................................................................................................... 90
CHAPTER II: CONTRIBUTIONS TO EDUCATION .......................................................... 92
I. TANZIMAT EDUCATION AND THE QUEEN MOTHERS’ SCHOOLS ACCORDING TO
THEIR VAKFIYES .............................................................................................................................. 95
II. BEZMIALEM’S SCHOOLS ........................................................................................................ 113
III. PERTEVNIYAL’S SCHOOLS .................................................................................................. 128
CODA ................................................................................................................................................ 134
CHAPTER III: CONTRIBUTIONS TO HEALTHCARE ................................................... 138
I. OTTOMAN HEALTHCARE SYSTEM BEFORE THE GUREBA HOSPITAL ..................... 141
II. THE GUREBA HOSPITAL AND CHANGES IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY ............ 156
III. OTHER GUREBA HOSPITALS BUILT BY THE QUEEN MOTHERS ............................. 171
CODA ................................................................................................................................................ 178
CHAPTER IV: MOSQUES: CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE IMPERIAL PUBLIC IMAGE OF
POWER AND PIETY ............................................................................................................. 179
I. PERCEPTIONS OF TANZIMAT ARCHITECTURE ............................................................... 181
II. THE MOSQUE OF THE GUREBA HOSPITAL ..................................................................... 186
III. PERTEVNIYAL VALIDE SULTAN’S MOSQUE IN AKSARAY ......................................... 197
x
CHOICE OF LOCATION ............................................................................................................................. 202
THE CHOICE OF EPIGRAPHIC PROGRAM AND ARCHITECTURAL VOCABULARY ........ 206
THE PERTEVNIYAL MOSQUE’S VAKFIYE ........................................................................................ 217
CODA ................................................................................................................................................ 226
CONCLUSION ......................................................................................................................... 229
BIBLIOGRAPHY .................................................................................................................... 237
APPENDICES ......................................................................................................................... 270
FIGURES ................................................................................................................................. 278
xi
LIST OF TABLES
Table No. 1: Services and Salaries at the Eyüb Mausoleum as per Pertevniyal’s
Vakfiye ............................................................................................................................... 67
Table No. 2: The List of Dervish Contents and Mausolea for Hatims Stipulated by
Pertevniyal ......................................................................................................................... 77
Table No. 3: Positions and Salaries Stipulated by Bezmialem for the Yahya Efendi
Convent .............................................................................................................................. 80
Table No. 4: Instructors’ Salaries at Bezmialem’s Rüşdiye ............................................ 122
Table No. 5: Instructors’ Salaries at Bezmialem’s Sıbyan Mektebi ................................ 124
Table No. 6: Common Costs at Bezmialem’s and Pertevniyal’s Rüşdiye and
Sıbyan Mektebi ................................................................................................................ 124
Table No. 7: Instructors’ Salaries at Pertevniyal’s Rüşdiye ............................................ 132
Table No. 8: Instructors’ Salaries at Pertevniyal’s Sıbyan Mektebi ................................ 132
Table No. 9: Instructors’ Salaries at Pertevniyal’s Rüşdiye and Sıbyan Mektebi
as per Memorandum Dated 1871 .................................................................................... 133
Table No. 10: Additional Staff for Pertevniyal’s Rüşdiye and Sıbyan Mektebi .............. 134
Table No. 11: Military Hospitals Prior Bezmialem’s Gureba Hospital .......................... 147
Table No. 12: The Cadre of the Gureba Hospital at the Time of Its Inauguration .......... 160
Table No. 13: Cadre, Salaries and Provisions of the Gureba Mosque ............................ 195
Table No. 14: Cadre, Salaries and Provisions of the Aksaray Mosque ........................... 220
xii
LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 1: Donizetti's Lied Composed for Bezmialem. Source: Emre Aracı, Donizetti
Paşa, Osmanlı Sarayının İtalyan Maestrosu (Istanbul: Yapı Kredi Yayınları, 2006).
Figure 2: Donizetti's Lied Composed for Bezmialem. Performed by İdil Ülgen.
Figure 3: Donizetti's March Composed for Abdülmecid. Source: Emre Aracı, Donizetti
Paşa, Osmanlı Sarayının İtalyan Maestrosu (Istanbul: Yapı Kredi Yayınları, 2006).
Figure 4: Donizetti's March Composed for Abdülmecid. Performed by İdil Ülgen.
Figure 5: Bezmialem’s Letter Sample to Her Son Together with the Envelope. Source:
BOA, TSMA.E.0860.
Figure 6: Pertevniyal’s Short Note on the Coffer. Source: BOA, Y.EE.0018.114.
Figure 7: Pertevniyal’s Short Letter in the Coffer. Source: BOA, Y.EE.0018.114.
Figure 8: Emin Baba Dervish Lodge. Source: www.ottomaninscriptions.com.
Figure 9: Emin Baba Dervish Lodge, Restoration Inscription. Source:
www.ottomaninscriptions.com.
Figure 10: Map of Istanbul from 1908. Source: University of Washington Library,
Constantinople and Surrounding Country, War Office, 1908.
Figure 11: Bezmialem's Vakfiye, Sultan's Handwriting. Source: VGM.
Figure 12: Pertevniyal's Vakfiye, Sultan's Handwriting Next to the Prayer Page. Source:
VGM.
Figure 13: Pertevniyal's Seal-Ring with the Names of Ashâb-ı Kehf. Source: Çağlarboyu
Anadolu'da Kadın: Anadolu Kadınının 9000 Yılı, Istanbul: TC Kültür Bakanlığı Anıtlar
ve Müzeler Müdürlüğü, 1993.
Figure 14: The Inscription of Yahya Efendi's Mausoleum. Source:
www.ottomaninscriptions.com.
Figure 15: The Cover and a Page Sample from Bezmialem's Vakfiye. Source: VGM.
Figure 16: The Cover and a Page Sample from the Pertevniyal's Vakfiye. Source: VGM.
Figure 17: Covers from Hadice Turhan Valide Sultan's, Haseki Gülnuş Valide Sultan's
and Mihrişah Valide Sultan's Vakfiyes. Source: Tarihimizde Vakıf Kuran Kadınlar,
Hanım Sultan Vakfiyeleri, Tülay Duran, ed., Istanbul: Tarihi Araştırmalar ve
Dokümantasyon Merkezleri Kurma ve Geliştirme Vakfı, 1990.
xiii
Figure 18: Adornment in Şah Sultan's Vakfiye. Source: Türk Vakıf Şaheserleri, Sadi
Bayram and Mehmet Narince, eds., Ankara: Vakıflar Genel Müdürlüğü, 1999.
Figure 19: Mihrişah Sultan's Vakfiye. Source: Tarihimizde Vakıf Kuran Kadınlar, Hanım
Sultan Vakfiyeleri, Tülay Duran, ed., Istanbul: Tarihi Araştırmalar ve Dokümantasyon
Merkezleri Kurma ve Geliştirme Vakfı, 1990.
Figure 20: Bezmialem's Vakfiye, Prayer Section. Source: VGM.
Figure 21: Hatice Sultan, Authetication of the Original Vakfiye. Source: Türk Vakıf
Şaheserleri, Sadi Bayram and Mehmet Narince, eds., Ankara: Vakıflar Genel Müdürlüğü,
1999.
Figure 22: Bezmialem's Original Vakfiye. Source: VGM.
Figure 23: A Pink Rose Painted at the End of Hakani's Hilye-i Şerîf, 1717 (H 1130),
Süleymaniye Kütüphanesi. Source: Christiane Gruber, "The Rose of the Prophet: Floral
Metaphors in Late Ottoman Devotional Art," in Envisioning Islamic Art and
Architecture: Essays in Honor of Renata Holod, David J. Roxburg and Renata Holod,
eds., Brill, 2014.
Figure 24: Design of the Prophet Muhammad's Sandal with Pink Rose, al-Maqqari
(d.1620), Fath al-muta'al fi madh al-ni'al (An Opening from the Most High in Praising the
Sandal) Ottoman Turkish, 18tth or 19th century, Kayseri, Raşit Efendi Eski Eserler
Kütüphanesi. Source: Christiane Gruber, "The Rose of the Prophet: Floral Metaphors in
Late Ottoman Devotional Art," in Envisioning Islamic Art and Architecture: Essays in
Honor of Renata Holod, David J. Roxburg and Renata Holod, eds., Brill, 2014.
Figure 25: Pertevniyal's Original Vakfiye. Source: VGM.
Figure 26: Bezmialem's and Pertevniyal's Page Samples in the Original Vakfiye. Source:
VGM.
Figure 27: Bezmialem's Zeyl Samples, Zeyl 1 and 2. Source: VGM.
Figure 28: Pertevniyal's Zeyl Samples, Zeyl 1 and 2. Source: VGM.
Figure 29: Pertevniyal's Zeyl 9. Source: VGM.
Figure 30: Bezmialem's Header Decoration of Zeyl 1. Source: VGM.
Figure 31: Bezmialem’s Header Decoration Zeyl 11, The Gureba Hospital.
Figure 32: Bezmialem Zeyl 13, The Valide Mektebi, Header Decoration.
Figure 33: Bezmialem Zeyl 13, The Valide Mektebi, Footer Decoration.
xiv
Figure 34: Bezmialem Valide Mektebi Inscription, Today Cağaloğlu Anadolu Lisesi.
Source: Cağaloğlu Anadolu Lisesi, Assistant Headmaster, Ercan Kazel.
Figure 35: Cağaloğlu Anadolu Lisesi Main Building. Source: Cağaloğlu Anadolu Lisesi,
Assistant Headmaster, Ercan Kazel.
Figure 36: Cağaloğlu Anadolu Lisesi Inscription on the Main Building. Source:
Cağaloğlu Anadolu Lisesi, Assistant Headmaster, Ercan Kazel.
Figure 37: The Elevated Plan of the Bezmialem Valide Mektebi. Source: BOA, PLK.p-
1044.
Figure 38: École de Garçons et Mairie a Cheilly, Saone-Et-Loire . Source: M. Félix
Narjoux, Architecture Communale, Paris: V superscript ve A. Morel et c superscript ie,
1880, vol. 3.
Figure 39: École de Garçons à Rouen, Seine-Inférieure. Source: M. Félix Narjoux,
Architecture Communale, Paris: V superscript ve A. Morel et c superscript ie, 1880,
vol. 3.
Figure 40: École de Filles et de Garçons à Lyon, Rhône. Source: M. Félix Narjoux,
Architecture Communale, Paris: V superscript ve A. Morel et c superscript ie, 1880,
vol. 3.
Figure 41: The Idadi School of Jerusalem. Benjamin C. Fortna, Imperial Classroom:
Islam, the State, and Education in the Late Ottoman Empire, Oxford University Press,
2002.
Figure 42: The Idadi School of Trabzon. Benjamin C. Fortna, Imperial Classroom: Islam,
the State, and Education in the Late Ottoman Empire, Oxford University Press, 2002.
Figure 43: Pertevniyal School Inscription. Source: Photograph taken by the author.
Figure 44: Aksaray Mosque Complex in the 19th-century Map. Source: Doğan Kuban,
"Aksaray," Dünden Bugüne İstanbul Ansiklopedisi, İstanbul: Türkiye Ekonomik ve
Toplumsal Tarih Vakfı, 1993.
Figure 45: Karl Ambros Bernard's Tomb in Istanbul at Church Santa Maria Draperis.
Source: TDV İslam Ansiklopedisi, vol.5, 1992.
Figure 46: Plan of Fatih Darüşşifası. Source: Nina Ergin, "Healing by Design? An
Experiential Approach to Early Modern Ottoman Hospital Architecture," Turkish
Historical Review, 6 (2015).
Figure 47: Fatih Darüşşifası by Ülker Erke. Source: Ülker Erke’nin Yorumu ve Fırçasıyla
Türkiye’de Tarihi Sağlık Kurumları, Nil Sarı, ed., Istanbul: Nobel Matbaacılık, 2002.
xv
Figure 48: Plan of Süleymaniye Darüşşifası. Source: Ülker Erke’nin Yorumu ve
Fırçasıyla Türkiye’de Tarihi Sağlık Kurumları, Nil Sarı, ed., Istanbul: Nobel Matbaacılık,
2002.
Figure 49: Süleymaniye Darüşşifası by Ülker Erke. Source: Ülker Erke’nin Yorumu ve
Fırçasıyla Türkiye’de Tarihi Sağlık Kurumları, Nil Sarı, ed., Istanbul: Nobel Matbaacılık,
2002.
Figure 50: Mekteb-i Tıbbiye-i Adliye-i Şahane by M. Feraud. Source: Arslan Terzioğlu,
Mekteb-i Tıbbiye-i Şahane ve Bizde Modern Tıp Eğitiminin Gelişmesine Katkıları,
Istanbul: Arkeoloji ve Sanat Yayınları, 1989.
Figure 51: Mekteb-i Tıbbiye-i Adliye-i Şahane by Süheyl Ünver. Source: Nuran
Yıldırım, A History of Healthcare in Istanbul, The Istanbul European Capital of Culture
Agency and Istanbul University Project No. 55-10, Istanbul: Düzey Matbaacılık, 2010.
Figure 52: Gureba Hospital by Ülker Erke. Source: Ülker Erke’nin Yorumu ve Fırçasıyla
Türkiye’de Tarihi Sağlık Kurumları, Nil Sarı, ed., Istanbul: Nobel Matbaacılık, 2002.
Figure 53: Plan of Gureba Hospital. Source: Nuran Yıldırım, From the Charity Hospital
to the Bezmialem Foundation University, Istanbul: Bezmiâlem Vakıf Üniversitesi, 2013.
Figure 54: Allgemeine Krankenhaus in Munich. Source: John D. Thompson and Grace
Goldin, The Hospital: A Social and Architectural History, New Haven and London: Yale
University Press, 1975.
Figure 55: Gureba's Entrance. Source: Photograph taken by the author.
Figure 56: Allegemeines Krankenhaus, Vienna. Source: John D. Thompson and Grace
Goldin, The Hospital: A Social and Architectural History, New Haven and London: Yale
University Press, 1975.
Figure 57: The Second Julius Hospital, Würzburg, Germany. Source: John D. Thompson
and Grace Goldin, The Hospital: A Social and Architectural History, New Haven and
London: Yale University Press, 1975.
Figure 58: British Hospital at the Selimiye Barracks, Üsküdar, 1856. Source: Photographt
taken by the author at Florence Nightingale Museum, London.
Figure 59: Plan of additional stone barracks for the Gureba Hospital, 1894. Source: BOA,
Plk-p 00283 001, 15 Z 1311.
Figure 60: The Gureba Hospital by Ülker Erke. Source: Ülker Erke’nin Yorumu ve
Fırçasıyla Türkiye’de Tarihi Sağlık Kurumları, Nil Sarı, ed., Istanbul: Nobel Matbaacılık,
2002.
Figure 61: The Gureba Mosque. Source: Photograph taken by the author.
Figure 62: The Gureba Mosque. Source: Photograph taken by the author.
xvi
Figure 63: Nusretiye Mosque. Source: www.archnet.org.
Figure 64: Dolmabahçe Mosque in 1862. Source: www.eskiistanbul.net.
Figure 65: Ortaköy Mosque, around 1853-1858 by James Robertson. Source:
www.eskiistanbul.net.
Figure 66: Dolmabahçe Mosque, Minaret Detail. Photograph taken by Seda Toksoy.
Figure 67: Nusretiye Mosque, Interior.
Figure 68: Ortaköy Cami, Interior. Photograph taken by Seda Toksoy.
Figure 69: Dolmabahçe Mosque, Interior. Photograph taken by Seda Toksoy.
Figure 70: Gureba Mosque, Interior. Source: Photograph taken by the author.
Figure 71: Gureba Mosque, Inscription at the Entrance. Source: Photograph taken by the
author.
Figure 72: Gureba Mosque, Ceiling. Source: Photograph taken by the author.
Figure 73: Nusretiye Mosque, Dome.
Figure 74: Nusretiye Mosque, Sultan's Lodge.
Figure 75: Gureba Mosque, Minber. Source: Photograph taken by the author.
Figure 76: Gureba Mosque, Minber Detail. Source: Photograph taken by the author.
Figure 77: Ortaköy Mosque, Dome and Pendentives. Photograph taken by Seda Toksoy.
Figure 78: Gureba Mosque, Mihrab. Source: Photograph taken by the author.
Figure 79: Dolmabahçe Mosque, Dome and Pendentives. Source: www.archnet.org.
Figure 80: Gureba Mosque, Hünkâr Mahfili. Source: Photograph taken by the author.
Figure 81: Aksaray Mosque, original photo from Jules Sandoz. Source: Yıldız Palace
Photo Album no. 90486, Nurhan Atasoy, Yildiz Sarayı Fotoğraf Albümlerinden
Yadigâr-ı Istanbul, Akkök Yayınları, 2007.
Figure 82: Aksaray Mosque Complex in the 19th-century Map. Source: Doğan Kuban,
"Aksaray," Dünden Bugüne İstanbul Ansiklopedisi, İstanbul: Türkiye Ekonomik ve
Toplumsal Tarih Vakfı, 1993.
Figure 83: Pertevniyal's Mausoleum Plan. Source: TSMA D. 8214.
Figure 84: Pertevniyal's Mosque Plan. Source: TSMA D. 8215.
xvii
Figure 85: Istanbul Map. Source:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/britishlibrary/11220014974/.
Figure 86: Plans of Aksaray circa 1850 and circa 1870. Source: Zeynep Çelik, Displaying
the Orient: Architecture of Islam at Nineteenth-Century World’s Fairs, Comparative
Studies on Muslim Societies 12, Berkeley: University of California Press, 1992.
Figure 87: South Entrance Gate, on the Aksaray Caddesi. Source:
www.ottomaninscriptions.com.
Figure 88: Aksaray Mosque, East Entrance Gate on the Atatürk Bulvarı. Source:
Photograph taken by the author.
Figure 89: Pertevniyal Mosque, Floor Plan by Afife Batur.
Figure 90: Green Mosque, Bursa, Floor Plan. Source: www.archnet.org.
Figure 91: Aksaray Mosque, Dome. Source: Photograph taken by the author.
Figure 92: Aksaray Mosque, Dome Detail. Source: Photograph taken by the author.
Figure 93: The Comparison of the Minarets’ Diameters. BOA, D.08218.0056.00.
Figure 94: Aksaray Mosque, Minaret Detail. Source: Photograph taken by the author.
Figure 95: Sultan Ahmed Mosque Entrance.
Figure 96: New Valide Sultan Mosque Entrance.
Figure 97: Dolmabahçe Palace, Entrance Façade.
Figure 98: Pertevniyal Mosque, Tower Detail. Source: Photograph taken by the author.
Figure 99: Pertevniyal Mosque, Interior. Source: Photograph taken by the author.
Figure 100: Pertevniyal Mosque, Dome. Source: Photograph taken by the author.
Figure 101: Pertevniyal Mosque, Mihrab and Minber. Source: Photograph taken by the
author.
Figure 102: Green Mosque, Bursa, Mihrab.
Figure 103: Dolmabahçe Mosque, Mihrab and Minber.
Figure 104: Pertevniyal Mosque, Minber Detail. Source: Photograph taken by the author.
Figure 105: Küçük Mecidiye Mosque, Çırağan. Source: Photograph taken by Seda
Toksoy.
xviii
Figure 106: Küçük Mecidiye Cami, Minaret Detail. Source: Photograph taken by Seda
Toksoy.
Figure 107: The Hamidiye Mosque at the Yıldız Palace.
Figure 108: Mausoleum of Mehmed Reşad V.
xix
NOTES ON TRANSLITERATION AND TRANSLATION
The transliteration system used in this dissertation follows the standards set by the
International Journal of Middle Eastern Studies (JIMES). Modern Turkish orthography
has been applied for Ottoman archival materials. This includes such words as müezzin,
darüssaadet-i şerife ağası and kadı. Islamic names and places as in the case of Khadija,
‘A’isha or Ka‘aba follow the Arabic transliteration standards. Diacritical marks for ‘ayn
and hamza are preserved only for these cases. Some Arabic words, such as sheikh or
vizier, or Turkish words, such as pasha, are used in their English forms. Ottoman
sultans’ names, such as Sultan Mahmud or Abdülmecid, specific locations, such as the
Eyüb Complex, or rituals, such as mevlud, follow the Ottoman Turkish rather than the
Modern Turkish pronunciation. Unless otherwise stated, all translations are the author’s
own.
xx
GLOSSARY1
aşr-ı şerif ten verses from the Qur’an
bab-ı ali (or Porte) Ottoman government and bureaucracy
buhur incense
buhurdan censer, incense box
cami mosque
cüz the thirtieth part of the Qur’an
çeşme fountain
darüssaadet-i şerife ağası head eunuch of harem
gülabdan rose water flask
hadith Prophet Muhammed’s words and deeds
halif (pl. hulefa) caliph
hastane hospital
hatim (or hatm-i şerif) reciting the Qur’an from beginning to end
hünkar mahfili special place in a mosque where the sultan and dynastic
family pray
ibtidai primary school
iftariye food suitable for breaking the fast
imam prayer leader
idadi high school
istiğlal a mortgaging an estate so that the creditor receives the rent
thereof until the mortgage is redeemed
istirbah borrowing money on interest
Ka’ba a religious building in Mecca that contains the sacred black
stone; it is the place where Muslins turn in praying, and
also a pilgrimage site
kadı religious judge
kadın efendi wife of the sultan
kethüda chief steward
kıyye (or okka) about 1300 grams
layıha memorandum
masura2 5 m3 per hour
medrese Muslim theological school
mekteb school
mevlud recitation of the poem written by Süleyman Çelebi about
the birth of the Prophet Muhammad
mihrab niche of a mosque indicating the direction of Ka’aba in
Mecca
minber pulpit in a mosque
miri belonging to the state
1 Largely culled from James Redhouse, Redhouse Sözlüğü, Türkçe/Osmanlica – İngilizce, Istanbul: Sev
Yayıncılık Eğitim ve Ticaret A.Ş. 2013.
2 Fuat Şentürk, Hydraulics of Dams and Reservoirs (Highland Ranch, Colorado: Water Resources
Publications), 1994.
xxi
molla doctor of Muslim law, chief judge
muvakkithane clock room, time keeping room
rahle low reading desk
rüşdiye secondary school
sebil fountain
sıbyan mektebi primary school
sharia Islamic canonical law
şerbet sweet fruit drink
Şeyhülislam highest religious authority coming next to the Grand Vizier
in precedence
tecvid reciting Qur’an with correct pronunciation and rhythm
tilavet chanting the Qur’an
türbe mausoleum
türbedar keeper of a mausoleum
ulema doctors of Muslim theology
vaiz preacher
valide sultan queen mother
vakıf a pious foundation
vakfiye deed of trust of a pious foundation
zeyl codicil
zira (cubit) a measurement unit of length, based on forearm and hand,
around 75-90 cm
1
In this city of innumerable religions, whose gods are as various as are the temples,
where the speech of men differ as widely as do their standards of morality, where,
in lieu of men of one nation tightly knit, segregate in their solidarity, there are
nineteen nationalities, all under Muslim rule, but each and all pulling away and
apart from each other.3
INTRODUCTION
The quotation is from Anna Bowman Dodd (1858-1929), an American travel writer and
journalist who visited Istanbul in 1901 and was entertained by Sultan Abdülhamid II (r.
1876-1908) at Yıldız Palace. Her books catered to an American readership containing
both vivid descriptions and sometimes fantasies of the Orient. Although the end of the
nineteenth century is beyond the scope of my research––which focuses on the 1840s to
1870s––her impressions of Istanbul expressed in the above lines aptly describe the rise of
nationalism in the nineteenth century, on the one hand, and the cosmopolitan character of
the city with its multitude of ethnic and religious groups, on the other. This was the city
where the two queen mothers on whom I will concentrate here lived.
My thesis intends to reveal Ottoman imperial women's contribution to the
Tanzimat era (1839 - 1876), a period characterized by various attempts to reform the
Ottoman Empire and curtail the nationalist movements of ethnic groups within its
territory. The reforms enhanced civil liberties and granted equal citizenship to Muslims
and non-Muslims throughout the empire, which were groundbreaking modifications
given the six century-long history of the Ottoman realm. Through a series of political and
legal reforms, the Ottoman state aimed to foster a new Ottoman political community,
which would replace multiple ethnic and religious affiliations with one allegiance to one
3 Anna Bowman Dodd, In the Palaces of the Sultan (New York: Dodd, Mead and Company, 1903),
University of Washington, Microfilm A 8266, Reel 646, No. 5158, 379.
2
state. Ottomanism was considered a way to tackle the problem of communal plurality in
the Ottoman state. During this time the state’s responsibilities proliferated, going well
beyond the traditional realms of administering justice, collecting taxes and maintaining
armed forces. Matters such as education and healthcare, which had traditionally been left
to communities and/or the personal initiatives of the Ottoman dynasty’s and elite’s
members, were brought under the state’s administration, resulting in the expansion and
re-organization of state bureaucracy.
Tanzimat historians, whether they eulogize or criticize these reform attempts,
perceive the era as a power struggle between the Ottoman sultans and the ever-expanding
bureaucracy of the nineteenth century. Yet, they rarely mention the role of imperial
women in the process. In my research I explore how the new ideas, together with sociopolitical
changes, had an impact on the philanthropic endowments established by
Ottoman imperial women, as well as their contributions to the Tanzimat era, as a rather
dialectic procedure. By focusing on imperial women's architectural patronage and
philanthropic activities, I demonstrate that their accomplishments were not solely
religious, but also political and social, carefully supporting the legitimization of the
Ottoman dynasty and shaping their own public image.
In my research I focus on two queen mothers who lived during the Tanzimat era;
Bezmialem Sultan (1798?-1853) and Pertevniyal Sultan (1810?-1884).4 In complying
4 Many sources indicate Pertevniyal’s death as 27 Rebiülevvel 1300 (5 February 1883), although it was 27
Rebiülevvel 1301 (26 January 1884). See for instance Necdet Sakaoğlu, “Pertevniyal Valide Sultan,” in
Dünden Bugüne Istanbul Ansiklopedisi, (Istanbul: Kültür Bakanlığı ve Tarih Kurumu,1994), vol.6, 245 or
İsmail Hakkı Uzunçarşılı, Midhat Paşa ve Yıldız Mahkemesi (Ankara: Türk Tarih Kurumu, 1967), 106. Ali
Akyıldız indicates that this mistake stemmed from the Sicill-i Osmanî written by Mehmed Süreyya, who
most probably committed a pen-error (as opposed to a knowledge-error). Many authors repeated this
mistake without double-checking its veracity. See Ali Akyıldız, “Müsrif, Fakat Hayırsever: Pertevniyal
Valide Sultan,” Osmanlı Araştırmaları / The Journal of Ottoman Studies, (Istanbul: İSAM, Turkish
Religious Foundation Center for Islamic Studies, XLVII (2016), 343-344. Regarding Bezmialem, Arzu
3
with the imperial harem tradition they acquired these names upon being accepted to the
institution. The new appellations reflected their characters and appearance: Bezmialem
meant the “ornament of the universe” and Pertevniyal “descended from radiance.”
Bezmialem and Pertevniyal were the last two queen mothers of the empire and the wives
of Sultan Mahmud II (r. 1808-1839), the so-called architect of the Tanzimat period.5 For
the harem women the period meant more visibility, as Mahmud II permitted them not
only to leave the palace for some special visits to mosques, lodges and other dynastic
palaces or to attend some special festivities, but also to participate in a variety of
excursions and outdoor entertainments.6 They both became valide sultans (queen
mothers) during the reign of their sons: Bezmialem was queen mother (1839-1853) as
Sultan Abdülmecid’s mother, and Pertevniyal (1861–1876) as Sultan Abdülaziz’s
mother. Both were concubines, as Ottoman sultans took only slaves as their wives
starting with the fifteenth century, following the conquest of Istanbul. As a result we do
not precisely know their ethnic origin or birth dates. Bezmialem was presumably
Georgian, whereas Pertevniyal was Circassian. They must have been attractive and
intelligent enough to climb the ladder of the harem hierarchy from the lowest to the
highest rank. After giving birth to a son, both Bezmialem and Pertevniyal were promoted
to kadın efendi in1813 and 1830, respectively, thus holding the highest position after the
Terzi recently claimed that instead of ca.1808 we should take ca.1798 as her birth date since she gave birth
to her first son, Abdülhamid in 1813. Arzu Terzi, Bezmiâlem Valide Sultan (Istanbul: Timaş Yayınları,
2018), 63. Sultan Abdülmecid was her fourth son, the previous three did not survive.
5 The mother of Sultan Murad V (r. 30 May–31 August 1876), Şevkefza Sultan became queen mother for a
short period of time, but Ottoman archival sources refer to her as kadın efendi. During the reign of
Abdülhamid II (r. 1876–1909), his foster mother Perestû Kadın became the head of the harem. Even though
she earned one of the common titles of the queen mother––mehd-i ulya––archival sources refer to her as the
sultan’s foster mother (validelikleri). M. Çağatay Uluçay, Padişahların Kadınları ve Kızları, 6th Edition
(Ankara: Ötüken Neşriyat A.Ş., 2012), 204-207.
6 M. Çağatay Uluçay, Padişahların Kadınları ve Kızları, 6th Edition (Istanbul: Ötüken Neşriyat A.Ş.,
2012), 178. The author states that fanatical and conservative people criticized the sultan for this new
freedom given to the royal women.
4
valide sultan. Bezmialem became the second kadın efendi and Pertevniyal the fifth kadın
efendi to Sultan Mahmud II.7 The rise within the harem hierarchy and becoming queen
mother corresponded to different stages in their lives. Bezmialem was around seventeen
years old when she became the kadın efendi, and around forty years when she earned the
title of valide sultan, which she held until her death in her mid-fifties. Pertevniyal,
however, was around twenty years old when she became the kadın efendi, and fifty when
she held the highest office of the harem. Her tenure as valide sultan abruptly ended in her
mid-sixties, following the dethronement and death of her son. Both valide sultans grieved
for the loss of their children: Abdülaziz was Pertevniyal’s only child and Abdülmecid
turned out to be the only surviving child of Bezmialem, since she lost her three other
children at a young age.8
7 Ali Akyıldız, Haremin Padisahı Valide Sultan, Harem'de Hayat ve Teşkilat, Istanbul: Timaş Yayınları,
2018, 443, 469. Sultan Mahmud’s first kadın efendi was Nevfidan Kadın who gave birth to the sultan’s first
child, Fatma Sultan, in 1809. She gave birth to several more children, but none of them survived. Yet, she
retained the highest position among the kadın efendis, as the first kadın efendi (başkadın). M. Çağatay
Uluçay, Padişahların Kadınları ve Kızları, 6th Edition, (Ankara: Ötüken Neşriyat A.Ş., 2012), 182. In the
harem, the first consorts always retained higher positions vis-à-vis the newcomers, even though a
daughter’s mother could never earn the title of valide sultan. This is in contradiction with many European
travelers who claimed that the eldest son’s mother would hold this privileged position. See also İsmail
Hakkı Uzunçarşılı, Osmanlı Devletinin Saray Teşkilâtı (Ankara: Türk Tarih Kurumu, 1984), 148. Arzu
Terzi maintains that becoming the kadın efendi was not related to giving birth to the sultan’s child:
although Pertevniyal bore a male child, Abdülaziz to Mahmud II, she remained the second ikbal until his
death. Arzu Terzi, Bezmiâlem Valide Sultan (Istanbul: Timaş Yayınları, 2018), 47-48.
8 Bezmialem lost Ahmed and Mehmed very young, and Abdülhamid at the age of thirteen. For her
deceased sons she built a fountain (Üçler Çeşmesi) in Sultanahmed, which no longer exists today. See M.
Hüdai Şentürk, 'Bezmiâlem Vâlide Sultan'ın Hayatı ve Hayır Eserleri,' Istanbul Araştırmaları, Vol.6, 1988,
7-14. As a result, her being kadın efendi may have been a few years earlier than 1823.
5
I. SOURCES ON QUEEN MOTHERS AND THEIR OWN LETTERS: GLIMPSES
INTO THEIR LIVES
There exists an abundance of sources concerning these queen mothers in both primary
and secondary literature.9 These provide more positive interpretations of Bezmialem as
kind, tender and compassionate queen mother. Even though her son Abdülmecid became
sultan at the young age of sixteen, Bezmialem did not “usurp” power, as many other
queen mothers were alleged to have done. By contrast, Pertevniyal was ambitious, clever
and full of intrigues. According to these sources she was constantly interfered in affairs
of state as powerful queen mother. Besides their apparent differences in character––
Pertevniyal appears to have been more ambitious than Bezmialem––their different
portrayals may be due to their attitude vis-à-vis the Tanzimat reformers who were
influential in chronicling Ottoman history: Bezmialem complied with the reformers,
whereas Pertevniyal contradicted them, particularly towards the end of her son’s reign.10
Her dominant character no doubt created enemies. Another factor could be that
Bezmialem’s grandsons––Murad V, Abdülhamid II, Mehmed V and Mehmed VI––
became sultans after the dethronement of Abdülaziz in 1876, until the collapse of the
empire in 1922. This might have led to a more favorable review of their grandmother and
her accomplishments.
Two prominent nineteenth-century court chroniclers––Ahmed Cevdet Pasha and
Ahmed Lütfi Pasha––portrayed both queen mothers in a more positive light, by pointing
to their philanthropic activities. Nonetheless, Cevdet Pasha’s accounts were not bereft of
criticism of both queen mothers: the prime minister (vezir-i azam) Kıbrıslı Mehmed
9 For a list of sources see Chapter 1, n.30 and 31.
10 Chapter I, 19-20. Bezmialem complied with the grand vizier Reşid Pasha whereas Pertevniyal opposed
the grand viziers Âli and Fuad Pashas.
6
Pasha indicated corruption in custom offices involving the queen mother Bezmialem.11
Ali Akyıldız refutes this fact, claiming that this was not stated in any other source, a good
illustration of Bezmialem’s favorable treatment in secondary sources.12 In his Tezâkir,
Cevdet Pasha several times mentions the harem’s increasing conspicuous consumption
under Bezmialem, yet acknowledges that after the queen mother’s demise the situation
became even worse: the harem women’s excessive spending and their involvement in
various scandalous acts increased even further.13 Regarding Pertevniyal, Cevdet Pasha
discusses her prominent role and interference in state affairs. Like other important
statesmen of the era, Cevdet Pasha also took her very serious and paid special tribute to
the queen mother: whenever he was assigned to a high position, he paid a special visit not
only to the sultan, but also to the queen mother to thank her; he also made sure that the
queen mother received a copy of his books.14
The most undignified account of Bezmialem comes from Melek Hanım, an
Ottoman Greek (Rum) who married Kıbrıslı Mehmed Pasha when he served as Grand
Vizier to Sultan Abdülmecid. She concocted a plan of replacing her sickly son with
another boy in case of his death. The whole plot resulted in great drama, first the death of
one of her slave-servants, then her divorce, and finally her imprisonment and exile. In her
memoirs, she admits that her plan was unwise and inappropriate, but claims that the
penalty and the divorce were not commensurate with her crime. At the time her husband
was still in love with her and cared for her children, but he could not resist the pressure
11 Chapter I, n.32.
12 Ali Akyıldız, Haremin Padisahı Valide Sultan, Harem'de Hayat ve Teşkilat, Istanbul: Timaş Yayınları,
2018, 454. I consider the account of such an event by the official chronicler of the empire being important
in and of itself.
13 Chapter I, 13-14, n.33-34.
14 Chapter I, n.35.
7
from the sultan and the queen mother.15 Melek Hanm disclosed that the conspiracy of her
husband’s opponents resulted in her unfortunate fate. The opponents included: “the
Valideh, the Sultan’s mother; Mehemet-Ali-Pasha; Mehemet Pasha, Minister of Police;
Rifaat, and a host of other Pashas more or less influential.”16 Was the pasha’s resistance
to the queen mother’s alleged involvement with the customs office a factor in the queen
mother’s conspiracy against his wife Melek Hanım? We do not possess any accounts
from other sources, yet Melek Hanım’s memoirs confirm a powerful queen mother
involving in the life of her subjects, beyond philanthropic activities.
Many Europeans who stayed in Istanbul for various purposes wrote about the
queen mothers of their time:17 Charles White, who stayed three years during the reign of
Abdülmecid, mentions the valide sultan as a powerful figure holding the second rank in
the empire.18 Besides considerable political influence, the queen mother also received
15 Melek-Hanım, Thirty Years in the Harem: Or, the Autobiography of Melek-Hanum Wife of H. H.
Kibrizli-Mehemet-Pasha (London: Forgotten Books, 1872), 200-202. Kıbrıslı Mehmet Pasha was also the
grand vizier during the initial year of Abdülaziz’s reign, but by that time he was divorced from her and
married to Ferideh. Karateke associates Melek Hanım with Abdülaziz’s enthronement ceremony and
thinks she was British. See Hakan Karateke, Padişahım Çok Yaşa, Osmanlı Devletinin Son Yüz Yılında
Merasimler (Istanbul: Kitap Yayınevi, Mart 2004), 181. Melek Hanım reveals in her book that her father
was French and her mother Ottoman Greek, Melek-Hanım, Thirty Years in the Harem, 7-9.
16 Melek-Hanım, Thirty Years in the Harem, 196. The author does not speak negatively about Reşid
Paşha’s abandoning her or the sultan’s signing the decree to send her into exile. She explains that the
former had to yield to the pressures coming from the cabinet, and the latter to pressure from his mother.
The sultan first rejected signing the decree since there was no ground to punish her, but the queen mother
used several tricks involving the chief of eunuchs to convince him. Ibid., 205-206.
17 I include here those Europeans who were not simply tourists, but also those who spent some time in the
empire. I also concentrate on contemporary accounts.
18 Christopher Oscanyan, the first consular-general in New York during Abdülmecid’s reign, also
confirmed that Bezmialem was a powerful figure. Oscanyan was an Ottoman Armenian, educated in an
American missionary school and in the United States. His book, which he wrote after Bezmialem’s demise,
intended to correct Westerners’ misjudgment on the Ottoman Empire. “The late Validé-Sultan, or mother
of the sultan, was one of the most powerful individuals in the realm, and her patronage most assiduously
courted.” Christopher Oscanyan, The Sultan and His People (New York: Derby and Jackson, Cincinnati: H.
W. Derby & Co., London: Sampson Low, Son & Co., 1857), 270. Oscanyan also provides one of the most
interesting stories about Bezmialem, according to which Sultan Mahmud lost his favorite wife and was so
much aggrieved by her death that he ordered her apartments to be locked up, and no one should enter them.
Bezmialem, as one of the young slave girls in the sultan’s service, was given the duty to clean the bath
belonging to these apartments. One day she found the door open and out of curiosity went in and met the
sultan who asked her how she dared to venture into the apartments against his orders. The terrified girl fell
8
immense revenues, partly paid as an annuity, and partly resulting from real estate
holdings. He explains that “Besma Allem (ornament of the universe), mother to the
reigning monarch, was a Georgian slave, purchased and educated by the late Sultan’s
sister Esma.”19 He continued by saying that Esma Sultan was still alive and known for the
beauty and gaiety of her harem. These qualities of her harem were later carried to such
extremes as to bring frequent admonition from her brother, Sultan Mahmud II. White
estimates the income of the incumbent valide sultan at around £110,000.20 According to
his account, Bezmialem was 38 years old and celebrated for her accomplishments and
beauty.21
A couple of times, White’s boat encountered the valide sultan’s imperial kayıks.
He describes how “it is a pleasing and most original spectacle to look upon this great
lady.”22 On one occasion, Bezmialem was returning from the Golden Horn after praying
at the Eyüb Mosque.23 Following the British people saluting her, “The Valida, who is
well acquainted with the European form of respect, instantly raised her eyes and returned
our intended mark of deference with that fixed and penetrating gaze, which is the
customary token of imperial recognition, and is the only acknowledgement ever made by
at the sultan’s feet and asked for pardon. She was so bewitching that in the end the sultan not only pardoned
her, but also invited her to meet him everyday in the same place. In the end she became the mother of the
present sultan. Ibid., 278.
19 Charles White, Three Years in Constantinople or Domestic Manners of the Turks in 1844 (London:
Henry Colburn, 1845), 2.
20Ibid., 2-4. Bezmialem received a stipend of 500,000 kuruş while Sultan Mahmud’s sister Adile Sultan had
an allowance of 200,000 kuruş, his daughters 125,000 kuruş, and his kadın efendis 20,000 kuruş each. J.
Deny, “Valide Sultan” Dünden Bugüne Istanbul Ansiklopedisi, vol. XIII, 2001, quoted in Kenan Göçer,
“Sosyo-Ekonomik Yönleriyle Bezm -i Alem Vakıf Gureba Hastanesi,” PhD thesis, Marmara Üniversitesi
Sosyal Bilimler Enstitüsü, Istanbul, 2012, 131. Arzu Terzi shows that Bezmialem received this high a
stipend starting in 1851; in 1839 she started with 105,392.5 kuruş upon becaming valide sultan. This initial
amount was three times as much as her predecessor’s. Her stipend gradullay increased over the years. Arzu
Terzi, Bezmiâlem Valide Sultan (Istanbul: Timaş Yayınları, 2018), 136-139.
21 According to this account Bezmialem was born in 1806.
22 Charles White, Three Years in Constantinople, 2.
23 See Chapter I, 28 for the details of the mosque.
9
the Sultan in return for the salutation of natives and strangers.”24 This account no doubt
describes a powerful and confident woman; her gaze was an active controlling gaze. It is
important to point out that, starting with the reign of Mahmud II, the visibility of imperial
women increased noticeably compared to past practices. Instead of remaining invisible
behind curtains and screens, as earlier rules of etiquette had required, imperial women in
the nineteenth century could not only peer out from behind curtains and screens, but also
be seen and reciprocate during visual communications.25
Another vivid description of Bezmialem was provided by Dr. Sigmund Spitzer, an
Austrian doctor who examined the queen mother during the last years of her life.26 His
first-hand portrayal emphasizes her grace and beauty. The chief physician confirmed that
she was from Georgia and around 36 years old.27 Bezmialem was sick in bed, yet she still
had blush on her cheeks. She maintained her body well. The dazzling whiteness and
beauty of her hands along with her resolute demeanor, which manifested in her tranquil
and serene (kemal-i sükunet ve sühuletle) answers, impressed Dr. Spitzer.
24 Charles White, Three Years in Constantinople, 4-5.
25 About the gaze in architecture and ceremony, see Lucienne Thys-Şenocak, “The Yeni Valide Mosque
Complex of Eminönü, Istanbul (1597-1665): Gender and Vision in Ottoman Architecture,” in Women,
Patronage and Self-Representation in Islamic Societies, ed. D. Fairchild Ruggles (Albany: SUNY, 2000),
69-89; Lucienne Thys-Şenocak, Ottoman Women Builders: The Architectural Patronage of Hadice Turhan
Sultan (Aldershot, England; Burlington, VT: Ashgate, 2007), 8-10, 105-106, 230-236. About Ottoman
women expanding their physically and visually bounded space through acoustic methods of communication
see Nina Ergin, “Ottoman Royal Women’s Spaces, The Acoustic Dimension,” Journal of Women’s
History, vol. 26, no.1 Spring 2014, 89-111.
26 About Dr. Spitzer see Chapter 3, 1-2.
27 Sigmund Spitzer, “Sultan Abdülmecid Han’ın Sarayında,” trans. Ahmet Refik, Tarih-i Osmani Encümeni
Mecmuası, vol.III, no.25-36, 1333 (1914-1915). Dr. Spitzer arrived in Istanbul in 1844 and examined
Bezmialem in 1845. In 1844, White claimed that she was 38 whereas Spitzer thought that she was around
36 years old in 1845. These accounts suggest that her birth date was 1806 or 1809. See also Necdet
Sakaoğlu, Bu Mülkün Kadın Sultanları, Vâlide Sultanlar,Hâtunlar, Hasekiler, Kadınefendiler,
Sultanefendiler (Istanbul: Oğlak Yayıncılık ve Reklamcılık Ltd. Şti., 2008), 385.; Kenan Göçer, “Sosyo-
Ekonomik Yönleriyle Bezm-i Alem Valide Sultan Gureba Hastanesi,” PhD Thesis, Marmara Üniversitesi,
2012, 132.
10
During Bezmialem’s illness, the British Ambassador Lord Stratford sent a letter to
the queen mother, wishing her well. Addressing such a letter directly to the queen mother
as an ambassador was not common practice; even asking about harem women to a
Muslim Ottoman male was conceived as inappropriate behavior. The letter is significant
in revealing Bezmialem’s prominent role in state affairs, as well as in diplomatic circles;
otherwise, the ambassador would have sent the letter to the sultan, asking about his
mother’s health. Instead of regarding the letter as an intrusion into her privacy, the queen
mother responded on 22 Receb 1269 (1 May 1853), two days before her death. In her
letter she not only thanked him for his concern about her health and expressed her wish
for the continuation of friendly relations with Britain, but also mentioned “his illustrious
spouse” with whom she recently had had a conversation, which “has increased the real
friendship which I entertain towards your Excellency.”28 Mentioning “the illustrious
spouse” may be a reflection of Bezmialem’s own intellectual capacity. We have a few
examples of Ottoman women exchanging diplomatic letters: Hürrem Sultan (1502?-
28 Stanley Lane-Poole, The Life of the Right Honorable Stratford Canning: Viscount Stratford de Redcliffe,
from his Memoirs and Private Official Papers, (London and New York: Longmans, Green, and Co., 1888),
vol.2, 261. Lord Stanley was assigned to Istanbul six times between 1808 and 1858. In 1826 he married
Miss Alexander, a well-educated woman almost twenty years his junior. Lane-Poole noted that the
ambassador’s correspondence with her contained more political than domestic details, indicating her
intellectual capacity. Bezmialem’s entire letter is as follows:
“I have received with great satisfaction the letter addressed to me by your Excellency, conveying
the expression of your kind wishes and inquiries concerning my health. Your Excellency, a well-wisher of
his Imperial Majesty, has a long time given practical proofs of the friendly interest taken by you in the
multifarious affairs of the Sublime Porte, and my appreciation also of the sincere sentiments expressed by
your Excellency’s illustrious spouse in the conversation which I lately had with her has increased the real
friendship which I entertain towards your Excellency. The return of a friend like your lordship was thus a
renewed source of pleasure to me, while I equally regretted that Lady Stratford should not have
accompanied you. I trust, however, that she continues to enjoy good health.
The marks of continued friendly disposition afforded by her gracious Majesty the Queen of
England towards my beloved son, his Imperial Majesty the Sultan, are manifest, and it is equally certain
that your Excellency will also continue to evince your own friendly feelings. In thanking you, therefore, for
your kind inquiries, I take the opportunity of offering to you the assurances of my perfect consideration and
personal regard.”
Canning held great influence over the policy of Sultan Abdülmecid in the 1840s and 1850s. See Edhem
Eldem, “Erken Tanzimat Dönemi Üzerine Düşünceler,” in Sultan Abdülmecid’in Bir Mimarı (Istanbul:
Büyükşehir Belediyesi, 2016), 22-28.
11
1558) corresponded with the Polish royal court, Nurbanu Sultan (1525?-1583) with
Venice, and Safiye Sultan (1550?-1619) with Queen Elizabeth I.29 Some of these letters
were sent between distant lands and figures, while Bezmialem’s correspondence was
within the same city, suggesting her active and personal role in the capital’s diplomatic
circles. Since I have not encountered any similar letter in the case of Pertevniyal,
Bezmialem might have been more involved in diplomacy than her successor.
Unlike Pertevniyal, Bezmialem had artworks dedicated to her: Şair Eşref Hanım’s
poem and Donizetti Pasha’s song.30 The latter’s full name was Guiseppe Donizetti, an
Italian composer who had come to Istanbul upon Sultan Mahmud’s invitation to establish
the Imperial Music School. He remained there for the rest of his life. Both pieces are
eulogies to the queen mother, describing her as feminine, beautiful and very pleasant both
in appearance and character. Both the poem and song glorify her as being generous with
her subjects.31 Şair Eşref Hanım (1808-1861) likens her to various flowers, such as rose,
hyacinth, wallflower, yarrow, caracalla bean, larkspur, sweet william, crystallinum,
29 Both Hürrem Sultan and her daughter Mihrimah Sultan corresponded with the Polish King Sigismus
Augustus. See Lucienne Thys-Şenocak, Ottoman Women Builders: The Architectural Patronage of Hadice
Turhan Sultan, Aldershot, England; Burlington, VT: Ashgate, 2007, 56-58, Leslie Peirce, Empress of the
East, How a European Slave Girls Became Queen of the Ottoman Empire (New York: Basic Books, 2017),
251-254, Leslie Peirce, The Imperial Harem: Women and Sovereignty in the Ottoman Empire (New York:
Oxford University Press, 1993), 219-228. For Ottoman women’s diplomatic correspondence see also Susan
Skilitter, “Three Letters from the Ottoman ‘Sultana’ Safiye to Queen Elizabeth I,” in Documents from
Islamic Chancelleries I (Oriental Studies III), ed. Samuel M. Stern (Oxford: Cassirer, 1965), 118-157;
Susan Skilitter, “The Letters of the Venetian ‘Sultana’ Nurbanu and her Kira to Venice,” in Studia
Turcologica Memoriae Alexii Bombaci Dicata, ed. A. Galotta and U. Marazzi (Naples: Institutio
Universitario Orientale, 1982), 515-536.
30 There is one more song dedicated to Bezmialem’s clock, which chimed with music. Hacı Faik Bey and
Ahmed Necip Pasha created its lyrics and composition, respectively. They were both educated at the
palace, or enderun. Harun Korkmaz, “Bezmiâlem’in Saatine Söylenen Şarkı Yeniden Hayat Buldu,”
Bezmiâlem Aktüel, no. 17, 2017, 20-24, quoted in Arzu Terzi, Bezmiâlem Valide Sultan (Istanbul: Timaş
Yayınları, 2018), 276-279.
31 For instance, “Gül-i meramım açılmaz ümid bağında/Nesim-i merhamet ve lütfun olmaz ise vezan” in the
poem and “inayetle ser-efrazsın” in the song, are the lines describing her benevolent character. Besides the
poem, Bahariye, Şair Eşref Hanım’s Bera-yı Teşekkür is entirely about the queen mother’s compassionate
and generous character. See Appendix 1 for more details. I would like to express my gratitude to Selim
Kuru for helping me decipher these poems.
12
guelder-rose, jasmine, tulip, violet and daffodil.32 Donizetti (1789-1856) composed a
romantic song combining both Eastern and Western motifs (Fig. 1 and 2).33 Unlike his
earlier pieces dedicated to Sultan Mahmud or Abdülmecid, this time the composer did not
employ a European-style military march and instead opted for a lied (Fig. 3 and 4).34
Donizetti’s successor, Callisto Guatelli (1819-1899), composed a march for Abdülaziz,
but not for his mother Pertevniyal, even though as the head of the Imperial Music School
he stayed in Istanbul for many years and, like his predecessor, died while holding that
position. This fact may be significant for showing that Bezmialem inspired artists and
appreciated poems and musical pieces more than Pertevniyal, although the latter did not
deprive the harem of musical enjoyment.35
Edmondo de Amicis, an Italian novelist and journalist who traveled to Istanbul
during Abdülaziz’s reign described Pertevniyal as follows: “The only person who had
32 Yusuf Mardin, Şair Şeref Hanım (Ankara: T.C. Kültür Bakanlığı, 1994), 118-119. According to the
author, Şair Şeref Hanım’s poem, “Bahariye” dedicated to Bezmialem, was one of her best pieces showing
her love for nature. For the whole poem and its transliteration see Appendix 1. The pages also include a
short poem expressing the poetess’s gratitude to Bezmialem, Berâ-yı Teşekkür, which is also transliterated.
I would like to express my gratitude to Nedret İşli for allowing me to reproduce the poem from his private
collection, Divan-ı Şeref Hanım (Istanbul: Şeyh Yahya Efendi Matbaası, 1292 Rebiülahır), 94-97. The
digital version of the book is also in the Atatürk Library, Istanbul: Belediye Osmanlıca Kitapları
Koleksiyonu, no. 649, dated 1924.
33 Fig. 2 illustrates the performance of the song dedicated to Bezmialem. I would like to express my
gratitude to Idil Ülgen for performing it for my thesis. Emre Aracı, Donizetti Paşa, Osmanlı Sarayının
İtalyan Maestrosu (Istanbul: Yapı Kredi Yayınları, 2006), 130-131; Emre Aracı, “Guiseppe Donizetti at the
Ottoman Court: A Levantine Life,” The Musical Times, vol.143, no. 1880 (Autumn 2002), 49-56. The
lyrics belonged to Hacı Faik Bey.
34 The song dedicated to Bezmialem was in the form of a lied, a typical German song of the Romantic
period, a solo voice with piano accompaniment. Fig. 4 illustrates the performance of the march dedicated to
Abdülhamid. I would like to express my gratitude to Idil Ülgen for performing it for my thesis. Emre Aracı,
Donizetti Paşa, Osmanlı Sarayının İtalyan Maestrosu (Istanbul: Yapı Kredi Yayınları, 2006), 128-129.
35 There exist other references revealing Bezmialem’s appreciation for music. One of her letters addressed
to her son reveals that shortly after she reached the Yalova Thermal Springs the governor of Izmid, Osman
Pasha, sent her a musician group, a gesture that greatly pleased the valide. M. Çağatay Uluçay,Haremden
Mektuplar, 3rd Edition (Istanbul: Ötüken Yayınları, 2012), 135. The Egyptian Khedive, Abbas Pasha,
dispatched a group of musiciens with their instruments, knowing that the valide would greatly appreciate it.
Leyla Saz, The Imperial Harem of the Sultans : Daily Life at the Çiragan Palace During the 19th Century :
Memoirs of Leyla (Saz) Hanimefendi, translated from the French by Landon Thomas (Istanbul: Peva
Publications, 1994), 38. Pertevniyal also arranged concerts in the Harem, and rewarded musicians with
gifts. Arzu Terzi, Bezmiâlem Valide Sultan (Istanbul: Timaş Yayınları, 2018), 276.
13
any influence over him [the sultan] was his mother, a woman of vain and haughty
disposition, who in the first years of his reign used to have the streets leading to the
mosque where her son went to pray, carpeted with brocade, and the next day gave all
these carpets to the slaves whose duty it was to remove them.”36 The passage refers to a
powerful and condescending figure who loved pomp and splendor. We do not know
anything about the authenticity of this event, but the account gives us a glimpse of the
public opinion and gossip about the queen mother in her own time.37
Sultan Abdülhamid’s daughter Ayşe Osmanoğlu also confirmed Pertevniyal’s
strong interference in state affairs: according to her, since her father was convinced that
the meddling by the mothers of Sultan Abdülaziz and Sultan Murad had not benefited
either the state or the dynasty, the day after his enthronement he kissed his foster
mother’s [Perestü Kadın Efendi] hand and designated her as valide sultan, but at the same
time requested that she refrain from interfering in the affairs of state or trying to mediate
on behalf of people hoping for a rank or position.38 This is an important statement, since
both Abdülhamid and Ayşe’s mother Müşfika––a Circassian concubine raised by
Pertevniyal––were fond of Pertevniyal. Yet, Ayşe refers to her father’s disapproval of
Pertevniyal’s influence on her son and interference in state affairs.
We can also trace the queen mothers’ characters through their own handwritten
letters. Uluçay published thirteen of Bezmialem’s letters, all addressed to her son. Nine of
36 Edmondo de Amicis, Constantinople, trans. from the 7th Italian edition by Carolina Tilton, (New York:
G. P. Putman’s Sons, 1885), 196-197.
37 In the nineteenth century, military defeats were to be compensated by more sumptuous ceremonies, a
way to legitimize the dynasty in the public eye. Pertevniyal’s actions may have been part of that trend. See
Selim Deringil, “The Invention of Tradition as Public Image in the Late Ottoman Empire, 1808 to 1908,”
Comparative Studies in Society and History, vol. 35, no.1 (January 1993), 3-29; Hakan Karateke,
Padişahım Çok Yaşa, Osmanlı Devletinin Son Yüzyılında Merasimler (Istanbul: Kitap Yayınevi, Mart
2004).
38 Ayşe Osmanoğlu, Babam Sultan Abdülhamid, 7th Edition (Istanbul: Timaş Yayınları, 2015), 19-20.
14
these letters were written during Abdülmecid’s travels within the empire––to Izmit,
Mudanya, Bursa and Çanakkale in 1850––and four of them during the queen mother’s
visit to the Yalova Thermal Springs in 1849.39 The letters express her love and longing
for her son, and also give news from the harem. She briefly informed her son about his
brother and heir, Abdülaziz, and his mother Pertevniyal, his sister Adile, as well as the
work of the ministers. She always retained a positive tone about events and people while
writing to her son. As Uluçay states, her writing was not eloquent, and sometimes
contained grammatical errors and illegible words. One of her letters, addressed to her son,
was sent from the Yalova Thermal Springs, on 14 Cemaziyelevvel 1265 (7 April 1849). It
displays her simple seal as Bezmialem, without the attachment of other titles. The letter
was sent within an envelope. It reads as follows (Fig. 5):
To be presented to His Excellency, the August, the light of my eyes
My Beautiful Sultan/Master, the August, the light of my eyes,
My Sultan/Master, my light, I wish [to receive] a line of your magnificent/royal
handwriting [showing that] your noble body, which is more dear [to me] than my own
life, is in good health. If you ask about me, gratefully I am fine. I am just about to
persevere with water. God willing, by your help I will repulse all discomforts. Like the
Turks one should go to thermal springs every seven years to improve health.
My Sultan/Master, may God protect your soul, your body, and your state. Do not worry.
My Sultan/Master. The letter remained [here] since the High Admiral’s aide-de-camp did
not take the small steamer. I was annoyed with the aide-de-camp.40
39 M. Çağatay Uluçay, Haremden Mektuplar, 3rd Edition (Ankara: Ötüken Neşriyat A.Ş., 2012), 131-145.
Apart from these I discovered one more letter entitled “Bezmialem’s orders written by her” (Bezm-i Alem
Valide Sultan’ın El Yazması ile Verdiği Emirler), BOA TSMA.e 19.7 dated 7 Rebiülahir 1261 (15 April
1845). The letter asks for some items to be sent to the harem, such as sequined dresses (pullu entari), shoes
(ayakkabı), silver incense burners (sim buhurdan), and so on.
40 The envelope and letter read as follows:
Şevketlu Nur-u Didem Hazretlerine Takdim Oluna
Şevketlu Nur-u Didem Güzelim Efendim
Canımdan azizim olan vücud-u şerifinizin sıhhat ve afiyet üzere olduğunu hatt-ı şahane olmak üzere bir
satır yazunızı isterim benim nurum efendim. Beni sual edersen şükür iyiliğim vardır. Suya müdavemet
üzereyim. İnşallah himmetiniz üzere cümle sıkıntı def ederim. Türkler gibi yedi senede bir ılıcaya cilaya
gitmeli. Efendim Cenab-ı Hak canını, vücudunu, devletini bağışlasın. Keder etme efendim ve buradan
atdığım(?) anda mektub yazarım. Küçük vapuru kapudan paşadan gelen yavere bey almamış olduğundan
mektub kaldı, yavere canım sıkıldı.This letter has the misspelling of the word müdavemet. In the last
sentence there is a grammatical error since the sentence should have been yaver bey almamış olduğundan.
15
The letter shows the warmth and worries of a loving mother. The sentence starting with
“like the Turks” is quite interesting. It may indicate the distance that the dynasty felt
towards the Turkish ethnic group, which continued until the mid-nineteenth century. Or
was it because the queen mother, enslaved at a young but conscious age as a concubine of
non-Turkish origin, still felt that distance?
By contrast, letters addressed to Pertevniyal, or letters either dictated or penned by
her feature an entirely different tone; they are mostly related either to her prominent
philanthropic activities, or the socio-political realities of her time. Several letters that her
kethüda (chief steward) addressed to her show how she monitored each stage of her most
important philanthropic activity, the construction of the Aksaray Mosque Complex.41 Her
direct engagement was also obvious in the construction of the Medina Hospital.42 In the
case of Bezmialem we do not have such correspondence, as she seems to have delegated
these procedures to her kethüda. Some of Pertevniyal’s handwritten letters resemble those
of Bezmialem in the sense that they give insights into her daily life in the harem,
describing some necessary repairs, or stating her satisfaction about receiving certain
gifts.43
Pertevniyal witnessed the dramatic dethronement and death of her son. During
these tragedies and throughout the short reign of Sultan Murad V (r. 30 May–31 August
1876), she was subjected to various insults and tortures. Şevkefza, the mother of Sultan
Murad V, and Pertevniyal were archrivals, due to their strong characters and continuous
41 Chapter IV, 199-201.
42 Chapter III, 174-175.
43 TSMAe 577.38 dated 11 Muharrem 1292, TSMAe 598.80.1.1 dated 20 Şevval 1280, TSMAe 598.80.2.1
dated 19 Şevval 1280, TSMAe 598.81.1.1 dated 27 Rebiülahir 1284, TSMAe 598.82.1.1 dated 22 Zilkade
1284, TSMAe 598.86.1.1 dated 29 Zilhicce 1283, TSMAd 8204.1.1 dated 29 Zilhicce 1285. The latter
gives the list of objects to be put in her mausoleum. There are documents concerning this list, but this one
is in her own writing.
16
power struggle.44 During the short reign of her son, Şevkefza caused much misery to the
former queen mother. The situation changed with the replacement of Murad V with
Abdülhamid II (r. 1876–1909).
Pertevniyal described these tumultuous months of her life in a short but vivid
narration, the Sergüzeştname (Book of Adventure).45 After the deposition of Abdülaziz,
both the sultan and his mother were transferred to the Topkapı Palace on barges, in heavy
rain. They left the palace in such haste that they had not been able to take anything with
them. As a result, her “lion,” the former sultan, had his wet suit dry on him. Several hours
later he was offered a little bit of soup, but with a broken spoon. These moments were
also narrated in a similar fashion in the memoirs of Filizten, a concubine in the entourage
of Murat V, namely Pertevniyal’s opponent camp. She mentioned the chaotic
circumstances under which Abdülaziz and his entourage had left the Dolmabahçe Palace,
since the women had not even the time to veil themselves properly, but only put shawls
over their heads. She heard that Sultan Abdülaziz was sitting in the Topkapı Palace
hungry, sobbing as the guards brought him coffee in an old cracked cup.46 Three days
44 There existed a conflict about the succession of the dynasty during the reign of Abdülmecid and
Abdülaziz, which naturally increased the tension among the different members of the dynasty. Both sultans
attempted but failed to install their elder son as their successor. In the case of the former, this was Murad V,
and of the latter Yusuf İzeddin. Since Bezmialem had died eight years before her son she did not witness
the increasing power struggle during the last years of her son’s reign. This might have been one of the
reasons why there was no rivalry mentioned between Bezmialem and Pertevniyal. By contrast, both
Pertevniyal and Şevkefza were involved in the power struggle surrounding their sons.; İ. Hakkı Uzunçarşılı,
Midhat Paşa ve Yıldız Mahkemesi (Ankara: Türk Tarih Kurumu, 1967), 149-157.
45 Sergüzeştname, Istanbul Üniversitesi Kütüphanesi, İbnülemin Yazmaları, nr. 3310, vr. 172a-178b. The
second copy of the same document is in Yıldız Evrakı, Y. EE 18 114 dated 27 Rebiülevvel 1301 (26
January 1884). The shortened transliteration of the document is in İ. Hakkı Uzunçarşılı, Midhat Paşa ve
Yıldız Mahkemesi (Ankara: Türk Tarih Kurumu, 1967), 103-108. See also Baha Gürfırat, “Pertevniyal
Valide Sultan’ın Hatıratı: Sergüzeştname,” Belgelerle Türk Tarihi Dergisi, No.2, November 1967, 57-59.
See also Cengiz Yalçın and Mustafa Yaşar, Pertevniyal (Istanbul: Anka Matbaası, 2012), 30-35.
46 Douglas Scott Brookes, The Concubine, the Princess, and the Teacher (Austin: University of Texas
Press, 2008), 27 and 40. The Concubine Filizten’s memoirs were compiled by the journalist Ziya Şakir,
under the title Twenty-Eight Years in Çırağan Palace: The Life of Murad V (Çırağan Sarayında 28 Sene:
Beşinci Murad’ın Hayatı), Istanbul: Anadolu Kitap Deposu, 1943. The memoir consists of an oral history,
narrated by someone who witnessed the events fifty years earlier. Although its veracity is debatable, it
17
later, both Abdülaziz and his mother were moved to the Feriye Palace, under the strict
control of the Feriye Police Station. Shoving and mistreatment continued there as well.
Another three days later, Pertevniyal witnessed her son’s death.47 Sultan Abdülaziz’s
wrists had been cut, creating a bloodbath:
While [Pertevniyal Valide Sultan] was moaning and crying over him, our Master,
worthy of Heaven, put his hands on her chests and recited the name of God.
Having heard the wailing soldiers entered to the room. They snatched Abdülaziz’s
hands from her mother’s chest and took her to another room. A boy called, Nazif
of the Ministry of War, grabbed the queen mother’s earrings from her ears.
[Soldiers] wrapped our Master, worthy of Heaven, in a curtain [like a stretcher]
and took him to the Ortaköy Police Station [Feriye Karakolu]. There while he
was still alive his ministers spitefully asked for their dismissal. All the
torments and insults executed during the last six days to the Sultan who is the
representative of the Prophet, could not be done in sixty years.48
nonetheless constituted one of the main sources on Murad V. In the memoirs, both during the enthronement
and dethronement, the sultan’s mother Şevkefza was portrayed as a leading figure directing her son’s every
step. This fact is very much in parallel with Pertevniyal’s relation to her son. Filizten also recounted that
during the first years of Abdülhamid’s reign there were several attempts to restore Murad V to the throne.
Şevkefza was often a prominent figure in these attempts. This shows her ambition to accumulate power,
naturally clashing with Pertevniyal and Abdülhamid.
47 Historians do not agree whether the sultan’s death was a suicide or an assassination. Following the
incident, conflicting rumors existed among the population. The official explanation changed as well: during
Sultan Murad’s reign it was announced as suicide, whereas during Sultan Abdülhamid’s reign it was
considered an assassination. Abdülhamid set up a court (Yıldız Mahkemesi) five years later to reinvestigate
the matter. As Uzunçarşılı has explained, the sultan used the case to prevent further dethronement attempts
and dismiss some of the constitutionalist officers, such as Midhat Pasha. The author first believed that
Abdülaziz was assassinated, but following his search through the court documents he came to the
conclusion that the sultan had committed suicide. İ. Hakkı Uzunçarşılı, Midhat Paşa ve Yıldız Mahkemesi
(Ankara: Türk Tarih Kurumu, 1967), Önsöz XV. Interestingly, Abdülaziz’s chief scribe (mabeyin
başkâtibi), the sultan’s close and devoted servant Âtıf Bey, changed his mind to the opposite. He first
believed in suicide, as reported to Pertevniyal by the persons standing in front of Abdülaziz’s door during
his death. His memoirs narrated the event in line with the official papers of the time. Later he changed his
opinion. See Nurettin Gemici and Hikmet Toker, Hâtıra-i Âtıf (Ankara: TBMM Milli Saraylar, 2016), 53.
48 Sergüzeştname, translated in Cengiz Yalçın and Mustafa Yaşar, Pertevniyal (Istanbul: Anka Matbaası,
2012), 33. “Nale ve feryad ederek üzerine kapanıp ağlar iken Cennetmekan Efendimiz, iki ellerini Valide
Efendimizin göğsü üzerine koyup zikrullah ediyor. Nasıl ise bu efganı askerler işitip içeri giriyorlar.
Şevketli Cennetmekan Efendimizin ellerini Valide Sultan Efendimizin göğsünden çekip diğer bir odaya
götürdüler. Harbiyeli Nazif namında bır oğlan gelıp Valide Efendimiz Hazretleri’nin kulağından küpesini
çekip alıp gitti. Henüz canı cesedindeyken vezirleri “bizi azlet” diyerek nisbet verdiler. On altı yıllık bir
büyük Peygamber vekili padişaha altı gün zarfında ettikleri eziyet ve hakaret altmış senede olmaz.”
Uzunçarşılı indicated that the officer who snatched Pertevniyal’s earrings was İzzet Bey, the chief officer
of the Feriye Police Station, İ. Hakkı Uzunçarşılı, Midhat Paşa ve Yıldız Mahkemesi (Ankara: Türk Tarih
Kurumu, 1967), 104.
18
Then the queen mother was taken to the police station, without her dustcoat
(ferace), or veil (yaşmak), and with chains around her feet. When she asked for proper
clothing and a cover (aman yaşmak ferace isterim), the response was that there existed no
decree complying with her will (irade yoktur diyerek vermediler). Everything was
planned to humiliate her: “In the public square of the police station my being pushed
hither and yon was made visible to the viziers. No book of any religious sect would prove
such a cruelty.”49 This mistreatment continued during her incarceration, first at the
Topkapı Palace, then at the Feriye Palace, for 39 days during Sultan Murad V’s reign. In
a dark room with doors and windows nailed shut in the Feriye Palace, two eunuchs sent
by Şevkefza continued to question her and make death threats.50 The days of torment
ended when Sultan Abdülhamid was enthroned.
Together with the Sergüzeştnâme, Pertevniyal left a short letter, as well as the few
belongings dating to her incarceration. The letter is short and full of cutting words against
Sultan Murad who had allowed to have such torment inflicted on Pertevniyal during his
reign. She signed the letter as “helpless/wretched (biçare) Pertevniyal” to emphasize her
misery. She put the Sergüzeştnâme, the letter and her belongings in a coffer and wrote in
her will that it should be opened after her death by Sultan Abdülhamid. She left a short
note with the coffer, which reads as follows: “These are the belongings I took away with
me from the palace. No one should open it. I trust the rest to God” (Fig. 6).51 This notice
49 Sergüzeştnâme ibid., “Hemen Nureddin Efendimizin kölesi Necib, Valide Efendimizin kollarından çekip
ayağı zincirli olduğu halde yaşmaksız, feracesiz Karakol Meydanı’na götürdü. “aman yaşmak, ferace
isterim dediyse de” “irade yoktur” deyip vermediler. Karakol Meydanı’nda ordan oraya çekip bütün
vezirlere seyrettirdi. Doğrusu o meydan içinde eziyet, hiçbir mezhebin kitabı kabul etmez.”
50 Together with Pertevniyal, Tiryal Hanım, Sultan Mahmud’s second ikbal, was also incarcerated and
tormented because of her close friendship with Pertevniyal.
51 Saraydan çıkardığım eşyadır. Kimse açmasın. Allaha emanet
19
and the short letter were written by Pertevniyal herself (Fig. 7).52 Sultan Abdülhamid
immediately appointed a commission to execute her last will to open the coffer.53 This
coffer and its contents are important in that they reveal how Pertevniyal tried to give her
own perspective of the historical events of her time; she did not intend to leave
interpretation solely to the chroniclers of her time, but actively composed her own
narrative. Unlike Bezmialem, there are no misspellings in her handwritten letters.
According to the memoirs of Abdülhamid’s daughter Ayşe Osmanoğlu,
Pertevniyal continued to mourn her son’s death during her father’s reign:
In those days the Princess Mother Pertevniyal was despondent over the death of
her son Sultan Aziz. Her only pleasure and distraction lay in passing time by
training young and lovely children, gathering them around her and finding
consolation in the things they said and in their sweet behavior. The Princess
Mother Pertevniyal had another habit: between dusk and the nighttime prayer she
would prostrate herself in worship, weeping loudly as she cried out, “ I forgive
everything, only I seek justice for the blood of my son!” Afterwards in her room
she would have the whole Qur’an recited and then have the children say
“Amen.”54
There is one common trait mentioned for both queen mothers: their belief in
soothsayers and talismans. The concubine Filizten mentions two events related to
Pertevniyal: the Nakşibendi sheikh at the Edirne Gate possessed “extremely sharp
breath,” and the queen mother became very much attached to him; she used his
52 The short letter reads as follows: “Sultan Murad’ın kemal-i lutf u kereminden olarak ferman-ı
şahaneleriyle beni yeni saraya sürdükleri vakit mürüvvetlerinden üzerimde olan ve yanımda bulunan eşya
bu kadar olduğu halde, üç ay orada mahbus kaldım ve bu eşya ile idare eyledim. Ferace ve yaşmağım
olanda bu beyaz şaldır. Üç padişah sayesinde nail olduğum maldan bu kadar eşya ile üç cariye lâyık görüp
mürüvvet buyurdular; kimsenin hakkında hayırdan başka suiniyet etmedim. Sayelerinde bu hakaretlere
müstahak oldum. Allah aşkına bunları açıp görenler, beni rahmet ile yadeylesinler ve benden ibret alıp
hakkımda olan mürüvvet ve merhametlerine şaşıp mütehayyir olsunlar. Benim sergüzeştim pek uzun tarih
olacak şey ise de oralardan sarfı nazar olundu. Elbette o vukuat-ı hüzn-engizi herkes işitmiştir, tekrarına
hacet göremem. Kanımı deryalara kattılar; bu mürüvvetleri de bana ettiler. El-Hükmülillah. Biçare
Pertevniyal”
53 For the procedures and the report of this committee see İ. Hakkı Uzunçarşılı, Midhat Paşa ve Yıldız
Mahkemesi (Ankara: Türk Tarih Kurumu, 1967), 106-108.
54 Douglas Scott Brookes, The Concubine, the Princess, and the Teacher (Austin: University of Texas
Press, 2008), 145 Ayşe Osmanoğlu, Babam Sultan Abdülhamid, 7th Edition (Istanbul: Timaş Yayınları,
2015), 112.
20
incantations to ensure a long and smooth reign and sometimes control her son’s excessive
rages. In her memoirs, Filizten acknowledges that she did not know how much truth was
behind these rumors.55 Today there is a restoration inscription at the Edirne Gate
(Edirnekapı) concerning the Emin Baba Dervish Lodge. This restoration inscription,
dated 1284 (1867/1868), shows that it was Pertevniyal who restored the lodge (Fig. 8 and
9).56
As mentioned above, following the dethronement, Pertevniyal and her son left the
Dolmabahçe Palace in haste, and Murad V and his entourage moved in. Filizten recounts
that during that time the great number of magic charms in Pertevniyal’s apartments
astonished her and the other servants. As Brookes indicates, when Abdülhamid moved
into the palace following the dethronement of Murad V, his entourage too found baskets
full of charms and magic spells––“a timeless tradition in the Ottoman palaces.”57 Ahmed
Cevdet Pasha recounts that once, when Sultan Abdülmecid acted in a peculiar manner,
his mother Bezmialem interpreted this behavior as the result of a spell cast over him. To
break the spell, she asked the preacher Hulusi to prepare a Turkish prayer and had it
recited in several imperial mosques during the Friday sermon.58 Nevertheless, going to a
sheikh or soothsayer was a common habit in palace circles, as well as among commoners.
55 Douglas Scott Brookes, The Concubine, the Princess, and the Teacher (Austin: University of Texas
Press, 2008), 32-33.
56 For the transliteration of the inscription see
http://www.ottomaninscriptions.com/verse.aspx?ref=list&bid=3061&hid=5145
57 Douglas Scott Brookes, The Concubine, the Princess, and the Teacher (Austin: University of Texas
Press, 2008), 33-34. Charles White’s memoirs reveal that this habit of going to soothsayers was not limited
to palace circles, but rather common among Ottoman women. According to him, the women in Galata
consulted with elderly women over lost or stolen items and younger women turned to them when they
either had no husband or had one who was unfaithful. Charles White, Three Years in Constantinople or
Domestic Manners of the Turks in 1844, 3 vols. (London: Henry Colburn, 1845), vol.1, 15-16, quoted in
Kate Fleet, “The Powerful Public Presence of the Ottoman Female Consumer,” 92, in Ottoman Women in
Public Space, edited by Ebru Boyar and Kate Fleet (Leiden and Boston: Brill, 2016), 92.
58 Cevdet Paşa, Ma’rûzât, transliterated by Yusuf Halaçoğlu (Istanbul: Çağrı Yayınları, 1980), 54.
According to the author this action created false rumors about the mental health of the sultan: “The sultan
21
The handwritten letters of both Bezmialem and Pertevniyal, as well as
contemporary Ottoman and European sources, give insights into their characters: both of
them were strong, impressive, and luxury-loving, and very close to their sons. As a result,
during their respective sons’ reigns, they emerged as powerful and active figures. Still,
their role was rarely mentioned in regard to the Tanzimat; therefore, my aim in this thesis
is to give these imperial women voices and present them as active agents of history. For
this purpose, I focus on their major architectural patronage of schools, hospitals and
mosques, mostly in Istanbul and places sacred to Muslims, such as Mecca and Medina.
The Gureba Hospital Complex and its mosque built in 1845, and the Valide Mektebi on
the Divanyolu, Istanbul, built in 1850, form the core of Bezmialem’s philanthropic
activities (Fig. 10).59 She also initiated the construction of the Dolmabahçe Mosque
(1853-1855), which her son Abdülmecid completed since she passed away during the
initial year of its building.
Pertevniyal’s major project was her Valide Sultan Mosque Complex in Aksaray.
The complex included a mausoleum, two fountains (çeşme and sebil), a time keeping
room (muvakkithane) and schools (mektebs). It was inaugurated in 1872 (Fig. 10).60 Even
though there exist research projects and studies separately examining Ottoman education,
the healthcare system, or mosque architecture, an overall study encompassing all of these
became a hypochondriac” (Hünkâr merak getürmüş) or “There are signs of madness” (Cünûn alameti var
imiş). As a result Fuad Pasha grew worried and called the queen mother’s kethüda Hüseyin Bey and
reprimanded him (Fuad Paşa telâş ederek Valide Kethüdâsı Hüseyin Bey’i çağırup tekdir eyledi).
59 In addition to these monuments, she built fountains in Tarabya and Alibeyköy, as well as a sıbyan
mektebi in Istanbul. She also built six fountains in Tarsus/Mersin, another one in Kerbelâ at Hüseyin’s
mausoleum, and in Medina at Hamza’s mausoleum. The former was the Prophet’s son and the latter his
uncle. Bezmialem was one of the more prolific queen mothers in terms of building or restoring fountains.
60 In addition to these monuments she built a sıbyan mektebi in Sarıyer and restored the Sekbanbaşı İbrahim
Ağa and Beykoz Mosques in Istanbul. She built the Pertevniyal Valide Sultan Mosque in Seniçe Bosnia,
and restored the Hocapir Efendi Mescid and Medrese in Trabzon.
22
while elucidating the complex patterns and intentions of the valide sultans of the
nineteenth century is still missing in the literature.
II. HISTORIOGRAPHY
Recent salient work on Ottoman imperial women concentrates on the early modern era,
prior to the nineteenth century. Leslie Pierce's The Imperial Harem, one of the groundbreaking
works on the female members of Ottoman dynasty in the sixteenth and
seventeenth centuries, has greatly challenged the image of Ottoman royal women as
secluded and powerless.61 She has shown that beyond the walls of the harem royal
women played an active role in important political matters. By using their wealth, these
elite women commissioned important public projects and charitable works. Previously,
several contemporaneous and modern historical accounts had portrayed this era as the
“sultanate of women,” an illegitimate usurpation of power, which contributed to the
decline of the empire.62 Peirce, however, has demonstrated beyond a doubt that women’s
power in the early modern period of Ottoman society was a logical and intended
consequence of the political structure.
Focusing on Hadice Turhan Sultan, the last powerful queen mother of the
“sultanate of women,” Lucienne Thys-Şenocak’s Ottoman Women Builders: The
Architectural Patronage of Hadice Turhan Sultan has demonstrated how the valide
sultan legitimized her political authority through her generous patronage of architectural
works. Like Peirce, Thys-Şenocak has also contested the stereotype that female royal
61 Leslie P. Pierce, The Imperial Harem, Women and Sovereignty in the Ottoman Empire, New York,
Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1993.
62 Ahmet Refik Altınay, Kadınlar Saltanatı, 4 volumes. Istanbul: Kitaphane-yi Askerî, İbrahim Hilmi, 1332
[1916]-1923.
23
involvement in politics was negative and de-stabilizing. For example, Hadice Turhan
Sultan initiated the building of two fortresses on each side of the Dardanelles to secure
the frontiers of the empire.63 Thys-Şenocak explained that the monuments that Hadice
Turhan Sultan commissioned were a way of expressing her religious piety and at the
same time legitimizing her new political authority as a valide sultan. Fortresses are
military constructions, whereas buildings commissioned by imperial women more
frequently consisted of non-military structures such as mosques, mausolea, fountains or
caravanserais. Military structures have traditionally be considered male spaces and
thought of as rarely being commissioned by women. Such rare commissions were no
doubt the necessity of the period, but they also suggest a deeper involvement of the valide
sultan in the politics of the empire. Pertevniyal Sultan's donation to build the dockyard,
the Tersane-i Amire, where the first Ottoman battleship, Feth-i Islam, was constructed in
1863, continued this unexpected pattern of financing military constructions.64
Tülay Artan has defined the eighteenth century as the golden age of waterfront
palaces.65 The Bosphorus replaced the Divanyolu as the ceremonial axis, as the sultan’s
excursions on the water became an occasion for displaying dynastic pomp and grandeur.
Women of the dynasty were assigned a new significant role: following their marriage to
high dignitaries, they built waterfront palaces on the Golden Horn and the Bosphorus,
thus implying their continuous presence while personally remaining invisible to the
public. Shirine Hamadeh presented royal women in the eighteenth century as “patrons of
63 Lucienne Thys-Şenocak, Ottoman Women Builders, The Architectural Patronage of Hadice Turhan
Sultan, (Burlington, VT: Ashgate, 2006). Işıl Cerem Cenker and Lucienne Thys-Şenocak, "Moving Beyond
the Walls: The Oral History of the Ottoman Fortress Villages of Seddülbahir and Kumkale," in Oral
History and Public Memories, ed. Paula Hamilton and Linda Shopes (Philadelphia, Temple University
Press, 2008), 65-86.
64 Necdet Sakaoğlu, "Pertevniyal Valide Sultan," Dünden Bugüne Istanbul Ansiklopedisi, 245.
65 Tülay Artan, “Arts and Architecture,” in The Later Ottoman Empire, 1603-1839 ed. Faroqhi, Suraiya N.,
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, vol.3, 2006, 408-480.
24
the urban space.” Their palaces often turned a neighborhood into a center of attraction for
new and prestigious settlements. Women’s endowments took the form of fountains and
water supply features, which could reflect a wider urban sensibility, as well as an
increasingly secularist discourse that would dominate much of the nineteenth century.66
Much of the historiography on women in the nineteenth century focuses on
Ottoman women's role in national struggles, revealing their function in national
movements and modernization while omitting the imperial women's role in the rapidly
changing state. The transformation from empire to nation-state is considered a part of the
modernization process; thus, until recently, nationalist studies have shaped women's
studies in the Middle Eastern and Ottoman context.67 Today, women’s emancipation in
the nation-state paradigm is largely contested. Instead of solely engaging with upperclass/
elite women who are more likely to be associated with modernizing reforms,
scholars recently have focused on women of lower status and various ethnic
backgrounds. Instead of creating a grand narrative, it is more important to discover how
women’s agency functioned in specific historical contexts.
In this regard, Duygu Köksal, Anastasia Falierou and Nazan Maksudyan have
contributed important studies.68 The articles contained in the volume edited by Köksal
66 Shirine Hamadeh, The City's Pleasures, Istanbul in the Eighteenth Century, Seattle, London: University
of Washington Press, 2008.
67 See, for example, Margaret L. Meriwether and Judith Tucker (eds.), Social History of Women and
Gender in the Modern Middle East (Boulder, CO and Oxford: Westview Press, 1999). The authors draw
attention to the dominance of nationalist narratives in studies of Middle Eastern women. See also Deniz
Kandiyoti (ed.) Gendering the Middle East: Emerging Perspectives (London and New York: I. B. Tauris,
1996); Elizabeth B. Frierson, “Women in Late Ottoman Intellectual History,” in The Late Ottoman Society
Intellectual Legacy, ed. Elisabeth Özdalga (London and New York: Routledge, 2005).
68 Duygu Köksal, and Anastasia Falierou, eds., A Social History of Late Ottoman Women: New
Perspectives, The Ottoman Empire and Its Heritage. Leiden: Brill, 2013. Nazan Maksudyan, ed., Women
and the City, Women in the City: A Gendered Perspective to Ottoman Urban History (New York :
Berghahn Books, 2014).
25
and Falierou focus on different geographies and ethnic communities of the Late Ottoman
Empire, showing how women gained power and exercised agency under diverse
circumstances. The various women's activities described in this book do not simply
reflect modernizing trends and Westernizing attitudes, or their defensive denial, but
constitute local responses to traumatically changing social, political and economic
situations. The articles analyze local specificities beyond the dichotomy of a modern
West versus a conservative Islamic East. Islam also is not framed in a reductive way, as
researchers take into consideration traditional relations and power networks in society.
The history of colonialism is no longer thought of as a one-way relationship between a
hegemonic West and a subordinate Orient, since the latter was not a simple passive
recipient, but an active actor negotiating, collaborating and resisting. Women in the Late
Ottoman Empire responded to Orientalist/colonialist visions with various modes of
accommodation and resistance. In this regard, the life stories, activities and writings of
Fatma Ali, Halide Edip, Demetra Vaka, Malek Hıfni Nasıf, Nabawiyya Musa and
Madame Emilia Fernandez are telling in that they demonstrate the multiple and complex
responses of Ottoman women. Köksal and Falierou’s new approach to Westernization
and modernization through Ottoman women's agency provides a useful framework for
analyzing the philanthropic activities of the Ottoman valide sultans. Their undertakings
cannot simply be considered as part of the modernization process of the empire, since
they merge East and West as well as old and new.
Maksudyan’s book entitled Women and the City, Women in the City: A Gendered
Perspective to Ottoman Urban History explores the agency of women in public spaces in
Late Ottoman and post-Ottoman cities, such as Istanbul, Jeddah, Cairo, and Salonica. The
26
volume reconstructs the lives of Ottoman women in urban spaces during a period of great
political, social and cultural turmoil. Urban historians have generally emphasized
patriarchal gendered participation and representation in the public sphere, mainly due to
the dominant gender relations encouraging women to stay at home. In contrast to these
traditional tendencies, this book highlights how women resisted confinement to the
private sphere. Especially through voluntary organizations women expanded their
presence in liminal spaces where they had more power and authority than they did in
their home or workplace.
Maksudyan’s chapter on the political agency of women concentrates on the last
decades of the nineteenth century (1892-1909) and on non-Muslim Ottoman women’s
organizations. Maksudyan shows that women were remarkably active concerning
numerous current political and social issues during a time of wars and refugee influx into
the empire. The chapter depicts how philanthropy offered a different form of female
engagement and gave women exceptional freedom of mobility in the city. Women’s
direct involvement in current political and social issues constituted a source of
empowerment. Women could bypass spatial urban boundaries, which were defined in
reference to gender, class and propriety. Women’s organizations often breached social
hierarchies, as they brought non-Muslim women into Muslim households, or wealthy
women into poor neighborhoods. For example, the philanthropic maternity clinic mostly
for single mothers and prostitutes was a typical example of such blurred boundaries
where elite women occupied the same space with these “other women.” Through
philanthropic organizations, women of different class, religious and ethnic backgrounds
established manifold linkages among themselves and within the urban space. Women, in
27
the nineteenth century, were involved in philanthropy, education and healthcare, as these
were closely related to their religious, national and ethnic backgrounds. Emphasizing
only a single one of these multiple layers in women’s organizations may jeopardize the
integrity of historical accounts. Studying philanthropic activities in an isolated way still
serves the very nationalist narratives that feminist researchers intend to avoid. Therefore,
examining imperial women's charitable involvements in connection with Ottoman
women's benevolent activities and integrating them within the political, religious and
social exigencies of the period are of paramount importance.
During the transformative years from empire to nation-state, hybrid, complex and
sometimes controversial identities existed side by side. We can find clues of such
hybridity in the writings of Melek Hanım or Demetra Vaka, both Greek Ottomans.69
Sometimes their Greek nationalist leanings took prevalence, at other times their
Ottomanness. It is important to take into consideration the multiethnic and multilingual
nature of the Ottoman Empire and to acknowledge the notion of “Ottomanness” in
women’s organizations and philanthropic activities. Maksudyan gives important insights
here: the Greek maternal hospital in Pera, the Sisterhood of Saint Eleftherios, enlarged its
aim to help poor and single pregnant women without any religious discrimination, by
providing women with shelter and medical care in the hospital.70 The Municipality of
Beyoğlu (Altıncı Daire-yi Belediye) provided a service that sent doctors to the domiciles
of sick and needy women, regardless of their religious and ethnic backgrounds.71 The
69 Melek-Hanım, Thirty Years in the Harem: Or, the Autobiography of Melek-Hanum Wife of H. H.
Kibrizli-Mehemet-Pasha. London : Forgotten Books, 1872. Duygu Köksal and Anastasia Falierou, A Social
History of Late Ottoman Women : New Perspectives. The Ottoman Empire and Its Heritage. Leiden: Brill,
2013.
70 Nazan Maksudyan, ed. Women and the City, Women in the City : A Gendered Perspective to Ottoman
Urban History, New York: Berghahn Books, 2014, 116.
71 Ibid., 118 and 131, n.71.
28
president of the Jewish refugee organization in 1892 was Madame Emilia Fernandez who
had been given the Imperial Order of Charity (şefkat nişanı) for her valuable work after
the 1877-78 refugee crisis.72 Moreover, Nicole van Os has revealed that Midhat Pasha’s
wife formed the first Muslim committee in 1876 to help war victims. Bulgarians and
Armenians followed suit.73 No one mentions whether Midhat Paşa’s wife and Madame
Emilia Fernandez cooperated, or even exchanged ideas for the charity organization for
war victims, but it could have been possible.
Köksal and Falierou’s as well as Maksudyan’s work on Ottoman women in the
Late Ottoman Empire make important contributions, by expanding the research on
hitherto excluded or marginalized subjects, such as lower-class women or ethnic
minorities. Ottoman Women in Public Space, edited by Ebru Boyar and Kate Fleet,
portrays women as active participants in the public space in various regions and periods
of the empire. They show that women’s visibility in various ways increased much earlier
than the nineteenth century.74 Regarding Ottoman royal women, the book shows that they
often had direct impact on highest-level politics from the beginning of the Ottoman state,
and thus a public political presence.75 Yet, none of these books study at length the
Ottoman imperial women in the long transformative period of the nineteenth century, nor
do they reveal cross-cultural influences among various religious and ethnic groups of the
empire.
72 Ibid., 112.
73 Nicole Van Os, “Ottoman Women’s Organizations: Sources of the Past, Sources for the Future,” in Islam
and Christian–Muslim Relations, 2000, 11 (3): 369–83, accessed 22 May 2019, doi:10.1080/713670331.
74 Ebru Boyar and Kate Fleet (eds.), Ottoman Women in Public Space (Leiden and Boston: Brill, 2016).
75 Ebru Boyar, “The Public Presence and Political Visibility of Ottoman Women,” in Ottoman Women in
Public Space, edited by Ebru Boyar and Kate Fleet (Leiden and Boston: Brill, 2016), 230-252.
29
Besides sources about gender and architecture in the Ottoman era, there are other
materials directly referencing to Bezmialem and Pertevniyal. Some of them are valuable,
but concise encyclopedic entries.76 Books investigating the entire history of sultans’
wives and daughters allocate a few pages to each person, providing useful but general
information.77 Other secondary sources concentrate on some aspects of their pious acts,
such as school or hospital projects. While establishing a firm analysis of the institution
these authors repeat in general the published encyclopedic knowledge about Bezmialem
and Pertevniyal.78 Arzu Terzi’s recent book on Bezmialem taps new archival documents
and questions some long-established dates about the queen mother, such as her birthdate
or the date of her becoming Sultan Mahmud II’s kadın efendi. While disclosing important
details about the queen mother, the author follows an idealized version of the queen
mother as graceful and benevolent. As mentioned earlier, Ali Akyıldız in his recent book
on valide sultans tries to refute Cevdet Pasha’s account that Bezmialem might have been
involved in the corruption of custom offices. Akyıldız claims that this was not stated in
any other source, a good example of queen mother’s idealized portrayal in secondary
76 M. Hüdai Şentürk, “Bezmiâlem Vâlide Sultan,” TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi, vol.6, 1988, 108-115, Ali
Akyıldız, “Pertevniyâl Vâlide Sultan,” TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi, vol. 34, 2007, 239-241, Necdet Sakaoğlu,
“Bezmiâlem Vâlide Sultan,” Dünden Bugüne Istanbul Ansiklopedisi, vol.2, 224-225, Necdet Sakaoğlu,
“Pertevniyâl Vâlide Sultan,” Dünden Bugüne Istanbul Ansiklopedisi, vol.6, 245.
77 Necdet Sakaoğlu, 3rd Edition Bu Mülkün Kadın Sultanları, Valide Sultanlar, Hatunlar, Hasekiler,
Kadınefendiler, Sultanefendiler (Istanbul: Oğlak Yayıncılık ve Reklamcılık Ltd. Şti., 2008), M. Çağatay
Uluçay, Padişahların Kadınları ve Kızları. 6th Edition. Ankara: Ötüken Neşriyat A.Ş., 2012, M. Çağatay
Uluçay, Haremden Mektuplar. 3rd Edition. Istanbul: Ötüken Yayınları, 2012. Ali Akyıldız, Haremin
Padisahı Valide Sultan, Harem'de Hayat ve Teşkilat. Istanbul: Timaş Yayınları, 2018.
78 Nuran Yıldırım, Gureba Hastahanesi'nden Bezmiâlem Vakıf Üniversitesine (Istanbul: Bezmiâlem Vakıf
Üniversitesi, 2013), Kenan Göçer, Sosyo-Ekonomik Yönleriyle Bezm-i Alem Sultan Vakıf Gureba
Hastahanesi, PhD diss., Marmara Üniversitesi, 2012, Muammer Demirel, "Bezmiâlem Valide Sultan
School: Darülmaârif," Middle Eastern Studies, 45:3, 11 June 2009, 507-516, Miri Shefer-Mossensohn,
"Old Patterns, New Meaning: The 1845 Hospital of Bezm-i Alem in Istanbul." DYNAMIS. Acta Hisp. Med.
Sci. Hist. Illus. 25 (2005): 329-350.
30
sources.79 Regarding Pertevniyal he discloses her several charitable acts. The title of his
article wraps up his portrayal of the queen mother: “Prodigal, But Generous Pertevniyal
Valide Sultan.80” Bahar Bilgin Uşar skillfully investigated Pertevniyal and her
architectural mosque complex project. While tapping some new archival documents,
especially the queen mother’s correspondence with her kethüda, Uşar revealed that the
queen mother actively monitored and directed her project.81 The same trend appeared on
Pertevniyal’s hospital project in Medina: the correspondence was directly addressed to
the queen mother and not her kethüda.82 I greatly benefited from Uşar’s research, while
differed from her interpretation of her kethüda’s letter about the appropriation of the land
and the site of the mosque.83 Uşar’s thesis also interprets Pertevniyal’s school project
rüşdiye, as a high school whereas it was designed as a middle school. Yet, I believe I
expanded her thesis by exploring in details not only the mosque, but other institutions on
the complex, and comparing them with those of Bezmialem.
III. PLAN OF THE THESIS
In order to examine the queen mothers’ public projects and charitable activities, I have
focused on their endowment deeds (vakfiye). Although formulaic in format, these
documents disclose their intentions and voices: where and how these buildings would be
erected, together with minute detail about how these buildings would function. In
79 Ali Akyıldız, Haremin Padisahı Valide Sultan, Harem'de Hayat ve Teşkilat. Istanbul: Timaş Yayınları,
2018, 454.
80 Ali Akyıldız, “Müsrif, Fakat Hayırsever: Pertevniyal Valide Sultan.” Osmanlı Araştırmaları / The
Journal of Ottoman Studies. Istanbul: İSAM, Turkish Religious Foundation Center for Islamic Studies,
2016. XLVII: 307-352.
81 Bahar Bilgin Uşar, '”The Aksaray Pertevniyal Valide Sultan Mosque Complex: Reflections on the
Patronage of a Nineteenth Century Valide Sultan,” Master’s thesis, Koc University, Istanbul, 2016.
82 For more details see 173-174.
83 The document was TSMA.d 8218 0043 1 dated 26 Rebiüssani 1284 (27 August 1867). For more details
see 200.
31
describing their function, I have also explored these edifices through the paradigms of
soundscape and smellscape––that is, paying attention to the sensory dimensions of the
monuments’ sounds and scents deployed.84 Furthermore, I contextualize their projects
within the larger framework of their time, without omitting similar developments
occurring among various other ethnic and religious groups of the empire, and thus
emphasizing cross-cultural influences. Moreover, concentrating on two queen mothers
instead of one, and comparing and contrasting their endowment deeds broadens our
understanding of vakfiyes.
The first chapter deals with their charitable foundations in both text and image;
the latter has rarely been dealt with in the vakfiye literature. Textually, they follow a
similar plan: the prayer section, the original vakfiye, and the codicils (zeyl). The donor
conceptualizes herself and her acts in the prayer and the original vakfiye. Many scholars
have claimed to find the donors’ active voice in these texts; yet, I discovered that both
queen mothers employed exactly the same wording in these sections while explaining
their philosophy of philanthropy and legitimizing their son’s rule. However, the texts in
both endowment deeds point to a gradual increase of a personal voice and power in two
ways: one is the gradual switch from the third to the first person, and the other is the
attribution of stronger adjectives in defining themselves. I also contend that Pertevniyal
used the zeyl of the Aksaray Mosque Complex as a response to her opponents.
For both queen mothers, Qur'anic recitations and prayers––not only within the
spaces and structures they commissioned, but also places sacred to Muslims, such as the
Prophet’s tomb and various Sufi convents across the empire––constituted the most
frequently cited charitable acts, although these are rarely mentioned in the literature.
84 For Nina Ergin’s publications on the subject see Chapter I, p.65, n.163.
32
Compared to architectural buildings, they were relatively easier to commission and to
perform; they aurally demonstrated hegemony and sovereignty, and at the same time the
pious character of the queen mothers. Furthermore, both queen mothers utilized religious
orders to promote the Ottoman dynasty. My research reveals that the introduction of new
institutions between 1839 and 1876 did not necessarily result in creating a certain
distance to religion, or religious orders.
In the second chapter, I concentrate on the valide sultans’ schools. Both queen
mothers established a secondary school (rüşdiye), typical Tanzimat institutions, that
mingled religious and worldly subjects in their curriculum. Introducing non-religious
subjects into the educational system became one of the most controversial issues, not
only in the Ottoman Empire–– among both its Muslim and non-Muslim subjects––but
throughout the entire world. The queen mothers’ adoption of a relatively secular
curriculum in their rüşdiyes reveals that they both followed in their husband’s footsteps
for the sake of material progress. Otherwise, eradicating traditional Islamic curricula was
not their intention. The dualism of secular versus Islamic became a great matter of
uneasiness, especially in the later years of the nineteenth century.
Even though both queen mothers established rüşdiyes, based on the developments
of their time and the way in which their vakfiyes framed these institutions, I contend that
they followed a slightly different pattern. Bezmialem’s school was the first civil
secondary education in an independent building outside a mosque complex. The site, the
curriculum, and the reward system all point to a pioneering project. In contrast,
Pertevniyal’s rüşdiye was part of a mosque complex and pursued a rather conservative
curriculum and pedagogical methods. She integrated education back into the traditional
33
locus of religion, both physically and in terms of pedagogy. Pertevniyal’s school project
also attests to the fact that the queen mothers, while aiming at legitimizing their
respective son’s rule, did not necessarily follow his path. Pertevniyal’s choice in
education was far more conservative than that of her son, who established the first civil
school––the Mekteb-i Sultani––offering mixed education to various religiously affiliated
groups of the empire, thereby removing education from the precinct of the mosque,
church, or synagogue. Yet, the Aksaray school must have been quite satisfactory for the
parents of the pupils since they submitted a thank-you letter to the queen mother.
The third chapter elucidates the various hospital projects that Bezmialem and
Pertevniyal initiated in Istanbul, Mecca and Medina. Bezmialem’s Gureba Hospital was
the first health institution in Istanbul established outside a mosque complex. I discuss the
Gureba Hospital’s parallels with and differences from previous and contemporaneous
Muslim, non-Muslim, and military hospitals. I also compare its architecture and medical
treatment with contemporary European hospitals and conclude that the Gureba Hospital
was a pioneering project in terms of its site, building design, administrative and medical
staff, as well as its medical practices.
In addition to the restoration and renovation of a small hospital in Medina,
Pertevniyal was also engaged in the construction of a large new hospital designed for
poor and needy women. The archival documents reveal that the queen mother was
directly engaged in the project. This was a pioneering project for its time, since not only
in the Holy Lands but also in Istanbul there existed no proper hospital for women. These
institutions for female patients were mostly limited to treating criminals, prostitutes or
poor immigrants. In this sense, Pertevniyal’s project in Medina broke with the traditional
34
mindset that the home was the sole place for treating women. The documents reveal that
construction on this ambitious hospital project in Medina continued after the
dethronement of her son and until the very last days of her life, but that it was left
incomplete after her death.
The last chapter concentrates on the mosque projects of the queen mothers––
namely, Bezmialem’s mosque built next to her Gureba Hospital and Pertevniyal’s
Aksaray Mosque. The latter was designed as a monumental and sumptuous display of
both personal and imperial power and piety. By contrast, the Gureba Hospital’s mosque
was quite modest in size and decoration. Yet, through arranging religious rituals and
ceremonies within its space, as described in her endowment deed, Bezmialem made sure
that her mosque would have the prestige of imperial mosques. In this sense, the Gureba
Mosque is significant in that it shows how besides the monumentality of the building or
the finesse of its decoration, its designated ceremonial function could play a crucial role
for the structure and its benefactor in the public eye.
The Aksaray Mosque in its monumentality and finesse is the equal of any
imperial mosque of the empire. The correspondence between the queen mother and her
kethüda indicates that the queen mother was directly engaged in the construction of the
building. The endowment deeds of both queen mothers were useful for defining the
minutiae of rituals and the inclusion of relics as well as precious objects in their
buildings. Both women subtly guided not only the structure, but also how individuals
should experience their mosque. In their individual ways, both structures proclaimed the
greatness, piety and power of their patrons as well as the dynasty.
35
The philanthropic acts of Bezmialem and Pertevniyal did not follow a linear
trajectory of modernization––as some Ottoman scholars have viewed the Tanzimat era––
but they always merged old and new, as well as East and West. Mixing traditional
concepts with new patterns and styles reflected the Ottoman characteristics of the period,
as well as the eclectic mode of the nineteenth century.
36
CHAPTER I: THE VAKFIYES OF BEZMIALEM AND
PERTEVNIYAL SULTANS
The first chapter explores in detail the vakfiyes of Bezmialem and Pertevniyal in a
comparative perspective. Although endowment deeds were written in a formulaic
manner, these documents give some ideas about patterns of imperial women’s
philanthropic engagements by declaring intentions and targeted audiences. The
chronological details of their benevolent acts illustrate their preferences initially and over
time. The amount assigned to each charity act elucidates their priorities. Endowment
deeds reveal what type of benevolent acts these imperial women undertook more
frequently, while also exposing parallels and dissimilarities. Without a doubt, the sultanas
had an important input in choosing the titles and adjectives in their vakfiyes in describing
themselves and their acts for their public image. As the chapter reveals, concentrating on
two queen mothers instead of one, and comparing their endowment deeds broadens our
understanding of the vakfiyes.
Besides comparing the queen mothers’ vakfiyes with each other, I contextualize
them within the Ottoman tradition of charitable foundations while highlighting the
changes that occurred in the nineteenth century. Within this framework I elucidate how
they adopted to economic and socio-political changes of their time. While teasing out the
denoted and connoted meaning of the text, I reveal how the words reflected a gradual
increase of their personal voice and power. I also contend that Pertevniyal used the text as
a response to her opponents. The text also discloses that Qur'anic recitations and prayers
constitute the most frequently cited charitable acts, pointing out both to the pious
character of the queen mothers and their desire to legitimize their sons’ rule.
37
I extend my comparison to the queen mothers’ elaborate style of embellishing
their vakfiyes echoing both similarities and differences. Unlike the text, the image has
rarely been dealt with in the vakfiye literature. In endowment deeds the text and image
are tightly intertwined in the sense that whenever the language becomes more flowery
and sophisticated the ornamentation betrays more exquisite and elaborate design and
decoration.
Bezmialem’s endowment deed consists of one original section and 14 codicils.85
They were written between 1840 and 1853 when she was the queen mother. The last
supplement contains the list of 431 books she bequeathed to her school.86 (For details see
Appendix 2.) Pertevniyal’s deed comprises one original and 11 codicils. It was executed
between 1862 and 1877 when she was the queen mother.87 Her codicil 10 comprises the
828 books she donated to her school, almost twice the amount that Bezmialem bestowed.
Her last supplement, number 11, was executed almost one year after the dethronement
and the possible murder of her son, Sultan Abdülaziz. This codicil bequeaths necessary
money for the continuation of building her hospital in Medina. It also considers all
85 Tülay Duran, ed., Tarihimizde Vakıf Kuran Kadınlar, Hanım Sultan Vakfiyeleri (Istanbul: Tarihi
Araştırmalar ve Dokümantasyon Merkezleri Kurma ve Geliştirme Vakfı, 1990). The book mentions the
initial endowment deed and its 13 codicils. On the other hand, Kenan Göçer mentions 15 vakfiyes
belonging to Bezmialem. Kenan Göçer, Sosyo-Ekonomik Yönleriyle Bezm -i Alem Vakıf Gureba Hastanesi,
Doktora Tezi, Marmara Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Enstitüsü, Istanbul, 2012, 134. Counting separately
the initial endowment deed, codicils amount to 14 instead of 13.
86 Muammer Demirel states that the Valide Sultan donated 546 volumes to the school library. Muammer
Demirel, “Bezmiâlem Valide Sultan School: Darülmaârif,” Middle Eastern Studies, 45:3, 11 June 2009,
509. He quotes Şentürk for this number. M. Hüdai Şentürk, “Bezmiâlem Vâlide Sultan'ın Hayatı ve Hayır
Eserleri,” Istanbul Araştırmaları, vol.6, 1988, 7-14.
87 Endowment deeds are kept in two distinct files at the Directorate of Endowment Deeds (Vakıflar Genel
Müdürlüğü). The wordings are the same, but the formats are different. The first group is written in rika
(cursive handwriting). These writings were meant for Ottoman officers to administer the deed. Defter 634
and 747 make part of this group. Their numbering has been created by the directorate. The second group is
in nesih calligraphy and features illuminations. Although each chapter is differentiated, there is no special
numbering for chapters. In this group Bezmialem's endowment deed is in K.11 (safety box 11) and
Pertevniyal's in K.9. The information on the safety box codification is from Çağlarboyu Anadolu'da Kadın:
Anadolu Kadınının 9000 Yılı (Istanbul: TC Kültür Bakanlığı Anıtlar ve Müzeler Müdürlüğü, 1993), 237
and 240. The catalogue was prepared for the exhibition held in Istanbul in 1993.
38
necessary purchases for its operation. This is an interesting point, since scholars mention
that the hospital was not completed due to the dethronement of her son. Another
interesting fact in the case of Pertevniyal is the third zeyl (dated 1862), which
chronologically precedes the second one (dated 1864), suggesting a belated insertion of
the text into the endowment deed. There are several examples where the vakfiye does not
precede, but rather succeeds the pious activity and the completion of the commissioned
structure. “Succeeding in accomplishing the construction of” in the past tense, in the first,
or third person becomes the catch-phrase of the text (bina ve inşasına muvaffak oldukları
in third person or bina ve inşasına muvaffak olduğum in first person). For example, even
though Pertevniyal’s Mosque in Aksaray was completed in 1871, the vakfiye is dated one
year later. The fact of succeeding rather than preceding the pious act explains why the
Dolmabahçe Palace, completed after the death of Bezmialem, does not constitute a part
of her endowment deed.
The most fascinating aspect is that one of Pertevniyal’s biggest contributions was
to finance the Anatolian Railroad project, but it has not been enumerated as one of her
major philanthropic acts. The Anatolian Railroad was a major project with different
railway lines starting at the Haydarpasha Terminal in Istanbul, crossing Anatolia and
reaching Baghdad. German corporations constructed the Ottoman railway network
between 1868 and 1919. The first part of the railway was 26 km long, from Haydarpasha
to Pendik. As the project developed it extended from Bosnia to Baghdad and Medina.88
88 Peter Christensen, Germany and the Ottoman railways: art, empire and infrastructure, New Haven: Yale
University Press, 2017. The author reveals that even though the railway project was engineered by
Germans, it remained the pride of the modernization impulses of the Ottoman Empire.
39
The queen mother contributed the substantial amount of 225,000 kuruş to the project and
undertook to pay for ten years the annual interest of 60,000 kuruş in four installments.89
Unlike Bezmialem, Pertevniyal started her pious activities towards the 1830s
when she was the kadın efendi (the imperial consort giving birth to the sultan’s children).
(For details, see Appendix 3).90 Several factors might explain this difference in attitude.
Compared to Bezmialem, Pertevniyal is portrayed as an ambitious woman having great
influence on her son’s decisions. Early involvement in pious acts may have been the
result of her power and determination. Another important factor was the age difference
when they attained the title of valide sultan. When Bezmialem became the queen mother
she was still very young, in her late thirties/early forties, whereas Pertevniyal was in her
fifties when she received the title of valide sultan; this was the age when Bezmialem
passed away. Pertevniyal started her philanthropic activities earlier than Bezmialem, in
her late twenties, before becoming the queen mother. She had a longer life-span of
seventy years.
I. ENDOWMENTS IN OTTOMAN SOCIETY
This section situates the vakıf tradition within the larger framework of Islamic societies
and concepts, and reveals how various social and ethnic groups of the Ottoman Empire,
including women, widely and actively used the practice.
89 "Anadolu Demiryolları 10 seneliğine 20,000 kise faizlu, senelik 4 taksitli Mart 1288'den itibaren 225,000
guruş muaccele ile iştira olunub, vakfımdan senede 4 kez 15,000 grş senevi faizi ödene," Zeyl 9,
634/0161/0037.
90 Her Zeyl 2 discloses her first endowment as mevlud at the Eyüb complex in 1838, which I will explain
below.
40
Vakıf (waqf in Arabic) was a voluntary philanthropic endeavor in the Ottoman
Empire as well as in the wider Islamic world.91 The Ottomans inherited the institution not
only from the Seljuqs, as Ülkü Bates indicates, but in a much broader perspective also
from the Byzantines and earlier Islamic states.92 Vakıf had a strong religious connotation.
Vakıf-making was a voluntary charitable act (sadaqa) by an individual, to gain the favor
of God (qurba). Vakıf is not specifically mentioned in the Qur’an, but referred to as
sadaqa mawaufa (an endowed charitable act), although various Qur’anic verses call for
good deeds and charity, much as the literature of Prophetic Tradition (hadith). From the
ninth and tenth centuries on, the use of endowments to create large public buildings and
services was adopted by rulers, grandees and people of great wealth.93 Both valide
sultans’ vakfiyes claim that this is a sadaqa in order to gain God’s favor (li merzat-İllah).
In their initial vakfiyes they both claim their adherence to the Hanafi school of Sunni
91 I use the past tense since I am referring to the Ottoman period; in fact, several vakıf institutions, such as
Koç University, are still functioning, albeit with some major differences.
92 Ülkü Bates, “Women as Patrons of Architecture in Turkey,” in Women in the Muslim World, edited by
Lois Beck and Nikki Keddie, (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1982), 245-260.
Margaret L. Meriwether, “Women and Waqf Revisited: The Case of Aleppo, 1770-1840,” in Women in the
Ottoman Empire, Middle Eastern Women in the Early Modern Era, edited by Madeline C. Zilfi (Leiden,
New York, Koln: Brill Publications, 1997), 128-153. Ahmad Dallal, "The Islamic Institution of Waqf: A
Historical Overview," in Islam and Social Policy, edited by Stephen P. Heyneman (Nashville, Tennesy:
Vanderbilt University Press, 2004), 13-43.
Mary Ann Fay, “From Concubines to Capitalists: Women, Property, and Power in Eighteenth-Century
Cairo,” Journal of Women’s History 10 (3), 1998: 118–140, accessed 20 April 2018,
http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/jowh/summary/v010/10.3.fay.html.
Kerima Filan, “Women Founders of Pious Endowments in Ottoman Bosnia,” in Women in Ottoman
Balkans, Buturovic Amila and Irvin C. Shick, eds., (London: I. B. Tauris and Co. Ltd., 2007), 99-126.
Amy Singer, “Charity’s Legacies: A Reconsideration of Ottoman Imperial Endowment-Making,”
in Poverty and Charity in Middle Eastern Contexts, Michael Bonner, Mine Ener and Amy Singer, eds.,
SUNY Series in the Social and Economic History of the Middle East (discontinued) (Albany: State
University of New York Press, 2003), 295.
93 Amy Singer, ibid. Ahmad Dallal, ibid.
41
Islam by declaring the name of its founder, Ebu Hanife Numan bin Sabit el Kufi, and his
most respected students, Muhammed bin Hasan eş Şeybani and Ebu Yusuf.94
The vakıf institution was widely used across the vast territory of the Ottoman
Empire. In the Ottoman world it was common to create an endowment with property
whose estate belonged to the state (miri), since the usufruct of the estate belonged to the
donor (sanad al-tabu).95 Over time those who wrote about vakıfs divided them into public
(amm, ahli) and private (khass, khayri). The defining factor in this categorization was the
initial beneficiary, whether a public institution or family members. Prior to the
introduction of public services in the twentieth century —such as health, welfare,
education, water supply, and food supply—vakıfs were all financed and maintained by
the endowment system. Rulers and their entourage used vakıfs as an instrument of public
policy to promote their prestige and influence, and to secure political legitimization by
gaining the support of the beneficiary population. Often connected with Sufi orders in
frontier regions and recently conquered territories, Ottoman rulers used the institution to
expand Ottoman culture as well as to spread Islam.96 Despite that fact, both public and
private vakıfs became the subject of controversy: family vakıfs were pointed out as a
means to rob rightful heirs of their portions and divert capital to inheritors who would
otherwise earn little or nothing at all, such as slaves and women. Occasionally public
94 Sunni and Shiite Muslims are the two major sub-groups of Islam. The former is the largest denomination
of Islam and has four distinct legal schools: Hanafi, Shafi'i, Maliki and Hanbali. Ebu Hanîfe and his two
disciples form the major authority on the Hanafi school.
95 Although charity foundations were used by Muslim and non-Muslim communities across time and space,
the separation of ownership from usufruct was entirely Islamic. Ahmad Dallal, ibid.
96 For the vast literature on the subject see Miriam Hoexter, "Waqf Studies in the Twentieth Century: The
State of the Art,” Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient, 41:4, 1998, 474-495.
42
endowments were criticized for adding to the financial burdens of the state without
contributing to its coffers.97
Ottoman women took an active role establishing charitable endowments in the
vast expanse of the empire, in Istanbul, in the Balkans, in the Middle East and North
Africa. Property rights granted to women under Islamic law empowered females in
Islamic societies, as well as in the Ottoman Empire. All women, regardless of class, had
the legal right to own property. Women in early modern Islamic societies had great
advantages compared to their counterparts in Europe and North America, as laws
promoting women’s property rights were passed there only in the mid-nineteenth century.
Women’s endowments corresponded to approximately 25-35 percent of the total number
of pious foundations, depending on the period and region. Mary Ann Fay’s analysis of
endowment records in eighteenth-century Egypt indicated that 25 percent of the
foundations were established by women; Haim Gerber’s research on fifteenth- and
sixteenth-century Edirne demonstrates that women established 20 percent of new waqfs,
while Gabriel Baer’s study indicates 36.8 percent in eighteenth-century Aleppo, 24
percent in Jerusalem between 1805 and 1820, and 23.4 percent in Jaffa during the entire
Ottoman period.98 These studies on women’s charitable activities show that the majority
97 The exorbitant amount spent on the mosque complex project of Safiye Sultan, mother of Mehmed III
(1595-1603) in Eminönü, which was completed by another queen mother in the mid-seventeenth century
and that of Ahmed I (1603-1617) at the Hippodrome drew criticism. In the seventeenth century, Koçi Bey,
a Christian slave recruit (devşirme), who served in the Topkapı Palace, presented a treatise (risale) to sultan
Murad IV (1623-1640), in which he claimed that too much imperial land had been granted to high-ranking
members of the ruling class during the preceding two centuries. In this way vast tax revenues were lost to
the state, and often these vakıfs benefited their families and not the community of Muslims. For more
detail, see John Robert Barnes, An Introduction to Religious Foundations, Leiden, New York, København
and Köln: E.J. Brill, 1987, 60-66; Amy Singer, “Charity’s Legacies,” 300-301; Koçi Bey Risalesi is
annotated by Ali Kemali Aksüt (Istanbul: Vakıf Kütüphanesi, 1939).
98 Mary Ann Fay. 1998. “From Concubines to Capitalists: Women, Property, and Power in Eighteenth-
Century Cairo,” Journal of Women’s History 10 (3): 118–140, accessed 20 April 2018,
http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/jowh/summary/v010/10.3.fay.html. Gabriel Baer, “Women and Waqf: An
Analysis of the Istanbul Tahrir of 1546,” Asian and African Studies 17 (1983), 9-28. Haim Gerber, “The
43
of women created mid-or large-size vakıfs, having multiple assets, and not small-scale
endowments as Baer suggested. Furthermore, the vast majority of women administered
endowments founded by themselves, independently of men. Women often acted as
individuals, not in partnership with spouses or male relatives.
Architectural patronage took a variety of forms and functions within vakıfs. In
general, Ottoman women founded religious institutions such as mosques, schools,
mausolea, and secular buildings such as hans, bazaars, caravanserais. The latter group
was smaller in number and served as a source of income for the maintenance of religious
buildings. In the nineteenth century, the imperial women emphasized their charitable
endeavors primarily by means of mosques, schools and hospitals. There was no
discernable criticism by contemporary chroniclers of the pious activities of Bezmialem
and Pertevniyal.
II. CHANGES OF THE VAKIF SYSTEM IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY
This section concentrates on changes within the Ottoman vakıf system during the
nineteenth century to better contextualize the vakfiyes of Bezmialem and Pertevniyal
sultans and grasp their novelties in comparison to previous endowment deeds.
The vakıf institution acquired a stable form and existed almost unchanged until
the collapse of the Ottoman Empire. Vakıfs were widely established throughout the
centuries and across the vast territory of the empire. Although the institution had a stable
character, this does not mean that vakıfs did not adapt to socio-political changes of their
Waqf Institution in early Ottoman Edirne,” Asian and African Studies 17 (1983), 29-45. Margaret L.
Meriwether, “Women and Waqf Revisited: The Case of Aleppo, 1770-1840,” in Women in the Ottoman
Empire, Middle Eastern Women in the Early Modern Era, ed. Madeline C. Zilfi (Leiden, New York, Koln:
Brill Publications, 1997), 128-153.
44
time. One of the major changes occurred by the end of the sixteenth century, during
which the rent of the vakıf switched from icare-i vahide to icareteyn. The contract for the
former was one to three years, whereas it was much longer for the latter. İcareteyn means
two rents. The total rent calculated for the duration of the long lease period is divided into
two parts: The first is paid in total at the beginning of the lease, while the second,
symbolic low rent is paid yearly. Another important modification in the legal framework
of vakıfs occurred through mukata’a, which allowed the right of permanent lease or the
perpetual right of the usufruct of the charitable foundations. Its aim, as with the icareteyn,
was to give the tenant an incentive to maintain and develop the vakıf property. Compared
to icareteyn, the mukata’a was one step closer to the private ownership, since the tenant
was able to sell the right of perpetual lease. Additionally, the mukata’a contract could be
inherited. Although icareteyn or mukata’a was not defined in the Islamic jurisprudence,
the Ottoman Empire, like other Muslim countries, adopted the system out of economic
and social necessity in order to generate income for charitable endowments.99 In
Bezmialem and Pertevniyal’s vakfiyes, all of these three methods of renting are
employed.
Despite several adaptations of the system and the positive legacy of rendering
various services to the community, corruption and improprieties in the foundation and
management of vakıfs became a subject of critiques. Over time the number of
99 For changes in Islamic jurisprudence of vakıfs see Ahmad Dallal, ibid. 26-27. Kenan Yıldız, “1660
Istanbul Yangınının Sosyo-Ekonomik Tahlili,” PhD Thesis, Marmara Üniversitesi, Istanbul, 2012. Eda
Güçlü, “Transformation of Waqf Property in the Nineteenth Century Ottoman Empire,” Master’s thesis,
Sabancı University, 2009. Yıldız's thesis can be considered within the broader framework of Rifa'at Ali
Abou El-Haj and Ariel Salzmann's arguments. Both authors defend that the privatization of land starting
from the seventeenth century onward led to the breakdown of the old order, but did not constitute an
obstacle to the evolution of the modern state. Miriam Hoexter, “The Waqf and the Public Sphere,” in The
Public Sphere in Muslim Societies, ed. Miriam Hoexter, Shmeul N. Eisenstadt and Nehemia Levtzion (New
York: SUNY Press, 2002), 119-135. John Robert Barnes, An Introduction to Religious Foundations in the
Ottoman Empire (Leiden, New York, København and Köln: E. J. Brill), 1987.
45
endowments distributing substantial sums of pensions and sinecures to the ruling elite
increased. The situation undermined the social fabric. In 1826, Sultan Mahmud II
initiated radical reform measures by consolidating imperial endowments and those of
state officials under the auspices of the Ministry of Endowment Affairs. The sultan’s
move was radical: for the first time since their inception these religious foundations were
removed from the jurisdiction of kadıs and placed under a secular administration.100 The
sultan aimed to find a solution to the deteriorating situation of the vakıfs and at the same
time curtail the fiscal strength and power of religious and military men in the
administration who posed a threat to his sovereignty and reforms.101 Prior to this date,
endowment deeds had been concluded at court in front of a kadı (religious judge).102
Bezmialem’s vakfiye, dated 1840, indicates that the initial endowment deed was
authenticated at the Çırağan Palace, in the room of Abdullah Ağa, the Darüssaadet-i
Şerife Ağası (the head eunuch of harem), and the codicils in the room of Mehmed Tahir
Bey, administrator of customs goods (gümrük emtia emini). Zeyl 5 indicates that a year
later, besides holding this position, Mehmed Tahir Bey also became her kethüda (chief
100 John Robert Barnes, An Introduction to Religious Foundations, 102. Barnes views this move as
detrimental to the vakıf system, eventually leading to its further decline.
101 Amy Singer, “Charity’s Legacies: A Reconsideration of Ottoman Imperial Endowment-Making.”
In Poverty and Charity in Middle Eastern Contexts (Albany: State University of New York Press, 2003),
295. Barnes thinks that Sultan Mahmud's reforms further deteriorated the religious foundations, whereas
Singer recognizes both the fiscal urge and the ambition of the sultan. This is a major debate among
historians and observers of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries: did vakıfs have a positive legacy, or were
they outmoded institutions incompatible with the workings of a modern bureaucratic state? Besides their
own inherent problems, the European colonization in the nineteenth century also contributed to the negative
legacy of the vakıfs. Algeria was a telling case in this regard. See Miriam Hoexter, "Adaptation to
Changing Circumstances: Perpetual Leases and Exchange Transactions in Waqf Property in Ottoman
Algiers, Islamic Law and Society, 4:3 (1997), 319-333. Maya Shatzmiller, "Islamic Institutions and
Property Rights: The Case of the 'Public Good' Waqf," The Journal of the Economic and Social History of
the Orient, 44:1 (1 March 2001), 44-74.
102 Pınar Kayaalp, “The Atik Valide Sultan Mosque Complex: A Testament of Nurbanu's Prestige, Power
and Piety,” PhD diss., Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, 2005. The thesis reveals the authentication of
the queen mother's deed by kadı.
46
steward).103 Kadıs were not involved in the jurisdiction of Bezmialem’s vakfiyes.
Pertevniyal Valide Sultan initiated her philanthropic activities while she was still the
Kadın Efendi during Abdülmecid’s reign. In her donation of a substantial sum of 15,000
kuruş to the Yahya Efendi Türbesi, and two other less costly philanthropic activities,104
she employed the kadı Hasan Şükri Efendi to authenticate the document. Another
religious figure, Osman Molla, was one of the signatories.105 During her reign as the
queen mother, her vakfiye indicated the involvement of few religious figures among its
signatories, such as “Mahkeme Teftiş Mümeyyizi,” “Osman Molla” or “Hoca Murad
Efendi.” This was not the case with Bezmialem. Nonetheless, the majority of signatories
in Pertevniyal’s vakfiye were officers of the Bab-ı Ali (the Ottoman government and
bureaucracy).106 As with Bezmialem, her original vakfiye was authenticated at the
Çırağan Palace under the auspices of Talha Ağa, the Darüssaadet-i Şerife Ağası.107
Pertevniyal’s vakfiye indicates another adoption of current economic practices of
the period, since an interest rate was applied to accrue the revenue of her endowment,
despite the fact that Islamic precepts adamantly opposed interest. Moreover, she is
103 634/0150/0033 dated 1865.
104 747/210/177.1 and 747/210/177.2 dated 1855. Other contributions were salaries for time-keepers
(muvakkit) at Fatih Sultan Mehmed's mausoleum and two librarians to keep books at the Darüssade Ağası
Mehmed Ağa Mosque, at Perşembe Pazarı.
105 VGM, Ankara 747 210 177.1 "mütevelli nasb ve tayin olunan eşraf -ı kudatdan mekremetlü Hasan
Şükri Efendi ibn -i 'Ali mahzarında"
106Although there was a distinct group of ulema (Muslim theologians) and Bab-ı Ali officials, the
distinction was not always clear-cut. For example, Ahmet Cevdet Pasha (1822-1895), who wrote about
Ottoman history as an official chronicler, was an intellectual publishing important books on Ottoman
language, education and law. He was the protégé of Reşit Pasha, but had an ulema background.
107 The Çırağan Palace was reconstructed in 1836 by Sultan Mahmud II and thereafter became the
residential and administrative building of the Ottoman dynasty. In 1855 the Dolmabahçe Palace was
constructed. Sultan Abdülmecid moved the residency there. In 1871 Abdülaziz had the Çırağan Palace
reconstructed in stone and marble. Despite its sumptuous architectural style and decorations, the palace was
rarely used as official royal offices. Deniz Esemenli, “Harem," in Türkiye Diyanet Vakfı İslâm
Ansiklopedisi, vol.16, 1997. Bezmialem's endowment deed was authenticated in the wooden Çırağan Palace
that Sultan Mahmud constructed; this was to be expected since the Dolmabahçe Palace was under
construction when she passed away. During the execution of her vakfiye Pertevniyal was living at the
Dolmabahçe Palace and the Çırağan Palace was still in its wooden form. Her vakfiye's execution at the
Çırağan Palace indicates that the palace still continued to be used as dynastic office.
47
portrayed as more pious and conservative than Bezmialem. Again, for the sake of the
system’s survival, practicality prevailed.108 As mentioned earlier, when Pertevniyal, as a
kadın efendi, donated 15,000 guruş in 1855, the cash money would earn interest (istirbah
ve istiglal) and the accrued revenue would be added to the revenue of her endowment.
The text also underlines that this practice was in accordance with the Islamic canonical
law, the sharia.109 The original vakfiye requires that the money accrue interest until the
time of acquiring revenue-generating property.110 Zeyl 3, which reveals an additional
donation of 100,000 guruş to the Yahya Efendi and Cafer Efendi mosques again
envisages interest earnings.111
III. THE SIMILARITIES AND DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE TWO
VAKFIYES
This section explores the similarities and differences between Bezmialem and
Pertevniyal’s endowment deeds in order to better assess their personal input and voice in
their philanthropic activities. Some common elements were part of the formulaic practice.
Both deeds comply with the traditional layout. Each vakfiye starts with the handwriting of
the sultan urging the proper execution of the deed and refraining from contradicting with
its general rules. Although a short statement, a whole page is devoted to this handwriting
108 Neşet Çağatay, “Osmanlı İmparatorluğunda Riba-Faiz Konusu, Para Vakıfları ve Bankacılık,” (Riba and
Interest Concept and Banking in the Ottoman Empire) Vakıflar Dergisi, vol.9, 1971, 39-56. The author
reveals that the interest rate existed since the beginning of the Ottoman Empire in different forms, but
starting the mid nineteenth century it was officially legalized. See also Ahmet Akgündüz, İslâm Hukukunda
ve Osmanlı Tatbikatında Vakıf Müessesesi (Ankara: Türk Tarih Kurumu Yayınları, VII. Dizi, Sa. 97,
1988), 151-167. The author explains that in the sixteenth century Şeyhülislam Ebusuud defined the
maximum interest rate (the term used in the text is kâr nisbeti instead of faiz) as fifteenth percent (or onu 11
buçuk hesabı). Reşat Kasaba discloses that although there were conjectural and regional variations, the
informal credit market operated on the basis of 20 percent to 25 percent per annum throughout the Ottoman
Empire during the third quarter of the nineteenth century. Reşat Kasaba, The Ottoman Empire and the
World Economy, the Nineteenth Century, Albany: State University of New York Press, 1988, 81.
109 "onu 11 buçuk hesabı üzere ba devr -i şeri ala vech -il helâl istirbah ve istiglal olunarak hasıl olan ribh
ve gallesi evkaf -ı sabıkaları gallesine zamm ve ilâve olunub VGM 01 747 210 177.1.
110 akar iştirasına kadar kisesine 5 grş hesabı üzere istirbah VGM 634/0137/0028
111 100,000 guruş ilave kisesi 5 grş hesabı üzere istirbah, VGM 634/0145/0031
48
in the manuscript (Fig.11 and Fig. 12).112 This section is followed by a prayer section
(dua), which exalts God and His Apostle, and praises the sultan and the queen mother.
This portion takes another page, followed by the original vakfiye, which is the sole
section of the deed executed at the palace. The original vakfiye, like the ensuing zeyls,
delineates the organizational and functional objectives of its endower: how does she
intend to allocate resources, who will be responsible for the administration of the charity,
what salary will they receive, the scope of religious and social activities, and how these
should be organized and delivered. What does differentiate the original vakfiye from its
zeyls is that it outlines the general philosophy and aspirations of the benefactor. In
general, zeyls enumerate physical activities, after briefly praising the queen mother and
sometimes also the sultan. They do not have a long prologue conceptualizing the
charitable activities of the endower. The only exception to that rule is Pertevniyal’s zeyl
9, dedicated to her major project, the mosque complex in Aksaray, which I will discuss
below. Otherwise, the main conceptualization regarding the munificence, the
legitimization of power and authority take place first concisely in the prayer section and
then, in much more elaborated form, in the original vakfiye. As Amy Singer reveals,
although Ottoman royal vakfiyes were written in a highly prescriptive style, they reflect
the motivations of the endower and the mood of the period.113 In this regard the prayer
section and the original vakfiye constitute an important part in the case of Bezmialem and
Pertevniyal. However, these sections were written identical until their vakfiyes start to
enumerate their physical charitable acts. This is an important point for scholars
112 "Mucibince amel olunub hilafindan hazer ve mücanebet oluna" VGM 634/0083/0013 and
634/0137/0028.
113 Amy Singer, Constructing Ottoman Beneficience, an Imperial Soup Kitchen in Jerusalem (Albany: State
University of New York Press), 2002, 40.
49
conducting a textual analysis of endowment deeds. In how far should researchers
attribute the text to the personal aspirations of the benefactor, since both queens used
exactly the same text?
Despite the similarity of the text, scholars portray Bezmialem and Pertevniyal
quite differently: the former as intelligent, wise, considered and not interfering with her
son’s decisions. Although her son was enthroned at the age of sixteen and the queen
mother guided him in state affairs, she is described as not misusing her authority.114 On
the other hand, Pertevniyal is described as clever and intriguing, very much poweroriented,
and exerting great influence on her son’s decisions.115 Ahmed Cevdet Pasha, the
official chronicler of Ottoman history, insinuates some negative elements in both of the
queen mothers’ attitudes. Kıbrıslı Mehmed Pasha indicated to Sultan Abdülmecid that
there had been corruption in customs offices and referred her deceased mother as having
taken part in them, which naturally led to his dismissal.116 Ahmed Cevdet Pasha mentions
114 M. Hüdai Şentürk, “Bezmiâlem Vâlide Sultan,” TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi, vol.6, 1988, 108-115, M.
Çağatay Uluçay, Padişahların Kadınları ve Kızları, 6th Edition (Ankara: Ötüken Neşriyat A.Ş., 2012), 120.
Fanny Davis, The Ottoman Lady, A Social History From 1718 to 1918 (New York, Wesport Conn.,
London: Greenwood Press, 1986), Despite a generally positive coverage, the author mentions once Kıbrıslı
Mehmed Pasha's contending with the corruption of Abdülmecid's valide, [p.177]. Yet, this fact was not
presented as an issue, whereas Pertevniyal was portrayed as an example of constant, narrow-minded
interference in affairs of state. The author held the valide responsible for the financial chaos of the empire
at the end of her son's reign, [p.11-12] ). Charles White, Three Years in Constantinople; or Domestic
Manners of the Turks in 1844 (London: H. Colborn, 1845), Nuran Yıldırım, Gureba Hastahanesi'nden
Bezmiâlem Vakıf Üniversitesine (Istanbul: Bezmiâlem Vakıf Üniversitesi, 2013), Kenan Göçer, Sosyo-
Ekonomik Yönleriyle Bezm-i Alem Sultan Vakıf Gureba Hastahanesi, PhD diss., Marmara Üniversitesi,
2012, Muammer Demirel, "Bezmiâlem Valide Sultan School: Darülmaârif," Middle Eastern Studies, 45:3,
11 June 2009, 507-516, Arzu Terzi, Bezmiâlem Valide Sultan (Istanbul: Timaş Yayınları, 2018), 251.
115 Ali Akyıldız, “Pertevniyâl Vâlide Sultan,” TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi, vol. 34, 2007, 239-241, Necdet
Sakaoğlu, , “Pertevniyâl Vâlide Sultan,” Dünden Bugüne Istanbul Ansiklopedisi, vol.6, 245, M. Çağatay
Uluçay, ibid., 124-126. Fanny Davis,ibid., (Compared to Bezmialem, the author's comments on Pertevniyal
are harsher). Davison is more objective; without giving further comments he quotes the primary sources,
Roderic H. Davison, Reform in the Ottoman Empire, 1856-1876 (Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton
University Press, 1963), 279-282.
116 "Ve ibtidâ huzûra Kıbrıslı girüp, gümrüğe dâir bahs açıldıkça, Kıbrıslı: "Merhûme Vâlide Sultan,
bundan dahi irtikâb etmiş" demekle, Hünkâr münfa'il ve müteessir olup hemen Fuad Pasha'yı da'vet
etdirmiş..."Bu herif benim ölmiş vâlidemden ne istiyor. Anı irtikâb ile itham ediyor" deyü buyurmuş."
Ahmet Cevdet Pasha, Ma'rûzât, translated by Yusuf Halaçoğlu, Istanbul: Çağrı Yayınları, 1980, 16-17.
50
several times the harem’s conspicuous consumption under Bezmialem.117 He does not
directly mention the queen mother, but refers to harem women in general. The valide
sultan, as the topmost authority of the harem, naturally received her share of criticism in
this statement. He nonetheless reveals that—as an observation and maybe as mitigation
of his criticism—after the queen mother’s death no one could control the harem women.
Their excessive spending increased even further, and they became involved in various
scandalous acts (anın vefatından sonra artık karılar zapt olunamaz oldu ve yapmadıkları
rezalet kalmadı).118 About Pertevniyal he reveals her prominent role and interference in
state affairs. High officials of the period had to offer gifts to her. He never failed to send a
copy of his books to her.119 Despite different character portrayals, the same
conceptualization of themselves and their acts in their vakfiyes limits scholars wishing to
attribute their active voices to the text. From the stock of sample-texts, the queen mother
could choose one or combine several together. In such choices some bureaucrats, but
especially their kethüdas, must have played a crucial role.
It is worth mentioning here that both queen mothers employed the same kethüda:
initially, Bezmialem employed Mehmed Tahir Bey for over a decade, from the original
endowment deed until Zeyl 13, which is dedicated to her valide mektebi. Then, in her last
years, for the last two zeyls Hüseyin Hasib Bey replaced him. He continued to serve the
next queen mother, Pertevniyal, for almost a decade, until Zeyl 9, allocated to her
Aksaray Mosque. Pertevniyal’s original vakfiye refers to the deceased (merhum)
Mehmed Tahir Bey and presents Hüseyin Hasib Bey as the son of the former kethüda
117 Ahmet Cevdet Pasha, Tezâkir, 3rd Edition, Türk Tarih Kurumu Yayınları II.Dizi.Sa.17 2 (Ankara: Türk
Tarih Kurumu Yayınları, 1991), Vol.2, 3, 36, 54, 60, 65, 87, 131, 142, 143.
118 Ibid., 131.
119 Ahmet Cevdet Pasha, Tezâkir, 3rd Edition, Türk Tarih Kurumu Yayınları II.Dizi.Sa.17 2. (Ankara: Türk
Tarih Kurumu Yayınları, 1991), Vol.4, 91, 121, 123, 126.
51
(necl-il merhum Mehmed Tahir Pasha). The prayer section and the original vakfiye were
written in the initial years of their tenure as queen mother. During these years of
consolidating their power and authority along with the sultan, they may have opted to
follow a prescriptive, traditional text.
Against this formulaic background there are other signs in the text pointing to the
gradual increase of their voice and power. One is the gradual employment of the first
person instead of the third person; the other is the attribution of various adjectives in
defining the queen mothers in the text. The passage to the first person is much quicker in
the case of Pertevniyal, when compared to Bezmialem. The latter employs the term “my
endowment deed” (evkaf-ı mezkurem) or “I who succeeded in registering my valuable
endowment deed” (tesciline muvaffaka olduğum evkaf-ı şerifem) only in her zeyl 13 dated
1851, which is mainly about the establishment of her schools. This happened more than a
decade after she started her original vakfiye and only two years before her death. This
shift occurs during the last years of her reign. Since her last zeyl, 14, contains just a list of
bequeathed books, zeyl 13 is the last supplement with a text expressing her self-image.
The same change happened much more quickly in Pertevniyal’s vakfiye. Her original
vakfiye, which was identical to that of Bezmialem, employs the third-person narrative.
Two months later, her first supplement starts using the third person, but later in the text
switches to the first person, particularly when referring to the revenues and expenses of
the deed. Phrases such as “the rent -whether it is icare-i vahide or icareteyn- should be
added to the revenue of my previous endowment deed” or “such an amount should be
granted from the revenue of my mentioned endowment deed”120 occur often, reminding
120 VGM 634/0141/0029 "icare-i vahide ve yahud icareteyn-i misliteyn ile talibine icar olunub icarat-ı
evkaf-ı sabıkam gallatına zamm ve ilave oluna" or "evkaf-ı mezkurem gallatından senevi ...guruş virile."
52
the audience who is ultimately in control. The assertiveness of the first person gradually
takes a more prominent place in the text.121 Starting with her zeyl 4, by the end of the year
1864, instead of any other high-ranking officer, it is the queen mother who becomes the
prime narrator of the text from its very beginning: “based on the fact that I hold in my
exalted hands the power of amendment, alteration, augmentation and propagation of my
preceding endowment deed, this time my above mentioned pious deed.” 122 This deed
provides money and necessary equipment for the recitation/chanting of the poem written
by Süleyman Çelebi about the birth of the Prophet Muhammad (mevlud), in all eight
major military barracks of Istanbul. Such a philanthropic project may have been of her
own desire, perhaps against the will of Fuad and Ali Pashas, the major statesmen under
Abdülaziz, until the year 1871.123 Her assertiveness may have been a reply to such
criticism, and this attitude continues in the following supplements.
With the increasingly dominant narrative of the queen mother, her honorific titles
also became more fanciful and variegated. The choice of titles were from a stock of
adjectives for the queen mother as Lucienne Thys Şenocak and Leslie Peirce explain.124
These two queen mothers’ prayer and original vakfiye sections largely derive from that
traditional mold. During the funeral of Sultan Süleyman’s mother Hafsa Sultan, the royal
Like in this example, the pious deed applies a rather flexible policy about the rent and leaves it up to the
administrators of the deed to choose whatever policy is more advantageous as revenue generator.
121 The only exception to that rule is Zeyl 3 or 634/0145/0031, since chronologically all the previous zeyls
and even the original vakfiye as mentioned earlier.
122 VGM 634/0147/0032.1 "evkaf -ı sabıkamın tebdil ve tagyir ve teksir ve tevfirini yed -i meşiyyet -i
aliyyemde ibka eylediğime binaen bu defa evkaf -ı mezkuremin" (based on the fact that I hold in my
exalted hands the power of amendment, alteration, augmentation and propagation of my preceding
endowment deed, this time my above mentioned pious deed).
123 Two years later, in her Zeyl 6, she rescinded that will, stating that many soldiers were not in their
barracks due to their responsibilities and wars. She then distributed the equipment to the mosques near
these military barracks.
124 Lucienne Thys-Şenocak, Ottoman Women Builders: The Architectural Patronage of Hadice Turhan
Sultan (Aldershot, England; Burlington, VT: Ashgate, 2007), 74-75; Leslie P. Peirce, The Imperial Harem:
Women and Sovereigny in the Ottoman Empire (New York: Oxford University Press, 1993), 187.
53
chancellor Celalzade Mustafa honored the deceased with a long series of praises: she is
the most exalted Muslim woman, likened to the Prophet’s first wife Khadija, his daughter
Fatima, and his favorite wife ‘A’isha.125 The same parallels were drawn in Bezmialem’s
and Pertevniyal’s pious deeds. Even though Hürrem, Süleyman’s wife, provided a
precedent for the title of queen mother, it was Nurbanu Sultan, Murad III’s mother, who
first earned the title of valide sultan, and joined the ranks of the most exalted officials of
the empire.126 In the prayer section both deeds indicate the queen mothers’ status as the
mother of the leader of believers and imam of Muslims (ümm-ü emir-i müminin and imam
il-muvahidin). With this lineage, they become the mother of the entire Muslim
community. The formal titles granted in the sixteenth century are also repeated in the
nineteenth-century deeds, sometimes with minor modifications: “the great cradle of the
sultanate,” (mehd-i ulya-yı saltanat) or “the mother of pearl of the chastity” (dürre-i tac-ı
iffet).127 Similar series of exalting titles are used in various forms: “the ore of purity”
(maden-i gevher-i ismet), “the shining sun of the state” (mihr-i münir-i devlet), “the
adorning source of purity/decency of the crown” (mesned ara-yı erike-i nezahat),
“illustrious/excellent” (devletlu), “doer of pious deeds” (‘inayetlu or cezilet il-hasenat).
As I will discuss below, the contribution to various Sufi convents is a common
element in both vakfiyes. Gülrü Necipoğlu explains that such Sufi inclinations were
common among harem women.128 Both Hürrem Sultan and Nurbanu Sultan sponsored
dervish convents, thus displaying their Sufi piety, even though such structures were
downplayed by Süleyman or Murad due to their support of centralized orthodox Sunni
125 Ibid.
126 Ibid., 188.
127 previously dürre-i tac-ı saltanat
128 Gülrü Necipoğlu, The Age of Sinan: Architectural Culture in the Ottoman Empire, (Princeton: Princeton
University Press), 268-292.
54
religion, in favor of the ulema and in lieu of Sufi dervishes. Yet, in her mosque complex
Nurbanu Sultan honored mainly the contemporaneous Halveti sheik.129 Unlike her, the
two nineteenth-century valide sultans donated money to various Sufi sects, such as the
Nakşibendi, Halveti, Sünbüli, Şazeli, Mevlevi and Kalenderi, although they both seem to
favor the Nakşibendi Yahya Efendi Türbesi in Beşiktaş, Istanbul. As a reflection of their
Sufi tendencies, another attribution is used for describing these queen mothers: besides
the Prophet Muhammed’s wives and daughter, they are likened to the first female Sufi
saint Rabi’a Basri (rabiat üd-devran).130 Bezmialem remains more or less within this
framework. On the other hand, Pertevniyal diversified her titles to a great extent, in
parallel with the strong first-person narration. Zeyl 7, among other titles, describes her
brilliant ever-expanding abode of compassion (revnak efza-yı kaşane-i şefkat). Instead of
dürre-i tac-ı iffet, she is called dürre-i yekdane-i tac-ı iffet, emphasizing her uniqueness
in this sense. Again maden-i gevher-i ismet turns into maden-i mümtaze-i gevher-i ismet,
underlining her preeminent/distinguished character as ore of purity.131 The culmination of
various adjectives reaches its peak in 1872 in zeyl 9, which concerns the Aksaray Mosque
Complex. There she calls herself ümm-ül kitab-ı din ve devlet, the mother of state and
religious affairs.132 As pointed out earlier, in the prayer section the queen mothers are
called the mother of current imam of Muslims. In this appellation, indirectly and through
the agency of their son they become the mother of all believers. The new label is more
129 Pınar Kayaalp-Aktan, “The Atik Valide Mosque complex: A Testament of Nurbanu's Prestige, Power
and Piety,” PhD diss., Harvard University, 2005, 153-154.
130 Pınar Kayaalp-Aktan, “Rabi'a al-Adawiyya, in Muhammad in History, Thought, and Culture: An
Encyclopedia of the Prophet of God,” edited by Coeli Fitzpatrick and Adam Hani Walker, Santa Barbara,
CA, Denver, CO, Oxford, England: ABC-CLIO, 2014, vol. 2, 511–12. She was a Sufi philospher who
introduced the element of love, which changed ascetism into mysticism. She formulated an ideal love of
Allah that was disinterested without hope for paradise or fear for hell.
https://www.britannica.com/topic/Sufism, accessed 2 November 2017.
131 VGM 634/0156/0035
132 VGM 634/0161/0037
55
assertive and reveals a quite forceful personality; the queen mother directly, without the
recourse to any other agency, becomes the symbolic mother to the entire Muslim
community. The audience for such an acclamation consisted not only of Muslim citizens,
but also the palace circle as well as the clerks and high officers of the Bab-ı Ali. The year
1871 marked the gradual end of the Tanzimat era after the death of first Fuad Pasha and
then Ali Pasha. They both dominated the Porte in the 1860s, trying to end the absolute
rule of the sultan and his governors and to enforce the rule of law. The historian Lütfî
wrote: “The Tanzimat was a decree that came to erase the old absolute ways.”133 There
was also the gradual shift of power from the locus of the palace to the Porte. Following
the death of Ali Pasha, Mahmud Nedim Pasha was appointed grand vizier of the Ottoman
Empire for the first time in September 1871. In his appointment the role of Pertevniyal
Valide Sultan was substantial.134 Almost a decade before he became grand vizier,
Mahmud Nedim wrote a treatise in which he criticized the Tanzimat and advocated for an
all-powerful ruler, instead of bureaucrats usurping power. Nedim blamed much of the
state’s decline on incompetent, extravagant and corrupt bureaucrats. Moreover, according
to him, one of the main tenets of the Tanzimat, the equality among citizens,
133 "Tanzimat usûlu atîka-yı istibdâdiyeyi imhâ içün bir kanûn idi," Ahmed Lütfi, Târih-i Lütfî (Istanbul,
A.H. 1290-1328), vol.6:107, quoted in Butrus Abu-Manneh, "The Sultan and the Bureaucracy: The Anti-
Tanzimat Concepts of Grand Vizier Mahmud Nedim Pasa," International Journal of Middle East Studies,
vol.22, no.3 (Aug. 1990): 257-274.
134 Enver Ziya Karal. Osmanlı Tarihi, vol. VII (Ankara: Türk Tarih Kurumu Basımevi, 1977), 123; Ali
Akyıldız, "Mahmud Nedim Pasha,” in Türk Diyânet Vakfı İslâm Ansiklopedisi, vol.27, Istanbul, 2003, 374-
376; Ibnülemin Mahmud Kemal İnal, Son Sadrazamlar, 3rd Edition (Istanbul: Dergâh Yayınları, 1982),
vol.1, 259-315. Ibnülemin does not directly reveal the queen mother’s involvement in his appointment,
although he points out that he was the one warning her about the possible plot to dethrone her son in 1876.
Scholars portray Nedim Pasha unfavorably. As a reckless and incompetent vizier⎯unlike his predecessors
he did not know any foreign language and did not travel outside of the empire⎯he incited more chaos and
corruption in the Ottoman administration. Instead of giving an unfavorable opinion, Abu-Manneh analyses
his conservative upbringing: his father belonged to the conservative Nakşibendi-Halidi suborder. Like his
father Gürcü Necib, he believed in orthodox Islam. Religious zealots who conspired to get rid of Sultan
Abdülmecid together with his ministers Ali and Fuad in 1859, belonged to this religious order. Nedim's
family ties therefore were enough to disqualify him for any high position until the death of Ali Pasha.
56
overshadowed the sultan’s traditional and primal function as the head of the Muslim
community. In Nedim Pasha’s eyes that sultanic role was of utmost importance since it
created a bond among Muslim believers. The primordial duty of the believers was to
obey the sultan.135 This shift in the administration might have given an opportunity to
Pertevniyal Sultan to expand her own power in the Ottoman rule. Moreover, the Ottoman
dynasty’s legitimization first and foremost among its Muslim subjects was in line with
Nedim Pasha’s opinion.
THE COMMON TEXT IN PRAYER SECTIONS AND ORIGINAL VAKFIYES
Although they were two different queen mothers with different public images and
agendas, their initial formulation of their charity acts together with the legitimization of
the Ottoman dynasty and their public image were narrated the same way.136 The prayer
section is the concise version of the preface of the first/original vakfiye. It starts with an
expression of gratitude to God for enabling (them) to create the deed of trust, and invokes
God’s beloved man (habibihi) Prophet Muhammed, his Rightly Guided Caliphs (hulefair
raşidin) and the Muslim grandees who helped to build Islam.137 The Rightly Guided
Caliphs excelled in worldly and religious affairs (nezaret-i umur id-dünya ve’d din). Then
with the catch-phrase amma ba’d (now as to our subject),138 the text addresses the
benefactor of the trust. Her bountiful character and generosity are likened to those of the
135 Butrus Abu-Manneh, ibid.
136 VGM 634/0083/13 and 634/0137/0028
137 The Righly Guided Caliphs were the first four successors of Prophet: Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthman and
Ali. Shia Muslims favor Ali over the first three caliphs since he was from the same clan as the Prophet., the
Hashimis.
138 The clause by which a writer, after pious ascriptions, ordinarily introduces his subject. Redhouse
Dictionary, Turkish/Ottoman-English, Istanbul: Sev Yayıncılık Eğitim ve Ticaret A.Ş. 20th ed, 2014.
Following religious explanations and Qur’anic quotations, whenever the text passes to the endowment deed
or the benefactor of the trust, it uses "amma ba'd" to indicate this transition. Besides the prayer section, the
prologue of the first endowment deed, and Pertevniyal's Zeyl 9, which was an exception to the rule, all
employ the same catch-phrase to indicate this transition.
57
wives of the Prophet Muhammad, the great Khadija (Khadija el kübra) and the just
‘A’isha (‘adl-i ‘A’isha). The former was the first wife and first follower of his
preachings. She is commonly regarded by Muslims as “the mother of Muslims.” On the
other hand, ‘A’isha, a very influential figure during and after the death of the Prophet, has
a high status only among Sunni Muslims since Shia Muslims accused her of defying Ali
during his caliphate. Then the text legitimizes the valide sultan’s status as the mother of
the current caliph, who is the leader (emir and imam) of Muslims. He has generations of
sultanic lineage (hüve sultan ibn-i sultan-i sultan) whose origin goes back to an exalted
tribe (kadd-i refi). Finally the text reveals the reason behind the endowment: the current
trust (sadakat il-cariyetihi) and its fascicles (eczaha) are to gain favor in this world and
afterlife (fi’d dareyn).
The prologue of the first (original) vakfiye starts with the building of an
unmatched (bi kıyas), pure and pleasant (zülal-i hoşgüvar). Indeed, both Bezmialem and
Pertevniyal first built fountains after becoming queen mothers: the former in Maçka, and
the latter in Aksaray.139 The text gives a more detailed description of these fountains after
the prologue, when it enumerates the charity act itself. The fountain is the fine expression
of glorifying God and pronouncing his unity (lataif-i teksir ve tehlil ve tevhid). After
mentioning His Majesty and Dominion, the text cites several verses from the Qur’an
about the creation of mankind, which was the last and best of creatures: ‘We have indeed
139 Bezmialem briefly identifies the fountain as stone and brick masonry, splendid and big (kargir su
hazinelu nursim bir kıta kebir çeşme). 634/0083/0013. Apart from featuring similar masonry, Pertevniyal's
deed describes it as having four facades, each corner having a fountain with free water distribution (sebil).
Its facade is of marble with fine decorations (seng-i mermerden musanna'). It identifies its style as new
fashion (nev resm). It is located on Aksaray Avenue, at the Kâtib Câmi', in the middle of a four-way
crossroads (Aksaray Caddesinde Katib Cami-i şerifi nezdinde dörtyol nam mahallin vasatında). Together
with this fountain the deed discloses that the construction of the clockroom has also been decided (Aksaray
caddesinde kain çeşme-i mezkure ile inşası musammem olan muvakkithane). This fact reveals that
Pertevniyal envisioned the Aksaray Mosque Complex project almost a decade prior to its construction.
VGM 634/0137/0028
58
honored the Children of Adam and We have favored them above many We have created.'’
Then for the sake of public order and security on the earth (mamure-i arzın asayiş ve
istirahatleri içün) the Lord said to the angels ‘I am placing a vicegerent upon the earth.'’
The verse chosen from the Qur’an uses the word caliph as vicegerent to resonate better
his raison d’être, his qualifications, as well as the obligations of his subjects. This time
the word caliph refers to the Prophet Muhammed, as representative of God on earth. God
created some people with a perfect nature for higher positions and required others to obey
them and their rule (emr-i vacib ül-imtisali ile itaat ve inkiyadlarını farz). In this manner
the Prophet could establish, strenghten and eternalize Islam. ‘He did not speak out of
caprice”’ indeed ‘he saw the greatest of the signs of his Lord.'’ The deed of trust is
dedicated to him,140 to the distinguished caliphs (hulefa-i güzin) and the Prophet’s
lineage. The above lines easily establish parallels between the first and the current caliph
in the eyes of the contemporaneous audience. People are different from each other, and
some are chosen by God as caliphs because of their outstanding qualities. The duty of
their subjects is to obey them in order to create a safe and secure world.
Following the catch-phrase amma ba’d, the text returns to the generous,
munificent queen mother. She is another selected person of her time (nuhbet üz-zaman),
likened to the Sufi saint Rabi’a Basri (rabiat üd-devran). The rest of the text concerns the
technicalities of the foundation: the signatories of the document, the venue of
authentication, the bequeathed properties and cash money, the organization of the
foundation and the list of pious acts that the queen mother undertakes. The final lines are
again the same: as customary, their vakfiyes end with cursing those who do not comply
140 Literally the dedication is to his pure and fragrant tomb (ravza-i mutahhara ve muattara). Beauty is
often defined as sweet-smelling scents.
59
with the requirements of the deed of trust. “And whoso changeth (the will) after he hath
heard it-the sin thereof is only upon those who change it. Lo, Allah is Hearer,
Knower.”.141 To sum up, if the prescribed text fits their agenda, then the queen mothers,
at least initially during their tenure, applied it entirely to their trust.
THE PERSONAL VOICE OF THE QUEEN MOTHER
This attitude is entirely reversed in Pertevniyal’s Zeyl 9, dated 15 Şevval 1289 (16 Dec.
1872). which discusses the Aksaray Mosque Complex.142 This zeyl is different from other
supplements. Traditionally, at least in the case of Bezmialem and Pertevniyal, following
a brief exaltation of the sultan and queen mother, a zeyl gives details of bequeathed assets
and charitable acts; however, this codicil has a longue prologue adorned with several
quotations from the Qur’an. In this way it does not only differentiate from other zeyls, it
also imitates the original vakfiye. Its decoration also looks like the original vakfiye rather
than a zeyl, which I will explain below. With fifty folios, it is the longest one among the
zeyls and vakfiyes of the two queen mothers. The text in this section must be original
since it is entirely tailored to the main charitable acts of the Aksaray Mosque with its two
schools, the sıbyan mektebi (the primary school) and the rüşdiye (the secondary school),
as well as its fountain.143 Vakfiyes employ a rather sophisticated and flowery language
with rich metaphors. They often pay attention to the rhyming at the end of sentences.144
Yet, the ornate style of this zeyl excels, even overshadows the narration of the original
141 Al-Baqarah, 2:181
142 VGM 634/0161/0037.
143 It has 50 folios instead of an average of 15-20 folios. Bahar Bilgin Uşar, who wrote an excellent MA
thesis on the Aksaray Mosque, elaborates on this section. She points out its difference from other zeyls, but
does not reveal its resemblance to the original text. She also considers the rüşdiye as a high school, whereas
it was envisaged as a secondary school in the endowment deed. Lastly, she indicates page numbers as folio
numbers. Bahar Bilgin Uşar, “The Aksaray Pertevniyal Valide Sultan Mosque Complex: Reflections on the
Patronage of a Nineteenth Century Valide Sultan,” MA thesis, Koc University, Istanbul, 2016.
144 For example in this zeyl the narration starts with three rhymes, each sentence ending with the words
madud, mahdud, mahmud.
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vakfiye. Following the invocation of God and his Apostle, the text reveals the everlasting
miracle of creation and the privileged status given to humankind. All along the text the
carefully chosen words concerning divine acts remind the reader of the pious acts the
queen mother is undertaking, as if these are the earthly reflections of the divine world.
The exceptional character of God’s creation of the universe is depicted as “everlasting
quality of deeds” (asar-ı sıfat-ı sermediyye). In vakfiyes this phrase is traditionally used in
describing the benefactor’s everlasting pious deeds, since endowments meant to last
forever, eternalizing the donor’s name. God’s creation of human beings was a privileged
act, as explained in sura al-Tïn: “Surely we created men of the best stature.”145 They are
treated with great respect and honor (tebcil ve tekrim eyledi).
The marvels of God’s creation are described in ways reminding the audience of
the charitable acts achieved in the Aksaray Mosque Complex, such as the two schools
and the fountain. For the former, the text employs three different nouns to describe it:
dershane, debistan and medarise: “For the perception and understanding of the shining
glances of God (barik-i nigahan-ı fehm u idrake), skies of a domed classroom (dershane-i
kubeb-i eflak), containing the twelve constellations (düvazdeh hucerat-i buruc), and the
seven-layered school of earth (debistan-i heft tabakat-ı hakı) were created, so that a
virtuous individual (could discern) divine knowledges (medarise-i ulum-ı marifeti).”146
Concerning the fountain, the text dedicates a paragraph about its utmost beneficence to
human beings. The fountain of knowledge/generosity gives life through abundant rainproviding
clouds (suhub-ı midrar-ı namiyye olan sebil-i avarif) as their profuse waters
save the thirsty ones, whose liver has been scorched by fire (attaş-ı mahruk-ül ekbadı
145 "lekad halakna'l insan fi ahsen-i takvim" Al-Tîn, 95:4.
146 "barik-i nigahan-ı fehm u idrake medarise-i ulum-ı marifet-i zat-ı pak içün düvazdeh hucerat-ı burucu
müştemil dershane-i kubeb-i eflak ve debistan-i heft tabakat-ı hakı icad ve inşa"
61
irva eyledi). A similar idiom is still in use in current Turkish, expressing high
appreciation for quenching thirst.147 The next metaphor stresses further the generosity of
the fountain by likening its water to the water of life (ma-ül hayat) which could refresh
those with a scorched heart (leban-ı mahrur-ul fuadı iska eyledi).148 All these metaphors
emphasize the extensive and highly appreciated benevolence of quenching people’s
thirst. Compared to the first vakfiyes of both queen mothers, which mention the building
of fountains as their initial charitable act, the difference in language and description in
this zeyl is striking. As explained earlier, these original vakfiyes employed a rather simple
language, such as “pure/pleasant” or “unmatched” fountain. The purpose of the fountain
was described less literally, and more in practical terms, as serving Muslims and the
public.149
The following section in the Pertevniyal’s Zeyl 9 perceives the earth, with all its
endowments, as the vakıf of God. For its management the Lord appointed the servants of
the universe (hademe-i kainat): ulema (religious scholars) to run it according to the
illustrious religious laws (sharia-yı garrasında tevliyet) and the caliphs (hulefa) to
supervise them (nezaret). Such analogies also justify the worldly hierarchy. As
conventional in vakfiyes, all the endowments are dedicated to the exceptional personality
of the Prophet Muhammad, the first caliph, or vice-regent of God. He is the only refuge
147 The similar expression is: "to give water to people with burning lung or liver." "Ciğeri yanmışa su
vermek." Ciğer could be understood as lung (akciğer) or karaciğer (liver) although traditionally it is
understood as the former. Today the old adage "su gibi aziz olasın" (be blessed / beloved as water) still
indicates the importance of water in our daily lives.
148 A heart will be scorched by love, especially divine love.
149 "gerek ol civarda mukim Müslimin ve gerek umumen nas müntefi olmaları içün," Bezmialem VGM
634/0083/0013
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to protect human beings from the evil deeds of the world. The quotation from the Qur’an
reinforces this explanation: “We sent thee not save as a mercy for the peoples.”150
With the catchphrase amma ba’d the subject turns to the queen mother. A long
narration first reveals that all human beings descend from Adam’s lineage. Besides
Adam, the text also emphasizes the pure and special womb of Eve (meşime-i hassa-i
rahm-i Havva’dan) in the creation of human beings. This is a powerful addition
reminding the audience of a similar quality of the valide sultan: “the great cradle of the
sultanate.” Then the narration justifies the hierarchy among human beings, since God
created some people with golden and others with silver skills, as the Prophet’s saying
illustrates this fact.151 Some people barely have any daily substance,152 whereas others are
bestowed with wealth and power.153 This insinuates that all these situations are by divine
design. Some waste in vain their efforts with perverse thoughts, and envy high position,
and wealth,154 whereas others seek refuge in patience and endurance,155 and thus gain
God’s favor and earn the highest place in Paradise.156 Some with immense property (mâlı
bîgiran) are conceited (nahvetfüruş) about their high position and wealth, and refrain
from giving alms (sadakat) and pious deeds (hasenat) since they are deceived by the
meaningless trappings of the world (zeharif-i dünya). Those people will encounter
calamities (binihaye mesâib) and grief (enduh ve keder), and they will be tormented in
the other world.157 As opposed to these people, others under the divine guidance (tevfik-i
150 al-Anbiya 21:107
151 "ennas-ı maadinun kemaadin-iz zeheb ve'l fizza hadis-i şerifinin mefadı üzere"
152 " vah ü vah ile bıdâat-i müczat-i kut-i yekruzeye muhtac"
153 "kamkar-izz-ü ala-yı taht ü tac etmişdir"
154 "fakr-ü fukaradan dahi kimi yed-i uulya-yı ashab-ı izz-ü cahe dürdan hasretle nigah ve nice efkar-ı
faside-i hakd ve hased birle beyhude amalin tebah idüb"
155 "kimisi itisam-ı urve-i sabr u kanaat ile"
156 " dar-ı mükafat-ı ukbada ala-yı guref-i illiyyini kendüye cilvegah itmişdir"
157 " yevm-i ukbada esir-i şikence-i çarmıh azab ve hisab olur "
63
İlahi), will comprehend the ephemeral nature of this world158 and they will sacrifice their
property in God’s way to gain the highest ranks in the next world. These lines are new to
the endowment deed. As outlined above, the original prescriptive vakfiye in the case of
Bezmialem and Pertevniyal does not have a similar narration. This distinctive part does
polish further the public image of the valide sultan, who has a deep grasp of spiritual
guidance. She is not beguiled by the attractions of the transient world. Instead of using
her property for fleeting power and wealth, she is ready to spend it for pious deeds, as
evidenced by the Aksaray Mosque Complex. Moreover, she reprimands those who
mistakenly exploit their high position and wealth for worldly attractions. This section
must have been a response to her opponents, since the power struggle between her and
the Tanzimat supporters took a fierce turn following the death of Ali Pasha and the
appointment of Nedim Pasha as explained above. The zeyl, written in 1872, corresponds
to this era. The narration reiterates in a flowery language the wisdom of her choice. It
strengthens her position with a quotation from the Qur’an: “good deeds annul ill
deeds.”159 Her pious deeds (asar-ı mebrure) and laudable acts (mesai-i meşkure) will be
an opportunity for her salvation (vesile-i fevz ü necat), as explained in the Qur’an:
The likeness of those who spent their wealth in Allah’s way is as the likeness of a
grain which groweth seven ears, in each ear a hundred grains. Allah giveth
increase manifold to whom He will. Allah is All-Embracing, All-Knowing.160
She is the mother of Abdülaziz Han, who has a well-established sultanic progeny.161 He
is the jewel of pulpits (hilye-il menabir), possessor of excellent and glorious acts (celail-il
158 "'alem-i fenafercam ca-yı beka ve devam ve meva-yı karar ve aram olmayub "
159 Hud, 11:114.
160 Al-Baqarah, 2:261, Mohammed Marmaduke Pickthall, The Meaning of the Glorious Koran, New York
and Scarborough, Ontario: Mentor Book, 1930, 58. Even though they mean the same, I preferred this
translation over the one in The Study Qur’an, A New Translation and Commentary, ed. Seyyed Hossein
Nasr, New York: Harper One, 2015, 114. “The parable of those who spend their wealth in the way of God
is that of a grain that grows seven ears, in every ear a hundred grains. And God multiplies for whomsoever
He will, and God is All-Encompassing, Knowing.”
64
mesai ve measir). Then the text enumerates Pertevniyal’s glorious adjectives, adding
already cited ones in the original vakfiye or zeyls: “she is the mother of religion and state”
(ümmü’l kitab-ı din ve devlet), “the honored lights of trusteeship” (mazhar-ı envar-ı
velayet), and “the ore/treasure of the secrets of purity” (maden-i esrar-i nezahet). “Her
clemency and compassion for the poor and destitute are obvious, her philanthropy
includes everyone and is well-known to everyone” (fukara ve zuafaya umum-ı refet ve
merhametleri cari ve hayr u hasenatları cümleye şamil ve sari olan). After the honorific
titles, the text discloses once again her desire for salvation in the Other World: “I have
built a mosque for Allah to give consent to bestow me a mansion in Heaven.”162 The rest
of the zeyl describes her charitable acts at the Aksaray Mosque Complex.
CONVEYING THE IMAGE OF PIOUS VALIDE SULTAN AND THE IMPORTANCE
OF RECITATIONS
The vakfiyes of Bezmialem and Pertevniyal clearly reveal their pious image. To this end,
both valide sultans pursued a similar pattern: different types of donations in return for
prayers mentioning their name, the name of their son and sometimes their deceased
husband. The sacred venues for such contributions would be the Ebu Eyüb el- Ensari
Mosque,163 places in the holiest Muslim cities of Mecca and Medina, and various Sufi
convents. For both queen mothers, Qur’anic recitations and prayers constituted the most
frequently cited charitable acts. Yet, in the literature such pious acts have rarely been
161 The text repeats ibn-i sultan several times to emphasize this meaning.
162 men bena mesciden Lillahi ben Allahu lehu beyten fi'l cenneti.
163 In Arabic Abu Ayyoub al-Ansari, Eyüb was the standard bearer and friend of the Prophet Muhammed.
He died during the first Arab siege of Constantinople, and his tomb was miraculously recovered by the
Ottomans after the conquest of the city in the fifteenth century. It then became the traditional site for the
sword-girding ceremonies of the Ottoman sultans. Back then and today the site is highly venerated by
Muslims.
65
mentioned. As Ali Akyıldız reveals, scholars have rather concentrated on various
buildings that the valide sultans erected and overlooked the many employees assigned
and substantial sums of money donated to this end.164 Compared to a large-scale public
building such endowments were relatively easier to undertake. More importantly, as Nina
Ergin has revealed, the soundscape occupied an important place in the Ottoman world.165
Acoustic methods of communication often meant hegemony and sovereignty. The call to
prayer was not solely a time marker and unifier for the Muslim community; it also served
as a territorial marker. Ottoman Islamic jurists of the Hanefi sect defined the boundaries
of cities and towns as the outskirts from which the call to prayer could still be heard.166
By the same token, we can infer that reciting the valide sultan’s and his son’s name
during prayers reiterates their sovereignty as well as their pious character for the
audience.
Bezmialem, in 1840, shortly after becoming the queen mother, stipulated the
removal of one of the holiest relics, the hair of Prophet Mohammed’s beard, from the
Topkapı Palace to the mausoleum of Ebu Eyüb el-Ensari, on the eve of religious
holidays.167 The ceremony urges the presence of imams (the first, second and third) and
164 Ali Akyıldız, Haremin Padisahı Valide Sultan, Harem'de Hayat ve Teşkilat (Istanul: Timaş Yayınları,
2018), 20-21.
165 Nina Ergin, “The Soundscape of Sixteenth-Century Istanbul Mosques: Architecture and Qur’an
Recital,” Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians 67/2 (2008), 204-221.
166 Gülrü Necipoğlu, The Age of Sinan, 55, quoted in Nina Ergin, “The Soundscape of Sixteenth-Century
Istanbul Mosques: Architecture and Qur’an Recital,” Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians
67/2 (2008): ft27, 220; Nina Ergin, “A Sound Status Among the Ottoman Elite: Architectural Patrons of
Sixteenth-Century Istanbul Mosques and their Recitation Programs,” in Music, Sound and Architecture in
Islam, ed. Michael Frishkopf and Federico Spinetti (Austin: University of Texas Press, 2018), 37-58;
Nina Ergin, “A Multi-Sensorial Message of the Divine and the Personal: Qur’anic Inscriptions and
Recitation in Sixteenth-Century Ottoman Mosques,” Calligraphy and Architecture in the Muslim World,
Mohammad Gharipouri and Irvin C. Schick, eds., (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2013), 105-118;
Nina Ergin, “Ottoman Women’s Spaces: The Acoustic Dimension,” Journal of Women’s History 26/1
(2014): 89-111.
167 There were two official holidays in Islam, Eid Al-Fitr (in Turkish Şeker or Ramazan Bayramı) and Eid
Al-Adha (in Turkish Kurban Bayramı). The Ottoman dynasty naturally observed them.
66
all türbedars (keeper of a mausoleum). During the visit of the Muslim community, a
benediction on the Prophet Muhammad with the formula of sallallahu aleyhi ve sellem
(called tasliye) would be recited. Following this ceremony, each imam would chant
(tilavet) aşr-ı şerif (ten verses from the Qur’an). These prayers, along with previously
recited hatims (reciting the Qur’an from beginning to end) would be bestowed on the soul
of the Prophet, the twelve imams, his first wife Khadija el-kübra (the great), his daughter
Fatima ez-zehra (the beautiful/fair skinned), and all his family members and companions.
This act also included the current sultan and his predecessor without directly mentioning
their names, but interestingly it did not include the queen mother. For this service the
türbedars annually received 120 kuruş, and imams 90 kuruş.168 In 1844 Bezmialem
presented a silver chandelier and beeswax for the same mausoleum.169 She ordered the
annual purchase of 15 kıyye (or okka, about 1300 grams) beeswax to light the chandelier
during the month of Ramazan, during which all Muslims fast from dawn to sunset, and
for holy nights. Besides these above-mentioned holy times the mausoleum would be
illuminated during Fridays and Mondays. The türbedars annually received 120 kuruş for
their illumination service.
Pertevniyal’s charitable act at the Eyüb Mausoleum goes back to 1838 when she
was still a kadınefendi. Her Zeyl 2, dated 1862, discloses that she bequeathed 4,000 kuruş
for chanting the mevlud every year. Concurrently, she donated a Qur’an, a rahle (low
reading desk), and a green embroidered cover (yeşil çuka puşide). Everyday one chapter
from this Qur’an would be recited at the Eyüb Mausoleum. The zeyl specifies the details
168 VGM 634/0083/13
169 VGM 634/0107/0022.
67
of the mevlud.170 On the recital day, in the last ten days of the month (Rebi’ül-evvel
evahirinde), after the noon prayer sermon to the Muslims was required. Mevlud, Aşr-ı
Şerif and Hatm-i Şerif were part of the recitation of this special ceremony. Incense
burners with aloe wood would fill the air under the flickering lamps. At the end servants
would offer sweet drink and candy, and distribute rosewater to those attending it. The
services and salaries were described as follows:
Table No. 1: Services and Salaries at the Eyüb Mausoleum as per Pertevniyal’s Vakfiye
Function Salary
Vaiz (preacher) after the noon prayer 40 kuruş
Mevlud reciter 50 kuruş
Aşr-ı Şerif reciters 6 people 60 kuruş
Hatm-i Şerif reciter 40 kuruş
Hademat (servants) 7 people 35 kuruş
Şerbet (sweet fruit drink) and elvan şeker (colored candy) 570 kuruş
Paper to make cones for candy 25 kuruş
Öd (aloe wood as incense burner) and rosewater 25 kuruş
Charcoal for the day 20 kuruş
Alms for the poor 10 kuruş
Total 875 kuruş
Different from her predecessor, Pertevniyal envisaged a similar mevlud ceremony
at the Sultan Mehmed II’s mausoleum, this time in the first ten days of the month
(Rebiülevvel hilalinde). The two ceremonies during the month of the birth of the Prophet,
170 VGM 634/0142/0030; also AKPVSE no.3532, in Ali Akyıldız, "Müşrif, Fakat Hayırsever: Pertevniyal
Valide Sultan" Osmanlı Araştırmaları/The Journal of Ottoman Studies, XLVII, 2016, ft.71,322. (307-352)
68
one at the beginning and the other at the end, would echo each other. The two Muslim
heroes, Eyüb and Fatih, ⎯one Arab, the companion of the Prophet who was martyred
during the conquest of Constantinople, the other an Ottoman who accomplished the will
of the former by conquering the city⎯would connect the Arab and Ottoman history,
reminding the latter’s victory and contribution to the Muslim world. Thanks to this
victory the Muslims could “miraculously” identify the sacred place of Eyüb’s mausoleum
in the city. The sequential mevluds intended to link the Ottoman success to the Muslim
past, a canny move to strengthen the legitimization of the dynasty. In comparison to
Eyüb, in Fatih, the queen mother spent a much larger amount of 1,965 kuruş for a similar
ceremony. The difference stems especially from the purchase of sherbet and candy for
1,500 kuruş, almost tripling the sum spent at the Eyüb Complex. The gifts, like the
ceremony, seemed to excel at the Fatih Mosque Complex: the Qur’an had 13 gilded lines
on each page; its calligrapher was Galatalı Ali Şükri Efendi.171 The Qur’an stand had
silver and mother-of-pearl decorations with the queen mother’s name on it.172 The cover
featured gilded embroidery.
Pertevniyal’s gift-giving endeavors continued at this sacred Ottoman venue. As
Zeyl 5 reveals, in 1865 she bequeathed a mahogany clock cover, a mahogany rahle inlaid
with 828 dirhem (400th part of an okka) of silver and a mahogany case, inlaid with 1,288
and a half dirhem silver. The last gift contained the hair from the beard of the Prophet. It
was laid inside a drawer, on a chair, both made from mahogany. The chair had silver
171 Galatalı Ali Şükri Efendi hattıyla muharrer onüç satırlı altun hal ile müzehheb ve mücelled kebir bir kıta
Mushaf-ı Şerif
172 bazen sim ile masnu ve som sedef ile müzeyyen ve üzerinde ism-i sâmiyeleri muharrer bir kıta rahle
VGM 634/0142/0030
69
inlay in the weight of 2,678 and a half dirhem.173 Her last donation not only reveals the
fine and expensive quality of the gift, but it also shows that the beard relic ceremony took
place at Fatih’s mausoleum, one more time reminding the audience of the Ottoman
contribution to the larger Muslim world. The vakfiye prescribed that the relic would be
displayed on the eve of religious holidays and holy nights. On these days the whole
Qur’an would be recited in its entirety.
Her vakfiye also required the recitation of a chapter from the bequeathed Qur’ans
at both the Eyüb and Fatih Mausolea. Moreover, she gifted 33 books, two-thirds of which
were handwritten, and the rest in printed form, to the Fatih Library. These included
religious books containing chapters of the Qur’an, its exegesis, Islamic law and history.
Apart donations to the Fatih Mosque Complex, Pertevniyal endowed various gifts to
highly venerated mosques and tombs. In this respect, her donations surpassed those of
Bezmialem. The latter’s vakfiye disclosed her contribution of olive oil and the sim of 360
kuruş to the mausoleum of Sheikh Mehmed Akdin who was the son of Akşemseddin, a
famous ulema and tutor to the young Mehmed the Conqueror.174 Compared to
Bezmialem, Pertevniyal’s donations branched out to several other personages: she
bequeathed 500 kuruş to the convent of Sokollu Mehmed Pasha, in the Kadırga Port of
Istanbul, for the iftariye during the month of Ramazan.175 He was the most successful
grand vizier of the sixteenth century, serving three Ottoman sultans. The queen mother
contributed greatly to the Mosque of Sekbanbaşı İbrahim Ağa in Kırkçeşme/Istanbul,
commemorating his heroism during the conquest of Constantinople. She restored the
burnt mosque from scratch and bequeathed money for prayers and sermons for the sultan
173 VGM 634/00150/0033
174 VGM 634/0120/0025.
175 VGM 634/0147/0032 in 1864.
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and herself. Entire Qur’anic recitation cycles were to be chanted during the holy nights of
Kadir and Berat, and every Sunday Seyid Hasan Efendi was to give a sermon as long as
he was alive. The Fâtiha sura was to be performed five times a day before the call to
prayer. Annually the preacher would receive 1,200, the imam 840, and the müezzin 360
kuruş.176 Pertevniyal also contributed several books to the library of the Mosque of
Darüssaade Ağası (the chief eunuch) Mehmed Ağa, in Çarşamba/Istanbul, at different
points of time: first she donated a few books as kadın efendi and appointed two librarians
(hafız-ı kütüb) in 1855.177 Then as vâlide sultan she bequeathed 29 books to the same
library.
The holiest Muslim cities of Mecca and Medina constituted another important
venue for the queen mothers’ charitable acts. In 1841, Bezmialem donated three volumes
of the Dala’il al-Khayrat,178 as well as one volume of the En’âm-ı Şerif179 to the Prophet
Muhammed’s tomb in Medina. Every day three people would recite one chapter of the
176 VGM 634/0141/0029 in 1862.
177 VGM 747/210/177.
178 This is a treatise written by the Moroccan Sheikh Muhammed bin Süleyman el-Cezûlî in 1465. The
book praises the Prophet and asks for God's blessing for him. Although the sheikh belonged to a branch of
the Şazili sect, his treatise was widely read by all Muslims who believed that reading it would bring them
heavenly rewards. The book became very popular in Egypt and Istanbul. Between 1844 and 1902 it was
printed several times. Even today it is customary to recite it at various intervals, such as every day, every
week etc. Türkiye Diyanet Vakfı İslâm Ansiklopedisi, vol.43, 1994. Ö. Tuğrul İnançer, "Rituals and Main
Principles of Sufism During the Ottoman Empire," in Sufism and Sufis in Ottoman Society, Ahmet Yaşar
Ocak, ed., (Ankara: Türk Tarih Kurumu, 2001), 144.
This was one of the books that Pertevniyal donated to the Fatih Library. For a detailed analysis, see Jan Just
Witkam, “The battle of the images: Mecca vs. Medina in the iconography of the manuscripts of al Jazūli's
Dalā'il al-Khayrāt,” in Theoretical Approaches to the Transmission and Edition of Oriental Manuscripts,
Proceedings of a symposium held in Istanbul March 28-30, 2001, ed. Judith Pfeiffer and Manfred Kropp,
Beirut: Orient-Institut Beirut, 2007, 67-82 and 295-299. Dala'il al-Khayrat, Prayer Manuscripts from the
16th - 19th Centuries, The Islamic Art Museum of Malaysia, March 2016. The catalogue was published on
the occasion of an exhibition launched on 11 March 2016.
179 En'âm is the sixth chapter of the Qur'an which emphasizes the unity of God and evidences Muhammad's
prophethood. En'âm-ı Şerif contains this chapter together a selection of other suras. Their recitation aimed
to bring great reward. Since popular, En'âm-ı Şerif was created in several fine manuscripts during the
Ottoman period. Türkiye Diyanet Vakfı İslâm Ansiklopedisi, vol.11, 1995. Even though the source indicates
Yâsîn and Mülk as frequently included chapters, the selection of suras varied according to the period and
needs of individual calligrapher, illustrator or patron. For a detailed analysis see Alexander Bain, “The Late
Ottoman "En'am-ı Şerif": Sacred text and images in an Islamic prayer book,” Phd diss., University of
Victoria,1999. I thank Sabiha Göloğlu for providing me useful sources on En'âm and Dala'il.
71
En’âm, completing three recitations each week at the mausoleum. The heavenly reward
of these recitations would be dedicated first and foremost to the Prophet Muhammed, his
lineage and the Muslim grandees, then the current Sultan Abdülmecid and finally
Bezmialem herself. The queen mother allocated a monthly allowance of 500 kuruş for
these three reciters, which amounted to an annual payment of 6,000 kuruş for their
continuous service. The tomb-keeper would designate these reciters, as well as two
persons for the daily reading of the Dala’il. These reciters would receive 700 kuruş
annually. The Dala’il and En’âm were both prayer books, but their endowment to the
Prophet’s Tomb was not solely for religious devotion: at the same time, they expressed a
strong political statement on behalf of the Ottoman Empire. Starting in the mideighteenth
century the fundamentalist Wahhabi revivalism with the support of the Saudi
House started threatening Ottoman legacy in the holy cities of Mecca and Medina. The
Wahhabis vehemently rejected Ottoman and Sufi practices positing prophets and saints as
intercessor and conduit of Divine Grace. They considered any veneration to human
beings, including the Prophet Muhammad, as idolatrous. In 1803 they temporarily gained
the control of the holy cities. This was a major blow to the Ottoman sultan’s legitimacy,
who claimed to be Caliph to all Muslims and Protector of the Holy Cities. In Medina the
Wahhabis stripped the Prophet’s Tomb of its valuables. They permitted visits to the
Prophet’s Mosque, but not to his tomb, as this was considered idolatrous. They also
desecrated the tombs of his family members and companions and substituted the name of
the Ottoman sultan with that of Ibn Saud during Friday prayer, another important symbol
of sovereignty. After losing control over the Holy Cities, it was important to restore
Ottoman symbols of sovereignty. Both prayer books, by expressing a deep love and
72
veneration for the Prophet Muhammad, went against the beliefs of the Wahhabis. Their
recitation at the Prophet’s Tomb therefore was an important message regarding Ottoman
sovereignty in the region.180
Bezmialem continued to embellish the tomb both physically and spiritually. She
sent a chandelier and 300 vukiyye (around 476 dirhem) of olive oil for its illumination
every year.181 In 1842 she sent a Qur’an copy after realizing that the Prophet’s Tomb did
not have one, which might have been the result of the Wahhabi’s vandalism.182 Together
with that copy she prescribed the daily recitation schedule in the mausoleum. Each
chapter would be recited before the call to prayer.
Morning Yâ Sïn (36)
Noon An-Naba’ (78; The Tidings)
Afternoon Al-Fath (48; The Victory)
Evening Al-Ikhlas (112; The Sincerity)
Night Al-Mulk (67; The Sovereignty)
Naturally she followed the Sunni tradition and selected the best-known and most
frequently recited chapters of the Qur’an. Yâ Sîn plays an important role in the pious
Islamic tradition. It addresses the central teachings of Islam regarding God, prophethood,
and the Hereafter. It is perceived as “the heart of the Qur’an.” Believers can recite it at
different times; however, according to the hadith the morning recitation would put the
180 Alexandra Bain, “The Late Ottoman "En'am-i serif," 18-33. Bain also claims that this difference
between Ottoman Orthodox Islam and fundamentalist Wahhabism became one of the key elements in
creating much finer manuscripts of these prayer books in the nineteenth century, including illustrations not
only of the Holy Cities, but also the relics held by the Ottomans in the Topkapı Palace. One of the
examples Bain analyzes in detail is Pertevniyal's En'am in the Süleymaniye Library.
181 VGM 634/0094/0017.
182 "Kuran-ı Kerim tahsis olunmamış olduğuna mebni" VGM 634/0101/0020.
73
reciter at ease for the whole day.183 The Great Tiding is a reference to the Qur’an itself or
the Day of Resurrection, or both. Those who doubt certain aspects of the Prophet’s
message and do not believe in the Resurrection are urged to understand the various signs
that God has created for believers.184 The Victory sura was revealed after the Treaty of
Hudaybiyah, which was signed between the forces of the Prophet and Quraysh. The latter
had denied to the former the entry to the pilgrimage site in Mecca, and the treaty, which
allowed free movement to both sides for the performance of the pilgrimage in the future,
was regarded by some of the Prophet’s companions as a kind of defeat. The sura
describes the treaty as a manifest victory and praises those who pledged allegiance to the
Prophet.185 Al-Ikhlas denotes a combination of sincerity and devotion. It is considered
“the light of the Qur’an.” It emphasizes the Oneness of God, “who begets not, nor was
He begotten.”186 The Sovereignty sura starts with the verse “Blessed is He (the Prophet)
in Whose Hand lies sovereignty.” This sura attests to God’s omnipotence, the perfect
nature of the creation and the dreadful ends of those who deny God’s messengers. It is
believed that whoever recites this chapter will be spared from trials in both this life and
the next.187 The worldly and heavenly rewards that these verses promise to the reciter
were also conferred on the queen mother who initiated the recitation. The common thread
among these selected suras is to urge the believers towards a total submission to God and
his Messenger, the Prophet Muhammad. At the end of each recitation the divine reward
for this pious act would be dedicated to the Prophet, his family and companions, as well
183 The Study Qur’an, A New Translation and Commentary, ed. Seyyed Hossein Nasr (New York: Harper
One, 2015), 729-730.
184 Ibid., 1462.
185 Ibid., 1246-1247.
186 Ibid., 1577-1578.
187 Ibid., 1393-1394.
74
as the deceased Sultan Mahmud II and the current Sultan Abdülmecid. Rendering the
Ottoman sultans’s names in this order intends to bind rulers past and present, and expand
the concept of submission to contemporaneous figures. The queen mother’s name would
be mentioned only once a day, after the morning call to prayer, as opposed to five times a
day, as for the sultans. Her patronage (Bezmialem Sultan tarafından deyu) would be
remembered by the audience according to the rules of etiquette (kemal-i adab) and with
respect (huzu). Hence, while revealing to the audience her modest and pious character,
she underlined the continuity of the caliphate (from the past, the Prophet, God’s
vicegerent on earth, to the present, the current caliph) and suggested that listeners should
extend their suggested submission to the rule of her son. Bezmialem appointed Üsküdari
Dellalbaşı es-Seyyid Hafız Mehmed Sadık Efendi with an annual salary of 1,200 kuruş to
insure the permanence of the service. Among the eight müezzins of the mausoleum, the
head müezzin received 600 kuruş and the rest 360 kuruş annually.
In 1845 Bezmialem turned her attention to Mecca. She required the recital of the
Şifa-i Şerif on Mondays and Thursdays at the Ka’aba, for an annual payment of 600
kuruş.188 She also assigned four people to clean the area between Mount Safa and Marwa
during the pilgrimage, with an annual salary of 480 kuruş. Running seven times between
these two points is a required pilgrimage ritual. The journey symbolizes Hagar’s efforts
to find a water source for her thirsty child Ismail. She was the Prophet Abraham’s
concubine, an emblem of devotion. Muslims believe to be descendants of Ismail’s
lineage. Asma Lamrabet, a contemporay Moroccan feminist writer, emphasizes that one
of the most important rituals of the pilgrimage is in memory and honor of a pious
188 VGM 634/0111/0023.
75
woman.189 As a devout woman the queen mother must have known the story. Besides
gaining favor among pilgrims, she might have intended to promote a female devotee with
her charitable act. This pious act is echoed in 1877, when in her last zeyl Pertevniyal
envisaged the repair of famous waterways built by Zubeyda bint Cafer in Mecca with the
surplus of her vakfiye. She appointed four persons to administer the project.190 Zubeyda
was not a religious figure like Hagar, but a well-known Abbassid queen, who enjoyed a
royal lineage through her grandfather and her husband, Harun al-Rashid. She is
remembered for the series of wells and reservoirs that provided water for Muslim
pilgrims. Among these the vakfiye mentions the waterway from Mount Arafat to Mecca,
also called “Spring of Zubayda,” which has been one of the ritual loci of the pilgrimage.
Two decades later, in 1862, in her Zeyl 1 Pertevniyal envisaged the recital of sura
Al-Kahf (The Cave) on Fridays at the Prophet’s Tomb in Medina, again according to
tradition.191 Her interest in the sura goes back to her days of kadın efendi: her seal-ring,
most probably when she became the fifth kadın efendi to Mahmud II, following the birth
of Abdülaziz, bears the names of the seven sleepers of the Cave story (Fig. 13).192 Friday
noon prayers attracted the largest number of worshippers to mosques, and her name was
to be heard during that time. Unlike her predecessor, whose name was to be mentioned
only during morning prayers, Pertevniyal preferred the biggest possible audience to
disclose her name for prayers and praises. The title of the sura refers to the story of the
believers who took refuge from religious persecution in a cave, and were kept there as if
189 Asma Lamrabet, Women in the Qur'an: An Emancipatory Reading England: Square View, translated by
Myriam Francois-Cerrah, 2016, 36-44.
190 VGM 634/0184/0040.
191 VGM 634/0141/0029.
192 Çağlarboyu Anadolu'da Kadın: Anadolu Kadınının 9000 Yılı, Istanbul: TC Kültür Bakanlığı Anıtlar ve
Müzeler Müdürlüğü, 1993, 239. Pertevniyal's En'am at the Süleymaniye Library also includes the sura Al-
Kahf, as well as a very elaborate depiction of the seal Al-Kahf. Alexandra Bain, 'The Late Ottoman "En'amı
Şerif," 96-99.
76
asleep for a long period. The story is generally identified by Western writers with the
legend of the Seven Sleepers of Ephesus.193 The sura contains two more stories, all
attesting to Muhammed’s prophethood, a suitable subject to be recited at the tomb.
Muslims believe that reciting this chapter has the power to protect one from the trials of
the grave,194 a perfect reward for the Other World. Moreover, Pertevniyal displayed
special interest in Tarsus, where several sacred sites existed, including the Cave of the
Seven Sleepers (Ashab-ı Kehf). Her Zeyl 8, dated 1870, commissioned the repair of the
entire water system from Eskisaray to Tarsus, distributing water to several fountains in
the town. The müfti of Tarsus, Sheikh Ahmed Hilmi Efendi, became her agent in the area.
According to Ahmed Cevdet Pasha, he established a close relationship with the queen
mother, incurring the jealousy and envy of several high officials, who might have plotted
his poisoning and death while being the valide sultan’s guest in Istanbul.195 During his
lifetime, Sheikh Ahmed Hilmi Efendi was to receive annually 1,200 kuruş from her
endowment deed. The vakfiye stipulated the annual payment of 3,600 kuruş to the
keepers of the dervish cells (zaviyedar) at the Ashab-ı Kehf, in return for two hatims a
year, one during the Feast of Sacrifice, and the other during Leyl-i Kadir, when the
Qur’an was revealed. The following prayers were to mention the name of the sultan and
193 Mohammed Marmaduke Pickthall, The Meaning of the Glorious Koran, New York and Scarborough,
Ontario: Mentor Book, 1930, 211-212.
194 Seyyed Hossein Nasr, The Study Qur’an: A New Translation and Commentary, New York: Harper One,
2015, 728-730.
195 Ahmed Cevdet cites Şeyhülislâm Kezûbî Hasan Efendi, and Hüzeyin Avni Pasha who played a
prominent role in the dethronement of Sultan Abdülaziz, as key suspects. "..Tarsus Müftîsi bir gün Avni
Pasha'nın konağına gidüp orada bir kahve içmiş, andan Bâb-ı fetvâya gidüp orada dahi bir şerbet içmiş,
kahveden mi, şerbetden mi her kangısından ise Vâlide Sultân Dâiresine avdetinde bagteten hastalanup
kendüsünde semm eserleri rû-nümâ olarak vefât eylemiş..." Ahmed Cevdet Pasha, Ma'rûzât, transliterated
by Yusuf Halaçoğlu (Istanbul: Çağrı Yayınları, 1980), 219-221.
77
the queen mother. Pertevniyal also constructed a mosque at the Ashâb-ı Kehf and repaired
several Muslim grandees’ tombs in the area.196
In the last zeyl, executed in 1877, almost one year after Abdülaziz’s
dethronement, Pertevniyal endowed prayers in Medina, Mecca and Jerusalem.197 Once a
month a complete recitation of the Qur’an (hatim) was required at the tomb of the
Prophet Muhammed in Medina, the Ka‘aba in Mecca, and the Dome of the Rock in
Jerusalem. The ensuing prayers would be dedicated to her deceased husband and son, as
well as to herself. She stipulated that these recitations were to be continued even after her
death. The sheiks in these places were assigned an annual stipend of 200 gold coins (iki
aded yüzlük Osmanlı altını). The monthly hatims were also to be performed at the
Prophet Abraham’s Tomb in Jerusalem, St. John’s Shrine in Damascus, Imam Husayn’s
Shrine in Karbala, Ibn’al-‘Arabi’s Shrine in Damascus, and Abdelgani Nablusi’s Shrine
in Damascus. The series of hatims dedicated to the souls of her son and her husband
encompassed a vast number of dervish convents and mausolea throughout the empire
Table No. 2: The List of Dervish Contents and Mausolea for Hatims Stipulated by
Pertevniyal
Name Time Remuneration
Mevlana Hâlid Feast of Sacrifice 12,000 gold coins198
(established the Holy nights
Khalidi branch of
Nakşibendi
mausoleum in Damascus)
Sheikh Hâfız Religious feasts 60 keyl (bushel) wheat
196 VGM 634/0160/0036. Vak'a-Nüvis Ahmed Lûtfî Efendi Tarihi, Ankara: Türk Tarih Kurumu, 1991,
translated by M. Münir Aktepe, 14:54, Ali Akyıldız, "Müşrif, Fakat Hayırsever: Pertevniyal Valide Sultan"
Osmanlı Araştırmaları/The Journal of Ottoman Studies, XLVII, 2016, 330-331, Ali Akyıldız, Haremin
Padisahı Valide Sultan, Harem'de Hayat ve Teşkilat (Istanul: Timaş Yayınları, 2018), 481.
197 VGM 634/0184/0040
198 "91 senesi şehr-i Haziran (1874) ibtidâsından i'tibaren ...şehrî 10 aded yüzlük Osmanlı altını"
78
(Sadiye convent in Larissa) Holy nights
Sheikh Merkez Efendi Holy night of Kadir 1,050 gold coins
(Topkapı/Istanbul) Holy night of Mevlud
Kadem-i Şerif Convent Holy night of Kadir 1,050 gold coins
(Sadiye convent Holy night of Mevlud
Çarşamba/Istanbul)
Miskinler Convent Holy night of Kadir 1,050 gold coins
(Üsküdar/Istanbul) Holy night of Mevlud
Abdülvedud mausoleum Once a month Qur’an copied by
(Ayvansaray/Istanbul) Osman el-Hilmi,
Dervish from Horasan restoration of the mausoleum
who participated to the
conquest of Istanbul
Mercimek Dergahı Holy night of Kadir 500 kuruş
(Rufâiye convent) Holy night of Mevlud
(Langa/Istanbul) Feast of Sacrifice
The hatims were to be recited in Sultan Mahmud’s mausoleum, where Sultan Abdülaziz
was burried, as well as at her own mausoleum in Aksaray. Despite the variety of Sufi
convents, Pertevniyal’s vakfiye discloses special importance allocated to the Nakşibendi
sect: Mevlâna Halid’s remuneration exceeds by far that for the rest of Sufi convents. The
inclination of both queen mothers towards this branch of Sufism is manifest in their
endowment deeds.
Both Bezmialem and Pertevniyal helped several Sufi convents in return for
recitations. Their religious leanings and the influence of Sufi sheiks on them might have
constituted one reason to include these convents in their endowment deeds. More
importantly, these Sufi orders had long been widespread throughout the empire and well
connected to the Ottoman dynasty and high officials. They often became influential
agents to promote dynastic rule. Baha Tanman has argued that after the Tanzimat reforms
79
the Ottoman administration kept the religious orders at a certain distance. The exception
to this was Sultan Abdülhamid II (r.1876-1909) who followed a policy of strenghtening
the prestige of the Ottoman Caliphate among Muslim populations by using the influence
of religious orders.199 My research reveals that the introduction of new institutions
between 1839 and 1876 did not necessarily imply initiating a certain distance to religion
or religious orders. In this section, I argue that both sultans of the Tanzimat and their
queen mothers used the orders to promote the Ottoman dynasty, although this policy
intensified during the reign of Abdülhamid. Moreover, the queen mothers and the sultans
of the era exhibit rather strong religious sentiments.
Among the Sufi convents, the Yahya Efendi Complex in Beşiktaş/Istanbul plays a
prominent role for both queen mothers. Yahya Efendi (1495-1571) was a Sufi mystic, a
scholar of religious sciences, and a poet during the reign of Sultan Süleyman the
Magnificent. He and the sultan had close ties from their early age, since Yahya Efendi’s
mother had breast-fed the infant Süleyman.200 Yahya Efendi’s close relationship with the
palace continued throughout his life. He urged the sultan to handle the Shi’a groups in the
way his father Yavuz Sultan Selim had done, suggesting their suppression.201 Even
though he was associated with the Nakşibendi order,202 following his death both
Nakşibendi and Kadiri sheikhs used his convent. For example, during the reign of
199 Baha Tanman, "The Position of the Tekkes in Ottoman Cities and Urban Districts: The Istanbul
Example," in Sufism and Sufis in Ottoman Society, ed. Ahmet Yaşar Ocak (Ankara: Turkish Historical
Society, 2005), 384. There is a lot of historiographical discussion whether modernization was a gradual
secularization of the system, with Sultan Abdülhamid II as an exception to this trend.
200 Haşim Şahin, "Beşiktaşlı Yahya Efendi," Türkiye Diyanet Vakfı İslâm Ansiklopedisi, vol.43, 2013. Such
a practice establishes a special bond between the breast-feeding mother and the breast-fed child, as well as
between children who have been breast-fed by the same woman on wet nurse. The concepts of süt anne
(milk mother) and süt kardeş (milk siblings) still resonate among contemporaneous Turks. Also see The
Garden of the Mosques, Hafız Hüseyin Al-Ayvansarayî’s Guide to the Muslim Monuments of Ottoman
Istanbul, Translated and Annotated by Howard Crane (Leiden, Boston, Köln: Brill, 2000), 424-425. The
book compiles both Ayvansarayî’s book and Ali Satı’s expansion of it.
201 ibid.
202 Also Bezmialem's Zeyl 3, dated 1841, clearly reveals it as Nakşibendi order. VGM 634/0093/0016.
80
Mahmud II the türbedar was Nakşibendi el-Hac Hâfız Ali Efendi and the tekke şeyhi
(sheikh of the dervish lodge) was Kadiri es-Seyyid Mustafa Efendi. In 1836 Mahmud II
appointed Nakşibendi Sheikh Mehmed Nuri Şemseddin Efendi as türbedar. He remained
in this position until his death in 1886.203 Both Nakşibendi and Kadiri sects were
widespread in the Ottoman Empire.204 The tradition of close dynastic ties with the Yahya
Efendi Convent continued in the nineteenth century: Mahmud II, Abdülmecid, and later
Abdülhamid II all contributed to it. Both queen mothers followed this dynastic trend.
Bezmialem endowed annual salaries for several positions there.
Table No. 3: Positions and Salaries Stipulated by Bezmialem for the Yahya Efendi
Convent
Position Annual Salary in kuruş
Post-nişin (head of the order) 1,200
Hatib (preacher) 720
Imam (head prayer) 900
Devrhan (Qur’an reciter) 360
First Müezzin (performer of call to prayer) 600
Second Müezzin 480
Kayyum (administrator/caretaker) 600
Total 4,860
Except for the post-nişin, the remaining six employees were to chant the Qur’an daily,
thus completing a hatim every twenty days. The ensuing prayers would be dedicated to
the souls of Sultan Mahmud, Sultan Abdülmecid and Bezmialem, and each person was to
receive an additional salary of 10 kuruş for this service.205
203 M. Baha Tanman, "Yahyâ Efendi Külliyesi," Türkiye Diyanet Vakfı İslâm Ansiklopedisi, vol.43, 2013.
204 The former was founded by Bahā al-dîn Nakşibend of Bukhara in the fourteenth, and the latter by
Abdulkâdir Geylâni in the twelfth century in Iraq.
205 VGM 634/0093/0016.
81
To the Yahya Efendi convent, Pertevniyal allocated 900 kuruş during the month
of Muharrem to purchase necessary ingredients for aşure in 1855.206 In 1862, she
repeated the same pious act and added 600 kuruş for the iftariye, a meal served for
breaking the fast during the month of Ramazan.207 She also donated two silver
chandeliers (şemidan), two silver trays (tabla) and a silver three-footed censer,208 as well
as two Qur’ans and one volume of Sahih-i Buhari,209 one of the major hadith collections
of Sunni Islam. Besides a monthly hatim of the Qur’an, one section from the hadith book
was to be read every Tuesdays and Fridays after the morning prayers. Her endowment in
1873 was recognized as far-reaching in terms of enabling the complex to take its
contemporary shape.210 The convent commemorated this contribution with an inscription
composed by poet Hayri over its entrance (Fig. 14).
Bezmialem favored another Nakşibendi leader, Sheikh Mehmed Can Efendi, and
his convent in Mecca. Every year she endowed 8,000 kuruş for its employees, and 300
kuruş for the transfer of water to its premises.211 Pertevniyal honored the Nakşibendi
convent of Kaşkari Abdullah Efendi by granting 1,000 kuruş to feed the dervishes and the
destitute during the month of Ramazan.
Halveti and Sünbüli convents also received donations from the queen mothers.
Both orders had established strong historical ties with the Ottoman dynasty, as explained
earlier. For instance, Nurbanu Sultan, the mother of Murat III, devoted her complex to
this order. The Halveti order was influenced by the Kadiri order; nonetheless, it put more
206 Sweet dish made of cereals, sugar, raisins, etc. to commemorate several religious events and particularly
the death of Husayn in Karbala. The dish is served on the 10th day of Muharram. Redhouse Dictionary,
Turkish/Ottoman-English, 20th ed., (Istanbul: Sev Yayıncılık Eğitim ve Ticaret A.Ş., 2014), 747/210/177.
207 VGM 634/0145/0031.
208 VGM 634/0141/0029, in 1862.
209 VGM 634/0145/0031, in 1862.
210 M. Baha Tanman, "Yahyâ Efendi Külliyesi," Türkiye Diyanet Vakfı İslâm Ansiklopedisi, vol.43, 2013.
211 VGM 634/0120/0025 dated 1849. The vakfiye discloses that this charitable act started in 1848.
82
emphasis on individual asceticism and seclusion. Many branches of the sect emphasized
the philosophy of Ibn Arabi, concerning the oneness of human beings with God (vahdet-i
vücûd). This influence became more prevalent in the case of Niyazi-i Mısri.212 To his
tomb, located on the island of Limnos, Bezmialem dedicated 360 kuruş annually.213
Pertevniyal restored the Halveti convent in Karacaburun/Beykoz and endowed 500
kuruş.214
The Sünbüli order is a branch of the Halveti order. The Sünbül Efendi Tekke at
Koca Mustafa Pasha/Istanbul was once the house of its founder, and its gardens contain
the mausolea of two daughters of Husayn. It housed a special rite on the tenth day of
Muharram, the anniversary of the events of Karbala, where Caliph Ali’s son Husayn was
murdered due to his refusal to recognize Yazid I as the new caliph. The convent retained
the privilege of initiating this rite among all dervish lodges in Istanbul.215 The different
branches of the Halveti order recognized the place as the most revered convent in
Istanbul.216 The founder of the order, Sünbül Sinan, had been designated Friday preacher
at the most prestigious royal mosques of Ayasofya (Hagia Sophia) and Fatih during the
reign of Yavuz Sultan Selim (r.1512-1520). His spiritual guide (pir) Cemal-i Halveti had
been protected by Sultan Bayezid II (r. 1481-1512). His successor, Merkez Efendi, was
212 Süleyman Uludağ, "Halvetiyye," Türkiye Diyanet Vakfı İslâm Ansiklopedisi, vol.15, 1997, Derin
Terzioğlu, Sufı and dissent in the Ottoman Empire:Niyazi-i Misrî (1618-1694), Harvard University, 1999.
The author reveals that Misri was a Halveti poet of the seventeenth century. Because of his controversy
with the Kadizadeli movement, favored by the Ottoman state during his lifetime, Misri was exiled to
Rhodes then to Limnos where he passed away. Reconciliation with the Ottoman state started during the
eighteenth century. From that century on Misri dervishes received many favors from high Ottoman
officials.
213 VGM 634/0120/0026 dated 1851. However, the vakfiye discloses that this charitable act started in 1848.
214 VGM 634/0150/033 dated 1865.
215 Ö. Tuğrul İnançer, "Rituals and Main Principles of Sufism during the Ottoman Empire," in Sufism and
Sufis in Ottoman Society, ed. Ahmet Yaşar Ocak, Ankara: Türk Tarih Kurumu, 2001,153.
216 Hür Mahmut Yücer, "Sünbüliyye," Türkiye Diyanet Vakfı İslâm Ansiklopedisi, vol.38, 2010.
83
favored by Sultan Süleyman the Magnificent (r. 1520-1566).217 Unlike many other Sufi
sheiks, Sünbül Sinan had been educated in the imperial theological schools (medrese).218
This tradition continued among his followers, enabling them to preach and pray at
various royal mosques and develop close relations with different members of the royal
dynasty. Upon the request of Bezmialem Valide Sultan, Sultan Selim the Grim’s mother,
Sünbül Sinan appointed Merkez Efendi as the sheikh of Manisa, and the physician to its
medical school (darüşşifa).219 Later Merkez Efendi married Sultan Süleyman’s sister Şah
Sultan, which naturally helped the sect to become more widespread within the empire.
Many sheikhs of the Merkez Efendi convent served at different convents of the empire:
both the Tarsusi convent in Tarsus and the Keşfi Cafer Efendi convent in
Fındıklı/Istanbul received special favor from the Ottoman dynasty. Sultan Mahmud II
twice paid a special visit to the Keşfi Cafer Efendi convent.220 Bezmialem commissioned
6 kıyyes of oil monthly to illuminate oil lamps every year at the Merkez Efendi convent221
To the Keşfî Cafer Efendi convent Pertevniyal provided 800 kuruş every year to purchase
the necessary ingredients for aşure and a copper cauldron for cooking it.222 She also
donated a Qur’an copy for reciting hatims and prayers during the Feast of Sacrifice and
217 Hür Mahmut Yücer, "Sünbül Sinan," Türkiye Diyanet Vakfı İslâm Ansiklopedisi, vol.38, 2010. Actually
it was Sultan Süleyman’s mother, Hafsa Sultan, who invited Merkez Efendi to her philanthropic complex in
Manisa. His spiritual assemblies and preaching allegedly brought Süleyman to tears. Back then in Manisa
he was a prince, not a sultan yet. See Gülrü Necipoğlu, The Age of Sinan: Architectural Culture in the
Ottoman Empire (Princeton NJ: Princeton University Press, 2005), 271, quoted in Leslie Peirce, Empress of
the East, How a European Slave Girl Became Queen of the Ottoman Empire (New York: Basic Books,
2017), 232.
218 This fact is important in that it reveals that the demarcation between the dervish lodges and 'ulema, that
scholars often mention, could become blurred in some periods of history.
219 Hür Mahmut Yücer, "Sünbüliyye," Türkiye Diyanet Vakfı İslâm Ansiklopedisi, vol.38, 2010.
220 Hür Mahmut Yücer, "Sünbüliyye," Türkiye Diyanet Vakfı İslâm Ansiklopedisi, vol.38, 2010.
221 VGM 634/0120/0025 in 1849.
222 VGM 634/0141/0029 in 1862.
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the holy nights of Mevlud and Kadir. Annually its sheikh received 1,000 kuruş from her
endowment.223
Moreover, Pertevniyal donated 500 kuruş for iftariyes the Balmumcu Ahmed
Efendi convent in Unkapanı/Istanbul. Ahmed Efendi belonged to the Şazili order. This
order originated from the Northwest African-Andulusian Sufi school. The first Şazili
lodge in Istanbul was founded relatively late in the 1820s.224 Yet, the Dala’il al-Hayrât,
written by a Şazili sheikh became very popular in Egypt and Istanbul, and it was even
taught at medreses. The book was among Pertevniyal’s donations to the Fatih and
Aksaray libraries.225
The Mevlevi order, established by Rumi, had been supported since the fourteenth
century. Both Selim III (r. 1789-1807) and Mahmud II endowed several gifts to the order.
The latter’s contribution was acknowledged in the entrance inscription of the Kasımpasha
Mevlevihanesi, composed by Ahmed Sadık Ziver Pasha.226 Following their footsteps,
Pertevniyal endowed 1,200 kuruş for iftariyes to that convent.227 Three years later she
helped them purchasing wood and charcoal.228 In 1866 she included the Kalenderhane
convent in Eyüb/Istanbul, endowing 500 kuruş for the distribution of candy, aloe wood
for censing, and rose water during the mevlûd ceremony.
TEXT AND IMAGE
Ottoman vakfiyes have extensively been analyzed for their textual content within the
socio-political, economic and cultural framework. They are exquisite manuscripts
223 VGM 634/0145/0031 in 1862.
224 Ö. Tuğrul İnançer, "Rituals and Main Principles of Sufism during the Ottoman Empire,"124.
225 see ft.95. VGM 634/0147/0032 in 1864. Two copies, one in print (matbu), the other in nesih calligraphy.
226 http://www.ottomaninscriptions.com/verse.aspx?ref=list&bid=1543&hid=1990, accessed on 25 January
2018.
227 Instead of the Galata Mevlevihanesi, which was older than KasımPasha, she preferred the KasımPasha,
as did her husband. 634/0150/0033 in 1865.
228 VGM 634/0156/0035 in 1868.
85
combining fine calligraphy with beautiful gilded illumination (tezhib), particularly those
belonging to the royal family members and grandees. Yet, this important aspect has
largely been overlooked by scholars. Except for few catalogues including figures and
entry-notes, an in-depth analysis of the subject is missing in the literature.229 Apart from
fulfilling an aesthetic function, these illuminations might communicate with the reader
through their symbolic value. By discerning certain patterns inherent in the design, I hope
to initiate new scholarship on the subject.
Bezmialem’s vakfiye features a green leather cover with a dimension of 33.4x20.5
cm. It has 381 folios. Each page contains 11 lines of nesih calligraphy, measuring
18.5x9.4 cm. (Fig. 15).230 Pertevniyal’s vakfiye has a dark purple leather cover with a
dimension of 30.2x18 cm. It has 589 folios, of which 94 are empty. Each written page has
11 lines of nesih calligraphy, measuring 19.1x10 cm (Fig. 16). On the cover of
endowment deeds, a central medallion decorated with abstract geometric or vegetal
patterns was a common feature. The cover page of the vakfiyes belonging to Hadice
Turhan Sultan (1663), Haseki Gülnuş Valide Sultan (1679) and Mihrişah Valide Sultan
(1790) are a few examples among many others illustrating this tradition (Fig. 17).
However, compared to older endowment deeds, Bezmialem’s and Pertevniyal’s vakfiyes
look more like each other, although the former preferred abstract sun rays and the latter a
stylized floral motif. The sun-ray motif became very popular during the reign of Mahmud
II, referring to the light of imperial and divine sovereignty. The royal architects of the
229 Çağlarboyu Anadolu'da Kadın: Anadolu Kadınının 9000 Yılı (Istanbul: TC Kültür Bakanlığı Anıtlar ve
Müzeler Müdürlüğü.1993). The catalogue was prepared for the exhibition held in Istanbul in 1993.
Tarihimizde Vakıf Kuran Kadınlar, Hanım Sultan Vakfiyeleri, Tülay Duran, ed. (Istanbul: Tarihi
Araştırmalar ve Dokümantasyon Merkezleri Kurma ve Geliştirme Vakfı, 1990), Türk Vakıf Şaheserleri
(The Masterpieces of Turkish Foundations), Sadi Bayram and Mehmet Narince, eds. (Ankara: Vakıflar
Genel Müdürlüğü, 1999).
230 Çağlarboyu Anadolu'da Kadın: Anadolu Kadınının 9000 Yılı (Istanbul: TC Kültür Bakanlığı Anıtlar ve
Müzeler Müdürlüğü.1993).
86
Balyan family used the motif in imperial monuments and Armenian religious
architecture.231 The pattern on the cover of both queen mothers’ vakfiyes is whole in the
middle, surrounded by quarter medallions in the four corners, all inclining towards the
middle. The area between the middle and corner images has a solid color, emphasizing
the design. Since the vakfiyes were dedicated to the Prophet Muhammed, and two
identical initial texts in the queen mothers’ endowments, the prayer and the original
vakfiye, referred to the Prophet and his Rightly Guided Caliphs, as explained above, I
deduce that these images refer to them. The identical prayer sections were written in a
triangular frame, tapering towards the bottom. Yet, their embellishments were carried out
differently: Bezmialem, like some of her predecessors, had the edges of the page
decorated with floral and vegetal patterns. These were stylized revealing more natural
depictions, but they were shown as still flowers. For example, the daughter of Sultan
Mustafa III, Şah Sultan has an initial page adorned with a colorful bouquet of flowers in
her 1803 vakfiye (Fig. 18). Mihrişah Valide Sultan’s prayer page, combined at the top
with the sultan’s handwriting, has light pink, blue and yellow flowers, all stylized and
scattered over a sky-blue background. Abstract branches connect them to each other.
Likewise the vegetal figures extend skyward at symmetrical intervals, without any
motion in them (Fig. 19). On the other hand, the floral patterns of Bezmialem’s vakfiye in
the prayer section are swinging in C- and S-shaped curves, displaying the Ottoman
Baroque tendencies of her era (Fig. 20).232 Her pattern is more akin to the adornment of
the 1821 vakfiye of Hatice Sultan, the daughter of Sultan Mustafa III (Fig. 21).
231 Alyson Wharton, The Architects of Ottoman Constantinople: The Balyan Family and the History of
Ottoman Architecture (London, New York, I.B. Tauris, 2015).
232 As explained previously, Şair Eşref Hanım’s poem, “Bahariye” dedicated to Bezmialem, portrays her
through a variety of flowers (See p.11 and Appendix 1). The poem and the intensive use of flowers in
embellishing the endowment deed might also reveal Bezmialem’s deep affection for flowers.
87
Bezmialem’s scrolling flowers linked by S-curved serrated leaves, look like a new
interpretation of the saz leaf developed in the fifteenth century. Unlike the multiple color
combination of Bezmialem, Pertevniyal’s prayer section is decorated with the gold, with
gently curving vegetal motifs, forming a crown around one of the attributes of God: bismi
Sübhan. The golden color emphasizes the divine sphere. More pronounced use of gold
suggests a more expensive page design (Fig. 12).
The introductory pages of the original vakfiye are elaborately adorned in the case
of both queen mothers, echoing the design of their prayer page. As explained earlier, this
section is embellished with a flowery language and Qur’anic quotations. These quotations
are distinguished from the rest of the text. In the case of Pertevniyal, a gilded script
reveals them. Bezmialem’s vakfiye is adorned with a bulb shape radiating golden rays on
the top of the page. Inside it there is a bouquet of flowers, the most prominent of which
are red roses, one in full bloom and another in budding. Compared to the other flowers,
the rose is the most sophisticated figure: the reflection of light on the roses renders them
in three dimensions, alluding to divine beauty and love. The flower motif is repeated
around the edge of the text, surrounded by serrated leaves. Here, with their red-white
contrasting colors, they look like decorative ribbons (Fig. 22). As Christiane Gruber
explains, the Islamic literature frequently employed the rose metaphor to explain the
character, physical beauty and divine scent of Prophet Muhammad since his lifetime. The
rose metaphor in Arabic, Persian and Ottoman Turkish highlighted the Prophet’s suprahuman
traits and splendor. This symbol in Ottoman religious art, from the seventeenth to
the nineteenth century, almost entirely disregarded the Prophet’s human qualities to
88
express his divine immanence.233 The depiction of this symbol bears strong similarities
with Bezmialem’s rose motifs in the beginning of her vakfiye (Fig. 23 and 24).
In the case of Pertevniyal, the decoration of her original vakfiye is more subdued:
illuminated gray shade, contrasting with gold, constitutes the color scheme. The gilt
frame is much thicker than on the other pages of the vakfiye. The upper section has a
golden background adorned with the three dots of the çintemani motif, probably
employed for its decorative and protective qualities, and easily identifiable link to the
Ottoman dynasty.234 The gray shading embellishes the pattern with a three-dimensional
quality. The bending serrated leaves and peonies surround an empty area. On three sides,
the area has circular edges, whereas the uppermost section has a slightly ogival arch
pointing to the golden heavenly rays. The empty area, like the bulb of Bezmialem, might
insinuate the divine inspiration (Fig. 25). In the case of both queen mothers, the ensuing
pages of the original vakfiye are relatively less embellished (Fig. 26). If we compare the
decoration of the original vakfiye with the zeyls, the refinement of the former surpasses
the latter. As explained above, the language of the original vakfiye is also more
sophisticated than the zeyls, and the same distinction holds for their decoration.
Whenever the text uses an elaborated language, the adorning illumination also becomes
more refined. In the case of both queen mothers, the beginning of zeyls has always a
triangular header introducing in a formulaic way the name of the inspector (müfettiş) and
233 Christiane Gruber, "The Rose of the Prophet: Floral Metaphors in Late Ottoman Devotional Art," in
Envisioning Islamic Art and Architecture: Essays in Honor of Renata Holod, David J. Roxburg and Renata
Holod, eds., Brill, 2014, 223-250.
234 Three circles in triangular formation combined with two wavy horizontal bands. Here the horizontal
bands are omitted. The motif, which came to the Ottomans from India through the Silk Road, is used on
various textiles, jewels and ceramics. Translated from Sanskrit as 'auspicious jewel,' it is believed to protect
the bearer and imbue them with physical and spiritual fortitude.
https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/tott/hd_tott.htm, accessed on 2 November 2017.
89
his seal (Fig. 27, 28). The only exception to this rule is Pertevniyal’s zeyl 9. As explained
above, this zeyl is an exception to the rule, and employs a highly sophisticated language,
imitating the original vakfiye. The same is valid for its embellishment. Unlike in the other
zeyls, the header does not introduce its müfettiş, nor does it display any seal. The abstract
golden decoration with floral motifs surrounds an oblong triangular empty space like the
original vakfiye, as if conveying a divine message in its absolute void. Like the original
vakfiye, and unlike the other zeyls, this codicil also included Qur’anic quotations (Fig.
29). In the case of Bezmialem, the more sophisticated header decoration starts with the
Zeyl 11, dedicated to the Gureba Hospital complex. In this zeyl, the green color
background is embellished with the golden çintemani motif, the header is framed with
gracefully curving serrated leaves, and flower motifs are more finely depicted (Fig. 30,
31).235 Zeyl 13, the endowment deed of her rüşdiye, excels in its beginning and ending
decorations. Their rich tezhib (gilding), clarity of compositions and depth of forms
constitute a fine embellishment. The motifs are three dimensional, even the ribbon
patterns reveal their creases. Both queen mothers’ vakfiyes incorporated fine
embellishments whenever the bequeathing of these gifts was significant for them and the
dynasty (Fig.32, 33).
As this section has demonstrated, despite the difference in their decorations,
Bezmialem’s and Pertevniyal’s vakfiyes and zeyls display several common features:
similar cover pages, employment of nesih calligraphy with each page containing 11 lines,
using gilded letters for Qur’anic quotations, and refinement in the decoration of original
vakfiyes, and important zeyls.
235 The Çintamani motif in the background starts in the Zeyl 10, but the depiction in this zeyl is finer.
90
CODA
This close reading of the vakfiyes of Bezmialem and Pertevniyal first and foremost
revealed their prescriptive nature. The dua and first vakfiye, which delineate the general
philosophy and aspirations of the benefactor, are identical in the case of these imperial
women. This fact limits scholars who intend to read the text as their active voices.
However, against this formulaic background, other signs in the text point out a gradual
increase of their personal voice and power: the shift from the third to first person, and the
employment of increasingly ostentatious adjectives attributed to the queen mothers. In the
case of Pertevniyal, the first aspect appeared quickly, while the second was manifested
more flamboyantly, portraying a more dominant, ambitious and forceful valide. I also
contend that she sometimes used the text as a response to her opponents, as her zeyl 9 on
the Aksaray Mosque Complex reveals. In this context, besides tracing personal voices,
the vakfiyes also reflect the mood of the period. In contrast to the reconciliatory spirit of
the Tanzimat in Bezmialem’s era, the continuous drift and ensuing tension between the
Palace and the Porte became slowly prevalent during Pertevniyal’s time.
The eloquent decorations of the vakfiyes also reflect the aesthetic preferences of
their period. Bezmialem’s endowment deed, like those of her husband Mahmud II and
her son Abdülmecid, has typical Ottoman Neo-Baroque features with colorful curves and
naturalistic depictions.236 Pertevniyal’s endowment deed reveals a more subdued, pastel
colors of Ottoman Rococo style.
The vakfiyes of Bezmialem and Pertevniyal show that scholars who portray the
Tanzimat as an era as a linear progress towards nostalgic secularization and
236 Mahmud II's vakfiyes oscillated between the nineteenth-century Baroque and sixteenth- and seventeenthcenturies
nostalgic art of still and stylized floral adornments. See Sadi Bayram, "Sultan II. Mahmud'un
Vakfiyelerindeki Tezyinat, Vakıflar Dergisi, Ankara: Önder Matbaası, XVII, 1983, 147-188.
91
Westernization may not necessarily be correct in their assessment, since these charitable
deeds communicate the donors’ great piety. Religious recitation constituted their most
frequent philanthropic activities. Both queen mothers expended enormous sums to build
and repair various religious sites. Furthermore, contributions to various Muslim Sufi
orders aimed to enforce the political legitimacy of the sultan. Their charitable activities
first and foremost had to support the sovereignty and legitimacy of their sons, who were
the sultans and caliphs to all Muslims. Politics and religion strongly intersected in these
vakfiyes.
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CHAPTER II: CONTRIBUTIONS TO EDUCATION
In the previous chapter, I portrayed in detail Bezmialem and Pertevniyal, the two
foremost queen mothers of the nineteenth century, through their own charitable deeds.
The textual and formal analysis of these vakfiyes within the socio-political realities of
their time delivers an insightful perception of the deeds, which were designed for a
restricted number of viewers, such as other members of the dynasty, high-ranking
officials and their circles, as well as officers who are assigned to various ranks to
administer the foundation. Despite the restricted public access to vakfiyes, the buildings
erected and functioning as a result of these deeds were a visible aspect for the community
who benefited from these monuments.237 These buildings secure a strong public profile
for the queen mothers and the dynasty. Moreover, their site, building style, epigraphic
programs on their architectural projects, functioning together with the intended
beneficiaries further elucidate their intentions and contributions to the Tanzimat period.
In the remaining chapters, among their imperial endowments I first concentrate on
their schools and hospitals, then focus on their mosques. The re-organized education and
healthcare systems were one of the important highlights of the Tanzimat period. As
Zeynep Çelik indicates, these services symbolized the spirit of the Tanzimat era when the
central government extended its duties to cover all aspects of life, instead of leaving such
237 Leslie Peirce makes a distinction between the “invisibility” of charitable works and the “visibility” of
the building. Here I adapted her notion to my own thesis by associating “invisibility” with deeds and
“visibility” with monuments. For the former I should say less visibility since these documents were seen by
a limited number of people, whereas the buildings were accessable by a large number of people. Leslie
Pierce, “Gender and Sexual Propriety in Ottoman Royal Women’s Patronage,” in Women, Patronage, and
Self-Representation in Islamic Societies, Ruggles, D. Fairchild, ed., (Albany: State Univ of New York,
2000), 63, 65.
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services to each community of the millet system.238 Both queen mothers established a
primary and a secondary school (rüşdiye), the latter being a typical Tanzimat institution.
In her endowment deed Bezmialem envisaged her major school (the Valide Mektebi or
today’s Cağaloğlu Lisesi) and hospital projects (the Gureba Hospital) as independent
public institutions, whereas Pertevniyal’s school (the Mahmudiye Rüşdiyesi or today’s
Pertevniyal Lisesi) was part of the Aksaray Mosque Complex. In line with the trend of
their era, both queen mothers’ rüşdiyes mingled religious and worldly subjects in their
curriculum, which I will elucidate below. Due to the incorporation of non-religious
subjects into the educational system, these establishments symbolized the gradual
secularization of the empire, adopting a European agenda for an Ottoman context. The
same was valid for the healthcare system since it combined traditional methods with the
new sciences of biology and pathology. Some scholars analyzed the precepts of the
Tanzimat ideology as “new,” “secular,” and “European,” clashing with “old,” “religious,”
and “Eastern.” Such a framing is problematic since it reveals two basic assumptions: first,
it assumes a concept of backward versus civilized world; secondly, it suggests a divided
and binary society, the obscurantist versus the reformist elite, as ulemas belonging to the
former and bureaucrats to the latter group. Yet, our cases show that such a clear-cut
division is quite misleading since multivalent attitudes and interpretations emerged in
each group, otherwise the tension existed between the old and new in various societies
during the nineteenth century.
Similar movements of modernization took place in Russia, Japan, China and
European countries. In the latter case a comparable tension existed between reformists
238 Zeynep Çelik, The Remaking of Istanbul, Portrait of an Ottoman City in the Nineteenth Century,
(Berkeley: University of California Press, 1986).
94
and traditionalists. In France, for example, the lines were sharply drawn between
Republicans and Catholics. At the end of the nineteenth century Durkheim asked how the
problem of France’s seemingly endless government crises could be solved. Proudhon
declared: “Christian or Republican, that is the dilemma.”239 Tensions between old and
new existed at varying degrees in many societies during the long nineteenth century. I
argue that during the time of these queen mothers, the Ottoman state modified the
education and healthcare systems for the sake of material progress in the empire, in a
similar spirit of practicality, which also existed in their vakfiyes, such as adopting an
interest rate to accrue revenues for the foundation. Otherwise, progression to a more
Western model, or adoption of a more secular system, was not the intention of the
Ottoman dynasty and the queen mothers at the time. Both queen mothers established a
primary school to teach reading, writing and recitation of the Qur’an next to their
rüşdiyes. Islam was viewed as a natural component of primary education, and not a
hindrance to overcome. As I will show below, when several positivist and practical
course subjects were introduced to primary education, such a step was taken without
eradicating the traditional Islamic curricula. As S. Akşin Somel claims, “before the 1870s
Islam was probably too much of a ‘natural’ component of the intellectual culture even for
the reformist bureaucrats for becoming aware of any kind of discrepancy between
modernization and Islam.”240 He continues that the dualism of secular versus Islamic
became a matter of uneasiness in the later years of the nineteenth century, culminating
during the period of the Young Turks after 1908. İlber Ortaylı expresses a similar attitude
239 Benjamin C. Fortna, Imperial Classroom: Islam, the State, and Education in the Late Ottoman Empire,
(Oxford University Press, 2002), 16.
240 Selçuk Akşin Somel, The Modernization of Public Education in the Ottoman Empire, 1839-1908,
Islamization, Autocracy and Discipline, (Leiden, Boston, Koln: Brill, 2001), 2.
95
by acknowledging that the first generation of the Tanzimat reformers was rather
pragmatists, and the political ideology was formed with the second generation, leading to
a more conflicting and controversial political opposition.241
I. TANZIMAT EDUCATION AND THE QUEEN MOTHERS’ SCHOOLS
ACCORDING TO THEIR VAKFIYES
This section will initially elucidate the general direction of Tanzimat-era education and
then argue how these two valides’ initiatives fit into or differed from these general
tendencies. Despite the common denominator of the Tanzimat, the time periods of
Bezmialem and Pertevniyal reflected different matrices of old and new in the sphere of
education. While analyzing their primary and secondary schools, the respective periods’
differences form a background for better comparison. To this end, I will explain the
educational institutions of the Tanzimat in terms of their curriculum, building, site and
administrators. While revealing the military and civil schools, I will also include the
variances among the millet system, as well as the flourishing missionary schools and their
impacts on the overall choices. Finally the religiously mixed education, which was an
important component of the Tanzimat, especially in the second half of the nineteenth
century, will contribute to emphasize the different stages of education in this era.
241 İlber Ortaylı, Batılılaşma Yolunda (On the Way of Westernization), 2nd edition, Istanbul: İnkilâp
Kitabevi Yayın Sanayi ve Ticaret A.Ş, 2015, 23-24, 33-36. The author explains that there was a coup d'état
attempt in the 1840s against Abdülmecid, which was called the "Kuleli Vakası." Then another group called
"İttifak-ı Hamiyyet" attempted another coup in the mid-1860s against Abdülaziz. Both coups were
unsuccessful. The first group was identified as the Young Turks (Genç Osmanlılar or Jeunes Turcs), but in
the 1840s the group members did not adhere to any crystallized nationalist, secularist or radical ideologies.
Rather they resisted an outmoded monarchy. In the 1860s the leading figures of Ottoman thinking were the
secular and nationalist Şinasi, the modernist and Islamist Namık Kemal, and Ali Suavi, who was wavering
between Islam and secularism as well as between Turkism and Ottomanism. Thus, their political ideology
was not clearly defined yet. The increasing existence of opposition groups resulted in the proclamation of
the Constitution in 1876, which constituted a turning point in political thinking of the empire. See also
Reşat Kasaba on New Ottomanism and the crystallization of a discourse of opposition with the Constitution
of 1876, Reşat Kasaba, The Ottoman Empire and the World Economy, the Nineteenth Century, Albany:
State University of New York Press, 1988, 57-60.
96
Both valides’ significant contribution to education consisted of the foundation of
a rüşdiye school. They also founded several primary schools, including one next to their
rüşdiye schools. Important to bear in mind is the fact that the portrayal of these influential
dynastic members has been quite diverse in the historiography: Bezmialem was presented
as complying with the administration and not interfering negatively in state affairs,
whereas Pertevniyal was depicted as clashing with high-ranking officers as an ambitious
and power-hungry queen mother.242 Since the administration was portrayed as reformist,
could we then claim Bezmialem’s education project as reformist and Pertevniyal’s as
conservative?
Until the nineteenth century the Ottoman education system relied on the millet
system. The responsibility of providing education for commoners was left to religious
institutions. Each ethnic community directed its own education system without any
overarching surveillance by the central government. For the Muslim segment of the
empire, ulemas were responsible for the primary (mahalle or sıbyan mektebi) and higher
(medrese) education. Sıbyan mektebis were located in the vicinity of a mosque and
administered by lower level ulema, called hocas. Their maintenance was secured by
vakıfs as well as by the parents’ weekly payments to the hocas. Their mission was to
teach the reading and recitation of the Quran. Arabic was the main language of
education.243 The medreses at the higher level mainly provided religious knowledge.
Initially they combined mathematics, science and medical education (darüttıb) in their
242 See Chapter I, n. 29 and 30.
243 The main language in both primary and higher education was Arabic. The Turkish language entered the
curricula in 1839 with the Tanzimat and was enforced further in 1908 with the Young Turks' movements.
Osman Ergin, Türkiye Maarif Tarihi, vol. 1, (Istanbul: Eser Matbaası, 1977), 82; Halide Edib, a famous
literary figure from a well-to-do family, became one of the first graduates of the American missionary high
school, Robert College. In her memoirs she mentions that attending a sıbyan mektebi was always a great
fanfare; children’s entrance into learning was marked with a great ceremony, which was as important as a
wedding. Halide Edib-Adıvar, Mor Salkımlı Ev, 2nd Edition, Istanbul: Baha Matbaası, 1967, 55.
97
curriculum. The Fatih, Süleymaniye and Ayasofya medreses in Istanbul had a highesteemed
reputation. In the seventeenth century the schools dropped scientific subjects
from their curriculum and started to degenerate, falling behind the current needs of
Ottoman Muslim society. Prior to the eighteenth century, very few educational
institutions included less religious topics, such as the Court School at the Topkapı Palace
(Enderun Mektebi), the training center for Janissary novices (Acemî Oğlanlar Mektebi),
and a few government offices training novices in the art of the literary style (kitabet).244
The system started changing by the end of the eighteenth century.
The political and military gains of the European powers put the Ottoman Empire
on the defensive. The ineffectiveness of the army in the face of its Habsburg and Russian
counterparts, particularly following the Russian-Ottoman War of 1768-1775, forced the
Ottomans to create a more efficient army and navy. The creation of a modern military
structure in turn necessitated an efficient centralized administrative apparatus, an
effective system of taxation and the acquisition of Western scientific knowledge. The
first government schools, established by the end of the eighteenth century, were solely
military institutions. The Naval Engineering School, Mühendishane-i Bahr-i Hümayun,
was founded in 1773 with the support of the French military expert Baron de Tott.
Almost two decades later, in 1795, a similar engineering school was formed for the army,
Mühendishane-i Berr-i Hümayun. Initially instructions in the army and navy schools
remained inefficient. During the Russian-Ottoman war of 1828-1829, Mahmud II had
difficulty in finding proper navy or army officers who had graduated from these
244 Selçuk Akşin Somel, The Modernization of Public Education in the Ottoman Empire, 17.
98
institutions and could serve the Ottoman army.245 Several segments of the ulema together
with the Janissary Corps stood against any attempt at institutional modernization. After
abolishing the Janissary Corps and following his chief physician Behçet Efendi’s
suggestion, Mahmud II established the Military Medical School, Mekteb-i Ulum-i
Tıbbiye, in 1826.246 In his speech addressed to the medical school in Galata, in 1839,
Mahmud II insinuated his preference for the Turkish language in education; yet, due to
the lack of Turkish medical books, he continued, the institution was obliged to offer its
instruction in French.247 In 1834 Sultan Mahmud II established the War Academy,
Mekteb-i Ulum-i Harbiye. Its students graduated as Second Lieutenants. The brightest
among them went to the Mekteb-i Erkan-ı Harbiye (Military Academy).
The primary schools were in a deplorable condition, as their students could not
even read Ottoman Turkish.248 However, the education at military engineering schools,
academies or medical schools, which had been functioning for several decades, required
knowledge of Turkish, Arabic, Persian and French. In order to pursue higher education,
students had to have several preparatory classes, which prolonged the training time at
these military institutions considerably. Also, the Ottoman government necessitated a
245 Selcuk Akşin Somel, The Modernization of Public Education in the Ottoman Empire, 21. A similar
event occurred in the last decades of the nineteenth century in France. State efforts sometimes fell short of
the intended results for quite some time. Despite efforts of the French state to develop a republican
education at all levels throughout the nineteenth century, in 1870 one third of draftees were illiterate, which
was identified as a factor in the French army’s defeat in the Franco-Russian War. The defeat led to the
collapse of the Second Empire. Bertrand Lemoine, Architecture in France 1800-1900, translation by
Alexandra Bonfante-Warren (New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 1998), 79.
246 Osman Ergin, Türkiye Maarif Tarihi, Vol. 2, (Istanbul: Eser Matbaası, 1977), 336. He reveals that after
the Tanzimat non-Muslim students also registered at the institution. They were mostly Greek and
Armenian; the enrollment of Ottoman Jews did not take place until 1859. Ibid.,346.
247 Mir'at-ı Mekteb-i Tıbbiyye, 21, quoted in Osman Ergin, Türkiye Maarif Tarihi, Vol. 2, Istanbul: Eser
Matbaası, 1977,348. "Fennî tıbbı kâmilen lisanımıza alıp kütüb-i lâzımeyi Türkçe tedvine sây ve ikdam
etmeliyiz. Sizlere Fransızca okutmakdan benim muradım Fransız lisanını tahsil ettirmek değildir. Ancak
fenni tıbbı öğredüp refte refte kendi lisanımıza almaktır ve andan sonra Memalik-i Mahruse-i Şahanemin
her tarafına Türkçe olmak üzere neşreylemektir."
248 There were well-educated people in the empire, mostly belonging to the elite class, educated at home by
private teachers. The aim in Tanzimat was to bring education “to the masses.”
99
better-educated workforce for its bureaucracy. As secondary schools, rüşdiyes aimed to
provide a solution to this problem.249
The first government civil schools or rüşdiyes were established only after an
interval of nearly sixty-five years following the foundation of the Naval Engineering
School.250 The Mekteb-i Maarif-i Adliye (School for Learning) was founded in 1838 in
Sultanahmed, adjacent to the Sultanahmed Mosque, and the Mekteb-i Ulum-i Ebediye in
early 1839 in the Süleymaniye Mosque Complex, occupying the space of its previously
existent sıbyan school.251 Both schools were designed particularly to train unschooled
young public officials. Their places were chosen in the vicinity of the Bab-i Ali (the
Sublime Porte or government offices). The Mekteb-i Maarif-i Adliye was located virtually
across from government offices, although both schools were within a comfortable
walking distance to administrative bureaus. The proximity of these schools to the
prominent imperial mosques of Sultanahmed and Süleymaniye also reveals that they
were probably meant to be greater mosque-schools.252 In 1838 the Meclis-i Vala decided
that these schools, directly supported by the sultan, would give a superior education
compared to the sıbyan mektebi. Besides the religious subjects they would add nonreligious
courses to their curriculum, such as Türkçe (Turkish language in prose form),
inşa (literary composition), hat (calligraphy), lugat (lexicology), and ahlak (morality).
Sultan Mahmud II named these schools as rüşdiyes. Instead of sitting on the floor on
cushions, students of these schools would be educated at desks. Subjects in the
249 Osman Ergin, Türkiye Maarif Tarihi, Vol. 2, Istanbul: Eser Matbaası, 1977, 383-384; Enver Ziya Karal,
Osmanlı Tarihi, Ankara: Türk Tarih Kurumu, 1947, vol.5, 163.
250 Osman Ergin, Türkiye Maarif Tarihi, Vol. 2, Istanbul: Eser Matbaası, 1977, 309
251 The Mekteb-i Maarif-i Adliye had nothing to do with justice; it was just the appellation of Sultan
Mahmud II, as a just ruler.
252 Selcuk Akşin Somel, The Modernization of Public Education in the Ottoman Empire, 33. Somel defines
the concept of a greater mosque-school in terms of their curriculum having both religious and non-religious
subjects. I would like to emphasize this concept in terms of their location as well.
100
curriculum would not be taught individually to each student, as in primary schools, but in
classrooms organized according to students’ level of knowledge. The Directorate of
Religious Foundations would also allocate a stipend for each student. However, these
decisions were not entirely applied until 1845.253
The first administrator appointed to the Mekatib-i Rüşdiye Nezareti (Directorate
of Rüşdiye Schools) was Imamzade Esad Efendi, a former kadı and inspector of religious
foundations. The supervision of the Office of Şeyhülislam was prevalent during the
establishment of rüşdiyes. As Somel summarizes, in the early years of the Tanzimat the
Ottoman government considered education within the realm of religion.254 Despite a
more detailed curriculum, education in these schools was reduced to more basic reading
and writing until the age of 18 because of Imamzade’s approach. He advocated that the
students could learn other subjects in other institutions.255 One of the first graduates of
the Mekteb-i Ulum-i Ebediye, İbrahim Halil Aşçıdedem, confirms the insufficient level of
education at these first public schools. The government offices still welcomed and
favored their graduates.
The classroom in the Süleymaniye consisted of a large, single domed room,
whereas the one in the Sultan Ahmed Complex had several rooms named the green,
yellow or blue room. The Süleymaniye could assign only one small room for the
headmaster. In its classroom there were four long rahles (low reading desk) along each
wall. Each rahle was considered one class, totalling four grades (sınıf-i evvel, sani, salis
253 Osman Ergin, Türkiye Maarif Tarihi, Vol. 2, Istanbul: Eser Matbaası, 1977, 384-385.
254 Selçuk Akşin Somel, The Modernization of Public Education in the Ottoman Empire, 36.
255 İmamzade "Fünun-ı saireyi başka mekteplerde öğrenirler" diyordu. Osman Ergin, Türkiye Maarif Tarihi,
Vol. 2, Istanbul: Eser Matbaası, 1977, 386.
101
and rabi).256 Unlike at the Süleymaniye, the rüşdiye in Sultanahmed provided a room for
masters and assistant teachers of Arabic, Persian and French (introduced later) to rest and
reside, as well as separate spaces for instructors of calligraphy (sülüs, divanî, rik’a and
siyakat).257 There was a separate kitchen and another room for pupils to use during breaks
or for drinking coffee.258 Instead of sharing one long desk, the students of the Mekteb-i
Maarif-i Adliye had individual desks with drawers. In 1839, the school could
accommodate around 100 pupils. One tutor for calligraphy and two instructors for Arabic
and Persian were hired. The language teachers were responsible for two classes a day,
every day except Fridays. They would receive a salary of 2,000 kuruş, whereas the
headmaster earned 4000 kuruş. There were boarding and non-boarding students; the
former were entitled to food and a stipend. The graduates of each class received monetary
and non-monetary rewards. The graduates of the first, second, and third class would
receive a small badge and 300 kuruş, a bigger badge and 400 kuruş, a golden badge and
400 kuruş respectively. Even though these guidelines were not executed, in the end they
were important to reveal the intentions.
Despite all good intentions concerning education during the last years of Mahmud
II’s reign, real improvement in secondary school education took place only under Sultan
Abdülmecid (r.1839-1861). The sultan, with the encouragement of Grand Vizier Mustafa
Reşid Pasha (1800-1858), the grand architect of the Tanzimat, issued a ferman dated
January 13, 1845, declaring his intention to eliminate ignorance among his subjects. The
256 Osman Ergin reveals that such a setting conforms to the definition of sıbyan mektebi. Ibid., 387.
257 In explaining these first two secondary schools, Somel reveals that they emphasized Turkish prose
forms, and after learning Arabic, students would take practical subjects like French, geometry, geography
and history. This happened at a later stage, and not under the supervision of Imamzade Esad Efendi. Ergin
gives a more detailed list of subjects in their curricula.
258 "şakirdan için teneffüs olmağa ve kahve içmeğe münasib oda." Memoire quoted in Osman Ergin,
Türkiye Maarif Tarihi, Vol. 2, Istanbul: Eser Matbaası, 1977, 394-402.
102
document reveals the dual understanding of worldly and religious education.259 During
these years high Ottoman officials often witnessed a variety of religious and nonreligious
educational methods in various locations, such as mosques, convents, dervish
lodges, and libraries, along with viziers’ and rich peoples’ mansions. At libraries, the
hafız-i kütüb was also a kind of instructor. For example, Ahmed Cevdet Pasha, after
finishing the medrese, attended first Reşid Pasha’s mansion, then Murat Molla’s lodge
(tekke) and the poet Fehim Efendi’s mansion to broaden his knowledge. Such a mixture
of religious and non-religious tutelage in a non-systematic method constituted the usual
practice for Tanzimat bureaucrats.260
In June 1846, the Meclis-i Maarif-i Umumiye (Council of Public Education)
replaced the Mekatib-i Rüşdiye Nezareti. As a central agency for education, the new
council would plan and direct educational reforms and prepare the necessary curricula.
The Sublime Porte was in the position to select each member of the council, which was
initially headed by Emin Pasha, the Director of the Military Council (Dar-i Şurayı
Askeri).261 This was a substantial step towards the secularization of education, since until
that time the Office of Şeyhülislam had been responsible for all aspects of education.
Almost half a year later, in November 1846, a further step placed the inspection,
regulation, and supervision of Qur’an schools under the Mekatib-i Umumiye Nezareti
(Directorate of Public Schools), which was an organ of the Council of Public Education.
The Directorate envisaged a duration of four years, between the ages of 6 to10 for the
Qur’an schools, and two years until the age of 18 for the rüşdiye schools. Sahhaflar
259 Selçuk Akşin Somel, The Modernization of Public Education in the Ottoman Empire, 36-37.
260 Osman Ergin, Türkiye Maarif Tarihi, vol. 2, Istanbul: Eser Matbaası, 1977, 376-377.
261 Osman Ergin, Türkiye Maarif Tarihi, vol. 2, Istanbul: Eser Matbaası, 1977, 440. Enver Ziya Karal,
Osmanlı Tarihi, vol.6, (Ankara: Türk Tarih Kurumu, 1954), 170.
103
Şeyhizade Esad Efendi (1786/87- 1848), the former court historian (vakanüvis), became
its director. Kemal Ahmed Efendi, the former chief clerk of the secretary of the grand
vizierate, was appointed as his assistant. Kemal Efendi was interpreter and instructor of
Persian language. He became one of the pioneers of Ottoman educational reforms. A year
later, Esad Efendi was promoted to the head of the Council of Public Education, and
Kemal Efendi took his position in the Directorate of Public Schools.
The educational institutions comprised both supporters of radical reforms such as
Kemal Efendi and advocates of traditional approaches such as Esad Efendi or İmamzade
Mustafa Vehbi Efendi (Vehbi Molla), who became assistant to Kemal Efendi.262 Kemal
Efendi organized the Davudpaşa Mektebi as a rüşdiye, taught Persian at the school, and
wrote a treatise (Talim-i Farisi) about easy methods of teaching the language. The school
building consisted of two domed rooms. Besides religious subjects, its curriculum
included Arabic, Persian, calculation (hesap) and geography. In 1847 Kemal Efendi had
its pupils examined on various subjects in the presence of the sultan. The result was
highly satisfactory, and the sultan ordered the opening of more secondary schools in
Istanbul.263 In order to improve education, Kemal Efendi intended to reduce instruction in
Arabic and Persian, and instead emphasize lessons in science. Yet, he was aware of the
ulema’s reactions to this matter. To minimize their criticism, he asked ulema to examine
262 Selçuk Akşin Somel, The Modernization of Public Education in the Ottoman Empire, 39-41.
263 Fatma Aliye, Cevdet Paşa ve Zamanı (Istanbul:Kanaat Matbaası, 1332), 50, quoted in Osman Ergin,
Türkiye Maarif Tarihi, Vol. 2, Istanbul: Eser Matbaası, 1977, 444. "Ehl biri olan Kemal Efendi Davudpaşa
mektebini rüşdiye haline getirip kısa zamanda Arabi, Farsi, Hesap ve Coğrafya okutturarak bunları 1847 de
hümayun huzurunda imtihan ettirdi Herkes beğenip bu mektebe 4 mekteb daha ilave olundu." Somel
reveals that Kemal Efendi set up two rüşdiye schools as a model for secondary education and met the
expenses from his own sources. When it became apparent that the education in these institutions was
superior, the Sublime Porte agreed to set up five more rüşdiyes. Somel's number matches with that given by
Muammer Demirel who specifies these rüşdiyes as Davudpaşa (already existing), Bâbıâli (which might be
the first secondary school already established by Mahmud II in Sultanahmed), Bâyezid, Üsküdar and
Tophane. Muammer Demirel, "Bezmiâlem Valide Sultan School: Darülmaârif," Middle Eastern Studies
45:3, 2009, 507-516.
104
the students. In these highly transformative years, during which reformists and traditional
forces wrangled for the upper hand, the queen mother, Bezmialem, founded the first
modern rüşdiye school in 1850. This was the first secondary school built for its original
purpose, and not converted from another building. Osman Ergin points out that, instead
of previously converted shoddy edifices (derme çatma binalar), a proper stone building,
was designed to serve secondary public education for the first time.264 The school was
near the tomb of Sultan Mahmud II. It is important to note that the school was an
independent building, and not part of a mosque complex. Such a layout conveyed the
valide’s intention more in line with her husband’s, the architect of secondary schools, as
well as with Reşid Pasha and Kemal Efendi. After a couple of years the school was
upgraded to a higher secondary school, and called Darülmaarif, serving as a transitional
institution between the secondary and university (Darülfünun) levels.265
Introducing non-religious subjects to a traditional religious curriculum triggered
tension among all millets of the empire, and Muslims were no exception in this regard.
For example, the Greek school Ellinikos Filologikos Sillogos Konstantinupoleos,
established in 1861, aimed at expanding education among the Greek population of the
Ottoman Empire. Its relatively secular agenda caused great conflict with the Patriarchate.
The school had the support of prosperous Istanbulite Ottoman/Greek families such as the
Zanos, Mavroyeni, Karateodori, Zografos and Aristarhis.266 The Jewish community
264 Osman Ergin, Türkiye Maarif Tarihi, Vol. 2, Istanbul: Eser Matbaası, 1977, 449.
265 The ferman dated 1845, which I mentioned earlier, stipulated the foundation of colleges along with
secondary and professional schools. Yet, the Darülfünun could be established only in 1900 after several
unsuccessful attempts in 1863-65 and 1870-72. Somel mistakenly quotes the date of inauguration for the
Darülmaarif as 1849, which implies an even earlier date for the original opening date of the school. Selçuk
Akşin Somel, The Modernization of Public Education in the Ottoman Empire, 41.
266 Athanasia Anagnostopulu, "Tanzimat ve Rum Milletinin Kurumsal Çerçevesi" (Tanzimat and
Institutional Framework of Greek Millet), in 19. Yüzyıl İstanbul'unda Gayrimüslimler (Non-Muslims in
105
witnessed similar conflicts between their clergy and supporters of modern education. In
1854, under the aegis of the wealthy merchant and banker Abraham de Camondo, the
first modern Jewish school was established in Istanbul. The conservatives were against its
curriculum. They considered the teaching of the French language as evil and campaigned
against Camondo. In the end, they succeeded in excommunicating him. In 1875, another
modern school established by the Alliance Israélite Universelle in Istanbul prompted
similar reactions.267
1856 was another milestone in terms of institutional changes in education. The
edict published that year, towards the end of the Crimean War, stipulated equal
opportunities for all Ottoman subjects. In terms of education, the edict formulated the
acceptance of all Ottomans regardless of their ethnic or religious background to civil or
military schools, and reiterated the right of each community to have its own schools
under the control of the central government.268 Cevdet Pasha claims that the edict was
announced under the diplomatic pressure of France, Britain and Austria. The Ottoman
Empire was eager to demonstrate to European powers its willingness to promote
education and culture.269 Moreover, against the increasing nationalism the government
Nineteenth-Century Istanbul), 3rd edition, ed., Pinelopi Stathis, (Istanbul: Tarih Vakfı Yurt Yayınları,
2011), 1-38.
267 Rena Molho, "Tanzimat ve Sonrasında İstanbul Yahudileri," in 19. Yüzyıl İstanbul'unda
Gayrimüslimler, 3rd edition, Pinelopi Stathis, ed., (Istanbul: Tarih Vakfı Yurt Yayınları, 2011), 84-91.
268 In 1858 for the first time fifteen Bulgarian students were accepted to the military medical school on a
scholarship. This happened a few weeks after the first Ottoman decree acknowledged the Bulgars as a
distinct community, separate from the Orthodox Greek Patriarchate. As a result, the event caused great joy
among the Bulgarian millet. Yeorgios Kiutuçkar, "1878'e Kadar Istanbul'daki Bulgar Cemaati," in 19.
Yüzyıl İstanbul'unda Gayrimüslimler, 3rd edition, Pinelopi Stathis, ed., Istanbul: Tarih Vakfı Yurt
Yayınları, 2011, 39-56.
269 Yahya Akyüz, "Cevdet Paşa'nın Özel Öğretim ve Tanzimat Eğitimine İlişkin Bir Layihası," Ankara
Üniversitesi Osmanlı Tarihi Araştırma ve Uygulama Merkezi Dergisi, 3 (Ocak 1991), 89-91, quoted in
Selçuk Akşin Somel, The Modernization of Public Education in the Ottoman Empire, 17. Karal reveals that
since the Edict of 1856 indicated European pressure on the Ottoman capital, Reşid Pasha opposed it. Only
French and British, but not Austrian influence in the promulgation of the edict was mentioned by Karal.
This fact also reveals that there was no clear-cut line among reformers or conservatives. Individual
106
policy of Ottomanism had to be redefined. Instead of categorizing its subjects along
Muslim and non-Muslim lines, the empire attempted to create a seamless society to hold
all millets together. The promotion of mixed education was an important step towards
that goal. As Maksudyan formulated, “Political elites used Ottomanism to encourage
consensus among different ethnic and religious communities and foster political and
social unity. In terms of policy development, Ottomanist thought promoted the equality
of Muslims and non-Muslims, and a series of laws were instituted to put this notion into
effect.270
The period also witnessed the flourishing of non-Muslim schools, especially
among Armenians, Bulgarians and Greeks. The Sublime Porte felt the need to support the
development of the Ottoman public school system more than ever. A decade after its
foundation, the Meclis-i Maarif-i Umumiye was replaced by the Ministry of Public
Education (Maarif-i Umumiye Nezareti) in 1856, with the intention to better coordinate
public schools all over the empire. Interestingly, Lütfi Efendi––who, like Cevdet Pasha,
was a state chronicler of ulema origin, and an educational reformist––criticized the
foundation of the ministry, since he believed that Western sciences could be taught at
medreses, more economically. He also claimed that such an education would have
lessened religious fanaticism at these institutions. Under the surveillance of the ministry,
the Meclis-i Muhtelif-i Maarif (Mixed Educational Council) was established, composed
of six members of Muslim, Greek-Orthodox, Gregorian Armenian, Catholic, Protestant
approaches and power politics influenced the choices. Enver Ziya Karal, Osmanlı Tarihi (Ankara: Türk
Tarih Kurumu, 1947), vol.6, 2-4.
270 Nazan Maksudyan, “Orphans, Cities, and the State: Vocational Orphanages (“Islahhanes”) and Reform
in the Late Ottoman Urban Space,” in International Journal of Middle East Studies, 43:3, (August 2011),
502. These attempts narrowed the gap of inequalities among the millet system, yet the differentiation along
the religious lines existed until the collapse of the empire.
107
and Jewish faith. At the primary school level, the language of education was the student’s
mother tongue; Muslims, Greeks, Armenians, Jews, Bulgarians, and others were
separated. Schools at the secondary and tertiary levels could be mixed schools and
educate their pupils primarily in Ottoman Turkish. Gradually sıbyan schools became a
term covering all Muslim and non-Muslim primary schools alike.271
In 1861 the Ministry of Public Education was reorganized under its new
appellation, the Maarif-i Umumiye Heyeti (Board of Public Education) and later the
Meclis-i Maarif (Council of Education). The new board, headed by the minister was
composed of two offices: the Daire-i Mekatib-i Mahsus (Office of Private Schools) and
the Daire-i Mekatib-i Umumiye (Office of Public Schools). The latter was also called
Daire-i Maarif-i Umumiye (Office of Public Education). The former was to examine
books on Islamic religion and supervise Muslim primary schools, while the latter was to
handle all issues regarding Muslim and non-Muslim schools. The Office of Public
Education, like the previously established Mixed Educational Council, reflected the
multi-ethnic structure of the empire, consisting of six Muslims, two Greek Orthodox
subjects, two Gregorian Armenians, two Catholics, one Protestant and one Jew as well as
two secretaries. This Muslim and non-Muslim cooperation in the capital was also
reflected in the provinces. The Provincial Law of 1864 aimed to enhance the involvement
of local power-holders of multi-ethnic communities, by incorporating them into local
administrative councils. The governors appointed to the provincial centers tended to
collaborate with these local councils.272 The original intention of such a decision was to
271 Selçuk Akşin Somel, The Modernization of Public Education in the Ottoman Empire, 42-45.
272 Emine Ö. Evered, Empire and Education Under the Ottomans, Politics, Reform, and Resistance from
the Tanzimat to the Young Turks (London, New York: I. B. Tauris, 2012), 108.
108
foster cohesion among the ethnically, religiously and linguistically diverse populations of
the empire and to thwart European penetration.273
Midhad Pasha’s education policy in the Sancak of Niş between 1861and 1864,
then in the province of the Danube between 1864 and 1868, and later in Baghdad and
Syria set a successful example of religiously mixed education in public schools for
Ottoman bureaucrats. In the province of the Danube he reformed the Qur’an schools by
including more secular subjects in their curricula and supporting mixed education at
rüşdiyes, as a measure to counteract the increasing nationalism among the Bulgarians and
to prevent them from attending Russian schools in Kisinau (Kisinev, Moldavia).274
Otherwise, until that period, despite the Edict of 1856, which guaranteed equal access to
civil and government military schools, religiously mixed education was practised only in
professional schools such the Naval School or the Medical School.
Education of Muslims and non-Muslims together with various Ottoman ethnic
groups was an important component of the government policy of Ottomanism,
particularly emphasized after the Edict of 1856. Such an education would create “an
opportunity to replace multiple religious affiliations with one allegiance to one state.”275
Following Sultan Abdülaziz’s visit to Europe and the educational reform proposals of
Jean Victor Duruy, the educational reformer and Minister of Education under Napoléon
273 İlber Ortaylı, Batılılaşma Yolunda (On the Way of Westernization) 2nd edition, (Istanbul: İnkilâp
Kitabevi Yayın Sanayi ve Ticaret A.Ş, 2015), 59-90. The author considers the involvement of various
ethnic groups throughout the empire in local councils as contribution to democracy in the late Ottoman
Empire (under the Constitution of 1876) and the Turkish Republic.
274 Selçuk Akşin Somel, The Modernization of Public Education in the Ottoman Empire, 77-80. In the same
areas, Midhad Pasha also initiated a series of vocational orphanages for orphan, destitute, and poor
children. These institutions were among the first examples of religiously mixed education and were
imitated in other provinces of the empire. For details see Nazan Maksudyan, “Orphans, Cities, and the
State: Vocational Orphanages (“Islahhanes”) and Reform in the Late Ottoman Urban Space,” International
Journal of Middle East Studies, 43:3, August 2011, 503.
275 Benjamin C. Fortna, Imperial Classroom Islam: the State, and Education in the Late Ottoman Empire,
Oxford University Press, 2002, 101
109
III, the Mekteb-i Sultani (Lycée de Galatasaray) was founded as an idadi in 1868. It
aimed at providing education higher than the rüşdiyes, for both Muslims and non-
Muslims.276 It functioned much like a high school or lycée in the French educational
system.277 For the first time, Muslims and non-Muslims would learn, eat and board
together in a non-military public school. This would alleviate the barriers among various
religious groups of the empire and foster the policy of Ottomanism.
The promulgation of the Education Regulation (Maarif Nizamnamesi) of 1869
was another important development in the Ottoman education system. Unlike the text of
1839, which concerned education both religious and worldly, the regulation of 1869
regarded the transmission of worldly knowledge as the sole aim of education. It stressed
secular knowledge while relegating religion to a secondary place. The text mentioned
European countries as “the community of civilization” and viewed them as examples of
progress to emulate. The document also questioned, for the first time, the function of
sıbyan schools and their curricula with their intensive religious teaching. 278 This was a
radical departure from the previous Ottoman tradition; whether related to sıbyan schools
or medreses, all attempts to ameliorate education in religious schools confronted strong
opposition from conservative ulema. As explained above, under Abdülmecid religious
education was conceived as the natural sphere of primary schools. Yet, when Kemal
276 Benjamin C. Fortna, Imperial Classroom, 88-89.
277 The Galatasaray high school was a pioneering institution also as per contemporaneous French standards
for two reasons: although the French state established the secondary school system in 1802, most
educational institutions made do with rudimentary accommodation, often an inherited building that had
nothing to do with education. Others were housed in former convents. Only a few new schools tended to be
in a modest neo-classical style. With its building tailored to education, the Galatasaray represented this new
trend. Second, the idea of non-religious education, which was the primary mission of the republicans in
their struggle against the monarchists, took root in France only in the 1870s. Therefore the Galatasaray’s
secular curriculum in its own period constituted a pioneering accomplishment. Bertrand Lemoine,
Architecture in France 1800-1900, translation by Alexandra Bonfante-Warren (New York: Harry N.
Abrams, Inc., 1998), 79-81. Secular primary education was introduced in France in 1881 and 1882.
278 Selçuk Akşin Somel, The Modernization of Public Education in the Ottoman Empire, 88-89.
110
Efendi, following his success with the rüşdiyes, tried to reform medreses, the
conservative ulema adamantly opposed him, and in the end the sultan was obliged to
remove him from his position.279 Kemal Efendi was sent to Europe to learn about its
educational system in greater detail. Such an assignment was intended to mitigate the
discontent around Kemal Efendi, and at the same time keep open future options to
reassign him within the Ottoman education system. Cevdet Pasha explained the power of
religious zealots who considered the Tanzimat bureaucrats atheists, and did not allow
them to begin educational reforms starting from the primary schools. Even in the newly
opened rüşdiyes, they objected to the use of maps as sacrilegious paintings and had them
thrown into the latrines (abdesthane).280
The apparent lack of success in introducing secular subjects in the existing
Qur’anic schools and the emerging emphasis on scientific subjects in primary education
led to the foundation of the first government primary schools. The first one, established in
Istanbul, in 1872, was called ibtidai mektebi. Their method of education was based on
Selim Sabit Efendi’s pedagogical approach of the usul-i cedid (new method). His method
consisted of learning the alphabet individually and connecting letters through syllables.
This was different from the system of memorizing sentences as in Qur’an schools, and
not properly learning the alphabet. He also encouraged the use of modern means such as
desks and maps, which conservatives resented. Osman Ergin explains the extent to which
Selim Sabit Efendi’s “new method” attracted vehement criticism. The Şeyhülislam
defended that the Qur’an should be taught with the students kneeling; reading the sacred
text on desks while dangling and swinging the legs was outrageous to him. Conservative
279 İbnülemin Mahmut Kemal İnal, Evkaf Tarihçesi, 152, quoted in Ergin. Osman Ergin, Türkiye Maarif
Tarihi, Vol. 2, Istanbul: Eser Matbaası, 1977, 452.
280 Osman Ergin, Türkiye Maarif Tarihi, Vol. 2, Istanbul: Eser Matbaası, 1977, 460.
111
disparagement and resentment obliged Selim Sabit Efendi to modify his method.281 In
1873, another prominent reformer, Şemsi Efendi, incurred the wrath of fanatics who
destroyed students’ desks at his sıbyan mektebi since they were considered improper for
studying the Qur’an. The school’s outdoor playtime during breaks and calisthenics as part
of its curriculum was another source of anger for the old-school educators.282
In 1872, when Pertevniyal established a sıbyan mektebi and a rüşdiye, twenty-two
years after Bezmialem, the struggle between old and new approaches to education was
continuing fiercely. Yet, compared to the 1850s, the secular methods were infiltrating
more deeply into the secondary as well as primary schools. This time the idadis and
ibtidais were gaining momentum in educational reforms. The foundation of the
Galatasaray High School, also an idadi, constituted a successful example of mixed
education among various religiously affiliated groups of the empire. It showed an
alternative to the traditional millet system of education for both Muslims and non-
Muslims, and it removed education from the precinct of the mosque, church, and
synagogue. Following its establishment, the number of students enrolled at the
Galatasaray High School increased rapidly: in 1868 it started with 341 pupils, and by the
end of the year that number had reached 530; one year later, the number was 640, almost
doubling the initial number of students.283 At least symbolically it showed the fact that
281 Osman Ergin, Türkiye Maarif Tarihi, Vol. 2, Istanbul: Eser Matbaası, 1977, 461-462.
282 Osman Ergin, Türkiye Maarif Tarihi, Vol. 2, Istanbul: Eser Matbaası, 1977, 474-475. The ibtidai
schools, despite including practical courses and providing instructors with new educational methods, were
not able to replace Qur'an schools in terms of number and popularity. Their number remained limited due
to insecure financial sources. Modernization of primary education remained limited until 1908. The Maarifi
Umumiye Nizamnamesi stipulated the financing of ibtidais and rüşdiyes by local communities and that of
idadis by the state treasury. Selçuk Akşin Somel, The Modernization of Public Education in the Ottoman
Empire, 271-272.
283 Benjamin C. Fortna, Imperial Classroom, 103.
112
the central government was now assuming the responsibility of educating the entire
population of the empire.284
Another important difference between the time of Bezmialem and Pertevniyal was
the increasing influence of missionary schools in education all over the empire, especially
in the second half of the nineteenth century. Despite their bias towards a theological
curriculum, these schools also introduced scientific subjects and language courses,
establishing an example for other religious schools of the empire. The Catholic and
Protestant missionaries played an important role in this development. Although the
Genoese had resided in Galata since the Ottoman conquest of Istanbul, following the
capitulation agreement, signed between Sultan Süleyman the Magnificent and François I
in 1535, the Jesuits and Franciscans established themselves more firmly in Galata and
Pera. Yet, the Vatican’s banishment of the Jesuit order in 1773, and the French
Revolution in 1789 slowed down their activities until the mid-nineteenth century.285
Thereafter the strong support of Pope Pius IX (1846-1878) and Leon XIII (1878-1903)
for various Catholic religious orders boosted their activities in Istanbul. The American
Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (ABCFM) came to Istanbul in 1831 as a
prominent Protestant institution and established the first Theological Seminary in 1840 in
Bebek. The head of the school was Cyrus Hamlin. Internal strife held the board back for a
284 It is important to acknowledge the Galatasaray phenomenon as a significant new trend, breaking with
the previous tradition. Otherwise, as Fortna indicates, despite al the government efforts, by 1898 the
number of students that government schools could accommodate was outnumbered by a ratio of two-to-one
by foreign schools and of three-to one by millet and foreign institutions combined. Ibid., 53. Until the end
of the empire the school remained a mixed institution, although Sultan Abdülhamid II gave a more Islamic
tone to its administration and curriculum. He replaced the French director with Ali Suavi Efendi, the first
Muslim of ulema origin to hold the post. Muslim students started to study the fundamentals (akaid) of
Islam. Scholarship veered more toward Muslim students. Ibid., 105-110.
285 The number of missionaries and members at Saint Benoit, Saint George and Saint Louis Monasteries in
Galata and Pera decreased to their minimum in the first half of the nineteenth century. Markos N. Roussos-
Milidonis, "19. Yüzıl İstanbul'unda Katolik Azınlık," in 19. Yüzyıl İstanbul'unda Gayrimüslimler, 3rd
edition, Pinelopi Stathis, ed., (Istanbul: Tarih Vakfı Yurt Yayınları, 2011), 92-98.
113
while, and in 1863 Hamlin broke with ABCFM and established Robert College.286
Another influential school, the Constantinople Woman’s College was established in
1871.287
As I have demonstrated in this section, despite the common denominator of the
Tanzimat, the time periods of Bezmialem and Pertevniyal reflected different matrices of
old and new in the sphere of education. While analyzing their primary and secondary
schools, the respective periods’ differences form a background for better comparison.
II. BEZMIALEM’S SCHOOLS
As explained in the previous chapter, the primary and secondary school buildings that the
valide sultan founded as one of her major philanthropic projects, were constructed
towards the end of her life. Bezmialem’s endowment deed employed a strong first
person-voice, suggesting her active role in this philanthropic activity (maalimden sarfla
[...] nefsim içün bina ve inşa eylediğim).288 The decree, dated almost a month after the
inauguration of the school, discloses the aim of establishing the school for educating the
286 Konstantia P. Kiskira, "19. Yüzılın Çokuluslu İstanbul'unda Amerikan Misyonerleri,” in 19. Yüzyıl
İstanbul'unda Gayrimüslimler, 3rd edition Pinelopi Stathis, ed., (Istanbul: Tarih Vakfı Yurt Yayınları,
2011), 70-83.
287 Barbara Reeves-Ellington, “Constantinople Woman’s College: Constructing Gendered, Religious, and
Political Identities in an American Institution in the Late Ottoman Empire,” Women’s History Review 24
(1): 2015, 53–71. The author explains that during the late Ottoman period the school abandoned being
solely a missionary institution and applied a more secular curriculum, turning the institution into the first
liberal arts college for women in the Near East. The shifting identity of the college stirred hot debates. In
the end, the college broke with their missionary supporters to seek the financial backing of independent
philanthropists. As a result, the institution has transformed itself from a missionary school into an
independent college. The missionary or secular curriculum was the core of debates for many missionary
schools of the time.
288 VGM 634/0120/0026, "as a result of my high thoughts ... I built and constructed."
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empire’s civil servants and preparing students for the higher-level institution of the
Darülfünûn (university).289
Kemal Efendi, the architect of the rüşdiye schools and appointee of Reşid Pasha,
had influence over both Sultan Abdülmecid and Bezmialem. The sultan personally
attended the inauguration of the school on 2 March 1850 (7 Cemaziyelevvel 1266), a
Saturday. Besides the sultan, all the Ottoman grandees were present at the inauguration.
The newspaper Takvim-i Vekayi enumerates among them the şeyhülislam, ministers (sairi
vükelâ), the greatest Muslim theologists (ulema-yı âzam), dignitaries (rical-i benam),
and high-ranking soldiers (ümera-yı askeriye).290 The Grand Vizier Mustafa Reşid Pasha
delivered the opening speech, followed by a discourse on the sciences and humanities,
written by Cevdet Pasha.291 The sultan brought his son Şehzade Murad Efendi and his
daughter Fatma Sultan to Kemal Efendi and ordered them to kiss Kemal Efendi’s hands,
a gesture of deep respect in Ottoman tradition. He then congratulated Kemal Efendi and
entrusted his children’s education to him while asking for their equal treatment with other
students:
Bravo Kemal Efendi, I thank you for your efforts in making the education
widespread for our male and female subjects, which is the cause of the felicity in
this and the next world. I ask your favor for bringing up my children the way you
do with other children.292
289 İ DH 212 12383 1 2 dated 14 Cemaziyelahir 1266 (27 April 27 1850), "işbu mekteb-i celîlin aklâm-ı
şahaneye ve Darülfünûn'a mahrec ittihazıyla". The Darülfünûn's construction as higher education continued
for years and could be completed only during the reign of Abdülhamid II. See n. 26.
290 Takvim-i Vekayi, 1266 (1850), no. 425.
291 Vak'a-Nüvis Ahmed Lütfi Efendi Tarihi, vol. IX, translated by M. Münir Aktepe, Istanbul: Edebiyat
Fakültesi Matbaası, 1984, 26, 51. The official permission for the opening of the school was promulgated in
İ DH 212/12376 dated 03 Cemaziyelevvel 1266 ( 17 March 1850). Aktepe gives 1 June 1851 as the date for
the inauguration, without quoting the corresponding date in the Islamic calendar. Bezmialem's endowment
deed does not justify this date, nor does the official permission document. See also Osman Ergin, Türkiye
Maarif Tarihi, vol. 2, 449-450 and Enver Ziya Karal, Osmanlı Tarihi, Ankara: Türk Tarih Kurumu, 1954,
vol.6, 177. Also see n. 26 for Somel's quoting the inauguration date of the Darülmaarif as 1849.
292 "Aferin Kemal Efendi, sermaye-i saadeti dareyn olan maarifin tebaamızın zükur ve nisvanı hakkında
tamimine gayretinizden dolayı size teşekkür ederim. Halkın evladını terbiyeye nasıl say ediyorsanız kendi
çocuklarımı da terbiyeye himmetinizi beklerim." Kemal Efendi's son Sait Bey's memoirs quoted in Osman
115
The event does not only reveal the sultan’s support of Kemal Efendi and his new methods
of education, but also his encouragement as one of the pioneers in supporting girls’
education. Bringing Fatma Sultan to the school was symbolically important since the
school enrolled solely boys. Fatma Sultan, like other dynastic members of her time, must
have continued her education privately, except perhaps for a few classes at the daire-i
hümayun, which I will discuss below. It is important to recall that the first rüşdiye for
girls was opened only eight years later in 1858, while the debate whether an education
beyond the primary level was necessary for girls was still continuing.293
Kemal Bey was one of the prominent reformers in education. Half a century later
Ebuzziya Tevfik acknowledged him as one of the great reformers of his time (o zamana
göre fevkalade ad olunacak bir tarz-ı tahsili),294 who established in the name of the
queen mother a kind of a high school (bir nevi lise hükmünde olan).295 Sait Bey, Kemal
Bey’s son, points out his father’s influence on the queen mother: “It was my father who
had the queen mother establish the Valide Mektebi. He even wrote the inscription
showing the building date.” The inscription reads as follows:
Her slave, the Director of Schools wrote the date
Look, the queen mother constructed a marvellous school296
Ergin, Türkiye Maarif Tarihi, vol. 2, Istanbul: Eser Matbaası, 1977, 450-451, and Mecmua-i Ebuzziya, no.
120, 18 Zilkâde 1329 (10 November 1911). In the latter the quotations were slightly different, but the
meanings were similar.
293 Osman Ergin, Türkiye Maarif Tarihi, Vol. 2, Istanbul: Eser Matbaası, 1977, 457-459. The Teachers'
School for Girls (Darülmuallimat) was opened in 1869. In 1874 the number of educational institutions for
girls reached ten.
294 "An education style that could be named as extraordinary in his time" Mecmua-i Ebuzziya, no. 120, 18
Zilkâde 1329 (10 November 1911).
295 Mecmua-i Ebuzziya, no. 120, 18 Zilkâde 1329 (10 November 1911).
296 "Valide Mektebini Valide Sultana yaptıran pederdir. Tarihi inşası dahi anındır."
"Yazdı tarihin Mekatib nazırı abdi kemin
Mehdiulya bak pekala mekteb inşa eyledi." as quoted in Osman Ergin, Türkiye Maarif Tarihi, Vol. 2,
Istanbul: Eser Matbaası, 1977, 451. Translation mine. This was in the tradition of metrical poetry where
each syllable has its own weight qualitatively and quantitatively. The last line was usually a chronogram,
with the numerical value of the letters adding up to the construction date.
116
However, the inscription at the entrance of the school today does not indicate the same
lines. Currently the school is called Cağaloğlu Anadolu Lisesi and features two
inscriptions. The original one in Ottoman script is at the outer entrance, while the new
appellation in Turkish is in front of the main building of the institution (Fig. 34, 35 and
36).297 It reads as follows:
Bezm-i Alem Valide Sultan erected the building
Which, Oh God, guards a school of knowledge
An exquisite library inside it
Made an exalted sign to this rüşdiye
Look, she gave to the history an ornament,298
a radiant door/institution of the eye/jewel of the city
The mother of the ruler of the world created this school299
Instead of using the term mehd-i ulya, this inscription calls the benefactor the queen
mother Bezmialem, and the mother of the world ruler. In both inscriptions we discern a
similar pattern of addressing: bak (look) in order to focus the audience’s attention on the
importance of the charity act. The inscription at the entrance door reveals the importance
and exquisite character of the school. It is the guardian of knowledge (mektab-i ilm ile
merzuban) and has an exalted status (ali-nişan bu mektebi). It is an ornament of history
(virdi bak tarihe ziver), a shining door to the jewel of the city (mısr-ı ayn-i bab-ı fer). It
had an excellent library, as the endowment specified the bequeathing of 431 books for the
school. Besides a variety of religious manuscripts, the library contained literature,
297 I would like to thank Assistant Headmaster Ercan Kazel for providing me with pictures.
298 The Ottoman inscription employs the word ziver. Besides its literary meaning and metric value, the
word also refers to the creator of the inscription, Ahmet Sadık Ziver Pasha (1793-1862). As a well-known
statesman and poet, he composed the inscriptions of major buildings during the reigns of Mahmud II and
Abdülmecid, including the inscription of Bezmialem's hospital, which I will explain in the next chapter.
299 Bezm-i Alem Valide Sultan bünyad eyledi/Mekteb-i ilm ile Yarab merzuban bu mektebi/Bir kütübhane
bina kıldı derununda nefis/Eyledi rüşdiyeye ali-nişan bu mektebi/Virdi bak tarihe ziver mısr-ı ayn-i bab-ı
fer/ Kıldı icad mader-i şah-ı cihan bu mektebi. I would like to express my gratitude to Selim Sırrı Kuru, for
helping me decipher the inscription. The translation is mine.
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history, science and medical books, as well as dictionaries.300 Compared to the previous
rüşdiyes, which used different types of converted buildings, and often lacked necessary
rooms either for students or instructors, such an additional library confirmed the
privileged position of this new rüşdiye.
Kemal Bey’s success in education and the sultan’s appreciation of his
accomplishments incurred jealousy and rivalry in the administration. While Somel and
Sakaoğlu reveal the conservative religious opposition, Ebuzziya Tevfik discloses Reşid
Pasha’s intrigues against him. According to Tevfik, the sultan’s compliments on the
inauguration day incited jealousy in Reşid Pasha (Reşid Paşa’nın derununda mekruz olan
has-ı hased ve rekabeti). Reşid Pasha, who had initially supported Kemal Efendi’s
reforms, started plotting against him from that day on and succeeded in having him sent
to Berlin.301
The valide’s foundation deed described the location of the school as being behind
Mahmud II’s mausoleum, towards the public road, in the same row as the open-air place
of worship (namazgâh). Its building site covered 24.243 zira.302 The deed reveals that a
fair amount of land was dedicated to the school. The description of consecutive buildings
of ten bab menzili, instead of one bab menzili that her other zeyls reported on the size of
almost all bequeathed or built edifices, is another indication of the substantial amount of
land that together with a grand building was dedicated for education. The choice of the
site, connected to the tomb of her deceased husband, was significant. As explicated
300 For a more detailed analysis of the books see Arzu Terzi, Bezmiâlem Valide Sultan (Istanbul: Timaş
Yayınları, 2018), 208-222, 333-354.
301 Mecmua-i Ebuzziya, no. 120, 18 Zilkâde 1329 (10 November 1911), 104-105. Selçuk Akşin Somel, see
n. 23. Necdet Sakaoğlu, "Valide Mektebi, İstanbul Ansiklopedisi, 363-364. The author reveals that the
dispute at the Meclis-i Vala, between Kemal Efendi and Imamzade Esad Efendi, about reforming the
education at medreses led to their dismissal by the sultan.
302 Zira (cubit) is a measurement unit of length, based on forearm and hand, around 75-90 cm.
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previously in this chapter, Mahmud II was a prominent reformer in education, not only
for military institutions, but also for civil schools. He initiated the establishment of
rüşdiyes in the empire. The proximity of the school to his tomb emphasized that the
queen mother was following in her husband’s footsteps. Her vakfiye named the school a
rüşdiye.
It was designed as a lofty school (mekteb-i münif) in all senses. Its stone building
(kargir) was the first one among rüşdiyes to be purpose-built as an institution of
secondary education.303 Like other rüşdiyes (mekatib-i rüşdiye misillu), its curriculum
would include subjects such as Arabic, Persian, geography, arithmetics (hesab),
orthography (imla), literary composition (inşa), history, methods of translation (usul-i
tercüme) and geometry (hendese). The Takvim-i Vekayi reveals the uniqueness of the
curriculum for rüşdiyes, in the sense that they were the only ones including learning and
science (mekatib-i rüşdiyeye mahsus ulum ve fünun).304 As in other rüşdiyes the teaching
would be on desks instead of cushions placed on floor. The deed insinuates the privileged
position of the school vis-à-vis other secondary schools: it featured a relatively big library
with 431 books endowed by the queen mother.305 The queen mother also assigned two
librarians so that the library could render services to students seven days a week.306 As
explained above, the hafız-i kütüb at libraries was also a kind of instructor. Two chiming
clocks (çalar saat) were mentioned as further prestigious donations by Bezmialem.
Chiming clocks were novel and luxurious items coming mostly from Western Europe.
Tracking time through mechanical clocks, instead of more traditional sun dials and
303 See n. 24.
304 Takvim-i Vekayi, no. 427,1266 (1850).
305 The books are described in the zeyl dated 10 Şevval 1269 (17 July 1853). Besides religious subjects and
Sufism, there are dictionaries as well as geography and history books.
306 See Table No.1, p.23.
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muvakkithanes also announced a modern attitude.307 Wishnitzer argues that the
Galatasaray Highschool, with its mechanical clock placed in the internal courtyard, was
the only school relying on the alafranga (French/European) time. Other civilian Ottoman
schools kept the prayer cycle and alaturka (Turkish/Ottoman) hours.308 Yet, Bezmialem’s
vakfiye might be challenging that conclusion, since it bequeathed two prominent clocks to
the school. One clock was big and sheltered (muhafazalı tam kebir) while the other had a
bell glass (fanuslu). The former was to be placed in an appropriate location in the interior
of the school (mekteb-i merkum derununda münasib mahale), and the latter in the royal
chamber on the upper floor (mekteb-i mezkurun fevkanısında daire-i hümayuna). The
queen mother even designated a clock repairer for their maintenance.309 Such important
donations were meant to be used, and not kept as accessories. We do not know any
details concerning their usage; yet, they might indicate a transitional period when the old
and new were in constant dialogue.
The elevated plan of the prestigious school reveals a two-storey, neo-classical
design (Fig. 37).310 It had a unified and symmetrical façade. Instead of projections and
307 Gözde Önder, "From Diplomatic Gift-Exchange to the Turkish Market: Clocks," Master’s thesis, Koc
University, Istanbul, 2015; Mehmet Bengü Uluengin, “Secularizing Anatolia Tick by Tick: Clock Towers
in the Ottoman Empire and the Turkish Republic,” in International Journal of Middle East Studies,
42:2010, 17-36; Avner Wishnitzer, “A Comment on Mehmet Bengü Uluengin, “Secularizing Anatolia Tick
by Tick: Clock Towers in the Ottoman Empire and the Turkish Republic,” in International Journal of
Middle East Studies, 42:2010, 537-540. Uluengin argues that clock towers had multivalent meanings
sometimes even contradicting each other. Wishnitzer reveals that Uluengin seems to be arguing against an
old narrative according to which clock towers were agents of seculization and modernization and they
conflicted with “traditional” Muslim time. Yet, as the title suggests, that narrative continues to haunt
Uluengin’s analysis. Wishnitzer contends that until the end of the Hamidian era the clock towers were not
perceived as conflicting with the indigenous hour system. See also Avner Wishnitzer, “The Transformation
of Ottoman Temporal Culture during the ‘Long Nineteenth Century’” (PhD Diss., Tel Aviv University,
2009); Avner Wishnitzer, Reading Clocks Alla Turca: Time and Society in the Late Ottoman Empire,
(Chicago and London: The University of Chicago Press, 2015).
308 Avner Wishnitzer, Reading Clocks Alla Turca: Time and Society in the Late Ottoman Empire, (Chicago
and London: The University of Chicago Press, 2015), 106.
309 See Table No.1, p.24.
310 BOA PLK.p-1044. The caption reads: "Mehd-i ulya-yı saltanat devletli, ismetli sultan-ı aliye-yiş şan
hazretlerinin bina ve inşa buyurdukları mekteb-i münifin resmidir, sene 1266."
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curvy sculptural volumes of the neo-Baroque vocabulary that she employed elsewhere,
the school building reflects the flat and angular style of the neo-classical era of
architecture. The edifice features a minimum decoration with protruding cornices
distinctly framing each floor; the rectangular windows had straight or pedimental
ornamentations on top. The entrance in the middle of the edifice does not sport much
decoration, although a sultanic monogram and an inscription could be deciphered.311
Spare decorations, simple and impactful materials and shapes reflected a “modest
neo-classical style” applied in France for most school buildings in the nineteenth
century.312 Architecture had utilitarian considerations. It was influenced by the ideals of
the École des Beaux-Arts, which championed the classical Greek tradition and the tenets
of Rationalism. Architects who demonstrated an allegiance to Viollet-Le-Duc’s
Rationalist aesthetics were employed by the state to regulate and design school
buildings.313 Felix Narjoux and Eugène Train––the latter was Viollet-Le-Duc’s son in
law––were among them. Narjoux published a three-volume book on public architecture,
with a preface written by Eugène Viollet-Le-Duc. The third volume is dedicated to school
buildings. Although most of the edifices in the volume were from the second half of the
nineteenth century and do not entirely resemble the building of Bezmialem’s school, they
nonetheless carry important common features revealing some tenets of the modest neo-
311 We cannot see details to verify whether the inscription belonging to Kemal Bey, as his son claimed, was
on the facade. See n. 43.
312 The term was coined in Bertrand Lemoine, Architecture in France 1800-1900, translation by Alexandra
Bonfante-Warren (New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 1998), 79-81. Naturally there were exceptions to the
modest application of neo-classical style, as some school buildings had more luxurious designs and
decorations. Moreover, the Third Republic stressed more monumental and pompous buildings as the
prestigious symbols of its egalitarian education. In Paris the buildings sometimes were as tall as five
stories.
313 Although Viollet-Le-Duc favored function over form, he tried to circumvent the Beaux-Arts’ tradition
of condemning the Gothic art as incoherent, decadent and without taste. He was involved in the restoration
of several medieval landmarks in France and very much appreciated them.
121
classical style (Fig. 38, 39 and 40).314 They reveal either a divided school building for
girls and boys or a separate edifice for male and female students. Sometimes school
buildings were incorporated into the town hall (Fig. 38). They featured one or two
storeys. The symmetry was the basic tenet of these buildings, which were made of brick
and rubble, often combining them with stone. The rhythmic sequence of rectangular or
arched windows was often emphasized with spare ornamentation, such as segmented
arches or brick decorations. These distinctive attributes bear similarities with the
Bezmialem Valide Mektebi.
Benjamin Fortna, in describing the idadi buildings during Sultan Abdülhamid II’s
reign, reveals that they were modeled after their French counterparts, “highly
symmetrical both in plan and elevation, and neo-classical in design” (Fig. 41 and 42).315
In Europe the return to Greek or Roman classical models represented purity, virtue and
dignity. Therefore, this style was widely used for educational institutions. During the
Abdülhamid era, the Ottoman embassy in Paris gathered architectural plans for the idadi
buildings. Eighty sets of plans were sent to the districts to accommodate 200 to 300
students. The buildings were undertaken on a grand scale and constructed of dressed
stone masonry. They also featured ornamental staircases and entrances, along with arched
or pedimented windows.
Bezmialem’s rüşdiye is in stone masonry, but not on a grand scale. Moreover, it
does not have the elaborate entrance and staircases that Fortna describes for the idadi
buildings. Yet, compared to single- or double-domed rüşdiyes or sıbyan mektebi, the
Valide Mektebi reflected a rather sophisticated building designed for education. The
314 M. Félix Narjoux, Architecture Communale (Paris: V superscript ve A. Morel et c superscript ie, 1880),
vol. 3, https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k86626d.image, access 3 Nov. 2018.
315 Benjamin C. Fortna, Imperial Classroom, 139.
122
façades of the great majority of late Ottoman schools had a tripartite division, which fit
the schema of Turkish traditional art as suggested by Henry Glassie.316 The Valide
Mektebi seems to have a pentapartite division, with a central entrance and two distinctive
parts on each side. However, the alternating decorations above the windows suggest that
each side was understood as a whole, conjuring up a tripartite edifice. The comparison of
the original building with the current one reveals substantial differences: instead of two,
the new building has three stories. The rectangular windows were replaced with arched
ones on the first and second floors. The alternating pediments above the windows
disappear entirely, along with the cornices of the roof.
The queen mother’s endowment deed gives a detailed scheme of instructors and
their relevant salaries.
Table No. 4: Instructors’ Salaries at Bezmialem’s Rüşdiye
Positions Monthly salary (kuruş)
Headmaster (muallim-i evvel) 1,500
Deputy Assistant Headmaster (muallim-i sani) 750
Kâtib (teaching orthography and literary composition
and inspecting students’ attendance on a daily basis) 1,000
First Supervisor (mubassır-ı evvel) 250
Second Supervisor (mubassır-ı sani) 200
(supervising students during their ablutions, prayers
and discussion sessions)
Sülüs Calligraphy (2 persons, each earns monthly) 250
Rika Calligraphy 250
Divani Calligraphy 250
First Librarian (hafız-ı kütb-i evvel), everyday except Fridays 200
Second Librarian (hafız-ı kütb-i sani), on Fridays 80
Head Janitor (odacıbaşı) 200
Janitor (odacı) (2 persons, each earns monthly) 100
(sweeping, cleaning and doing chores for students)
First Attendant (kapucılık hizmeti) 150
316 Henry Glassie, Turkish Traditional Art Today, Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1993, quoted in
Benjamin C. Fortna, Imperial Classroom, 141. He discloses that the tripartite division was the dominant
theme not only in architecture, but in Turkish art in general.
123
Second Attendant (kapucılık hizmeti) 100
Time-Keeper (muvakkit) 40
TOTAL 5,670
The table reveals some interesting realities of the time. The remuneration for
administrative jobs was higher than for teachers of specific subjects. There was a
remarkable difference between the salaries of a katib and the calligraphy teachers, with a
ratio of 4 to 1. The salary gap was minimal when compared with unqualified staff
members: the head janitor earned 200 kuruş, whereas calligraphy teachers received only
250 kuruş. Even though the deed envisaged the teaching of mathematics, geometry,
geography, Arabic and Persian, there was no reference to their salary. This fact implied
that the calligraphy positions were relatively easy to fill and their salaries already
established in the market, when compared to teachers of recently introduced subjects.317
Yet a decree promulgated half a year later, in December 1850, summarizes the first-year
curriculum since the members of Meclis-i Maarif-i Umumiye were supposed to examine
students individually (alel-infirad imtihan olunarak) on subjects that the queen mother
stipulated, such as Arabic, Persian, geometry, arithmetic, geography and wisdom
(hikmet).318 An entry exam was arranged for the Valide Mektebi students once a year.319
Salnames (yearbooks) list instructors assigned for each position. The school had to teach
subjects prescribed in the vakfiye and could add new courses to the curriculum.The most
interesting addition was a gymnastic teacher (jimnastic muallimi) in 1876 since it was
317 These subjects already appeared in the curriculum of military schools. Arabic was taught at primary
schools, but its level was certainly different from the one required at rüşdiyes. Other rüşdiyes established
by Kemal Efendi introduced Arabic and Persian despite the negative attitude of conservative ulema who
wanted the main emphasis on the Qur'an and religious subjects. İ DH 266 16635 dated 5 Cemâziyelevvel
1269 (14 February 1853) still envisaged the teaching of geometry to all rüşdiye students, implying that it
was not an accomplished mission yet.
318 İ MVL 196 6077 1 1 dated selh-i Muharrem 1267 (5 December 1850).
319 İ DH 212 12383 1 2 dated 14 Cemaziyelahir 1266 (27 April 27 1850). Takvim-i Vekayi stresses that all
students should pass an entry exam for the Valide Mektebi and study there for three years. Takvim-i Vekayi,
no. 427 dated 1266.
124
harshly contested by conservatives, as explained above.320 Salnames also reveal that the
instructors for geometry and drawing came from the military schools since they held
titles such as yüzbaşı (lieutenant) or alay emini (adjutant and paymaster of a regiment).321
The rüşdiye was initially designed for a three-year education, but later offered a four-year
curriculum.322
Compared to the detailed information on the rüşdiye, the sıbyan mektebi, which
the vakfiye called Yeşil Mekteb (Green School), was described only very briefly. Only
three people were appointed to it.
Table No. 5: Instructors’ Salaries at Bezmialem’s Sıbyan Mektebi
Positions Monthly salary (kuruş)
Qur’an teacher (hoca) 200
Assistant Qur’an teacher (halife efendi) 80
Janitor (odacı) 70
TOTAL 350
Its budget was the equivalent of only 6 per cent of the rüşdiye. The striking difference
evidences the great significance given to the secondary schools, as they had been recently
introduced to the civil public educational system.
For both schools, the endowment deed foresaw the common costs below.
Table No. 6: Common Costs at Bezmialem’s Rüşdiye and Sıbyan Mektebi
Positions Monthly salary (kuruş)
Waterway engineer (su yolcusu) 20
Miscellaneous costs
(beeswax, oil for lamps, firewood) 500
320 Salname 1292 (1876), p.137.
321 Osman Ergin confirms this fact for geometry. Students who successfully finished mathematics would
take geometry classes. For this position Tahir and Saffet Beys from the Harbiye Military School were
appointed in 1855. These teachers would teach geometry in other rüşdiyes, by visiting them successively
once or twice a week. Osman Ergin, Türkiye Maarif Tarihi, Vol. 2, Istanbul: Eser Matbaası, 1977, 446.
322 Osman Ergin, Türkiye Maarif Tarihi, Vol. 2, Istanbul: Eser Matbaası, 1977, 449, Muammer Demirel,
"Bezmiâlem Valide Sultan School: Darülmaârif, 511, 516.
125
The endowment deed prescribed the laying of new water pipes to bring two
masura of water from Beylik Halkalı to the school buildings.323 The foundation also
stipulated a waterway engineer to maintain the network and ensure the continuous
distribution of water to the school.324 Yet, a decree dated 22 December 1849, almost two
months before the inauguration stipulated the allocation of one and a half masura water
to the schools.325
It is important to note that the primary school, in accordance with the general
perception of the time, was perceived within the natural realm of religion. Its staff
consisted of two Qur’an teachers and a janitor. Even in her secondary school mubassırs
were appointed to supervise students during their ablutions, prayers and ensuing
discussion sessions.
From its inception, the school applied a system of reward to its students, which
was a novel method in education. As explained earlier the rüşdiyes established by
Mahmud II intended to apply a reward system of badges and money for successful
students, but it was unrealized. Kemal Efendi’s son reveals that it was his father who
established the method of honoring successful students with badges. Against criticism of
such a modern pedagogical method in education, Kemal Efendi prepared another medal
with an inscription “the badge of honor is an examination (Nişan-ı aferini imtihandır).”326
323 80 m3/hour. Masura: one eigth of a lüle, which is 40 m3/hour. Fuat Şentürk, Hydraulics of Dams and
Reservoirs (Highland Ranch, Colorado: Water Resources Publications), 1994, Danielle Bersche, "The
Ottoman Distribution System in Acre," Acre: International Conservation Center, 2009, access 30 October
2018,
http://www.iaa-conservation.org.il/images/files/pdf_docs/Acre_Water%20Distribution%202009.pdf.
324 "Iki masura ma-i lezizin müceddiden bina olunan mekteb-i mezbura al-ed devâm ceryaniçün tayin
olunan su yolcuya."
325 İ.DH 207 11995 dated 6 Safer 1266 (22 December 1849)
326 Osman Ergin, Türkiye Maarif Tarihi, Vol. 2, Istanbul: Eser Matbaası, 1977, 451.
126
Following the initial examination, the most successful students were rewarded with
nişan-ı aferin. Those badges were made of silver. After another examination in December
1850, successful students who became sophomores were presented with a gilded badge of
honor (yaldızlı nişan-ı aferin). Nineteen students were rewarded with such badges to
encourage and motivate them.327
The reward system not only benefited successful students, but also the instructors
and administrators. The decree of December 1850 mentioned three names meriting a
reward. The first one was Vehbi Efendi or Molla Vehbi, the Deputy Secretary to Kemal
Efendi, who was later accused of sabotaging his rüşdiyes.328 His first year of performance
at the Valide Mektebi was praised as a constant effort to improve the new system of
education.329 Ahmet Hilmi Efendi, the teacher of mathematics (ulum-i riyaziye), and Ali
Efendi, the headmaster (müdür) and instructor of orthography and rik’a, were other staff
members considered successful.330 Praising Vehbi Molla could have been a tactic to
integrate him into the new system of education. Unlike the other two, Vehbi Efendi did
not receive his reward due to an objection from the Meclis-i Vâlâ almost a month later.
Apparently, Vehbi Efendi had climbed the ladder of hierarchy in a very short period of
327 İ MVL 196 6077 1 1 dated selh-i Muharrem 1267 (5 December 1850) and İ MVL 196 6077 2 1 dated 10
Safer 1267 (15 December 1850). Interestingly, the documents reveal that the students who received silver
badges a year earlier had to return them so that they could be given to first-year students: "şakirdanın
indlerinde bulunan sim nişanlar madunlerine verilmek için ahz olunub..."
328 Ahmet Cevdet Paşa, Tezâkir, ed. Cavid Baysun, Ankara: Türk Tarih Kurumu Basımevi, 1986, 39-41.
329 İ MVL 196 6077 1 1 dated selh-i Muharrem 1267 (5 December 1850), "Vehbi Efendi dâileri usûl-i
cedid-i tâlimiye üzerine gece gündüz hasr-ı evkât ederek bu babda mükafat-ı seniye-i aleniyeye kesb-i
liyakat"
330 Muammer Demirel, "Bezmiâlem Valide Sultan: Darülmaârif," Middle Eastern Studies, 45:3, May 2009,
507-516. The article is not reliable since most of the primary sources in the article do not correspond with
what the author reveals. For example, he claims that Ali Efendi continued to hold his position until 1875,
based on Salnames 1271 (1855) p. 113 and 1291 (1875) p. 136. The former is about the Pier Beşiktaş and
its commuters, having nothing to do with the school. Salname 1271, p. 91, reveals the name of instructors
at rüşdiye schools, and Ali Efendi is mentioned as müdir and rik'a instructor. The Salname dated 1291
p.136 mentions the provinces covered by this Salname; however, p. 198 mentions Hacı Ahmed Efendi as
müdir.
127
five to six years. Additional promotion would have irritated and done injustice to other
daiyans who had executed their duty properly for three to four decades in Vehbi Efendi’s
current position.331 The battle between the different factions of the bureaucracy seemed to
be in full swing.
Bezmialem’s school is first mentioned as rüşdiye and Valide Mektebi in Ottoman
archival sources. Less than a year later, the name was changed to Darülmaarif.332 An
undated document calling the school Darülmaarif gives details about its staff’s salaries.
Even though the higher salaries––that of the headmaster, his assistant, calligraphy
teachers, and librarians–– remained the same, the budget for wages increased around 60
percent, mostly due to the employment of administrative staff, such as müdir, muavin-i
müdir, idare-yi muallim-i evvel and other muallims.333 The decree promulgated in 1855,
while referring to the institution as Darülmaarif, implied the privileged status of the
institution: among several schools, it only mentioned the name Darülmaarif, whereas the
rest was categorized as “others.” The decree stipulated that the graduates of the
Darülmaarif and other schools be employed in proper positions in the bureaucracy
(aklam-ı şahane) and higher education.334 The newspaper Takvim-i Vekayi outlines the
general conditions of the entrance exam for government officers: besides knowing
calculus, geography, Arabic grammar, and finishing the first- and second-level courses in
Persian, the candidates should be able to read the Qur’an and recite it with proper
331 The promotion was from "mahrec mevleviyeti" to "Mekke-i Mükerreme." İ MVL 196 6077 3 1 dated 6
Rebiülevvel 1267 (9 January 1851) and 17 Safer 1267 (20 January 1851); İ MVL 196 6077 4 1 dated 10
Rebiülevvel 1267 (13 January 1851) and 12 Rebiülevvel 1267 (15 January 1851)
332 İ MVL 196 6077 dated 10 Rebiülahir 1267 (12 February 1851), İ DH 224 13324 dated 23 M 1267 (23
November 1850). The latter reveals the renaming of the school as Darülmaârif, as well as a new building
erected by the sultan to be used for examining its students' level of knowledge.
333 BOA, TSMA.d 8221 0002.
334 İ DH 324 021105 dated 15 Za 1271 (29 August 1855). İ DH 256 15762 dated 27 Şevval 1268 (14
August 1852).
128
prononciation and rhythm (tecvid) and learn the principles of Islam (ilmühal), as well as
the relevant prayers for namaz.335 These conditions, revealed in the official newspaper,
disclose that in the 1850s the Ottoman state perceived the rüşdiyes as educational
institutions designed solely for Muslim students. Moreover, those who succeeded to work
for the Ottoman bureaucracy had to acquire knowledge both in religious and nonreligious
matters. Islam was considered the natural component of not only the primary
schools, but also the bureaucracy.
In general, the Darülmaarif employed fourteen to fifteen teachers, whereas other
rüşdiyes functioned with seven to eight instructors.336 This was valid even for the
Aksaray Rüşdiye Mektebi, established by Pertevniyal Valide Sultan. For example, in 1875
the Darülmaarif had thirteen administrators and teachers, as opposed to seven at the
Aksaray Rüşdiye Mektebi.337 In 1876 the former employed sixteen and the latter eight
teachers. The number of enrolled students was twice as much in the former compared to
the latter, precisely 202 versus 99.338 These numbers indicate that during Pertevniyal’s
time the Darülmaarif still retained its prominent position.
III. PERTEVNIYAL’S SCHOOLS
Pertevniyal, who envisaged an ambitious mosque complex including schools in Aksaray,
did not aim to surpass her predecessor in terms of patronage of education. For years after
335 Takvim-i Vekayi, no.427, 1266 (1850),. "Kuran-ı Kerim'i layıkıyla okuyub, tecvid ve ilmühal risalelerini
ve namaz içün lazım gelen sure-i şerifeleri ezberlemiş"
336 Initially the Mekteb-i Adliye and Darülmaarif had ten and eight teachers respectively, whereas other
rüşdiyes employed four to six instructors. Salname 1275 (1855) p.91-93. In later years only the
Darülmaarif retained a relatively bigger number of staff and students. Salname 1291 (1875) p.198-200.
Salname 1275 (1855) refers to idadiyes both for Mekteb-i Adliye and Darülmaarif. Muammer Demirel,
"Bezmiâlem Valide Sultan School: Darülmaârif," 511.
337 Salname 1291 (1875) p.198-200.
338 Salname 1292 (1876), p.138-139.
129
the inauguration of her school, its size remained almost half of that of Bezmialem.339 The
queen mother signalled that she, like Bezmialem, would follow in the footsteps of her
deceased husband, not in terms of the site she selected, but with the appellation of the
school. Her endowment deed dated 15 Şevval 1289 (16 December 1872) named her
school project Mahmudiye. Today, at the entrance of the Pertevniyal Lisesi, an inscription
in a glass case on the ground indicates the name of the school as Mekteb-i Mahmudiye,
dated 1288 (Fig. 43). Unlike Bezmialem’s rüşdiye, the school retains the queen mother’s
name; the original plan of the school has not yet been discovered in the archives.340
Nineteenth-century maps show the location of the school was different from the current
one (Fig. 44).341 Instead of being adjacent to the mosque, the school building was
opposite it.
The foundation document set its purpose as educating Muslim children (vildan-ı
Müslimine taze cila virir Mahmudiye tesmiye buyurdukları). The site was close to the
Muslim quarters (birçok mahallat-i İslamiyeye kurbiyeti), and a large school building was
339 Pertevniyal’s school was part of the mosque complex and for her mosque Pertevniyal directly competed
with Bezmialem: she ordered that the diameter of the minarets at the Aksaray Mosque should surpass that
of the Dolmabahçe Mosque, as I will explain in detail in Chapter IV. Such an ambitious plan in comparison
to the previous valide sultan did not take place for her secondary school.
340 I checked all the documents (almost 7000 items) in the "Plan Proje Kroki ve Fotoğraflar" section of
BOA (or recently called COA), after the transfer of archives from the Topkapı Palace, and could not find
any plan related to the Pertevniyal's school building.
341 Doğan Kuban, "Aksaray," Dünden Bugüne İstanbul Ansiklopedisi, İstanbul: Türkiye Ekonomik ve
Toplumsal Tarih Vakfı, 1993, 163 (drawn from maps prepared by the Istanbul Municipality in 1964, which
in turn used original lithographic maps of Istanbul); "Pertevniyal Valide Sultan Külliyesi Haritası,"
Süleyman Faruk Göncüoğlu Arşivi, in Cengiz Yalçın and Mustafa Yaşar, Ulu Bir Çınar Pertevniyal,
Istanbul: Anka Matbbası, 2012, 71; Necdet H. İşli, İstanbul'un Ortası Aksaray, Istanbul: Istanbul Büyük
Şehir Belediyesi Kültür Yayınları, 2008, 42-43; Ekrem Hakkı Ayverdi, 19. Asırda İstanbul Haritası
(Istanbul Şehir Matbaası, 1958), C3 and C4. They all refer to the same layout.
130
needed for the neighborhood (ol havalice öyle cesim bir mektebe ihtiyac-i umumi
bulunmak hasebiyle).
Both queen mothers’ endowment deeds specify all endowed items, while
emphasizing the most significant ones. Besides the various pots and pans, trays, pitchers,
basins, ewers, and braziers that Pertevniyal gifted to the rüşdiye for daily use, her deed
also mentions a prestigious big clock (İngilizkari tam saat), as in the case of Bezmialem.
However, among her donations there were other interesting objects, such as a silver
bastinado (sim falaka) and a whip (kamcı). As opposed to the reward system, which
constituted the epitome of the new pedagogical method and was applied at Bezmialem’s
rüşdiye, her school favored a method of discipline and punishment. Yet, the fact that the
bastinado was made of silver, and not a cheaper material, still suggests the privileged
status that the institution signalled even in methods and implements used for punishment.
Another important difference between the two queen mothers’ schools stemmed from
their sites. Unlike Bezmialem’s rüşdiye, which was an independent building,
Pertevniyal’s school was part of a mosque complex, conforming with traditional Ottoman
architectural design. She donated 828 books, but the library was adjacent to the mosque
and not within the school, urging students more strongly to visit the mosque.
Pertevniyal’s pious charter, unlike Bezmialem’s, discloses details about the
instruction in the primary school,342 emphasizing mainly the mastering of religious
knowledge: learning the whole Qur’an and its rules, and reading it with correct
pronunciation and rhythm (tecvid). Everyday a part of the Qur’an should be recited,
completing its reading once a month. The recitation of the whole Qur’an should end with
342 Successful students of the sıbyan mektebi were accepted to the rüşdiye mektebi, and the text describes
the former as kısm-ı sani (second part) and the latter as kısm-ı evvel.
131
the prayer of good deeds (dua-i hayr), followed by students’ loud amens (sıbyan-ı
Müslimin ve vildan-ı müminin amin çağrışarak). If any pupil exhibited misbehavior
during the recitation (her kangısı ki usulden çıkub daire-yi edebden harc hareket ider
ise), the instructor should punish him with the silver bastinado to discourage (terhib) and
intimidate (tehziz) him. After mastering the Qur’an and tecvid, the pupil would learn the
principles of Islam (ilmühal), and moral principles (ahlak risaleleri) in Turkish, followed
by nesih and sülüs calligraphy. Besides these calligraphic styles, the pupil should be able
to read OttomanTurkish without vowels (hareke). In order to master tecvid and ilmühal,
the student should recite the entire Qur’an a minimum of three times before his
graduation. Following an exam, the successful students would start attending the rüşdiye.
There, the Arabic and Persian languages, along with arithmetic, calligraphy, orthography
and literary composition would be taught. The text does not emphasize the instruction in
the rüşdiye, as in the case of Bezmialem. Also the instruction of geography or geometry,
novel subjects prescribed by Bezmialem, did not take place in her endowment. As I
mentioned earlier, the subject could be added, but at least it was not envisaged as one of
the prerequisites in the curriculum.
The pious deed conceived of the number of students studying in both primary and
secondary schools as 150. Since the Salnames showed around 100 students enrolled at the
rüşdiye, the primary school must have had around 50 pupils at that time.343 The number
of 100 students showed the average for rüşdiyes, whereas the Darülmaarif with around
200 students was an exception in Pertevniyal’s time as well.
For the rüşdiye, the text described the positions and relevant salaries as below:
343 Salname 1291 (1875): 101 students. Salname 1292 (1876): 99 students.
132
Table No. 7: Instructors’ Salaries at Pertevniyal’s Rüşdiye
Positions Monthly salary (kuruş)
Headmaster (muallim-i evvel) 800
Deputy Assistant Headmaster (muallim-i sani) 500
Persian Teacher (faris muallimi) 300
Mathematic Teacher (riyaziye muallimi) 300
Sülüs Calligraphy 200
Rika Calligraphy, Orthography and Composition 400
Divani Calligraphy 200
Drawings (resim muallimi) 150
Supervisor (mubassır) 250
TOTAL 3,100
For the primary school, fewer instructors were appointed:
Table No. 8: Instructors’ Salaries at Pertevniyal’s Sıbyan Mektebi
Positions Monthly salary (kuruş)
Qur’an teacher (hoca) ........................................................................ 500
Assistant Qur’an teacher (halife efendi) 300
Sülüs calligraphy ................................................................................. 200
Qur’an reciter (hafız) 150
Janitor (hizmetci) ............................................................................... 200
Janitor (bevvab) 150
Various costs (masarıf-i müteferrika) ................................................. 200
TOTAL 1,700
During the holy month of Ramadan one additional monthly salary would be paid to the
staff. Compared to the remuneration at Bezmialem’s schools, almost two decades earlier,
the prescribed salaries at the Aksaray rüşdiye mektebi plummeted in general, instead of
increasing in an inflationary economy. Especially the salaries of highly-paid
administrative positions such as headmaster or headmaster’s assistant dropped around 35
to 45 percent; the decrease for the calligraphy teachers was around 20 percent. In contrast
with this tendency, a noticeable increase occurred for the Qur’an teacher at the primary
133
school, jumping from 200 to 500 kuruş, a 150 percent leap. The same was valid for the
assistant Qur’an teacher.
The memorandum dated 1871, sent from the Ministry of Education to the
Treasury, proposed the following functions and salaries for the Aksaray Mektebi:344
Table No. 9: Instructors’ Salaries at Pertevniyal’s Rüşdiye and Sıbyan Mektebi as per
Memorandum dated 1871
The Primary School345
Positions Monthly salary (kuruş)
Principal (müdür) 1,000
Headmaster (muallim-i evvel) 500
Deputy Assistant Headmaster (muallim-i sani) 400
First Assistant (halife-i evvel) 300
Second Assistant (halife-i sani) 250
Supervisor (mubassır) 250
TOTAL 1,700
The Secondary School
Positions Monthly salary (kuruş)
Headmaster (muallim-i evvel) 800
Deputy Assistant Headmaster (muallim-i sani) 600
Persian Teacher (Farisi hocası) 400
Mathematic Teacher (riyaziye hocası) 400
Orthography and Composition Teacher (imla ve inşa hocası) 500
Sülüs Calligraphy (for both schools) 400
Rika Calligraphy 400
Divani Calligraphy 300
Supervisor (mubassır) 300
TOTAL 4,100
Besides the above cadre, the document suggested the following additional staff for the
educational institutions:
344 D 8218 50 01
345 In this memorandum Kısm-i evvel refers to the primary and Kısm-i sani to the secondary school.
134
Table No. 10: Additional Staff for Pertevniyal’s Rüşdiye and Sıbyan Mektebi
Positions Monthly salary (kuruş)
Qur’an reciter (Quran tilaveti için hafız) 150
First Janitor (Birinci hizmetçi) 250
Other Janitor (Diğer hizmetçi) 200
Other Janitor (Diğer hizmetçi) 200
Gate Keeper (bevvab) 200
Janitor (pabuçcu) 200
Various costs (mâhiye masarıf-i müteferrika) 500
TOTAL 1,700
There were some improvements in the salary for teachers of non-religious subjects, but
the principal of the primary school still retained his privileged position, obtaining the
highest salary among the employees of both institutions. Furthermore, there was the
appointment of an additional hafız for reciting the Qur’an, which did not exist in
Bezmialem’s schools.
CODA
Unlike Bezmialem’s, Pertevniyal’s endowment deed showed a hierarchy of salaries
favoring the Qur’an instructors. Also unlike her predecessor who, except for the salaries
and functions of the staff, did not specify the details of education in the primary school,
Pertevniyal stressed religious teaching and rituals for the sıbyan mektebi in her vakfiye:
she detailed daily recitations of the hatm-i Qur’an, and specified which prayer to recite
thereafter as well as common prayers with loud amens to emphasize the common Islamic
spirit. These facts suggest Pertevniyal’s desire to maintain the significance of religion in
Ottoman education, whereas during her time rüşdiyes, as well as ibtidais included
increasingly non-religious subjects in their curricula346. Based on the site she chose for
346 As explained in the beginning of the chapter this was a rather long and strenuous journey starting in the
1850s during the time of Kemal Efendi.
135
her rüşdiye, one can deduce that, unlike Bezmialem, Pertevniyal integrated secondary
education back into the traditional locus of religion, both physically and in pedagogically.
This trend would continue during the time of Abdülhamid II. Even though she named her
rüşdiye Mahmudiye, indicating her husband’s inspiration and even though her institution
taught both worldly and religious subjects, she wanted to emphasize the latter over the
former. These years also coincided with her fierce struggle against the reformist
Tanzimat cadres and her support for their opponent Nedim Pasha, who emphasized the
role of the caliphate and favored the absolute power of the sultan. Within this framework,
a more Islamic tendency in her schools should not come as a surprise. However, her son
Sultan Abdülaziz, following his trip to Europe in 1867, was promoting a more reformist
agenda on the educational front, perhaps willingly, perhaps under European influence as
Cevdet Pasha indicated: he opened the first religiously mixed educational institution, the
Galatasaray High School (Mekteb-i Sultani) in 1868.347 It was an idadi. Reformers were
urging the construction of more idadi-level schools. The regulation on education dated
1869 emphasized secular knowledge while relegating religion to a secondary place. Her
most important school projects within the Aksaray Mosque Complex certainly did not
follow this secularist course.348 On the contrary, despite establishing a rüşdiye she
retained a relatively conservative agenda, leaving her own personal imprint on
education.349 This is an important point to reveal, as the valide sultans were not
347 See n. 30.
348 D 8218 49 01 dated 11 Kanun-i Evvel 1287 (2 February 1871) and 11 Şevval 1288 (12 December 1871).
Documents indicate that the construction of the school buildings was about to be completed (mekteb-i
münifin müteaddid dershane ve odalardan ibaret olarak hitamı takarrüb edib).
349 Gülrü Necipoğlu emphasizes a similar personal imprint while revealing the philanthropic acts and
architectural patronage of Hürrem Sultan and Nurbanu Sultan in the sixteenth century: their patronage
complemented, but at the same time differed from that of their husbands or sons. Gülrü Necipoğlu,
“Queens: Wives and Mothers of Sultans,” in The Age of Sinan: Architectural Culture in the Ottoman
Empire (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2005), 268-292.
136
necessarily the passive participants of the patronage, just applying the dictates of the
official agenda; their personality and personal choices were equally important.
Comparing the periods of Bezmialem and Pertevniyal, one can deduce that
“pioneering acts” were defined differently in education. For Pertevniyal’s era,
establishing an idadi school with new pedagogical methods, or even a mixed educational
system like the Galatasaray Idadisi, or a more modern primary school (ibtidai) was a
pioneering step. In light of these developments, Pertevniyal’s primary and secondary
schools in the vicinity of the Aksaray Mosque reflected not a pioneering project, as in the
case of Bezmialem, but a relatively conservative one. Yet, they surely satisfied the local
needs of the time, as demonstrated in a letter submitted to Pertevniyal by the fathers of
the primary school students, expressing their gratitude for the education of their sons.350
In 1855, after the initial boost in Istanbul there were 10 rüşdiyes with 985
students, and the total numbers across the empire reached 33 and 2,386, respectively.351
In 1860, there existed 57 rüşdiyes, and in 1874 this number jumped to 386 and the
number of students to 20,000.352 These numbers could be interpreted positively or
negatively; yet they indicate a noticeable progress. During the Tanzimat years and
beyond, the Darülmaarif retained its favored position: in terms of staff and students, its
size was almost double of that of the Aksaray Mahmudiye Mektebi, as well as other
350 BOA Y.EE. 35 5 dated 09 Cemaziyelevvel 1290 (5 July 1873). The conservative character of the
curriculum designed by Pertevniyal must have satisfied Aksaray’s Muslim population who did not benefit
from the Tanzimat reforms. For the Muslim population who opposed the Tanzimat reforms during the
second half of the nineteenth century for economic and cultural reasons see Şevket Pamuk, Uneven
Centuries, Economic Development of Turkey Since 1820, Princeton and Oxford: Princeton University
Press, 2018, 147-148.
351 Salname 1275 (1855), 91-93.
352 Enver Ziya Karal, Osmanlı Tarihi, Ankara: Türk Tarih Kurumu, 1956, vol.7, 200-202. Osman Ergin
indicates that in 1874 there were only 18 rüşdiyes with 1,859 pupils and 166 instructors. Osman Ergin,
Türkiye Maarif Tarihi, vol. 2, 447-448. The figures are consistent with the ones quoted for Istanbul in the
Salname dated 1879. Salname 1296 (1879), 78, revealed 21 rüşdiyes with 1,633 pupils and 177 instructors
in Istanbul. Naturally such a number could be interpreted either as meager progress or success, depending
from which vantage point it is viewed.
137
rüşdiyes. When a new subject like callisthenics was introduced it was the Darülmaarif
which first applied it.353 When the establishment of idadiyes gained momentum during
the reign of Abdülaziz, the Darülmaarif was the first institution to be considered for
conversion to an idadiye.354 Its prestige and standing can be deduced from the following
episode: In 1916, for the exhibition of the Red Crescent (Hilal-i Ahmer) held at the Lycée
de Galatasaray, a film camera was requested from the Darülmaarif. The latter turned
down the request.355 The former did not lack any prestige; after all, its sobriquet was
sultani idadisi (royal high school) since it had been inaugurated by Sultan Abdülaziz.
Yet, it did not own a prestigious film camera, as did the Darülmaarif. The ownership
meant a real privilege, which Bezmialem’s school retained until the end of the empire.
353 Salname 1292 (1876), 138.
354 A JMKT MHM 472 55 24 Za 1290 (18 January 1874), and A JMKT MHM 472 59 24 Za 1290 (18
January 1874).
355 MF MKT 1221 87 dated 29 S 1335 (25 December 1916).
138
CHAPTER III: CONTRIBUTIONS TO HEALTHCARE
As mentioned in the previous chapter, improvements to the education and healthcare
systems constituted one of the important achievements of the Tanzimat period. Having
examined Bezmialem’s and Pertevniyal’s contributions to the school system during that
era, I will now explore their philanthropic projects in the realm of healthcare. The
primary difference between their efforts concerning education and medical services was
in that, the adoption of new methods in schools was much more controversial when
compared to hospitals. Introducing so-called “secular” subjects into the school
curriculum instigated fierce debates and tensions, not only among Muslims, but also the
non-Muslims of the empire. This was also a highly contentious topic in nineteenthcentury
Europe, as elucidated in the previous chapter. In healthcare, new methods
intermingled with the old in a much smoother way. For example, the debates surrounding
anatomy classes, particularly as they concerned the use of human cadavers, was relatively
easier to solve.356
In contrast to the gradual increase of French influence in education, Austrians
played a prominent role in the development of the Ottoman healthcare system. Upon the
request of Sultan Mahmud II, Metternich organized the dispatch of two prominent
military doctors to Istanbul in 1838: Dr. Karl Ambros Bernard,357 and Dr. Jacob Neuner.
356 The debate was whether cadavers should be used at the medical school established in Galatasaray by
Sultan Mahmud II. As I will explain in this chapter the sultan invited Austrian physicians to modernize
Ottoman medicine. One of them was Dr. Karl Ambros Bernard. Soon after his arrival to Istanbul in 1838
the sultan complied with his request of using cadavers at the medical school, despite some ulemas’
opposition to the practice. See "Bernard, Karl Ambros," TDV İslam Ansiklopedisi, v.5, 1992, 520-521,
https://islamansiklopedisi.org.tr/bernard-karl-ambros, accessed 2 November 2018; Arsen Yarman, Osmanlı
Sağlık Hizmetlerinde Ermeniler ve Surp Pırgiç Ermeni Hastanesi Tarihi (Istanbul: Surp Pırgiç Ermeni
Hastanesi Vakfı, 2001), 212-215. Yarman gives 1841 as the date of acceptance.
357 Since French was the lingua franca at the time, his name was given as Charles Ambroisse Bernard on
his tombstone at the Church of Santa Maria Draperis, in Istanbul. Dr. Bernard also wrote his medical books
in French.
139
The sultan appointed the former as the director of the Military Medical School, Mekteb-i
Tıbbiye-i Adliye-i Şahane, and the latter as royal physician. While Dr. Neuner stayed for
only a year, Dr. Bernard spent the rest of his life in Istanbul and contributed a great deal
to the modernization of the Ottoman healthcare system. His tomb is in Istanbul, in the
cemetery of the Church of Santa Maria Draperis (Fig. 45). The progress satisfied the
sultan, so much so that he called for additional doctors from Vienna. Dr. Lorenz Rigler,
Dr. Eder and Dr. Sigmund Spitzer were among the Austrian doctors who served in the
Ottoman Empire. The latter became the head of the medical school after Dr. Bernard’s
death in 1844.358 He also served as chief physician to Sultan Abdülmecid and her mother
Bezmialem. He treated her illness during the last years of her life, and gave one of the
first-hand portrayals of the queen mother as mentioned in the Introduction.
Of the hospitals bequeathed by Bezmialem and Pertevniyal there exists a good
amount of research only on Bezmialem’s Gureba Hospital in Istanbul.359 This chapter
will focus mainly on the significance and contribution of this institution to the Tanzimat
era. About the queen mothers’ initiatives in Mecca and Medina there exists very little
research. Due to the scarcity of material, my discussion will focus on whether these
charity acts were in fact realized, rather than discussing their architectural or functional
meanings. Nonetheless, their attempts were important for revealing their willingness to
bestow funds for healthcare in the Holy Land and also for elucidating their different
methods of involvement in the process as a whole. The scarce documents reveal that
358 For more details see George N. Vlahakis, Isabel Maria Malaquias, Nathan M. Brooks, François
Regourd, Feza Gunergun, and David Wright, eds., Imperialism and Science: Social Impact and Interaction,
Santa Barbara, California, Denver, Colorado, Oxford, England: ABC-CLIO, 2006, 95-100.
359 Kazım Ismail Gürkan, Bezm-i Âlem Vâlide Sultan, Vakıf Gureba Hastanesi Tarihçesi, 3rd edition,
(Istanbul: Özışık Matbaası, 1967); Kenan Göçer, “Sosyo-Ekonomik Yönleriyle Bezm-i Alem Valide Sultan
Gureba Hastanesi,” PhD diss., Marmara Üniversitesi, 2012, Nuran Yıldırım, From the Charity Hospital to
the Bezmialem Foundation University (Istanbul: Bezmiâlem Vakıf Üniversitesi, 2013).
140
Bezmialem delegated the decision-making power to her kethüda, whereas Pertevniyal
was directly involved in different stages of the process. High-ranking officers sent letters
on the subject directly to Pertevniyal and not to her kethüda, for informing her of the
latest developments or asking for her approval or final decision. Likewise, the
correspondence between Pertevniyal and her kethüda indicate the queen mother’s active
role in the process.360
Another important point that scholars have not mentioned so far is that, shortly
after becoming queen mother, Pertevniyal concentrated her efforts to build small or large
health institutions for women, in Istanbul as well as Medina. With the Atik Baruthane,
close to Bezmialem’s Gureba Hospital, which was designed for men, she intended to
build a women’s hospital. Nuran Yıldırım, who has authored a detailed book on the
Gureba Hospital, mentions it as an initiative of a hanım sultan (imperial woman such as
sultan’s daughters or sisters), without realizing that it was Pertevniyal. Also, the choice of
site was very meaningful since it served to expand Bezmialem’s project to women
subjects of the empire––a detail I will analyze later in this chapter. As for Medina,
Pertevniyal also expressed her intention to build a health institution for women. Before
turning to the queen mothers’ hospital building initiatives, I will explain the Ottoman
healthcare system in terms of architecture and function to better contextualize them
within their period.
360 The next chapter on their mosques will reveal once again the same level of involvement in more detail.
141
I. OTTOMAN HEALTHCARE SYSTEM BEFORE THE GUREBA HOSPITAL
Ottoman health institutions carried out various names, such as darüşşifa, şifahane,
maristan, bimaristan, darüssıhha, darülafiye, memenülistirahe, and darüttıb.361 The
world hastahane was rarely used, and only starting with the Bezmialem’s Gureba
Hospital, the employment of this word became widespread, reflecting the intended
changes within the institution occurring in the nineteenth century.
As Miri Shefer-Mossensohn explains, until the nineteenth century, the Ottoman
healthcare system combined inherited Seljuq, Arab/Muslim and Byzantine influences. As
a result the Ottoman medical system was based on several traditions: the Galenic
humoralism, folkloristic medicine, and religious medicine. Sometimes they competed
with, other times they complemented each other within the medical system. The Greek
Galenic medicine of antiquity interpreted the human body as a reflection of nature. The
four basic elements in nature (air, water, earth, and fire) corresponded to the four basic
fluids (or humors) of the body (blood, phlegm, black bile, and yellow bile). Unbalanced
humors could cause wetness, heat, cold and dryness. Their balance could be achieved
with the help of light and air, food and drink, work and rest, sleep and waking, excretions
and secretions, and dispositions and states of the soul. Galenic medicine was transmitted
to the Ottoman system through the translation and adaptation of Arab physicians’ works
dating from the Middle Ages. As the most learned and scholarly, this system was often
considered supreme in pre-modern Muslim hospitals. Folkloristic medicine was based on
customs and traditions, and Prophetic medicine on the Qur’an and hadith. Whereas the
folkloristic medicine was transmitted orally and applied outside hospitals, the other two
361 For more details see Gönül Cantay, Anadolu Selçuklu ve Osmanlı Darüşşifaları (Ankara:Türk Tarih
Kurumu, 1992), 1-8
142
practices were grounded in written traditions and applied at various health institutions.362
Overall, Ottoman medicine was holistic and employed all five senses in therapy, in line
with the Galenic tradition. Food, smell, music, and a beautiful garden, often with a
fountain in its middle, were all employed to rebalance the humors in the human body.
Shefer-Mossensohn and Ergin both analyze pre-modern Ottoman hospitals in
relation to the modern theory of “healing by design.” While the former considers
especially Ottoman hospital gardens and the employment of music, the latter expands the
concept to include the smellscape, taste and haptic experiences as well as the architectural
aspects of these buildings. All these aspects and sensory modalities assisted in the overall
therapeutic process.363 Ottoman hospital gardens promoted overall well-being. The
healing effect was reached by “soft” elements such as greenery, natural light and shade,
and water features.364 In addition to fountains or pools in their center, the gardens also
typically included evergreen trees (cypress, mimosa, oak, cedar and pine), fruit trees
(orange and lemon, but also peach, apple, fig, olive, cherry, and pomegranate),
vegetables, flower beds, flowerpots (tulips, lilies, jasmines, irises, roses, daffodils, and
narcissi), shrubs, and climbers.365 Fountains in the hospital gardens often provided a
melodious sound. Besides fountains, music was also used as a means to put the world in
362 Miri Shefer-Mossensohn, Ottoman Medicine, Healing and Medical Institutions, 1500-1700 (New York:
SUNY Press, 2009), 21-25, Miri Shefer-Mossensohn, "Old Patterns, New Meaning: The 1845 Hospital of
Bezm-i Alem in Istanbul," DYNAMIS. Acta Hisp. Med. Sci. Hist. Illus., 25 (2005), 329-350. Nina Ergin,
"Healing by Design? An Experiential Approach to Early Modern Ottoman Hospital Architecture," in
Turkish Historical Review, 6 (2015), 1-37.
363 “Healing by Design” refers to the development that instead of functional efficiency, modern hospital
designs now take into account architectural buildings and environmental surroundings to improve the
healing process. See C. Robert Horsburg Jr., “Healing by Design,” in New England Journal of Medicine
333 (1995), 735-740, Roger Ulrich, "View Through a Window May Influence Recovery From Surgery,"
Science 224 (1984), 420-421.
364 The concept of “soft-elements” is opposed to "hardscape" which consists of concrete or stone.
365 Miri Shefer-Mossensohn, Ottoman Medicine, Healing and Medical Institutions, 1500-1700, (New York:
SUNY Press, 2009), 162-165.
143
order and harmony.366 Bayezid II’s Hospital in Edirne employed ten professional
musicians to cure its patients.367 The Ottoman imperial band, the mehterhane-i hakani,
performed in various hospitals in Istanbul, sometimes in addition to the musicians
employed by specific institutions. Evliya Çelebi tells us that they performed concerts in
Istanbul twice a day, one near Demirkapı, by the Palace Gardens, the other at
Yedikule.368 The music and its different modes were specifically employed to cure
certain illnesses.369 Besides burbling fountains and music, the pleasant natural sounds of
songbirds––often encouraged to nest in hospitals by means of birdhouses––contributed to
the patients’ recovery.
In addition to the soundscape, the smellscape was another feature to which the
builders and staff of pre-modern Ottoman hospitals paid attention. In addition to
mentioning the fragrant flowers in their gardens, Ergin describes other clues allowing us
to reconstruct the hospitals’ smellscape. The large number of cleaning staff was intended
not only for hygiene, such as removing bad odors created by bodily secretions, but also
for creating pleasant fragrances for patients. For example, laundering textiles was not
366 The practice was applied by the Seljuqs and Arabs before the Ottomans: For example, the thirteenthcentury
hospital in Divriği, Anatolia, contained a fountain whose falling waters created a melodious sound
for the mentally ill. Another famous hospital of the same century, the Mansuri Hospital in Cairo, employed
musicians to entertain its patients daily. The Mamluk Sultan, Al-Malik Al-Mansur Qala'uns, established the
hospital to pay his moral debt to physicians who had previously cured him of a grave illness.
367 Nina Ergin, "Healing by Design? An Experiential Approach to Early Modern Ottoman Hospital
Architecture," Turkish Historical Review, 6 (2015), 25-26.
368 Miri Shefer-Mossensohn, Ottoman Medicine, Healing and Medical Institutions, 1500-1700, (New York:
SUNY Press, 2009), 72.
369 In the sixteenth century the Ottoman doctor Davud el-Antaki included a chapter on music in his medical
compendium interpreting each of the eight musical scales and explaining their influences on humans. The
sclae rast, for example, was beneficial for hemiplegics, while araq could cure acute humoral imbalances,
such as brain diseases, vertigo, pleurisy, suffocation, and the like. Miri Shefer-Mossensohn, Ottoman
Medicine, Healing and Medical Institutions, 1500-1700, New York: SUNY Press, 2009, 70-72. In the
seventeenth century the Ottoman poet-doctor Şuuri Hasan created a similar classification and used musical
modes to cure different diseases. For example, the uşşak mode was to help with pain from gout and to make
the patient sleepy. Nina Ergin, "Healing by Design? An Experiential Approach to Early Modern Ottoman
Hospital Architecture," Turkish Historical Review, 6 (2015), 26.
144
considered complete without fumigating the cleaned items with pleasant-smelling incense
(buhur).370 The food prescribed by the doctors was not only meant to remove hunger and
assist in the therapeutic process, but also to stimulate appetite in the patients. Besides
taste, haptic stimulation was also employed as a means to contribute to the healing
process. For instance, the human touch of the physicians, hammam attendants and
caretakers with patients was an integral part of routine treatment.371
Two basic features separated pre-modern Ottoman hospitals from their
counterparts in Europe: In the Ottoman realm, staff members were generally male
Muslims; yet, alongside the Muslim doctors Jewish and Christian physicians could work
at the institutions. Moreover, non-Muslim patients could become benefactors of Ottoman
hospitals. On the other hand, in Europe the staff members consisted of monks and nuns,
who generally gave service to their own communities. In this regard, the European health
institutions––unlike the Ottoman ones––functioned in accordance with a monastic
code.372 Secondly, pre-modern Ottoman hospitals differed from hospices and inns
particularly in their policy of the length of stay permitted. For the former there was no
limit, whereas the latter enforced the three-day-stay rule to allow more persons to benefit
from the institution’s free services. Ottoman hospitals were designed for sick people, as
370 Nina Ergin, "Healing by Design? An Experiential Approach to Early Modern Ottoman Hospital
Architecture," Turkish Historical Review, 6 (2015), 27.
371 Nina Ergin, "Healing by Design? An Experiential Approach to Early Modern Ottoman Hospital
Architecture," Turkish Historical Review, 6 (2015), 28-31. Early modern Ottoman hospitals were usually
part of a mosque complex that included a soup kitchen (imaret) on its premises. In some cases hospitals
received food from the soup kitchens, while in others they employed their own cook. On imarets see Nina
Ergin, Christoph Neumann and Amy Singer, eds., Feeding People, Feeding Power: Imarets in the Ottoman
Empire (Istanbul: Eren, 2007).
372 Miri Shefer-Mossensohn, Ottoman Medicine, Healing and Medical Institutions, 1500-1700, (New York:
SUNY Press, 2009), 125-126. The author reveals that the existence of non-Muslim physicians was valid in
the fifteenth century; from the sixteenth century onwards, staff members were exclusively Muslim. This
trend changed mostly in the nineteenth century, starting with military hospitals as I will explain below. The
Gureba Hospital initially employed an exclusively Muslim staff; however, towards the last decades of the
nineteenth century non-Muslim physicians were also employed.
145
Shefer-Mossensohn states: “The ‘patients only’ policy distinguished Ottoman hospitals
from their European counterparts. Identification of hospitals with ill people who are
treated medically was a recent phenomenon in the Western world.”373
What were the common features of Ottoman hospital architecture designed solely
for sick people and practicing a holistic approach to treatment? The pre-modern Ottoman
hospitals were mostly attached to mosque complexes that included various types of
schools (mekteb and medrese), an inn (han), a soup kitchen (imaret) and a bathhouse
(hamam). Hospital buildings were usually rectangular, inward-looking units with a
central courtyard. The courtyard accommodated a garden with a pool or fountain in its
middle. A symmetrical portico surrounded the courtyard. A row of rooms encircled the
portico. Porticoes, often capped by domes, mediated between indoor rooms and an
outdoor courtyard and provided spaces for communal gathering. These semi-open spaces
offered a pleasant shelter against the blazing summer heat and sun for the users of both
the area and the rooms. This layout, which Ergin identifies as signature staple of Ottoman
architecture, was largely applied in all dependencies of a mosque complex.374 Ottoman
architecture of that period was usually based on a modular unit, which was flexible and
could be adapted for various types of buildings. This formal preference not only reveals
the adaptive capacity of the Ottoman architectural scheme, but also provides a sense of
373 Miri Shefer-Mossensohn, Ottoman Medicine, Healing and Medical Institutions, 1500-1700, (New York:
SUNY Press, 2009), 136.
374 Nina Ergin, "Healing by Design? An Experiential Approach to Early Modern Ottoman Hospital
Architecture," Turkish Historical Review, 6 (2015), 11, 17. This approach broadens the previous
interpretation of Ottoman hospital architecture; according to this view the architectural style of medreses
inspired Ottoman hospitals. See for example, Gönül Cantay, Anadolu Selçuklu ve Osmanlı Darüşşifaları
(Ankara:Türk Tarih Kurumu, 1992), Orhan Bolak, Hastanelerimiz, Eski Zamanlardan Bugune Kadar
Yapilan Hastanelerimizin Tarihi ve Mimari Etüdü (Istanbul: Istanbul Matbaacılık, 1950), 31, Nuran
Yıldırım, A History of Healthcare in Istanbul, The Istanbul European Capital of Culture Agency and
Istanbul University Project No. 55-10 (Istanbul: Düzey Matbaacılık, 2010), 185. Yıldırım explains the
parallels between medreses and military hospitals built under Sultan Mahmud II’s reign.
146
harmony and unity to the complex, as can be seen in the Fatih and Süleymaniye hospitals
(Fig. 46, 47, 48 and 49). Rooms sometimes varied in size to provide space for
administrative offices, a “pharmacy,” a storage area, a prayer area, or a kitchen. A
hospital in a mosque complex could receive services from the other dependencies: for
instance, sometimes food was provided by an adjacent soup kitchen, or the patients’
chamber pots could be emptied to the latrines of other dependencies. Unlike the Seljuq
health institutions, which employed exalted and finely decorated high entrances, the
Ottoman darüşşifas featured rather modest entrances. The fenestration and high ceilings
aimed to provide a comforting environment. In Ottoman darüşşifas there were no wards.
Patients were not kept in separate wards according to the type of their illness.375
Between 1400 and 1700, the Ottoman elite was active in endowing eleven
hospitals, five of them in Istanbul.376 This activity came to a halt in the eighteenth century
375 Miri Shefer-Mossensohn, Ottoman Medicine, Healing and Medical Institutions, 1500-1700, (New York:
SUNY Press, 2009), 171. The author reveals that the Ottomans did not continue the Mamluk building
tradition established by the Mansuri hospital in Cairo, which was divided into separate wards for surgery,
ophthalmology, dysentery, fevers, and lunacy. The hospital also had a separate unit devoted to women,
which was not the case for the majority of Ottoman hospitals. Despite Evliya Çelebi's statement, the author
contests the existence of a special unit dedicated to women at the Fatih Hospital due to the lack of other
textual evidences supporting it. In the first half of the nineteenth century, the Haseki Hospital was the only
institution treating first women prisoners, then women without family in Istanbul. Ali Haydar Bayat,
“Istanbul Haseki Hospital,” in Ülker Erke’nin Yorumu ve Fırçasıyla Türkiye’de Tarihi Sağlık Kurumları
(Historical Health Institutıons in Turkey Through Ülker Erke’s View and Style) ed. Nil Sarı (Istanbul:
Nobel Matbaacılık, 2002), 51-53. The building was in a deplorable condition after having being affected by
several earthquakes. Between 1835 and 1840 it was called the “Haseki Dungeon.” Abdülmecid demanded
that the institution be regulated properly. In 1847 many women prisoners, mostly prostitutes, were
transferred to the Süleymaniye Bimarhane. Yet many poor and single women lived on the streets, gave
births there, or used medicines to induce abortion. After its restoration the hospital accepted mostly sick
and pregnant women who lived on the streets since there was no hospital for female patients. Nuran
Yıldırım, A History of Healthcare in Istanbul, The Istanbul European Capital of Culture Agency and
Istanbul University Project No. 55-10 (Istanbul: Düzey Matbaacılık, 2010), 210-211. Balsoy reveals that
first pharmacist and a doctor were appointed as the first permanent medical staff in 1871. The necessary
renovation at the Haseki Hospital took place only in 1873. See Gülhan Balsoy, “Haseki Woman’s Hospital
and the Female Destitute of Nineteenth-Century Istanbul,” in Middle Eastern Studies, 2018, DOI:
10.1080/00263206.2018.1520099, 4-5, access 12 May 2019.
376 The darüşşifas in Istanbul included the ones attached to the Fatih, Haseki, Süleymaniye, Atik Valide,
and Sultanahmed Mosque Complexes. There was one each in Bursa, Edirne, Manisa, and Tunis, as well as
two in Mecca. See Nina Ergin, "Healing by Design? An Experiential Approach to Early Modern Ottoman
Hospital Architecture," Turkish Historical Review, 6 (2015), 9-10, Miri Shefer-Mossensohn, "Charity and
147
and only resumed by the end of that century, mostly in the nineteenth century. These new
hospitals had elite and imperial backing, but they were of a very different type. Whether
pre-modern or modern in style, hospitals were costly investments and only high-ranking
people with substantial means could afford to endow them.
After the above-mentioned hiatus, the first modern hospitals built were military
ones, much like in the case of schools. The sultan standing behind these initiatives was
once again Mahmud II. Following his attempts to modernize the military troops, Sultan
Selim III founded one military hospital, whereas Sultan Mahmud II championed the field
with eleven new establishments. Given that eleven hospitals had been founded in the four
preceding centuries throughout the entire empire, this number is quite remarkable. The
sultan erected these hospitals mostly in the 1830s, thus becoming an epoch-making leader
in healthcare and medicine. His son Sultan Abdülmecid followed in his father’s footsteps
by adding seven more new institutions in the 1840s. Table 1 reveals this phenomenon in
detail:
Table 11: Military Hospitals Prior Bezmialem’s Gureba Hospital377
Levent Çiftliği Hastanesi 1799
Hospitality: Hospitals in the Ottoman Empire in the Early Modern Period," in Poverty and Charity in
Middle Eastern Contexts, Michael David Bonner, Mine Ener, and Amy Singer, eds., (Albany: State
University of New York Press, 2003), 121-143.
377 The table is from Orhan Bolak, Hastanelerimiz, Eski Zamanlardan Bugune Kadar Yapilan
Hastanelerimizin Tarihi ve Mimari Etüdü (Istanbul: Istanbul Matbaacılık, 1950), 40. Bolak bases his work,
on A. Süheyl Ünver, Osmanlı Tababeti ve Tanzimat Hakkında Yeni Notlar (Istanbul: Istanbul Matbaası,
1940). The author recognizes that there might have been other military hospitals erected in the period, but
the establishment date of these institutions could not be traced easily in the archives. Nuran Yıldırım
reveals a much earlier date for the Taksim Topçular Hastanesi: a list of hospital bandages and medicine
dated 1796 indicates that the hospital was in operation back then. Nuran Yıldırım, A History of Healthcare
in Istanbul, The Istanbul European Capital of Culture Agency and Istanbul University Project No. 55-10
(Istanbul: Düzey Matbaacılık, 2010), 185. Mahmud II must have greatly altered and modernized it to be
named as its founder. Also since the Haydarpaşa Military Hospital was opened in 1846 after the Gureba
Hospital had been finished in 1845, I did not include it in my list. The inauguration of the Gureba Hospital
took place two years later due to a problem with dampness. Ayten Altınbaş, “The Haydarpasa Military
Hospital,” in Ülker Erke’nin Yorumu ve Fırçasıyla Türkiye’de Tarihi Sağlık Kurumları (Historical Health
Institutıons in Turkey Through Ülker Erke’s View and Style) ed. Nil Sarı (Istanbul: Nobel Matbaacılık,
2002), 95-96.
148
Taksim Topçular Hastanesi 1809
Cephane Topçular Hastanesi 1828
Üç Alay Hastanesi 1832
Mabeyn Hastanesi 1834
Hassa Askeri Hastanesi 1834
Kumbarahane Hastanesi 1835
Tophane Hastanesi 1835
Maltepe Hastanesi 1836
Tersane (Arsenal) Sakızağacı Hastanesi 1837
Karadeniz Boğazı Büyük Liman Askeri Hastanesi 1838
Galatasaray Tophane Hastanesi 1838
Ahırkapı Hastanesi 1840
İstinye Hastanesi 1840
Davutpaşa Hastanesi 1840
Râmi Kışlası Hastanesi 1840
Bâbı Seraskerî Hastanesi 1841
Toptaşı Kışlası Hastanesi 1841
Tarabya Hastanesi 1842
There was one more important military hospital, which was constructed between 1843 to
1845, under the reign of Sultan Abdülmecid, right before the construction of the Gureba
Hospital: the Gümüşsuyu Hospital, by the British architect W. James Smith. This was an
impressive building with a magnificent view. The building displayed four squared
columns brought from Tuscany. It was constructed with a corridor system. Arranging the
patients’ rooms around a closed corridor system was in accordance with the hospital
designs of the period. The building was heated with hot water.378 Arsen Yarman reveals
378 Seda Kula Say, “Gümüşsuyu Askeri Hastanesi,” in Sultan Abdülmecid’in Bir Mimarı, William James
Smith (Istanbul Büyükşehir Belediyesi, 2016), 106-122. The chapter has a two-page summary in English in
290-291.The author notes that the hospital was inaugurated by the sultan himself who was pleased with the
novelties that the architect Smith introduced to the edifice, especially the central heating and hot water
system. Kula Say gathered the information on these novelties through contemporary journals and written
orders (irade) since she could not find the original plans of the hospital. Nuran Yıldırım, A History of
Healthcare in Istanbul, The Istanbul European Capital of Culture Agency and Istanbul University Project
No. 55-10 (Istanbul: Düzey Matbaacılık, 2010), 204. Aygül Ağır, Afife Batur et.al., “An English Architect
in the Nineteenth-Century Istanbul: William James Smith and Taşkışla,” ITU A/Z, 12:2 (July 2015), 96.
149
that the hospital was erected on the location of a previously built Catholic-Armenian
hospital.379
In order to provide the necessary cadre for his ambitious plan of military
hospitals, Sultan Mahmud II established the Tıbhane-i Amire on 14 March 1827.380 The
date approximately corresponded to a year after Sultan Mahmud II’s abolition of the old
Janissary corps on 15 June1826 and its replacement with a new reformed army, the
Asakir-i Mansure-i Muhammediye.381 Until the erection of a proper building, the medical
education took place at the Tulumbacıbaşı Mansion, in Vezneciler. Among the high
officers who urged the sultan to commence novel medical training for his new army, was
his chief physician Mustafa Behçet Efendi. He also became the head of the medical
school. Besides him, another personage warrants our attention: Defterdar (or Darbhane-i
Amire Nazırı, the equivalent of minister of finance) Mehmed Tahir Efendi, who would
become Bezmialem’s kethüda actively working on the regulations of her hospital. On 17
February 1839 Sultan Mahmud II inaugurated the new college building for medical
studies in Galatasaray, under the name Mekteb-i Tıbbiye-i Adliye-i Şahane (Fig. 50 and
379 Arsen Yarman, Osmanlı Sağlık Hizmetlerinde Ermeniler ve Surp Pırgiç Ermeni Hastanesi Tarihi
(Istanbul: Surp Pırgiç Hastanesi Vakfı, 2001), 374-375. The Catholic Armenians started emerging in the
eighteenth century. They tried to establish their own institutions, including healthcare. In 1801 their
hospital in Gümüşsuyu was active in the fight against the plague. Yet, in a short period of time, this
hospital was abolished and the Gümüşsuyu Military Hospital took its place. The author does not reveal the
exact date of the demolition. The way in which he narrates the chronology of the events, he gives the
impression that this occurred prior to 1837, the year when the Surp Agop Hospital was established, as if the
hospital’s abolishment led to the creation of another one; however, the demolition took place later. Gül
Akdeniz, “Gümüşsuyu Military Hospital, 1849,” in Ülker Erke’nin Yorumu ve Fırçasıyla Türkiye’de Tarihi
Sağlık Kurumları (Historical Health Institutıons in Turkey Through Ülker Erke’s View and Style) ed. Nil
Sarı (Istanbul: Nobel Matbaacılık, 2002), 103-105. Akdeniz does not refer to the closing of an Armenian
hospital and the opening of the Gümüşsuyu Hospital in its place, but reveals that Garabet Balyan was
another architect of the hospital together with W. J. Smith.
380 The date is still celebrated as “Tıp Bayramı” or “Medical Festival Day,” referring to the foundation of
modern medical training in Turkey.
381 The event is called vaka-i hayriye (the Auspicious Event) by Ottoman chroniclers. I will discuss it in
greater detail in the following chapter, while describing the site of the Aksaray Mosque.
150
51).382 In 1841 the school admitted non-Muslim students and employed some of them at
military hospitals, while appointing others as royal physicians.383 The school constituted
a major shift from the medrese education, which emphasized the Galenic humoralism and
the traditional method of master-to-apprentice learning, to Western medical education.
Under the guidance of Austrian medical doctors the curriculum of the new school
comprised anatomy, dissection, ophthalmology and instruction on how to operate medical
devices. Furthermore, general subjects, such as arithmetic, geometry, history, zoology
and language classes were also included in the curriculum.384
Besides the new wave of military hospitals, the non-Muslims in the empire were
also active in modernizing their traditional health institutions prior to the establishment of
the Gureba Hospital. As with educational institutions, hospitals belonging to non-
Muslims of the empire had existed in Istanbul for a long time. In the seventeenth century,
the Saint Benoit Hospital in Galata and the Saint Louis Hospital in Taksim were the most
prominent Catholic hospitals. They were also used as hospices or orphanages like their
principal models in Europe.385 As in Europe, the plague had periodically affected the
inhabitants of Istanbul for centuries, leading non-Muslims to establish special hospitals to
382 Arsen Yarman, Osmanlı Sağlık Hizmetlerinde Ermeniler ve Surp Pırgiç Ermeni Hastanesi Tarihi
(Istanbul: Surp Pırgiç Hastanesi Vakfı, 2001), 210-213, Arslan Terzioğlu, Osmanlılarda Hastaneler,
Eczacılık, Tababet ve Bunların Dünya Çapında Etkileri (Istanbul: T.C. Kültür Bakanlığı, 1999), 109-110.
383 In 1842 the Mekteb-i Tıbbiye opened the department of midwifery under the auspices of the French
Madam Ventura and the Austrian Madam Messanti. Among the 30 Ottoman women graduates, 10 were
Muslims. They were eventually appointed to military and civil hospitals. See Nil Sarı, “”Osmanlı Sağlık
Hayatında Kadının Yeri,” in Yeni Tıp Tarihi Araştırmaları (The New History of Medicine Studies),
1996/1997, 2-3, 25, quoted in Arsen Yarman, Osmanlı Sağlık Hizmetlerinde Ermeniler ve Surp Pırgiç
Ermeni Hastanesi Tarihi (Istanbul: Surp Pırgiç Hastanesi Vakfı, 2001), 219.
384 Miri Shefer-Mossensohn, “Tıbbıyye-i ‘Adliyye-i Shahane,” Encyclopedia of Islam, new edition, Leiden:
Brill, 2004, vol.12, Supplement I-II, 810-811; Miri Shefer-Mossensohn, "Old Patterns, New Meaning: The
1845 Hospital of Bezm-i Alem in Istanbul," DYNAMIS. Acta Hisp. Med. Sci. Hist. Illus., 25 (2005), 344-
345
385 Nuran Yıldırım, A History of Healthcare in Istanbul, The Istanbul European Capital of Culture Agency
and Istanbul University Project No. 55-10 (Istanbul: Düzey Matbaacılık, 2010), 63, 243-244. The Jesuit
priests had opened the hospital in 1610. The institution was first called Saint Louis, then the French Pasteur
Hospital.
151
fight against the disease. In 1719 the Saint Louis Hospital had a single ward
accommodating fifty patients infected with the plague.
Among the Ottoman millets, Greeks and Armenians were more active in
establishing or renovating their own health institutions. Jews joined the trend much later.
The Greek minority’s first hospital, after the conquest of Constantinople by the
Ottomans, was erected in Yedikule, as the Küçük Balıklı Hospital, in 1753. The hospital
was often at the forefront in the fight against the devastating epidemic of the plague. In
1762 a general hospital in Galata started catering to sailors.386 In 1779 a plague hospital,
called Stavridromiu, was opened in Beyoğlu. Sultan Selim III bestowed official status on
these Greek hospitals. Yet, following another wave of the plague in 1803 and1804, the
sailors’ hospital turned into a plague hospital and employed two Italian physicians to
fight against this epidemic.387 The Balıklı Hospital in Yedikule, established as a small
wooden building, was rendering service exclusively to plague patients in the nineteenth
century. Following the establishment of the Surp Pırgiç Armenian Hospital next to that
building in 1834, the Armenian community became concerned about the spread of the
epidemic to their own institution. As a result an Armenian delegation petitioned Sultan
Mahmud II for the removal of the plague hospital to a more distant and less populated
place. The Greek community also felt uncomfortable about the location of the hospital,
due to its proximity to the main road in Yedikule. Eventually, the old hospital was
demolished in 1837 and a new stone building constructed 200 meters away. Because the
epidemic was over by the time the new building was completed, the institution started to
386 The Sailors’ hospital was abolished around 1900 and the Büyük Millet Han was constructed in its place.
Its income still goes to the foundation fund of the Balıklı Rum Hospital.
387 Nuran Yıldırım, A History of Healthcare in Istanbul, The Istanbul European Capital of Culture Agency
and Istanbul University Project No. 55-10 (Istanbul: Düzey Matbaacılık, 2010), 59.
152
function as a general hospital and initially accommodated orphans, women, the elderly,
and mental patients. Gradually patients were separated from non-patients and orphans
relocated to the orphanage in 1853.388
The Armenian community had two hospitals in the eighteenth century, both
within church complexes: S. Johannes Church in Narlıkapı and S. Harutyun Church in
Beyoğlu. Yet, these were not properly built edifices for the growing prosperous
Armenian population: for example, the basement of the S. Johannes Church was used as a
treatment facility. In 1831, the Minister of Finance Kazaz Artin Amira Bezciyan, initiated
the establishment of a new hospital in three separate buildings. Due to his proximity to
the sultan, the royal permit for the premises was issued within a short period of time. In
addition to donating a large sum of money, Bezciyan was closely engaged in the
construction process of this wooden hospital. The imperial architects Garabed Amira
Balyan and his sister’s husband Johannes Amira Serveryan erected the building.389 The
hospital was inaugurated with a pompous ceremony, in 1834, as Surp Pırgiç Hospital, but
its main contributor Bezciyan failed to see it since he had passed away a couple of
months beforehand. Two hospital buildings were reserved for patients and the third one
for plague victims. The latter was named the Surp Hagop Plague Hospital 390 The Surp
388 Nuran Yıldırım, A History of Healthcare in Istanbul, The Istanbul European Capital of Culture Agency
and Istanbul University Project No. 55-10 (Istanbul: Düzey Matbaacılık, 2010), 59-64, 177-179, Nuran
Yıldırım, “Hospitals of the Greek Nation Outside Yedikule, Balıklı (Balouki) Greek Foundation Hospital,”
in The Other Side of City Walls Zeytinburnu (Istanbul: Cultural Publications of Zeytinburnu Municipality, 9
February 2005), 2nd edition, 314-341.
http://www.zeytinburnu.istanbul/Document/FileManager/surlarin_ote_yani.pdf. Accessed 11 November
2018. Until 1864 the hospital had male attendants. Nursing was not regarded a respectable profession for
women. Florence Nightingale’s activities in England and also Istanbul during the Crimean War had a
profound influence on nursing. The nursing school for the hospital was opened only in 1903.
389 Nuran Kara Pilehvarian and Zafer Sağdaç, “Surp Pırgiç Armenian Hospital,” in Ülker Erke’nin Yorumu
ve Fırçasıyla Türkiye’de Tarihi Sağlık Kurumları (Historical Health Institutıons in Turkey Through Ülker
Erke’s View and Style) Nil Sarı, ed., (Istanbul: Nobel Matbaacılık, 2002), 77-79.
390 Nuran Yıldırım, “Yedikule Surp Pırgiç Armenian Hospital,” in The Other Side of City Walls
Zeytinburnu, (Istanbul: Cultural Publications of Zeytinburnu Municipality 9, February 2005), 2nd edition,
153
Pırgiç Hospital included a women’s quarter. Only later a small church was added to give
moral support to the patients throughout the treatment process. In this sense it was the
first Armenian hospital initially built outside of a church complex, like Bezmialem’s
Gureba Hospital, which would be constructed a decade later. The spiritual aspect, with
the construction of a small church, was added a few years later after the construction of
the Surp Pırgiç and Surp Hagop Hospitals. It was a small wooden church called Surp
Hagop Maduru. Yet, the importance of religion seems to have grown throughout the
years: fulfilling medical as well as spiritual functions, both hospitals were called vank
(monastery) in Armenian. In 1834 Mahmud II issued an edict permitting the Patriarchate
to appoint priests to the hospital church. The sultan thereby prevented the interference of
non-religious authorities in spiritual matters.391
On 25 December 1831, shortly after the decree concerning Surp Pırgiç, Sultan
Mahmud issued another edict permitting the establishment of an additional hospital for
Catholic Armenians in Galata: the Surp Hagop Hospital. A few years later, again under
Sultan Mahmud II’s reign, another hospital in Pangaltı was founded to treat cholera and
plague. The priest Dogramaciyan became its administrator.
While in the 1830s Greeks and Armenians were busy establishing their own
hospitals, the Jewish community was opting to treat their patients more conservatively at
home. They also lacked the necessary financial resources. As a result their hospitals came
rather late in the nineteenth century.392
296-313. The author reveals that when the plague epidemic came to an end the hospital lost its
functionality. Afterwards it served as school training the clergymen, and later as agricultural school. In
1895 it was converted to an orphanage.
391 Nuran Yıldırım, A History of Healthcare in Istanbul, The Istanbul European Capital of Culture Agency
and Istanbul University Project No. 55-10 (Istanbul: Düzey Matbaacılık, 2010), 180.
392 Nuran Yıldırım, A History of Healthcare in Istanbul, The Istanbul European Capital of Culture Agency
and Istanbul University Project No. 55-10 (Istanbul: Düzey Matbaacılık, 2010), 177. The Or-Ahayim
154
The history of non-Muslim and military hospitals reveals that many examples
existed in Istanbul prior to the establishment of the Gureba Hospital to inspire it as the
first civic hospital for male Muslims in Istanbul. The history of hospitals also indicates
the interconnections within the millet system: as revealed above, the Armenians who built
the Surp Pırgiç Hospital also served as imperial architects. Moreover, the Greek doctors
at the Balıklı Hospital in Yedikule––such as Stephanos Caratheodoris, Constantinos
Caratheodoris and Saranthis Archigentis––at the same time worked in the palace and
taught at the Imperial Medical School.393
The interconnections also appear in terms of the state’s financial allocations. The
Ottoman State not only permitted the establishment of hospitals belonging to non-
Muslims, it also contributed to them. The legitimization of power vis-à-vis the non-
Muslim subjects of the empire, as well as personal connections and choices played an
important role in these allocations. The Balıklı Hospital annually received 500 kıyyes of
tobacco––which constituted an important donation for both soldiers and patients in the
nineteenth century––75 okkas of bread and 50 okkas of meat. Moreover, the hospital was
exempted from customs duty for all imported materials.394 Following the Samatya’s Fire
in 1845, Abdülmecid allocated daily 37,5 okkas of bread and 15 okkas of meat to the
Surp Pırgiç Hospital. The allocation was initiated upon the Dadyan family’s request: both
Hospital in Balat was established only in 1898. Yekya Özgüven, “Balat Jewish (Or-Ahayim) Hospital,
1898” in Ülker Erke’nin Yorumu ve Fırçasıyla Türkiye’de Tarihi Sağlık Kurumları (Historical Health
Institutıons in Turkey Through Ülker Erke’s View and Style) ed. Nil Sarı (Istanbul: Nobel Matbaacılık,
2002), 147-149.
393 Nuran Yıldırım, “Hospitals of the Greek Nation Outside Yedikule, Balıklı (Balouki) Greek Foundation
Hospital,” in The Other Side of City Walls Zeytinburnu, (Istanbul: Cultural Publications of Zeytinburnu
Municipality 9, February 2005), 2nd edition, 322.
394 Nuran Yıldırım, “Hospitals of the Greek Nation Outside Yedikule, Balıklı (Balouki) Greek Foundation
Hospital,” in The Other Side of City Walls Zeytinburnu, (Istanbul: Cultural Publications of Zeytinburnu
Municipality 9, February 2005), 2nd edition, 335, Nuran Yıldırım, A History of Healthcare in Istanbul, The
Istanbul European Capital of Culture Agency and Istanbul University Project No. 55-10 (Istanbul: Düzey
Matbaacılık, 2010), 179. Here the author reveals that the tobacco donation occurred on a yearly basis,
insinuating the same for the other contributions.
155
Boghos Dadyan and Johannes Dadyan were successful high-ranking officers, the former
managing the Gunpowder Magazine, and the latter directing the Izmit Broadcloth
Factory. The sultan generously complied with their request.395 Following the death of
Boghos Dadyan in 1863 the state allocation was ceased for a short period of time. It was
resumed on the order of Sultan Abdülaziz, this time in the form of cash. In the 1860s
when the hospital faced financial problems the Egyptian Khedive Ismail Pasha donated
40,000 kuruş and Pertevniyal 20,000 kuruş.
In the light of these examples, which disclose different aspects of interconnections
within the millet system in terms of Ottoman health institutions, narrating the history of
the Gureba Hospital from the standpoint of a benevolent Ottoman Muslim queen mother,
or the outbreak of some epidemics, would not elucidate the picture as a whole. The era
prior to the establishment of the Gureba Hospital features major medical transformations
in military hospitals and medical education. These institutions also incorporated both
Muslims and non-Muslims under their roof. The new wave of hospital-building also
occurred among Greeks and Armenians. Thus, these developments and activities should
not be analyzed independently from each other. Within this framework this section is
important to reveal that besides military hospitals, the health institutions and medical
395 Arsen Yarman, Osmanlı Sağlık Hizmetlerinde Ermeniler ve Surp Pırgiç Ermeni Hastanesi Tarihi
(Istanbul: Surp Pırgiç Hastanesi Vakfı, 2001), 491, Nuran Yıldırım, A History of Healthcare in Istanbul,
The Istanbul European Capital of Culture Agency and Istanbul University Project No. 55-10 (Istanbul:
Düzey Matbaacılık, 2010), 180, Nuran Yıldırım, “Yedikule Surp Pırgiç Armenian Hospital,” in The Other
Side of City Walls Zeytinburnu, (Istanbul: Cultural Publications of Zeytinburnu Municipality 9, February
2005), 2nd edition, 304. Compared to the Greek hospital, such a daily allocation to the Armenian hospital
constituted a great favor. Yıldırım also reveals that Johannes Bey requested the same for the neighboring
Greek Hospital and that the sultan complied with that request as well. Yet, if we review its allocation on a
yearly basis it was not substantial; on a daily basis it constituted more than double of what the Armenian
Hospital received. This does not make much sense since the Surp Pırgiç accommodated 350 patients at its
inauguration whereas the Rum Balıklı Hospital still had only 280 beds in 1877.
156
practices of non-Muslim Ottomans were equally significant in elucidating the history of
the Gureba Hospital.
II. THE GUREBA HOSPITAL AND CHANGES IN THE NINETEENTH
CENTURY
The name gureba (pl. of garib) literally means “destitute” or “strangers.” Shefer-
Mossensohn picks up the latter meaning rendering the Gureba Hospital “the foreigners’
hospital.” She contends that in Ottoman society, in the context of health institutions this
term referred to strangers far away from home and in need of medical aid. Poverty and
ill-health often accompanied travelers.396 I interpret the term as the hospital for destitute
people since the priority for the queen mother was Muslim destitute rather than travelers.
Bezmialem’s vakfiye employs both the terms gureba and the modern appellation
“hastahâne” instead of the previous Ottoman identifier of “darüşşifa.” Pilehvarian, like
Gürkan, explains that the Gureba Hospital was the first civil health institution adapting
this modern terminology.397 We know that the Edirnekapı Gureba Hastanesi in Istanbul
was the first civil institution called a hospital. Yet, it had a limited capacity and survived
only for a few years: the medrese of the Mihrimah Sultan Complex was turned into a
hospital in 1836-1837, most probably to treat the plague. It had the small capacity of a
396 Miri Shefer-Mossensohn, "Old Patterns, New Meaning: The 1845 Hospital of Bezm-i Alem in
Istanbul," DYNAMIS. Acta Hisp. Med. Sci. Hist. Illus., 25 (2005), 339.
397 Nuran Kara Pilehvarian, “Gureba-i Müslimîn Hastanesi,” in Karşılıksız Hizmetin Muhteşem Abideleri:
Istanbul Şifahaneleri, ed. Abdullah Kılıç (Istanbul: İBB Kültür AŞ Yayınları, 2009); Kazım Ismail Gürkan,
Bezm-i Âlem Vâlide Sultan, Vakıf Gureba Hastanesi Tarihçesi, 3rd edition, (Istanbul: Özışık Matbaası,
1967), 31.
157
few rooms for treating between 20 to 30 patients. After 1839 it no longer had any
patients.398 The military hospitals of the period were also called hastahane.
The mythical foundation history of the Gureba Hospital refers to Bezmialem’s
dream about helping 200 poor men. Her dream was interpreted as her will to undertake a
charity act so that 200 men will pray for her for eternity.399 Based on this explanation, she
decided to build a hospital. Epidemics presented another reason for establishing a
healthcare institution for Muslim men. Yıldırım accepts this fact, although she contends
that there was no smallpox outbreak in 1843, but in 1845, when the construction of the
hospital was completed.400 Another rumor was that the queen mother encountered an ill
person on the street. She ordered that the person be taken to a hospital; yet, the head
surgeon (cerrahbaşı) Halil Efendi had difficulty finding a proper hospital, and this led to
the establishment of the Gureba Hospital.
As discussed above, the frequent outbreaks of epidemics played a considerable
part in the establishment of millet hospitals. Another disease, cholera, appeared for the
398 Nuran Yıldırım, 14. Yüzyıldan Cumhuriyete Hastalıklar, Hastaneler, Kurumlar (Istanbul: Tarih Vakfı
Yurt Yayınları, 2014) 283-286, Seçil Mursal, “Osmanlı Devleti’nde İlk Gureba Hastaneleri,” Master’s
Thesis, Sivas Cumhuriyet Üniversitesi, 2017, 5-14. She first indicates that the hospital was open in 1837
and served only for six years (p.2). Then she reveals that its inauguration date is not known with any
certainty, but a document reveals that in 1837 the hospital was active (p. 5-6). Her statement that after the
disappearance of the plague epidemic in 1839 there were no patients at the hospital, contradicts her initial
statement (p.14).
399 See for instance the rector’s speech of Bezmialem Foundation University (Bezmialem Vakıf
Üniversitesi) in 2014 at an international conference held by the Vakıflar Genel Müdürlüğü (The General
Directorate of Pious Foundations). While explaining the reason why the queen mother Bezmialem
established the hospital the rector mainly mentions this mythical dream, at the same time emphasizing its
religious connotation by referring to the queen mother as “Bezmialem Hazretleri” (her holiness/majesty).
Saffet Tüzgen, “ Bezmiâlem Vakıf Üniversitesi,” T.C. Başbakanlık Vakıflar Genel Müdürlüğü, Dünya
Vakıflar Konferansı, 23-24 Eylül 2013, Istanbul, 464.
400 Kazım Ismail Gürkan, Bezm-i Âlem Vâlide Sultan, Vakıf Gureba Hastanesi Tarihçesi (Istanbul: Özışık
Matbaası, 1967) 3rd edition, 13; Kenan Göçer, “Sosyo-Ekonomik Yönleriyle Bezm-i Alem Valide Sultan
Gureba Hastanesi,” PhD diss., Marmara Üniversitesi, 2012, 161; Nuran Yıldırım, From the Charity
Hospital to the Bezmialem Foundation University (Istanbul: Bezmiâlem Vakıf Üniversitesi, 2013), 21. In
the previous encyclopedia entry, Yıldırım reveals the outbreak of smallpox as the possible reason behind
establishing the hospital. See Nuran Yıldırım “Gureba Hastanesi,” in Istanbul Ansiklopedisi, vol.2,
Istanbul: Ana Basım AŞ. 1994, 430-433.
158
first time in Istanbul in 1831 and as a result Sultan Mahmud II ordered quarantine
measures in the city.401 There existed no proper institutions to treat Muslim patients prior
to the establishment of the Gureba Hospital. The darüşşifas established in the previous
centuries were in deplorable conditions: for instance, the Fatih Darüşşifa was no longer in
use at all. The Süleymaniye and the Sultanahmed Darüşşifa became mental
institutions.402 The Atik Valide Darüşşifası was turned into a military hospital. The
Haseki Darüşşifası treated poor and destitute women, with one of its rooms dedicated to
women prisoners. The frequent epidemic outbreaks and the lack of a proper hospital for
Muslim men may have been a catalyst for the queen mother Bezmialem to establish a
civil hospital in Istanbul. Her endowment deed reveals that the hospital was for the poor
and destitute (fukara ve gurabaya mahsus olub).
In her circle, her kethüda must have played an important role: as indicated above
Mehmet Tahir Bey served her in this function. He was Sultan Mahmud II’s minister of
finance and had worked closely with his chief physician Mustafa Behçet Efendi in the
establishment of the medical school in 1827. Mehmet Tahir Bey had substantial
knowledge about hospitals so he and the chief physician together could determine
administrative details, such as staff members, their salaries and funding necessary to
establish the hospital. The building was completed by the end of 1845, but a problem
401 Nuran Yıldırım, “Les Mesures de Quarantine Prises Pendant L’Épidémie de Cholera et Leurs
Répercussions Sur la Société Ottomane (1831-1918),” in Perilous Modernity, History of Medicine in the
Ottoman Empire and the Middle East from the Nineteenth Century Onwards, Anne Marie Moulin and
Yeşim Işıl Ulman, ed., (Istanbul: The Isis Press, 2010), 119-141. The author states that, after its first
appearance, the disease sporadically affected society until the collapse of the empire. The burial of plague
patients without any religious ceremonies under the quarantine measures constituted a big controversy. The
ulema had to declare the conformity of burials to the sharia law.
402 These were called bimarhane, which meant mental hospital in the nineteenth century.
159
with dampness delayed its opening until 12 March 1847 (24 Rebiülevvel 1263).403 From
the time of preparation until the inauguration several official records indicate the active
involvement of Mehmet Tahir Bey and his constant supervision and surveillance in the
affairs of the Gureba Hospital.404 Also the official newspaper, Takvim-i Vekayi, which
declared that the official inauguration would take place in March 1847, acknowledges
Mehmet Tahir Bey as the sole active contributor to the process.405 The inauguration
ceremony, described in the Takvim-i Vekayi’s issue dated 21 March 1847, once again
reveals Mehmet Tahir Bey’s contribution to the construction and completion of the
hospital: “constructed and completed by means of his excellency, the Minister of
Finance, Tahir Beyefendi.”406
The endowment deed of the hospital differed from that of the school in the sense
that the staff of the hospital was described in general without indicating their precise
number and salaries.407 These details, as well as the duties of each staff member, were
clarified in the regulation (nizamname) prepared by the chief physician Ismail Pasha and
403 During the time of preparation the chief physician was İsmail Pasha 1807-1880). He served as chief
physician between 9 October 1845 and 28 September 1848. He had been to London and Paris, thus having
the opportunity to closely observe the hospitals there. He was also the queen mother’s special doctor who
accompanied her to the thermal baths of Yalova for her treatment. He was close to the queen mother and
might have suggested her to establish a hospital; yet, the archival documents do not mention his name, as in
the case of Mehmet Tahir Bey or Kemal Bey for the establishment of her school.
404 BOA İ MSM 25/661 dated 6 Muharrem 1263 (25 December 1846), BOA İ MSM 25/666 dated 18 Safer
1263 (5 February 1847) quoted in Nuran Yıldırım, From the Charity Hospital to the Bezmialem
Foundation University (Istanbul: Bezmiâlem Vakıf Üniversitesi, 2013), 34, Kenan Göçer, “Sosyo-
Ekonomik Yönleriyle Bezm-i Alem Valide Sultan Gureba Hastanesi,” PhD diss., Marmara Üniversitesi,
2012, 164-165.
405 Takvim-i Vekayi, no. 321, 27 Safer 1263 (14 February 1847).
406 Takvim-i Vekayi, no. 326, 3 Rebiülahir 1263 (21 March 1847). “nazır-ı darphâne-i âmire atufetlu Tahir
Beyefendi hazretlerinin nezareti marifetiyle inşa ve ikmal olunmuş”
407 “hastane-i mezkureye nasb u tayin olunan müdir ve ketebe ve ettıbba ve cerrahin ve eczaciyan ve
sülükçü ve havinzen ve müvezzi ve elbise nezâreti ile vekil-i harç ve elbise yumağı ve serhademe ve yirmi
dört nefer hademe-i hastegan ve altı nefer meydancı ve beş nefer aşçı ve bir nefer berber ve iki nefer
bevvabin.” This was the general description used in the endowment deed.
160
the queen mother’s kethüda Mehmet Tahir Bey.408 The regulation stipulated the cadre
and their salaries as follows:
Table 12: The Cadre of the Gureba Hospital at the Time of Its Inauguration. Salaries and
provisions are indicated monthly per person.
Positions Salary Food Fodder
Director (müdür)409 1,200 kuruş 8 persons 1 animal
First Clerk (kâtib-i evvel) 750 kuruş 4 persons 1 animal
Second Clerk (kâtib-i sani) 350 kuruş 3 persons -
First Doctor (tabib-i evvel) 1,125 kuruş 8 persons 2 animals
Second Doctor (tabib-i sani) 750 kuruş 4 persons 1 animal
First Surgeon410 (cerrah-ı evvel) 500 kuruş 4 persons 1 animal
Second Surgeon (cerrah-ı sani) 400 kuruş 3 persons 1 animal
First Pharmacist (eczacı-yı evvel) 500 kuruş 4 persons 1 animal
Second Pharmacist (eczacı-yı sani) 500 kuruş 3 persons -
Leech Doctor (sülükçü)411 100 kuruş 1 person -
Pharmacist’s assistant (havenzen) 100 kuruş 1 person -
Document Carrier (müvezzi) 120 kuruş 1 person -
Garment Controller (nezaret-i elbise)412 400 kuruş 3 persons -
Garment Controller’s Assistant 150 kuruş 1 person -
(elbise yamağı)
Head Janitor (baş hademe) 200 kuruş 2 persons -
Patient Carer (hastegan hizmetçileri) 100 kuruş 1 person -
(total 24 persons)
Sweeper (meydancı) (total 6 persons) 70 kuruş 1 person -
Head Cook (seraşçı) 250 kuruş - -
Head Cook’s Helper (kalfası) 150 kuruş - -
Cook’s Second Helper (diğer kalfası) 100 kuruş - -
Cook’s Third Helper (aşçı neferi) 80 kuruş - -
(total 2 persons)
408 BOA, İ MSM 25/667 dated 18 Safer 1263 (5 February 1847), VGMA Kasa no. 44, Fudule Defteri 36-39
quoted in Nuran Yıldırım, From the Charity Hospital to the Bezmialem Foundation University (Istanbul:
Bezmiâlem Vakıf Üniversitesi, 2013), 270.
409 First müdür was Mehmet Tahir Bey, in his capacity as evkaf nazırı. After his death the evkaf nazırı
always directed the Gureba Hospital.
410 Unlike the tabib the cerrah was not a graduate of the medical school and trained in a more traditional
master-apprentice method.
411 Applying leeches was a relatively easy way to take blood from the body, instead of using the cupping
horn or lancet. The method was employed in Europe as well. Until the end of the nineteenth century the
Ottoman Empire exported leeches to other countries. Kenan Göçer, “Sosyo-Ekonomik Yönleriyle Bezm-i
Alem Valide Sultan Gureba Hastanesi,” PhD diss., Marmara Üniversitesi, 2012, 184-185.
412 The nezaret-i elbise’s salary was higher than that of other unskilled positions since his responsibility
also included serving as the vekilharç or the distribution of provisions to the staff members.
161
Hair Dresser (berber) 100 kuruş 1 person -
Bevvab (doorkeeper) (total 2 persons) 150 kuruş 1 person -
TOTAL 11,025 kuruş 54 persons 8 animals
The document reveals a total of 53 people working at the time of hospital’s inauguration.
The core of medical staff, with two physicians, two surgeons and two pharmacists,
follows the standard of pre-modern Ottoman hospitals.413 The nizamname stipulates that,
besides cash money, the employees also received daily meals and fodder for their animals
according to their hierarchy. For example, the manager was given a monthly salary of
1,200 kuruş as well as daily meals for eight persons and fodder for one animal. As in the
case of the queen mothers’ schools, as discussed in the previous chapter, the chief
administrative position was paid more than the chief medical doctor, although the fodder
provision attempted to diminish the gap. The situation changed in favor of the medical
doctors over a short time.414 This is in line with the increasing specialization and
centralization of the bureaucracy during the Tanzimat period, since the graduates of the
medical school physicians assumed an influential role in both the treatment of patients
and the administration of the hospital. In comparison to early modern hospitals, the
imperial head-physician assumed a more powerful role starting with the reign of Sultan
Mahmud II: it was he who appointed the medical personnel to all hospitals. His close
supervision was also requested since he had to survey and examine the Gureba Hospital
once a month.415
413 Miri Shefer-Mossensohn, "Old Patterns, New Meaning: The 1845 Hospital of Bezm-i Alem in Istanbul,"
DYNAMIS. Acta Hisp. Med. Sci. Hist. Illus., 25 (2005), 337.
414 Kenan Göçer, “Sosyo-Ekonomik Yönleriyle Bezm-i Alem Valide Sultan Gureba Hastanesi,” PhD diss.,
Marmara Üniversitesi, 2012, 175-176, 230. In 1853 the tabib-i evvel’s salary was raised to 1,350 kuruş. By
the end of the nineteenth century the müdür received 1,200 kuruş and the tabib-i evvel 2,850 kuruş.
415 Miri Shefer-Mossensohn, "Old Patterns, New Meaning: The 1845 Hospital of Bezm-i Alem in Istanbul,"
DYNAMIS. Acta Hisp. Med. Sci. Hist. Illus., 25 (2005), 343.
162
Bezmialem’s vakfiye stipulates that the building site for the hospital was 58.308
zira, double that of her school. She bequeathed a wide range of properties for the
hospital, such as lands, olive groves, olive presses, fruit and nut trees, shops, a stone
quarry, and water mills. The geographical distribution of her donations indicates that
Istanbul, its surroundings, and the western territory constituted the bulk of her
endowment’s revenues––the relevant regions included Kocaeli, Gemlik, Edremit, and
Varna. Public revenues from the customhouse of Trabzon and Baghdad were also
included as part of the hospital’s income. This presents an interesting aspect: as discussed
in the first chapter, Muslim law stipulates that funds for charity must come from private
sources; however, her endowment funds included income from the public purse. Once
again practicality prevailed over the law.416 Two interesting donations warrant our
attention: the first was the donation of the entire island of Forni, which was rich in fruit,
nut and olive trees. As her vakfiye describes, the island was under the jurisdiction of
İstanköy Island (or Kos) and was also called Hurşidler. Another interesting donation was
Lake Terkos, an important water source for Istanbul, especially in the nineteenth century.
Her charity foundation purchased the usufruct rights of Lake Terkos. These rights
416 Fuad Köprülü, “Vakıf Müessesinin Hukuki Mahiyeti ve Tarihi Tekamülü” (The Jurisdictional Nature
and Historical Evolution of the Vakıf Institution), in Vakıflar Dergisi, Ankara: Vakıflar Umum Müdürlüğü
Neşriyatı, 1942, 1-37. The article contextualizes the institution in its historical evolution, as a response to
those who adamantly criticized it during the Republican Period without reviewing its positive contributions
to the Ottoman Empire. The author reveals that despite some negative aspects, the institution was capable
of adapting itself to political and socio-economic changes of the period. One of the common practices of
the nineteenth century was to bequeath the revenue of a state land (mirî arazi) for a charitable foundation,
which in essence should have been part of the state revenue and not that of a private foundation. This group
of vakıf was called vakf-ı irsâdî, or vakf-ı gayrisahih. They required sultan’s special permission. The
Gureba Hospital was a public foundation, yet bequeathing the state revenue was common even among
private foundations. See also Ahmet Akgündüz, İslâm Hukukunda ve Osmanlı Tatbıkatında Vakıf Müessesi
(Ankara: Türk Tarih Kurumu Yayınları, VII. Dizi, Sa.97, 1988), 423-456.
163
included the use of its water and fishing as well as benefiting from some pasturages and
arable lands around the lake.417
Her vakfiye also stipulates that 3 masura of potable water (ma-i leziz-i cariyi havi)
would be bestowed to the hospital, which was designed for 201 patients.418 As opposed to
the 2 masura of water for her schools, her vakfiye envisaged naturally much more water
for her hospital complex, which also contained a hammam and a fountain. Yet, compared
to other hospitals, the water reserved for the Gureba Hospital constituted a generous
amount: for example, the British Hospital with 50 beds in the Beyoğlu district of Istanbul
was only provided half a masura from the Mihrişah Valide Sultan Foundation’s
reservoirs in 1859. A straight comparison based on the number of beds would then make
an equivalent of 2 masura of water for the Gureba Hospital, whereas the latter had 3
masura of water at its disposal. Yet, the British Hospital did not lack its water supply;
with the support of its government, it was still considered as the best civilian hospital in
the city in 1874.419 The abundant water might have been a useful source for the
development of the hospital as well as its neighborhood. For example, we may draw
parallels with the five fountain-projects that Emetullah Rabia Gülnuş Valide Sultan (in
office 1695-1715) undertook in the Galata district while encouraging the settlement of
Muslim families in the mostly Catholic area. The provision of clean water was one of the
major factors in the development of the new neighborhoods, as well as in their
417 VGM 634/0113/0024. In 1874 the usufruct rights were granted for 40 years to the mayor of Istanbul,
Kamil Bey and his partner Terno Bey. Later in 1882 a French company obtained the privilege of using the
lake and its environment. The way in which the French company used its privileges ignited controversies
with Bezmialem’s endowment. The initial agreement between the two stipulated the annual payment of 200
lira for three years. The disagreement between the two sporadically emerged until the end of the empire.
For a detailed analysis see Kenan Göçer, “Sosyo-Ekonomik Yönleriyle Bezm-i Alem Valide Sultan Gureba
Hastanesi,” PhD diss., Marmara Üniversitesi, 2012, 224-226.
418 1 masura is 5 m3/hour, see Chapter II, n 81.
419 Nuran Yıldırım, A History of Healthcare in Istanbul, The Istanbul European Capital of Culture Agency
and Istanbul University Project No. 55-10 (Istanbul: Düzey Matbaacılık, 2010), 247-248.
164
Islamization.420 Large-scale endowments and the abundant water supply indicate the
importance of the hospital for the queen mother.
Bezmialem’s vakfiye stipulates that the hospital should be established not in a
central area, but in a sparsely populated rural neighborhood of Istanbul: Yenibahçe.421
The choice of the site is in alignment with the location of the Greek Balıklı and the
Armenian Sırp Pırgiç Hospitals––that is, both of them were in the Yedikule region, on the
outskirts of the city, mainly due to the frequent epidemic outbreaks. Moreover, the sites
of these hospitals were believed to provide an abundance of clean, fresh air. With the
choice of the site, the Gureba Hospital differed from the pre-modern Ottoman hospitals,
which were generally located in city centers. Also, unlike these earlier institutions, the
Gureba Hospital was not part of a mosque complex.422 On the contrary, the mosque and
hammam became parts of the hospital. The central building was the hospital, and
architecturally the mosque was subordinated to it. This fact is illustrated best in the
miniature rendition of the Gureba Hospital by Ülker Erke.423 To the left of the prominent
rectangular hospital building, one can see the mosque and the fountain (Fig.52).
Unlike the initial Greek Balıklı or the Armenian Surp Pırgiç Hospital, the building
of the Gureba Hospital was of stone and not wood. This was more in line with the
military hospitals of the period. We do not know the architect of the hospital; the director
420 Muzaffer Özgüleş, “Belgeler Işığında Gülnuş Emetullah Sultan’ın Galata’da Yaptırdığı Çeşmeler,” in
Tasarim + Kuram, 12 December 2016, vol.10 (17), 27, Muzaffer Özgüleş, The Women Who Built the
Ottoman World: Female Patronage and the Architectural Legacy of Gulnus Sultan (London: I.B. Tauris,
2017).
421 “mahmiye-i Istanbul’da Yenibahçe çayır ittisalinde vaki etraf-ı selasesi Baltacı Odaları demekle arif
menazil”
422 The Beyazıd II Hospital in Edirne was an exception to that rule. It was built by architect Hayrettin in
1484. The focal point was not the mosque, but the darüşşifa and medrese. See Arslan Terzioglu,
Osmanlilarda Hastaneler, Eczacılık, Tababet ve Bunlarin Dunya Capindaki Ekileri, Istanbul: T.C Kültür
Bakanlığı, 1999, 12-16.
423 Ülker Erke, Ülker Erke’nin Yorumu ve Fırçasıyla Türkiye’de Tarihi Sağlık Kurumları (Historical
Health Institutıons in Turkey Through Ülker Erke’s View and Style) ed. Nil Sarı (Istanbul: Nobel
Matbaacılık, 2002), 98.
165
of construction of the foundation (evkaf inşaat müdürü), Abdülhalim Efendi, must have
conducted and surveyed the process.424 The hospital building has a rectangular ground
plan with a central courtyard, featuring a decorative pond in the middle. In the middle of
each side of the courtyard, four steps gave access to the garden.425 Wards of different
sizes open onto a corridor, which in turn encircles the courtyard and is illuminated by
windows. The plan of the hospital conforms to that of pre-modern Ottoman hospitals.
Yet, instead of porticoes of the latter, the newer version features a closed corridor. Orhan
Bolak claims that the corridor system enabled an uninterrupted circumambulation of the
whole building. It was kept narrow in order to allow wider wards. Initially there were 12
wards, with a capacity of 201 beds, and six administrative rooms. A separate room was
designated for the director, the first physician, the second physician, the pharmacist, and
the surgeons. The last room was used as pharmacy for preparing medication.426 The
vakfiye mentions a hammam and shops in front of the hospital.427 Yıldırım claims that
since the main entrance to the hospital protruded and the adjacent walls were constructed
as continuous blocks, the layout suggests the existence of additional buildings. Indeed,
she continues, the first plan of the hospital suggests that to the right of the entrance there
424 Nuran Yıldırım, “Gureba Hastanesi” Dünden Bugüne Istanbul Ansiklopedisi, vol.3. Istanbul: Kültür
Bakanlığı ve Tarih Vakfı Ortak Yayını, 1994, 431.
425 Yıldırım Yavuz, “Batılılaşma Döneminde Osmanlı Sağlık Kuruluşları,” ODTÜ MFD 1988 (8:2), 126. In
later years protruding additions were added towards the garden, and as a result the stairs giving outdoor
access were either moved to the other side of the corridor, or totally removed. See Orhan Bolak,
Hastanelerimiz, Eski Zamanlardan Bugüne Kadar Yapılan Hastanelerimizin Tarihi ve Mimari Etüdü
(Istanbul: Istanbul Matbaacılık, 1950), 53.
426 Orhan Bolak, Hastanelerimiz, Eski Zamanlardan Bugüne Kadar Yapılan Hastanelerimizin Tarihi ve
Mimari Etüdü (Istanbul: Istanbul Matbaacılık, 1950), 47-48.
427 “hastane-i merkume pişgahında kain hamam ve dekakin” For more details about the hamam see Süheyl
Ünver, “Istanbul Yedinci Tepe Hamamlarına Ait Bazı Notlar, in Vakıflar Dergisi (Ankara: Vakıflar Umum
Müdürlüğü Neşriyatı, 1942), vol.II, 245-253. The author reveals that it was abandoned in the 1920s and
later abolished. The entrance of the hamam, where people undress, featured a marble pool, which looked
like the castle of Vidin.
166
were a hammam and shops. To the left there were the mosque and the fountain. The
hammam could be accessed from the hospital, as well as from the street (Fig. 53). 428
Arslan Terzioğlu compares this original plan with that of the Allgemeine
Krankenhaus in Munich. He juxtaposes Orhan Bolak’s plan of the Gureba Hospital and
Franz Xaver Häberl‘s plan of the Munich hospital and claims that the former was inspired
by the latter (Fig. 54).429 The main entrance to the hospital was emphasized by a higher
and protruding porch. Two columns on each side and an entablature frame the portal (Fig.
55). Yıldırım Yavuz refers to its neo-classical style and thereupon postulates that a
European architect might have been involved in the building project. He contends that,
while the rest of the hospital was inspired by the Ottoman medreses, the architect might
have felt free to apply his own stylistic preference to the entrance. The neo-classical style
derived from Europe and had been employed in the Ottoman architecture since the reign
of Sultan Selim III (r.1789-1807). According to Yavuz, the neo-classical entrance is an
emblem of westernization in the Ottoman architecture.
An important factor was that the ward for epidemics was planned separately from
the rest of the hospital. As per the requirement of contemporary medicine, patients
identified as contagious were segregated from others, unlike in the pre-modern practices
of Ottoman hospitals where patients were kept together regardless of their illnesses. The
nizamname clearly reveals that patients suffering from the plague or other contagious
diseases would be dispatched to the proper ward. In the Gureba Hospital, each ward had
428 Nuran Kara Pilehvarian, “Bezmiâlem Valide Sultan Yapıları,” PhD diss., Yıldız Üniversitesi, 1996
quoted in Nuran Yıldırım, From the Charity Hospital to the Bezmialem Foundation University (Istanbul:
Bezmiâlem Vakıf Üniversitesi, 2013), 154, Yıldırım Yavuz, “Batılılaşma Döneminde Osmanlı Sağlık
Kuruluşları,” ODTÜ MFD 1988 (8:2), 126. Unfortunately, I was unable to obtain Pilehvarian’s thesis over
the various channels I attempted to follow..
429 Arslan Terzioğlu, Osmanlılarda Hastaneler, Eczacılık, Tababet ve Bunların Dünya Çapında Etkileri,
Istanbul, 1999 (n.p), 54.
167
its own door, enforcing the separation. Yet, as its plan reveals, the wards opened onto this
encircling corridor. Yavuz and Pilehvarian claim that this fact contradicts modern
medical practices of the time, since the layout did not permit the total segregation of
epidemic cases. Pilehvarian further states that, while European hospitals applied the
“pavilion-hospital plan,” it is interesting that a traditional medrese plan prevailed at the
Gureba.430 Yıldırım argues that the pavilion plan for European hospitals developed after
the Crimean War, when Florence Nightingale separated the wounded soldiers from
patients with contagious diseases at the Selimiye Barracks in Üsküdar. Indeed, the
independent pavilion system, in the form of a self-contained building with its own service
rooms, developed in the middle of the nineteenth century in Europe.431 The Allgemeine
Krankenhaus in Munich that Terzioğlu compared with the Gureba Hospital features a
closed corridor system. The more prominent the Allegemeines Krankenhaus in Vienna
also conforms to the same layout, as a print dated 1834 reveals (Fig. 56). Its construction
was completed in 1784, on the orders of Emperor Joseph II, who intended to provide a
general hospital for all the sick of Vienna, rather than dividing patients among smaller,
separate, and more specialized institutions.432 The Second Julius Hospital in Würzburg,
Germany, completed in 1798, was another influential health institution based on the
“corridor hospital” type (Fig. 57). Thus, the Gureba Hospital with its corridor system and
segregation of plague victims conformed to modern theories of medicine as applied in
architecture.
430 Yıldırım Yavuz, “Batılılaşma Döneminde Osmanlı Sağlık Kuruluşları,” ODTÜ MFD 1988 (8:2), 126-
127, Nuran Kara Pilehvarian, “Bezmiâlem Valide Sultan Yapıları,” PhD diss., Yıldız Üniversitesi, 1996 as
quoted in Nuran Yıldırım, From the Charity Hospital to the Bezmialem Foundation University (Istanbul:
Bezmiâlem Vakıf Üniversitesi, 2013), 154-155.
431 John D. Thompson and Grace Goldin, The Hospital: A Social and Architectural History (New Haven
and London: Yale University Press, 1975), 118.
432 John D. Thompson and Grace Goldin, The Hospital: A Social and Architectural History (New Haven
and London: Yale University Press, 1975), 108-109.
168
The concept of subdivided hospital buildings based on the category of illness
started to develop before Florence Nightingale who was influenced by these theories. The
all-encompassing infections and deaths at large hospitals horrified people, and European
hospital theorists of the late eighteenth century thus considered subdivided and separate
buildings as more appropriate for health institutions. Yet, the theory was turned into
practice only in the mid-nineteenth century. In the pavilion system, each ward is a
complete hospital. The pavilions were separated from each other to avoid contagion and
allow the circulation of fresh, clean air. Such a plan was first used in Paris for the Hôpital
Lariboisière in 1846-1854.433
Florence Nightingale played an important role in the development of the design of
hospitals after 1855. She arrived in Istanbul during the Crimean War, in 1854, to help the
British troops. The Selimiye Barracks in Üsküdar were converted into an army hospital
and poor conditions there resulted in a mortality rate of 42.7 percent. She turned ratridden,
infested barracks into a well-functioning hospital. Her concern for cleanliness,
proper ventilation and drainage helped to improve the mortality rate drastically. The artist
William Simpson represented the improved conditions at the British Hospital in Üsküdar
in Spring 1856 (Fig. 58). Nightingale returned to England as a public heroine and advised
the rulers of England and Europe on how general hospitals ought to be built. The lessons
she learned in Istanbul during the Crimean War shaped her ideas on hospital design. She
rejected the eighteen-century corridor plan, which prevented good ventilation and nursing
433 John D. Thompson and Grace Goldin, The Hospital: A Social and Architectural History (New Haven
and London: Yale University Press, 1975), 139.
169
supervision; instead, she strongly favored pavilion hospitals.434 In 1894, when additional
buildings were needed at the Gureba Hospital, the design plan for stone barracks this time
reflected the pavilion system (Fig.59). From the beginning, at least architecturally the
Gureba Hospital followed modern design theories of its time.
Miri Shefer-Mossensohn contends that the staff in the Gureba Hospital applied
both traditional and modern types of medicine at the time of the queen mother.
Traditional medicine adapted Galenic Humoralism, whereas modern medicine (which can
be understood as European medicine) emphasized biology and pathology. The doctors
educated at the Ottoman medical school were strongly influenced by European medicine.
Even though Galenic medicine was still accepted, there was a shift away from
Humoralism and towards western science. According to Shefer-Mossensohn, the
dedication inscription on the portal of the hospital echoed this shift.435 She cites the fifth
couplet to bolster her argument: “The inscription explains that although Galen’s medicine
is excellent, the excellence of the hospital makes Galen redundant (the poetic wording is
that hospital increases the delicious water of life of the patients). What the author had in
mind here was apparently praising the hospital, rather than claiming that Galen’s
medicine was no longer relevant, yet it is clear that Galen’s skills were downgraded.”436
434 John D. Thompson and Grace Goldin, The Hospital: A Social and Architectural History (New Haven
and London: Yale University Press, 1975), 152-156, The Florence Nightingale Museum Exhibition in
August 2018.
435 The inscription reads as follows: Şah-ı devran Hazret-i Abdülmecid Han’a olur/Bezmialem nam sultan
mader-i ulya meal/Cism-i dünya buldı zatıyla ilac-ı afiyet/Hak tabib-i lütfin etdi dafi’-i derd-i melal/
Eyleyüp ihya bu hastahanenün bünyanını/Mevkiinde eyledi tesis hayra bezl-i mal/Gelse bimaran bulur
elbet şifa bu cayda/Havf-ı merg-i hastaya virmez hevası ihtimal/Tıbb-ı Calinus’dan tedbire hacet kalmadı/
Hastegana olalı ab-ı hayat-efza zülal/Valide Sultan ile Abdülmecid Han’ı Huda/Haşre dek kılsun mezid-i
ömrile asude-hal/İki tarih oldı bir mısra’da Zîver aşikar/Hastahane kıldı inşa Valide Sultan bu sal/
436 Miri Shefer-Mossensohn, "Old Patterns, New Meaning: The 1845 Hospital of Bezm-i Alem in
Istanbul," DYNAMIS. Acta Hisp. Med. Sci. Hist. Illus., 25 (2005), 345.
170
Nuran Yıldırım refutes Shefer-Mossensohn’s explanation and claims that the
latter is not aware of the traditions of Divan poetry. According to Divan poetry’s rules, a
eulogy (methiye) is constructed based on comparative examples (emsal), and Galen
(Calinus) was used for this purpose, rather than to downgrade him. Yıldırım further adds
that the poet Ziver Pasha was not a medical doctor and therefore not able to make such an
observation.437 I agree with Yıldırım’s first interpretation,438 but not with her latter. Such
a shift could be recognized by well-educated high-ranking officers. Moreover, Ziver
Pasha had a fair amount of medical knowledge since in 1850 he was appointed the
director of the medical school (Mekteb- Tıbbiye- Şahane Nazırı).439
In addition to the above arguments, European medical history around 1845 does
not show any proof that the Galenic Humoralism was downgraded. On the contrary, as
John D. Thompson and Grace Goldin have explained, some aspects of the miasma theory
of disease took on practical vitality during the fifth decade of nineteenth century.440
Miasma or vapors were a part of medical theory incorporated from antiquity in general,
and from Hippocrates and Galen in particular.441 The miasma theory enabled doctors to
recognize the relation between filth and disease and led to sanitary reforms. For example,
Florence Nightingale was a miasmatist for whom germs did not exist. She believed that
the human body, even in health, constantly exhaled from the lungs and skin watery vapor
ready to enter a putrefactive condition. This condition increased with illness and became
437 Nuran Yıldırım, From the Charity Hospital to the Bezmialem Foundation University (Istanbul:
Bezmiâlem Vakıf Üniversitesi, 2013), 25.
438 I express my gratitude to Selim S. Kuru for helping me in this regard.
439 Nuran Yıldırım, From the Charity Hospital to the Bezmialem Foundation University (Istanbul:
Bezmiâlem Vakıf Üniversitesi, 2013), 23.
440 John D. Thompson and Grace Goldin, The Hospital: A Social and Architectural History (New Haven
and London: Yale University Press, 1975), 159.
441 Miri Shefer-Mossensohn, Ottoman Medicine, Healing and Medical Institutions, 1500-1700, New York:
SUNY Press, 2009, 172.
171
highly dangerous. These morbid exhalations needed to be carried off instantly and
perpetually by good ventilation. This is why, according to Nightingale, depriving the sick
of pure air was a sort of manslaughter.442 We can then conclude that, during the time of
the queen mother, the Gureba Hospital applied the most recent practices of its time,
embodying both traditional and modern theories of medicine, without juxtaposing one
against the other. The modern term hastahane employed in the endowment deed––in
contrast to the traditional darüşşifa–– its site, building design, administration, staff and
their remunerations, as well as the contemporaneous medical practices all prove that the
Gureba Hospital followed the medical developments of its time. As a civil hospital, it
constituted a prominent example for the rest of the Gureba hospitals that would be built
until the end of the Ottoman Empire.
III. OTHER GUREBA HOSPITALS BUILT BY THE QUEEN MOTHERS
There are three other hospital projects of Bezmialen and Pertevniyal that I will analyze
here: the Mecca Gureba of Bezmialem, and the Medina Gureba and the Atik Baruthane
of Pertevniyal. Unfortunately, the scarcity of documents does not allow us to describe
them with any great precision.
Concerning the Mecca Gureba Hospital, Göçer contends that Bezmialem started
its construction in 1850. Following her death Sultan Abdülmecid completed it.443 Mursal
and Yılmaz rightly challenge this claim since the document on which Göçer bases his
argument reveals that some of the rooms of the Haseki Soup Kitchen (imaret) were to be
442 John D. Thompson and Grace Goldin, The Hospital: A Social and Architectural History (New Haven
and London: Yale University Press, 1975), 159.
443 Kenan Göçer, “Sosyo-Ekonomik Yönleriyle Bezm-i Alem Valide Sultan Gureba Hastanesi,” PhD
Thesis, Marmara Üniversitesi, 2012, 152. The quoted document is BOA İ.MVL 321.13683. See also Arzu
Terzi, Bezmiâlem Valide Sultan (Istanbul: Timaş Yayınları, 2018), 242.
172
used for the poor and destitutes (fukara ve guraba) who fell ill during the pilgrimage to
the Holy Land. There was no reference to the construction of a new hospital.444
Moreover, the document does not give any reference to Bezmialem Valide Sultan or her
charitable foundation; it specifies how the foundation of the imaret and the treasury
would cover the costs. Since the document mentions the salaries of one medical doctor
and several janitors, it indicates a rather small health institution. Only in 1884, a
document showing its staff, implies that it turned into a medium-sized hospital with a
capacity of 50 beds (işbu hastahane elli yatağı havi).445 After that date, the Mecca
Gureba Hospital appears in the archives only in case of appointments or rewards of its
staff.446 Another document, which discusses the financial problems of the institution a
decade later, gives a clue that the initial Haseki Darüşşifası had been turned into a
hospital, but does not provide a date for this transformation.447 The document also
indicates that additional revenues for the institution were provided by the foundations of
Sultan Abdülmecid and Sultan Mustafa III. Had the queen mother been involved, her
vakıf would have continued to cover some of the costs even after her death. For example,
the Dolmabahçe Mosque was completed after the death of Bezmialem, and initially it was
not part of her vakıf. Yet, her charitable foundation paid its various costs over the
444 Seçil Mursal, “Osmanlı Devleti’nde İlk Gureba Hastaneleri,” Master’s Thesis, Sivas Cumhuriyet
Üniversitesi, 2017, 33-34, Seçil Mursal and Sarper Yılmaz, “Mekke Gureba Hastanesi,” paper presented at
the Sivas Medical Congress in 2018. I thank Sarper Yılmaz for sharing the research prior its publication.
The document does not specify the number of rooms, it only refers to a few rooms (çend bâb oda).
445 BOA Y. PRK. SH 1/48 dated 16 Ca 1301 (16 March 1884).
446 BOA DH. MKT. 1648/12 dated 17 Z 1306 (14 August 1889), BOA DH.MKT 1786/17 dated 16 R 1308
(29 November 1890), BOA DH. MKT. 1914/114 dated 23 C 1309 (24 January 1892), BOA İ. DH.
598/41725, dated 20 C 1286 (27 September 1869), BOA İ. DH. 761/62031 dated 06 Z 1294 (12 December
1877), BOA İ. DH. 802/65002 dated 06 Z 1297 (9 November 1880)
447 BOA A.MKT. MHM 708/10 dated 06 B 1311 (13 January 1894) “tedkikatda zikr olunan hastahane
merhum ve mağfurun-leha Haseki Sultan tabe seraha hazretleri tarafından vaktiyle darüşşifa olmak üzere
bina ve inşa olunmuş iken ahiren hastahane ittihaz edilmiş ve mezkur hastahanede”
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years.448 Ali Akyıldız also claims that Bezmialem constructed the hospital.449 Based on
Mehmed el-Emin Mekkî’s book published in 1900/1901 (H. 1318), he describes how
Bezmialem repaired Gülnuş Emetullah Valide Sultan’s imaret and turned it into a
hospital.450 In conclusion, the relation between the Mecca Gureba Hospital and
Bezmialem remains debatable.451 In any case, during the queen mother’s lifetime the
hospital consisted of a few rooms converted from the soup kitchen.
Pertevniyal initiated three hospital projects, two in Medina and the third one in
Istanbul. The first hospital in Medina was similar to the Mecca Gureba Hospital, in the
sense that she restored a previously existing Ottoman building. The queen mother
restored an old darüşşifa that Sultan Süleyman’s grand vizier Mehmet Pasha had built in
the sixteenth century. In the course of the restoration, a pharmacy was added to the
building. The queen mother had drugs and medical tools sent to the institution. She also
paid the salaries of its medical staff, which consisted of a physician, a surgeon, a
pharmacist, and a janitor.452 This was a small health unit, since in 1904 there existed a
project to expand the Gureba Hospital in Medina in capacity, from 8 to 50 beds.453
448 BOA Ev.d 14569 dated 1 M 1268 (27 October 1851), İ. Ev. 40/1324 dated 13 Ca 1324 (6 July 1906).
449 Ali Akyıldız, Haremin Padişahı Valide Sultan, Harem’de Hayat ve Teşkilat,(Istanbul: Timaş Yayınları,
2017), 403, 459-460, 466.
450 Mehmed El-Emin Mekkî, Hulefâ-yı İzam-ı Osmaniyye Hazeratının Haremeyn-i Şerîfeyn’deki Âsâr-ı
Mebrûre ve Meşkûre-i Hümayunlarından Bâhis Tarihi Bir Eserdir, (Dersaadet: Matbaa-i Osmaniyye),
1318, quoted in Ali Akyıldız, Haremin Padişahı Valide Sultan, Harem’de Hayat ve Teşkilat,(Istanbul:
Timaş Yayınları, 2017), 459-460, 466.
451 As Akyıldız explains Bezmialem did not construct the Galata Bridge as several authors have claimed,
the attribution stemming from a popular misperception. The hospital might have had a similar destiny. Ali
Akyıldız, Haremin Padişahı Valide Sultan, Harem’de Hayat ve Teşkilat, (Istanbul: Timaş Yayınları, 2017),
462.
452 Sedat Kumbaracılar, “Medine’de Türkler Tarafından Yaptırılan Şarşure Darüşşüfası,” Dirim no.7, Tom
XXIV, July 1949 quoted in Nil Sarı, “Pertevniyal Valide Sultan’ın Medine-i Münevvere’de Yaptırdığı
Hastane,” 1. Türk Tıp Tarihi Kongresi, Kongreye Sunulan Bildiriler, Istanbul, 17-19 February 1988,
Ankara: Türk Tarih Kurumu, 1992, 63. We cannot compare its staff to that of the Mecca Gureba Hospital
during the time of Bezmialem since we do not have any data. The earliest information available dates to
1884 almost three decades after the death of the queen mother. See also Sarper Yılmaz and Ekrem Sırma,
“Medine Gureba Hastanesi,” paper presented at the Sivas Medical Congress in 2018. I thank Sarper Yılmaz
174
In addition to this hospital, Pertevniyal was engaged in the construction of a new
one. Her last vakfiye, penned a year after Sultan Abdülaziz’s dethronement and death,
clearly shows her determination to complete this new hospital building. The text also
envisages the bequeathing of the income necessary for its operation.454 It also foresees the
purchase of necessary beds, tableware, as well as pharmaceutical supplies following the
completion of the building.455 Nil Sarı’s research in the Cerrahpaşa’s Archives confirms
the continuation of the construction during Pertevniyal’s life span, albeit with some
interruptions. An Ottoman register lists all the revenues and expenditures of the hospital
between 1292 (1875) and 1300 (1883).456 The year 1292 is indicated as the starting time
(bidayetinden), while 1883 is the year close to Pertevniyal’s death. It seems that the
hospital project was in the queen mother’s mind for almost a decade. A document dated
1864 mentions Mehmed Emin Pasha’s letter to the queen mother: the pasha describes the
necessary amount of territory needed both for the Medina Hospital, as well as the
residences and fountain for the widows.457 This document is important since it was
directly addressed to Pertevniyal and not her kethüda, indicating her direct involvement
for sharing the research prior its publication. The authors do not contradict the argument, but they reveal
that this was an Ottoman ribat and functioned until the last years of the Ottoman Empire.
453 DH. MKT 897 68 dated 29 Receb 1322 (9 October 1904).
454 VGM 634/0184/0040 dated 18 Rebiülevvel 1294 (4 April 1877) “ve masarif-i mukarrere-i sairesiyle
Medine-i Münevvere şerefha Allah-i teala ila yevm-il ahirede inşa olunmakda olan salif-ül beyan
hastahanemiz masarif-i daimesi hasılat-ı vakıfdan tesviye ve ita olunduktan ve masarif-i tamirat içün tahsis
olunan ifraz ve ihtiyat akçesinden...” As revealed in Chapter I, only in this zeyl the text employs “our”
instead of “mine.”
455 Ibid., “hastahane-i mezkur ebniyesinin itmamıyla masarif-i inşaiyyesinin ve ba’d-el itmam ve tertib
defteri veçhiyle yatak ve matbah takımlarının ve eşya-yı saire ve eczahane levazimati paha ve masraflarının
tesviyesinden sonra” The text also gives priority to the hospital over the restoration of the Zubeyda
Waterways, mentioned above in Chapter I, 75.
456 “Devletlü, ismetlü Valide Sultan Pertevniyal Hazretlerinin Medine-i Münevvere’de kâin Hastane
Ebniye-i Hayriyyesi içün bidayetinden şimdiye kadar Der-âliyye’den gönderilen ve buradan hâsıl olan
vâridât ile vuku bulan sarfiyatın ve bazı mümteniü’l-husûl ta’vîzatta kalan meblağın lirâ-yı Osmanî ve râici
mahallî vech ile miktarlarını mübeyyen cetveldir,” as quoted in Nil Sarı, “Pertevniyal Valide Sultan’ın
Medine-i Münevvere’de Yaptırdığı Hastane,” 1. Türk Tıp Tarihi Kongresi, Kongreye Sunulan Bildiriler,
Istanbul, 17-19 February 1988, Ankara: Türk Tarih Kurumu, 1992, 64.
457 BOA TSMA,e 358 36 dated 29 Zilhicce 1280 (5 June 1864).
175
in the construction projects. In the case of Bezmialem, the correspondence on important
projects, whether the school or hospital, was always addressed to her kethüda.458 Another
record discloses that the foundation of the Medina Hospital could be laid only fourteen
years later in 1878.459 The date is in accordance with that of the register discussed by
Sarı.
A memorandum (layıha) on the hospital gives us important clues about the queen
mother’s intentions: the building was designed as having three floors, 37 wards of
different sizes, and space for 400 patients. Its capacity was designed as double the
Bezmialem Gureba Hospital’s, which initially had space for 201patients. Pertevniyal’s
was an ambitious plan; compared to the two physicians working at the Bezmialem
Gureba Hospital, the layıha envisaged eight physicians for the Medina Gureba Hospital.
Moreover, instead of the traditional heating system of stoves or braziers for the wards, the
layıha stipulated the installment of a central heating system imported from Europe. This
impressive hospital was to treat exclusively poor and needy women.460 It was a
pioneering project for Ottoman health institutions, since there existed virtually no
hospital treating female patients. As discussed above, the Haseki Hospital was the only
exception to that rule; in the nineteenth century it treated mostly female prisoners and
single women living in the streets. During the reign of Abdülmecid, the conditions were
so poor that the hospital was called the “Haseki Dungeon.” Following the restoration
ordered by the sultan, the hospital started admitting sick and pregnant women living on
458 As I will show in the following chapter, during the construction of the Aksaray Mosque Complex there
were letters exchanged between the queen mother and her butler, revealing her direct involvement in the
project. This was not the case for Bezmialem.
459 BOA TSMA,e 17 16 dated 19 Muharrem 1295 (23 January 1878).
460 Nil Sarı, “Pertevniyal Valide Sultan’ın Medine-i Münevvere’de Yaptırdığı Hastane,” 1. Türk Tıp Tarihi
Kongresi, Kongreye Sunulan Bildiriler, Istanbul, 17-19 February 1988, Ankara: Türk Tarih Kurumu, 1992,
65-71.
176
the streets, yet the restoration remained at modest scale. For women who were neither
prostitutes nor criminals, there existed no proper healthcare institution until the 1870s in
Istanbul.461 Designing a large civic hospital for women in the Holy Land presented a
strong message: the queen mother not only intended to address the dire need of women
for medical treatment, but she also broke with the traditional mindset that the home was
the sole place for treating women. To this end, she envisaged two types of staff that did
not exist in other hospitals intended for male patients: five eunuchs and eleven midwives.
Despite the title of her article, which confirms that the hospital was built by
Pertevniyal, Nil Sarı discloses that there is no evidence confirming its completion. A
document dated 1900, seventeen years after the queen mother’s death, accounts the
equipment purchased for the hospital. It describes the institution as initiated by
Pertevniyal and suspended and abandoned later (terk ve tatil olunan).462 Even the
arrangement and settlement of these pieces of equipment must have taken a long time,
since two years later another document mentions still resolving (tesviye) the same
issue.463
Pertevniyal’s ambitious hospital building for women in Medina could not be
completed. Yet, in her early years as the queen mother she established a small hospital
for female patients, containing only a few rooms, in Atik Baruthane. However, once
again we have no proof that it was completed. The site was close to the Gureba Hospital
of Bezmialem. The latter was meant for male patients, but due to the flow of migrants
following the Crimean War it started accepting female patients as well. The situation was
461 Gülhan Balsoy, “Haseki Woman’s Hospital and the Female Destitute of Nineteenth-Century Istanbul,”
Middle Eastern Studies, 2018, DOI: 10.1080/00263206.2018.1520099, 1-12.
DOI: 10.1080/00263206.2018.1520099. Access 12 May 2019.
462 BOA BEO 001465 109820 001 001 dated 01 Zilhicce 1317 (2 April 1900).
463 BOA BEO 1814 136031 dated 14 Zilhicce 1319 (24 March 1902).
177
aggravated after the Russians expelled throngs of Circassians in 1860. Most of them
escaped to the Ottoman Empire. According to some historians, more than 600,000
Circassians migrated to the Ottoman territory.464 Nuran Yıldırım argues that, as a result, a
hanım sultan (sultan’s daughter or sister) decided to establish a women’s hospital in Atik
Baruthane, in 1863. However, the below document clearly indicates that it was the mehdi
ulya-yı saltanat-ı seniyye who stood behind this commission. As discussed in Part I,
among the imperial women this sobriquet could only be employed for a queen mother,
and in this case it designated Pertevniyal Valide Sultan.465 The document also specifies
the site of this hospital as being located behind (arka tarafında) the Gureba Hospital.466
The two hospitals were very close to each other. By expanding the initial project of her
predecessor with a small hospital for female patients, the queen mother intended to
respond to an urgent local need of her time. The choice of the site may indicate a
practical reason, since the small health institution could benefit from the services of the
Gureba Hospital. The preference might also have symbolically boosted the presence and
continuation of the dynasty, through the charity of successive queen mothers in the same
neighborhood. Wherever it was suitable to do so, Pertevniyal did not mind expanding the
projects initiated by her predecessor. Yet, as we will see in the next chapter, when she
undertook her most ambitious project, the Aksaray Mosque Complex, she hoped that the
464 Nuran Yıldırım, From the Charity Hospital to the Bezmialem Foundation University (Istanbul:
Bezmiâlem Vakıf Üniversitesi, 2013), 140-141.
465 BOA A. MKT. MHM 281 9 dated 5 Cemaziyelevvel 1280 (18 October 1863). “Maliye Nezaret-i
Celilesine Mehd-i ulya-yı Saltanat-ı Seniyye devletlü ismetlü aliyyeti’ş-şân efendimiz hazretleri
Yenibahçe’de kain Gureba Hastahanesinin arka tarafında vaki emlak-ı hümayundan atik baruthane namıyla
müştehir olan mahalle taife-i nisaya mahsus olmak üzere bir hastahane inşası arzusunda bulunduklarından
mahall-i mezkur senedinin sultan-ı müşarunileyha hazretlerinin uhde-i aliyyelerine olarak tanzimi hususuna
emr u ferman-ı cenab-ı hümayun-ı Padişahi şeref-sünûh ve sudur buyurulmuş olmakla iktizasının icrasıyla
mezkur senedin tanzim etdirilerek serian Babıali’ye irsaline himmet buyurula deyu”
466 Ibid., I could find the following additional documents about the hospital, but no details about its plan or
lifespan. BOA İ. DH 516 35118 dated 1 Ca 1280 (14 October 1863), BOA A. MKT. MHM 111 281 dated 5
Ca 1280 (18 October 1863), BOA İ. DH 516 35158n dated 9 Ca 1280 (22 October 1863).
178
mosque building would surpass Abdülmecid’s Ortaköy Mosque, as well as Bezmialem’s
Dolmabahçe Mosque.
CODA
The chapter indicates that both queen mothers concentrated their projects concerning
healthcare in Istanbul and in Holy Lands. Their projects were exemplary for different
reasons:
Pertevniyal’s two hospital projects addressed women, although most probably
both were left unfinished. The documents reveal that construction of the ambitious
hospital project in Medina continued after the dethronement of her son and until the end
of her life. These two projects designed for women were pioneering during a time when
the Ottoman Empire was lacking proper healthcare institutions for female patients.
Moreover, they were not meant for female criminals or prostitutes, like the healthcare
institutions of her time, but designed for any female patient in need. Although
incomplete, her modern health institutions for women carry considerable importance,
giving the circumstances of the period.
Bezmialem on the other hand, completed the first civil hospital project in Istanbul.
Unlike traditional Ottoman hospitals, the edifice was constructed as an independent
building, outside of a mosque complex. Her hospital was a pioneering project in terms of
its site, building design, administrative and medical staff, as well as in its medical
practices.
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CHAPTER IV: MOSQUES: CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE
IMPERIAL PUBLIC IMAGE OF POWER AND PIETY
Having analyzed Bezmialem’s and Pertevniyal’s schools and hospitals in Chapter II and
III as elements of their architectural patronage, I will turn to their mosques in this section.
This chapter will discuss the monuments as described in their endowment deeds, which
elucidate best their personal voices and intentions despite their fixed format, as explained
in Chapter I. This chapter will focus on Bezmialem’s mosque built next to her Gureba
Hospital, as well as Pertevniyal’s Aksaray Mosque. Bezmialem’s endowment deed
describes in detail the mosque that she erected next to her hospital. She passed away
during the initial construction stage of the Dolmabahçe Mosque.467 Her vakfiye does not
include the mosque, although in later years her charitable foundation paid for various
repairs and renovation costs for the monument.468 Yet, while describing the inauguration
ceremony of the building, the Takvim-i Vekayi––the government’s official newspaper––
referred to it as the Dolmabahçe Mosque, and not as the Valide Sultan Mosque, in a way
minimizing her role in its establishment.469 As we are not sure in how far Abdülmecid
followed or changed his mother’s design, I will refer to the monument to compare it with
the other mosques that constitute the focus of this chapter.
Mosque architecture was significant to promote the public image of queen
mothers as benevolent, pious and powerful figures. In general monumentality was part of
467 The Ziver Pasha’s foundation inscription of the mosque reveals that only the elevation of four walls was
completed at the time of Bezmialem’s death: “Makamın vâlide sultan Bezm-i ‘Âlem ‘ukbâ/İdince
ma’bedinin yapmış idi çâr-dîvarın” (When the queen mother Bezmialem passed to the next World/ The
four walls of her temple were completed) as quoted in Ali Akyıldız, Haremin Padişahı Valide Sultan,
Harem’de Hayat ve Teşkilat,(Istanbul: Timaş Yayınları, 2017), 458. Translation mine.
468 Chapter III, n. 88.
469 Takvım-i Vekayi, no. 522 dated 5 Şaban 1271 (23 April 1855), as quoted in Ali Akyıldız, Haremin
Padişahı Valide Sultan, Harem’de Hayat ve Teşkilat,(Istanbul: Timaş Yayınları, 2017), 458. In the
following issue of the newspaper, the author revealed the same.
180
this image. As Leslie Peirce states: “monumentality was better suited for structures
dedicated to God––and the mosques built by members of the dynastic family were indeed
monumental.”470 Monumentality expressed power and authority. As symbols of religion,
mosques negotiated the legitimization of the dynasty vis-à-vis its Muslim subjects. Their
size, complexity and sumptuousness intended to express a set of values with which
patrons of these monuments wished to associate themselves. As the mother of the sultan,
who was also the caliph of Sunni Islam, the queen mother intended to display her avid
support for religion and display her pious character, thereby polishing her public image
and assisting the legitimization of her son’s claim to rule. Howard Crane explains that
piety was crucial in Ottoman imperial patronage of architecture: “it is nonetheless certain
that observance of the forms of piety was considered by the Ottomans to be of the utmost
importance.”471 This fact had to do with the nature of the institution of the sultanate, as
described in the context of Ottoman ideology.472 As Crane reveals, imperial mosques
served, as perhaps no other symbol could, to link the two key elements defining Ottoman
legitimacy, namely temporal power and spiritual authority: “Certainly, it was in large part
precisely for this reason, because the imperial mosques functioned so effectively to give
metaphoric expression to these twin foundations of the Ottomans’ collective and
historical identity, that the tradition of imperial mosque-building endured with such
persistence even to the last moment of the dynasty’s existence.”473
470 Leslie Peirce, Empress of the East: How a European Slave Girl Became Queen of the Ottoman Empire,
(New York: Basic Books, 2017), 128.
471 Howard Crane, “The Ottoman Sultan’s Mosques: Icons of Imperial Legitimacy,” in The Ottoman City
and Its Parts, Irene A. Bierman, Rifa’at A. Abou-El-Haj, and Donald Preziosi, eds., (New Rochelle and
New York: Aristide D. Caratzas), 1991, 195.
472 For the employment of the notion of the imamate and the caliphate, see Chapter I 17-21, 29-30, 37-38,
and 42.
473 Howard Crane, “The Ottoman Sultan’s Mosques, 205. See also Chapter I, pp. 20-22, for a reference to
this dual character of power in the dua section of vakfiyes.
181
Besides proclaiming power and piety for the dynasty, mosque buildings also
demonstrated the wealth and influence of the patron. As opposed to school and hospital
buildings, the Aksaray Mosque was designed on a monumental scale to display both
personal and imperial power and piety. On the other hand, the Gureba Hospital’s mosque
was quite modest in size. Yet, through the arrangement of public rituals, which are
described in her endowment deed, Bezmialem made sure that her mosque would possess
the prestige of imperial mosques. In this sense the latter is important to reveal
characteristics besides the monumentality of the building or the finesse of its decoration,
since other factors could claim significance for the structure and its benefactor in the
public eye.
I. PERCEPTIONS OF TANZIMAT ARCHITECTURE
For a long time, Tanzimat architecture was dismissed as reflecting the decline of the
Ottoman Empire and imitating the latest European fashions. As the finest representative
of architectural vocabulary, mosques received the preponderant share in these critiques.
In the early years, scholars of the Turkish Republic regarded these buildings as alien to
the values of Turkish architecture, since they were perceived as a reflection of foreign
dominance and influence. For example, a prominent historian, Celal Esad Arseven,
dismissed the Ottoman architecture of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, the
architecture from the reign of Ahmed III to the present, as decadent. By imitating
European, and particularly French architecture, it lacked the coherent principles and
proper style that had existed in the classical Ottoman architecture of the sixteenth
182
century.474 Halil Edhem, another prominent historian, and member of the Ottoman and
then Republican elite, wrote about the Nusretiye Mosque that Sultan Mahmud II
constructed; he claimed that the structure had no importance for Turkish architecture:
“Cette mosque n’est d’aucune importance pour notre art architectural.”475 Ernst Diez,
who taught in Istanbul from1943 to 1948, was from the Viennese School of formalism.
He influenced the next generation of Turkish scholars, such as Oktay Aslanapa and Metin
Sözen. He evaluated the era as a mixture of styles, thus belonging to a period of
decline.476 Ahmet Hamdi Tanpınar, a well-known literary figure who taught art history at
the Fine Arts Academy in Istanbul from 1932 to 1939, criticized the architecture of
Abdülmecid’s period for its heavy reliance on decoration in the French style, which
ruined the singularity of the old mosques. The architecture of Abdülaziz was, according
to him, a hybrid of tastes lacking coherence.477 Aslanapa continued within the same vein;
he traced the development of the French-inspired Empire style starting with the Nusretiye
Mosque, continuing with the Dolmabahçe and Ortaköy Mosque, and followed by the
eclectic style of the Abdülaziz era.478 In his later years, while teaching at the University
of Chicago in 1981, Aslanapa softened his views on Tanzimat architecture, portraying the
hybrid style of the Aksaray and Hamidiye Mosques as the reflection of a new fashion.
Yet, he still criticized the structures of this century for having lost their classical
474 Celal Esad Arseven, Constantinople: de Byzance à Stamboul (Paris: H. Laurens, 1909), 179-180.
475 Halil Edhem, Nos Mosquées de Stambul, translation by E. Mamboury (Stamboul: Librairie Kanaat,
1934), 127.
476 Ernst Diez, Türk Sanatı: Başlangıcından Günümüze Kadar (Turkish Art from Its Beginning to the
Present), translation by Oktay Aslanapa (Istanbul: Üniversite Matbaası, 1946), 239; Ernst Diez and Oktay
Aslanapa, Türk Sanatı (Istanbul: Doğan Kardeş Yayınları, 1955), 192.
477 Ahmet Hamdi Tanpınar, XIX. Asır Türk Edebşyatı Tarihi (Istanbul: Yapı Kredi, 1949/2006), 130 and
151.
478 See for example his comment on the Aksaray Mosque, Turkish Art and Architecture (London: Faber and
Faber, 1971), 236.
183
substance.479 Tahsin Öz and Semavi Eyice in the 1960s and Godfrey Goodwin in the
1970s did not break with these formalist critiques.480 Doğan Kuban, another prominent
and prolific art historian, modulated his negative views on eighteenth- and nineteenthcentury
Ottoman monuments. Kuban argued that the Turkish Republic scholarship
established its own proto-nationalist discourse concerning Ottoman architecture, by
praising solely the classical architecture of the empire. The architectural vocabulary of
the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries display originality and creativity, combining both
Ottoman and European elements. In the nineteenth century the French hegemony
continued. Under the influence of the French Empire style, Ottoman architecture
developed an eclectic appearance before the mid-nineteenth century. “In addition to neo-
Baroque and neo-Classical features, a mixture of Saracenic and neo-Gothic permeated the
capital.”481 However, in his books Kuban’s disdain particularly for the monuments of the
second half of the nineteenth-century is more apparent: “In fact, the sobriety of the
Empire style eventually yielded place to a more eclectic taste, where Classicism,
Baroque, Rococo and, at the end of the century, Art Nouveau styles were all mixed up,
without any sense of discipline.”482 In the concluding remarks in his book on Ottoman
Architecture, Kuban describes the late Ottoman architecture from the Vak’a-i Hayriye
479 Aptullah Kuran, Selçuklular’dan Cumhuriyet’e Türkiye’de Mimarlık, Çiğdem Kafesçioğlu, Lucienne
Thys-Şenocak and Timur Kuran, eds., (Istanbul: Türkiye İş Bankası Kültür Yayınları, 2012), 662.
480 Tahsin Öz, Istanbul Camileri 2vol’s. (Ankara: Türk Tarih Kurumu Basımevi, 1962); Semavi Eyice,
Istanbul Minareleri (Istanbul: Berksoy Matbaası, 1962); Semavi Eyice, Istanbul: Petit Guide à Travers les
Monuments Byzantins et Turcs (Istanbul: Istanbul Matbaası, 1955), Godfrey Goodwin, A History of
Ottoman Architecture (Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins Press, 1971).
481 Doğan Kuban, “Ottoman Architecture,” in Ottoman Civilization, edited by Halil Inalcık and Günsel
Renda, Republic of Turkey Ministry of Culture and Tourism, 2003, 626-697.
482 Doğan Kuban, Istanbul An Urban History, Byzantion, Constantinopolis, Istanbul (Istanbul: The
Economic and Social History Foundation of Turkey, 1996), 404.
184
(Auspicious Event) to the Republican era as an architecture of colonial quality.483 As the
empire became weaker, this colonial character gained more prominence.484
Recently scholars have contextualized architectural idioms within the sociopolitical
realities of the period. Rüstem Ünver’s Ottoman Baroque: The Architectural
Refashioning of Eighteenth-Century Istanbul, shows how Istanbul’s major eighteenthcentury
buildings reflect creative responses to contemporary conditions, crafting a new
and globally resonant image for the empire’s capital. As Rüstem explains, the Ottoman
Baroque represented not a decline and simple imitation of European style, but on the
contrary the triumphal statement about the achievements of Sultan Mahmud I (r.1730-
1754), especially against Russians’ southward expansion.485 Following the publication of
Zeynep Çelik’s seminal book The Remaking of Istanbul, scholars such as Turgut Saner,
Alyson Wharton and Ahmet Ersoy have re-examined nineteenth century architecture in
its proper context.486 Saner analyzes the influence of Orientalism starting from the midnineteenth
century as an imperial attempt to create a new Ottoman architecture. Although
the Ottoman architecture received Orientalism much like the West, it nonetheless
departed from the western approach as it related it to its own tradition.
483 Vak’a-i Hayriyye, or the Auspicious Event as it was called by Ottoman chroniclers marked Mahmud
II’s abolishment of the Janissary corps on 15 June 1826.
484 Doğan Kuban, Osmanlı Mimarisi (Ottoman Architecture) (Istanbul: Yem Yayın, 2007), 680.
485 Rüstem Ünver, Ottoman Baroque: The Architectural Refashioning of Eighteenth-Century Istanbul
(Princeton, NJ:Princeton University Press, 2019).
486 Zeynep Çelik, Remaking of Istanbul, Portrait of an Ottoman City in the Nineteenth Century (Berkeley:
University of California Press, 1986), Turgut Saner, 19. Yüzyıl Osmanlı Mimarlığında Oryantalizm,
(Istanbul: Pera Turizm ve Ticaret A.Ş., 1998); Alyson Wharton, The Architects of Ottoman Constantinople,
The Balyan Family and the History of Ottoman Architecture (London and New York: I.B. Tauris, 2015);
Ahmet Ersoy, “Architecture and the Search for Ottoman Origins in the Tanzimat Period,” in Muqarnas,
vol. 24 (2007), 79-115; Ahmet Ersoy, Architecture and the Late Ottoman Historical Imaginary,
Reconfiguring the Architectural Past in a Modernizing Empire (Farnham and Burlington VT: Ashgate,
2015).
185
Ersoy considers the Usul-i Mimar-i Osmani (Fundamentals of Ottoman
Architecture), the first official treatise on the history and theory of Ottoman architecture,
published on the occasion of the 1873 World Exposition in Vienna, a turning point in
Ottoman architecture, since it marked a shift towards revivalism during the reign of
Abdülaziz. The monuments of his era, particularly the Pertevniyal Valide Mosque and the
Çırağan Palace, which were embellished with an eclectic array of Ottoman, Moorish and
Gothic elements, were acclaimed as harbingers of the “Ottoman Renaissance” in
architecture. Ersoy attempts to reposition the Ottoman intellectual milieu in relation to its
contemporary European movement of revivalism. Otherwise, as discussed above, the
addition of Orientalist/Islamist features to Ottoman architecture for a long time created
dismay among scholars.
Wharton analyzes the architecture of the Tanzimat era through the identity of
Ottomanism and the image-making of each sultan and shows how power and architecture
were tightly intertwined.487 She puts the Balyan family in the center of her research, since
it provided the foremost imperial architects for three generations. The importance of the
Balyan family and their role have been minimized or aggrandized in Turkish and
Armenian scholarship, respectively, since both tended to delineate the family’s role in
terms of clichés. Wharton’s analysis is different from Ahmet Ersoy’s, not only in terms of
emphasis, but also regarding the shift that occurred in architectural vocabulary during the
reign of Abdülaziz. She accepts that the decorative content in his reign moved from
487 About the image-making of each sultan in Ottoman painting, see Günsel Renda, “Portraits: The Last
Century,” in The Sultan’s Portrait, Picturing the House of Osman, (Istanbul: Türkiye İş Bankası, 2000),
442-463; Günsel Renda, “European Artists at the Ottoman Court: Propagating New Dynastic Image in the
Nineteenth Century,” in The Poetics and Politics of Place: Ottoman Istanbul and British Orientalism,
Zeynep İnankur, Reina Lewis and Mary Roberts, eds., (Istanbul: Pera Museum, 2011), 221-232; Emine
Fetvacı, “From Print to Trace: An Ottoman Imperial Portrait Book and its Western European Models,” in
The Art Bulletin, vol. 95/2, 1 June 2013, 243-268.
186
predominantly European references to a neo-Islamic, Ottoman and Gothic emphasis. She
furthermore states:
However, many of the structural features, materials, motifs, approaches to
ornament, as well as the symbolic motifs evoking sultanic authority, remained the
same. Moreover, the architectural structures remained largely unchanged, with the
reuse of traditional Ottoman plans encased in regularized masonry facades. The
continuity in the styles of the reigns of Abdülmecid and Abdülaziz is significant
because it corrects Ersoy’s opinion that there was a change in approach only in
the 1870s, a change that marked a shift to revivalism.488
While analyzing the Gureba and Aksaray Mosques, I will show the parallels with the
iconography of their era to indicate how they integrated with the imperial style of the
Tanzimat and expressed the power of the dynasty. My formal analysis will move from
the outside to the inside of the building, following the footsteps and impressions of a
beholder as much as possible.
II. THE MOSQUE OF THE GUREBA HOSPITAL
The mosque next to the Gureba Hospital is rather modest in size, subordinate to the
dimensions of the hospital building (Fig. 60, 61 and 62). This is in contrast to traditional
dynastic mosque complexes, where the mosque would overwhelm its dependent edifices
in size and decoration. The Aksaray Mosque Complex is the only example following the
established mosque-complex tradition in the nineteenth century.
We do not know the architect of the Gureba Mosque; however, the director of
construction of the foundation (evkaf inşaat müdürü), Abdülhalim Efendi, who conducted
and surveyed the building process of the hospital, might have done the same for the
488 Alyson Wharton, The Architects of Ottoman Constantinople: The Balyan Family and the History of
Ottoman Architecture (London and New York: I.B. Tauris, 2015), 118.
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mosque.489 The mosque has a simple square plan with two floors. Imperial mosques of
the Tanzimat era followed the traditional Ottoman plan featuring a domed cube. Instead
of a sumptuous lead dome, a simple, lightly slanted, brick roof covers this edifice.490 Its
four walls are made of stone, as in the case of the hospital; it does not have any finely
decorated or marble façade, as imperial mosques would have had. The imperial
apartments usually positioned at the entrance facades of major imperial mosques built
under Mahmud II and Abdülmecid––as in the case of the Nusretiye, Dolmabahçe, and
Ortaköy Mosques––are absent in the Gureba Mosque (Fig. 63, 64 and 65).491 The neoclassical
royal apartments, with their angular style and simple decoration, differentiate
themselves from the curvy and richly ornamented baroque style of the mosques
themselves. The Aksaray Mosque would also follow this tradition of imperial apartments
at its entrance. However, the Gureba Mosque’s main entrance from the street side leads to
a courtyard. As Erke’s miniature painting suggests, its courtyard opened onto a garden
that no longer exists (Fig. 52).
In lieu of double minarets, visually signaling the distinction of an imperial
mosque, the Gureba Mosque features one minaret, like any other mosque erected by a
high-ranking elite. Building more than one minaret was the privilege exclusively reserved
for the sultan and some members of his family. Slender, fluted bodies of the minarets,
decorated with Corinthian-style acanthus leaves under the balconies, embellished the
Dolmabahçe and Ortaköy Mosques (Fig. 65 and 66). Tall and adorned minarets flanking
489 See Chapter III, p. 28.
490 Tahzin Öz claims that the mosque was built in kârgir (stone or brick) with a wooden roof. He may have
referred the interior ceiling. Tahzin Öz, Istanbul Camileri, vol.1 (Ankara: Türk Tarih Kurumu, 1962), 36.
491 Mahmud II constructed the Nusretiye Mosque to memorialize his victory over the Janissary Corps.
Abdülmecid was a prolific builder of mosques; he constructed five in the capital: the Mecidiye at Çırağan
and Ortaköy, the Hırka-i Şerif at Fatih, and the Dolmabahçe and Teşvikiye Mosques (rebuilt).
188
imperial mosques became a symbol of dynastic power; they gave witness to the
sovereignty of Islam and of the Ottoman sultan.492 Their eloquent design contrasts starkly
with that of the Gureba Mosque. The comparison of the exterior of the Gureba Mosque
with the signature mosques of the period signals that the building was not designed as an
imperial mosque.
Bezmialem Valide Sultan seems to have paid special attention to the fenestration
of her mosques: the Gureba Mosque has mostly rectangular windows on both floors;
however, those letting in light from the second floor to the prayer hall are round. As
explained above, the queen mother passed away shortly after the construction of the
Dolmabahçe Mosque had started, and thus she could only witness the erection of its
walls. Therefore, its fenestration must have expressed her taste the most. Wharton reveals
that the mosque is distinctive for its wheel windows, which represented the latest
technological development in architecture.493 The semi-circular band of windows under
the great arches supporting the dome broke with the old Ottoman pattern of small or no
windows on the tympanum.494 Even though generous fenestration illuminates all the
interiors of Baroque mosques in Istanbul, Bezmialem’s mosques are particularly
noteworthy in this regard: both the Gureba and Dolmabahçe Mosques are flooded with
light (Figure 67, 68, 69 and 70).495
492 Howard Crane, “The Ottoman Sultan’s Mosques: Icons of Imperial Legitimacy,” in The Ottoman City
and Its Parts, ed. By Irene A. Bierman, Rifa’at A. Abou-El-Haj, and Donald Preziosi, (New Rochelle and
New York: Aristide D. Caratzas), 1991, 225.
493 Alyson Wharton, The Architects of Ottoman Constantinople, The Balyan Family and the History of
Ottoman Architecture (London and New York: I.B. Tauris, 2015), 119.
494 Henry Matthews, Mosques of Istanbul, Including the Mosques of Bursa and Edirne (London and
Istanbul: Scala Publishers, 2010), 135.
495 Unfortunately, the Nusretiye Mosque’s interior was badly restored in recent times, destroying all its
kalemişi artwork and replacing it with an entirely different and a modern version of Baroque decoration.
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Another significant feature on the exterior of the Gureba Mosque is its Qur’anic
inscription above the entrance (Fig. 71): “Peace be upon you, you have done well, so
enter it (Paradise) for eternity.”496 This verse from Al-Zumar (The Throngs) is about
those who will be sent to Hell or Paradise. Verses 71 and 73 determine the title of the
sura. The former mentions that the disbelievers will be driven to Hell in throngs. In
contrast, the inscribed verse 73 emphasizes that the believers will be driven to the Garden
in throngs. The central theme of Al-Zumar is devout or pure religious practice, as it
emphasizes more than any other sura the importance of devoting oneself entirely to
God.497 The excerpt displayed at the entrance constitutes the end of verse 73.The
beginning of the same verse prior to this excerpt summarizes that those who keep their
duty to God are entitled to enter Paradise. Then it speaks of the greeting “Peace be upon
you” that awaits believers in the Hereafter.498 The excerpt implies that the queen mother,
Bezmialem, by believing in God and following the Qur’anic advice of accomplishing the
good deeds––such as constructing the hospital and the mosque––is a candidate for
entering Paradise. At the same time the excerpt reminds the beholder that the mosque is a
sacred place, a version of Paradise on earth. While commanding respect, it also gives
comfort and joy to human beings, much like Paradise itself. The excerpt not only
suggests Bezmialem’s special place in afterlife, but also reminds the congregation of her
benevolence, of her being a role model in this regard. The charity is a two-way action;
496 “Salamun aleykum tibtum fad huluha halidin,” Al-Zumar, 39:73. I would like to express my gratitude to
Hamza Zafer for helping me decipher the inscription.
497 The Study Qur’an, A New Translation and Commentary, ed. Seyyed Hossein Nasr, New York: Harper
One, 2015, 1117-1118.
498 The Study Qur’an, A New Translation and Commentary, ed. Seyyed Hossein Nasr, New York: Harper
One, 2015, 1135.
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gratitude, obedience and prayers are required. While entering the mosque, the beholder is
reminded to be thankful and to say a prayer for her, her mosque and the dynasty.
In the interior of the Gureba Mosque, several areas exhibit the benefactress’
special attention: the ceiling, mihrab (the prayer niche facing Mecca), minber (pulpit for
the delivery of sermons) and the hünkar mahfili (royal tribune where the dynastic family
prays). The mihrab, minber and hünkar mahfili are constructed of wood, and not of stone
or marble, which is often reserved for the mihrab or minber of imperial mosques. Yet,
their decorative vocabulary in the Gureba Mosque features certain similarities to their
imperial versions. The deep-relief carvings and gilded motifs constitute the main interior
decoration. For instance, the large gilded pinecone, surrounded by smaller versions as
well as acanthus leaves, create an oval shape in the middle of the ceiling. The entire
vegetal decoration emanates like sunrays from the center (Fig. 72). Ersoy identifies the
highly ornate and deeply carved surfaces with the architectural vocabulary of Mahmud
II’s and Abdülmecid’s eras, and the low-relief carving technique with that of
Abdülaziz’s.499 Indeed the Gureba Mosque features deeply carved motifs in its entire
interior decoration.
In her detailed formal analysis, Wharton discloses that sunbursts, gilded
ornamentation, pinecones, acanthus leaves, and festoons became the favorite motifs for
the Mahmud II’s monuments. For instance, instead of the traditional calligraphic roundel,
a totally new addition of golden acanthus leaves embellishes the center of the Nusretiye
499 Ahmet Ersoy, Architecture and the Late Ottoman Historical Imaginary, Reconfiguring the Architectural
Past in a Modernizing Europe (Surrey, England and Burlington VT, USA: Ashgate, 2015), 202-203, 215-
216.
191
Mosque’s dome (Fig. 73).500 Its sultan’s tribune overlooking the prayer hall features an
ornate, gilded grille with festoons and acanthus leaves (Fig. 74).501 Sunrays rising from
roses decorate the entrance of Mahmud II’s mausoleum as the symbol of the
magnanimity of the state and the enlightenment of the reformist sultan.502 During
Abdülmecid’s time the decoration included vegetal ornament, acanthus, wreaths,
garlands, flower heads, urns and sunrays.503
These imperial decorative elements manifested themselves not only on the
ceiling, but also in other parts of the interior spaces at the Gureba Mosque. For instance,
the minber carries several dynastic iconographic elements of the period: deeply carved,
gilded motifs constitute its main ornamentation. The vegetation springs in a fan shape,
and scrolls undulate in C- or S-forms at the top of this religious furniture. Below its hood,
another gilded pinecone––like the one on the prayer hall’s ceiling––emanates light rays.
The minber’s banister continues the same theme: vegetation emanates from an urn and
spreads sideways, creating heart shapes. Repeating heart shapes create mirror images
both horizontally and vertically, thereby enriching the design. They look like a variation
of the sultan’s lodge at the Nusretiye Mosque. At the Gureba Mosque, gilded vegetal
ornamentation, radiating like sunrays, decorates the triangular space at the side of the
500 Alyson Wharton, The Architects of Ottoman Constantinople, The Balyan Family and the History of
Ottoman Architecture (London and New York: I.B. Tauris, 2015), 104. The author notices that the dome’s
decoration around the acanthus motif also includes bunched-up floral ornaments reminiscent of much
earlier Ottoman tiles. Compared to the eighteenth-century Baroque mosque of the Nuruosmaniye, which
boasts flamboyant westernized motifs, the Nusretiye makes references to a more distant Ottoman past. Its
three-domed entrance–with the son cemaat yeri, fronting the prayer hall––is also reminiscent of the Bursa
mosques.
501 This gilded lattice work was made of a single piece of brass. The Garden of the Mosques, Hafız Hüseyin
Al-Ayvansarayî’s Guide to the Muslim Monuments of Ottoman Istanbul, translated and annotated by
Howard Crane (Leiden, Boston, Köln: Brill, 2000), 384-385. The book compiles both Ayvansarayî’s book
and Ali Satı’s expansion of it.
502 Alyson Wharton, The Architects of Ottoman Constantinople, The Balyan Family and the History of
Ottoman Architecture (London and New York: I.B. Tauris, 2015), 106.
503 Alyson Wharton, The Architects of Ottoman Constantinople, The Balyan Family and the History of
Ottoman Architecture (London and New York: I.B. Tauris, 2015), 114-116.
192
banister (Fig. 75 and 76). Gilded dropped curtain motifs, both at the entrance of the
minber and under its hood, embellish its decoration as if the beholder were entering a
theater or opera. Both cultural institutions were highly favored by Mahmud II and
Abdülmecid. The sultan’s lodge at the Nusretiye Mosque carries a similar curtain design
(Fig. 74). The same form also appears at the dome and pendentives of the Ortaköy
Mosque, this time not as carving, but as trompe l’oeil paintwork giving a threedimensional
illusion (Fig. 77).
The mihrab is presented as a triumphal arch: two Corinthian-style pilasters
connect the arch in the middle. A bulbous base constitutes the bottom of the pilaster,
much like in the minarets of the Nusretiye Mosque (Fig, 63). The gilded pinecones and
acanthus leaves crown the entablature of the mihrab. Vegetation springing from an urn,
in the form of C-shaped scrolls and fan-shaped palmettes, constitute its decoration. The
arch displays trompe l’oeil paintwork. Its center features an oil lamp, framed by folded
curtains. This time the pulled-back curtain is depicted as a fine, soft silk, inviting the
beholder to indulge in the depth of the sacred realm (Fig. 78). Trompe l’oeil painting as
an artistic technique was greatly admired during Abdülmecid reign; this type of
decoration embellished both the Ortaköy and Dolmabahçe Mosques (Fig. 77 and 79).
At the Gureba Mosque, the color gold dominates the hünkar mahfili. Overall, it is
designed much simpler than the mihrab and minber. Yet, this simplicity accentuates the
gilded sunburst––one of the prominent symbols of Mahmud II’s and Abdülmecid’s
reigns––which crowns the royal lodge (Fig. 80).
Wharton signals that a significant change occurred beginning with the Nusretiye
Mosque: key motifs––such as acanthus, pine cones and swags or festoons–– manifest
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themselves in a coordinated way on both the exterior and interior of the mosque. A
similar approach is evident in the Gureba Mosque as well. Although designed much
simpler than imperial mosques, its collection of motifs––including acanthus, pine cones,
scrolling vegetation, folded curtains, and sunrays––are all coordinated in the interior
design.
We can add to that list the grilles on the round windows, since they are original as
is the chandelier of the prayer hall.504 A similar grille decoration adorns the windows of
the Ortaköy and Dolmabahçe Mosques. The aesthetic preference of the Gureba Mosque
was in accordance with the dynastic iconography of the period. Yet, the comparative
analysis of architectural and decorative elements reveals that the mosque does not display
the grandeur and magnificence of imperial buildings; it is much more modest and
restrained.
Despite its unostentatious character, Bezmialem paid special attention to the
mosque, and her charitable foundation described in detail how the building would be
organized and function. As discussed in Chapter III, her vakfiye did not specify the
necessary staff and relevant salaries and provisions for each position in the hospital. This
was later regulated by a nizamname.505 Therefore, the endowment deed’s section devoted
to the mosque is much longer than that of the hospital.506 Yet, the building of the former
was subordinate to that of the latter. Despite this subordination, the deed clearly states
that the Gureba Mosque should be treated as an imperial mosque and that a vaiz
(preacher) for Friday prayers should be appointed by the şeyhülislam; the preacher would
504 Belgin Demirsar, “Gureba Hastanesi Camii,” Dünden Bugüne Istanbul Ansiklopedisi, vol. 3, Istanbul:
Kültür Bakanlığı ve Tarih Vakfı Ortak Yayını, 1994, 433.
505 Chapter III, 22-23.
506 VGM 634/0113/0024.
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deliver the necessary sermon and advice to Muslims.507 The deed signals another
important change in her will: as discussed in Part I, her original deed, penned in 1840,
stipulated that the Prophet Muhammed’s beard relic, which was kept at the Topkapı
Palace, should be transferred to the sacred Ebu Eyüb el- Ensari Mosque during religious
holidays and holy nights of Islam. On that occasion a special ceremony would be held.
Seven years later, her endowment deed specified that the Gureba Mosque would serve as
the new venue for this highly venerated relic.508 Both the Friday sermon and moving the
Prophet Muhammed’s beard hair to the mosque on special religious days gave great
significance and value to this otherwise modest building. It is not hard to imagine that on
special days beholders swarmed into the building and the adjacent courtyard and gardens
in order to experience the blessings of the relic. The hospital, as an important
philanthropic act, combined with such solemn rituals, no doubt aggrandized the public
image of the queen mother, as well as of the dynasty, as benevolent, pious and powerful.
The endowment deed specifies functions and salaries as follows: Salaries and
provisions are indicated monthly and in kuruş.
507 “hastane-i mezkure ittisâlinde inşasına muvaffaka oldukları cami-i şerif-i mezkure selatin-i izâm
cevami-i şerifesinde olduğu misillü bir Cuma vaizi tayin olunub beher Cuma günleri ba’de eda-i salati’l
Cuma hazır olunan cemaat-i Müslimine vaaz ve nasihat edüb”
508 “eyyam-i ideyn ve arefe ve leyali-i mübarekede cami-i şerif-i mezkurda mahfuz olan mübarek lihye-i
saadet-i Hazret-i Resul-i Ekrem...kemal-i adab ile bi’t-tasliye ve’t-tebcil.” The Prophet’s beard relic was
made accessible to the public for the first time during the reign of Sultan Mahmud II. The sultan moved the
relic to his mother’s mausoleum during the holy night of Miraç (or Mir’aj, signifying the Prophet’s
spiritual journey to Jerusalem), most probably setting precedence for both Bezmialem and Pertevniyal. Ali
Akyıldız, Haremin Padisahı Valide Sultan, Harem'de Hayat ve Teşkilat (Istanul: Timaş Yayınları, 2018),
441.
195
Table 13: Cadre, Salaries and Provisions of the Gureba Mosque
Position Salary Provisions Total
Vaiz-i Evvel (First Preacher) 30 20 50
Vaiz-i Sani (Second Preacher) 130 20 150
Hatib (Preacher) 90 30 120
Imam-i Evvel (First Prayer leader) 130 30 160
Imam-i Sani (Second Prayer leader) 130 30 160
Müezzin-i Evvel
(Calling Muslims to Prayer) 130 30 160
Müezzin-i Sani 130 30 160
Kayyum-i Evvel (Caretaker) 75 25 100
Kayyum-i Sani (Caretaker) 75 25 100
TOTAL 1,160
A total amount of 1,160 kuruş will be paid monthly to the nine employees of the mosque.
Except for that of hatib, each position necessitated two persons; the salaries of the imams,
müezzins and kayyums indicate that there is no hierarchy among them; rather, they work
in shifts. The charitable foundation describes in detail the responsibilities of each
position. For instance, the vaiz-i evvel received a total amount of 50 kuruş––a salary of 30
kuruş and 20 kuruş worth of provisions––for preaching after Friday prayer. The vaiz-i
sani preached and recited the prayer Şifa-i Şerif every Monday and Thursday, as
Bezmialem envisaged the same for the Ka’aba in Mecca, in 1845.509 For these duties the
509 Chapter I, 74.
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vaiz-i sani was paid a total of 150 kuruş. The deed designated Sheik Ebu Bekir Efendi for
this position, until his death. One of the main tasks of the hatip was to conduct the
solemn ceremony related to the Prophet’s relic. The imams would provide services day
and night for the hospital complex. Besides leading prayers they were responsible for the
confession of faith (kelimet-i şehadet) and asking for God’s pardon and forgiveness
(istiğfar) for the deceased patients, as well as carrying out the rituals necessary for their
funerals. They are also assigned to function as librarians, which indicates that the queen
mother bequeathed books not only to her school, but also her hospital. Unlike for the
school, the mosque’s endowment deed does not disclose the list of these donated books.
As discussed in Chapter I, Bezmialem’s endowment deed in 1842 stipulated the
recital of the following chapters from the Qur’an at the Prophet’s tomb: Yâ Sîn, An-
Naba’, Al-Fath, Al-Ikhlas and Al-Mulk.510 Five years later, in 1847, her charitable
foundation envisaged a similar program for this modest mosque: The same suras, except
for the short prayer of Al-Ikhlas, would be performed daily by one of the imams. Instead
of Al-Ikhlas, any cüz of the Qur’an (the thirtieth part) would be recited. These daily
recitals, at important religious venues and imperial mosques, no doubt reinforced the
status of the mosque in the eyes of the beholder. I can thereby conclude that the Gureba
Mosque displays imperial architectural vocabulary at a rather modest scale, yet it follows
the rituals of imperial mosques.
Bezmialem’s special attention to the mosque manifests also in her visit to the
building along with the hospital, on the day after the inauguration ceremony, which was
attended by the sultan and his entourage on 12 March 1847. During her visit a convoy of
nine carriages came to the site. The Nakşibendi sheikh of the Murad Molla Lodge,
510 Chapter I, 72.
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Mehmed Murad-ı Nakşibendi, gave a sermon and conducted prayers in the mosque in her
presence.511
III. PERTEVNIYAL VALIDE SULTAN’S MOSQUE IN AKSARAY
In contrast to the physical modesty of the Gureba Mosque, Pertevniyal Valide Sultan’s
Mosque in Aksaray displays an exquisite and exuberant character (Fig.81)512. As noted in
Chapter I, even its charitable foundation bears a highly privileged status in terms of both
text and decoration.513 The monumentality and fine decoration of the mosque doubtlessly
reflected the wealth, power and glory of the dynasty and the queen mother.514
The Aksaray Mosque was inaugurated on 5 April 1872, following three years of
construction.515 The mosque was meant to be a complex comprising a mausoleum
(türbe), two fountains (çeşme and sebil), a time keeping room (muvakkithane) and two
511 M. Hüdai Şentürk, “Şeyh Mehmed Murad-ı Nakşibendi,” in Istanbul Araştırmaları, vol. I, 1997, 17-62
quoted in Ali Akyıldız, Haremin Padisahı Valide Sultan, Harem'de Hayat ve Teşkilat (Istanul: Timaş
Yayınları, 2018), 457. Bezmialem was a prominent queen mother and participated in various ceremonies.
For instance, she accompanied her son on his visit to the Tersane-i Âmire (dockyard), and the Taksim
Topçu Kışlası (Taksim military barracks). Arzu Terzi, Bezmiâlem Valide Sultan (Istanbul: Timaş Yayınları,
2018), 127.
512 The photo is from Jules Sandoz; another important photograph studio Sabah et Jouailler had a very
similar photo of the mosque. See Necdet İşli, Istanbul’un Ortası Aksaray/The Heart of Istanbul Aksaray
(Istanbul: İBB Yayınları, Mart 2008), 100.
513 Chapter I, 59-64 and 84-89.
514 Most of this section is based on my paper “The Pertevniyal Valide Sultan Mosque: “An Auspicious
Building On An Auspicious Site,” presented at the Third Euroacademia Forum of Critical Studies,
Florence, 6-7 February 2015.
515 Vak’a-Nüvis Akmed Lûtfi Efendi Tarihi, translated by M. Münir Aktepe (Ankara: Türk Tarih Kurumu,
1991), vol.14, 15-16, Afife Batur, “Valide Camii,” Dünden Bugüne İstanbul Ansiklopedisi (İstanbul:
Türkiye Ekonomik ve Toplumsal Tarih Vakfı, 1993), 360. Batur indicates three years of construction, but
the construction started in November 1869 and ended in 1871. Only the school building was finished in
1872. Ersoy indicates 1868-1871 as the construction period. Ahmet Ersoy, Architecture and the Late
Ottoman Historical Imaginary, Reconfiguring the Architectural Past in a Modernizing Empire (Farnham
and Burlington VT: Ashgate, 2015), 7. Bahar Bilgin Uşar, “The Aksaray Pertevniyal Valide Sultan Mosque
Complex: Reflections on the Patronage of a Nineteenth Century Valide Sultan,” Master’s thesis, Koc
University, Istanbul, 2016, 75-80, The author cites the most correct dates: 20 Ramazan 1285 (4 January
1869) for the ground-breaking ceremony and 26 Muharrem 1289 (5 April 1872) for the inauguration
ceremony.
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schools (mektebs) (Fig. 82)516. It constituted the last example of the long Ottoman
tradition of royal mosque complexes.517
The mosque was praised by Sultan Abdülaziz as one of the seminal buildings of
his era in the book, Usul-i Mimar-i Osmani, prepared on occasion of the 1873 world
exposition in Vienna. The book aimed to dissociate Ottoman architecture from how
European Orientalists characterized Islamic art, such as timeless or inert. It formulated
Ottoman architecture in three major stages: the first phase corresponded to the first
formative years of the Ottoman dynasty, followed by the initial Ottoman synthesis of
architecture in the fifteenth century, and culminated with the efflorescence of the
classical style in the sixteenth century; the second phase corresponded to a post-classical
stagnation, followed by a gradual decline in the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries;
the third phase was an age of revival under the reign of Abdülaziz. The monuments of
this era––particularly the Pertevniyal Valide Mosque and the Çırağan Palace, which were
embellished with an eclectic array of Ottoman, Moorish and Gothic elements––were
acclaimed as harbingers of an “Ottoman Renaissance” in architecture.518
516 On the school, see Chapter II, 36-42; on the map see n.105, 38.
517 Today the mosque complex does not reflect its original glory since it fell victim to successive
modernization projects during the Early Republican era. In order to permit the widening of boulevards, the
mausoleum was moved twice, leading to its demolition in 1958. In the end it was reconstructed with the
remaining construction materials inside the courtyard of the complex. The fountain experienced a similar
fate and was inserted into the enclosure wall of the complex after the original partition had been partially
demolished. The school burned down during the Aksaray fire of 1911 and was rebuilt in 1930 as high
school, funded with the revenue of the Valide Sultan Endowment.
518 Osmanli Mimarisi Usul-i Mi’mari-i Osmani = L’Architecture Ottomane = dıe Ottomanische Baukunst
(Istanbul: Çamlıca, 2010); Ahmet Ersoy, “Architecture and the Search for Ottoman Origins in the Tanzimat
Period,” Muqarnas, vol. 24 (2007), 79-115, Ahmet Ersoy, Architecture and the Late Ottoman Historical
Imaginary, Reconfiguring the Architectural Past in a Modernizing Empire (Farnham and Burlington VT:
Ashgate, 2015), 134-163. For an analysis of the Ottoman Revival in architecture, see also Sibel Bozdoğan,
Modernism and Nation Building, Turkish Architectural Culture in the Early Republic (Seattle and London:
University of Washington Press, 2001), 20-33; Sibel Bozdoğan, “Reading Ottoman Architecture Through
Modernist Lenses: Nationalist Histogriography and the ‘New Architecture’ in the Early Republic,”
Muqarnas, vol. 24, 2007, 199-221.
199
Archival documents indicate that the queen mother was engaged in every stage of
her prestigious mosque project and hired the best architects of her time. Unlike with the
Gureba Mosque, we know that Serkis Balyan and Agop Balyan were responsible for
building this important monument.519 The Balyan Family constructed the most significant
imperial buildings for three generations, from the reign of Mahmud II to Abdülhamid.
They put their signature on this important building project of the Abdülaziz era as well.
A letter, addressed to the queen mother by her kethüda, Hüseyin Bey, acknowledges
the master builder (kalfa) as Serkiz Bey and his brother Agop Bey.520 In the early years of
the construction, Hüseyin Bey ran into Agop Bey at the site and presented him the queen
mother’s gift (atiyye). He then explains that it is generally him who visits the honorable
mosque and delineates and describes the drawings/plans (resim).521 The document also
reveals that the steward conveyed the queen mother’s message about the solid
construction of its dome.522 Agop Bey assured him that “even though its width (vüs’at) is
smaller, the dome would be as secure as that of the Süleymaniye Mosque,” one of the
iconic Ottoman buildings. The document is important for several reasons: Agop Bey
519 Vak’a-Nüvis Akmed Lûtfi Efendi Tarihi, translated by M. Münir Aktepe (Ankara: Türk Tarih Kurumu,
1991), vol.14, 16. Ahmed Lütfi,reveals that during the inauguration ceremony the chief architect (ser
mimar) Serkis Bey was given a jeweled snuffbox. Tahsin Öz and Halil Edhem Eldem indicate that Montani
was the chief architect. Doğan Kuban claims that “the suggestion that Montani Efendi was the architect
seems more plausible,” Doğan Kuban, Ottoman Architecture, translated by Adair Mill, (Woodbridge,
Suffolk, England: The Antique Collectors’ Club, 2010), 640. Both Afife Batur and Ahmet Ersoy argue that
Montani may have designed some decorative motives, but that the architects were the Balyans. Ahmet
Ersoy also indicates that Pietro Montani, who executed most of the drawings and color plates of the Usul,
participated in designing the decorative program of both the Çırağan Palace and the Pertevniyal Mosque as
the “head painter.” Ahmet Ersoy, Usul-i Mimari-yi Osmani: A Source of Revival in Ottoman Architecture,
291, n. 2, Ahmet Ersoy, Architecture and the Late Ottoman Historical Imaginary, 16-17, 162-184. Alyson
Wharton, The Architects of Ottoman Constantinople, 46.
520 Wharton explains that in the case of the Balyans the word kalfa did not mean a builder, as some Turkish
scholars with some nationalist inclinations have claimed, but an architect. Alyson Wharton, The Architects
of Ottoman Constantinople, 20-56.
521 “Ve ekserî cami-i şerife gelen ve resimleri çizip tarif eden odur.” TSMA.d 8218 0048 dated 26 Şaban
1286 (1 December 1869).
522 “Ve efendimiz kubbe için pek metin olmasını irâde buyurmuşlar diye ifade ettim.” TSMA.d 8218 0048
dated 26 Şaban 1286 (1 December 1869).
200
served as the second architect. Out of the 32,300 mecidiye kuruş of the atiyye, he only
received 6,000, while the rest went to his brother. His spontaneous reply indicates that he
has solid knowledge about imperial buildings since it included a comparison of domes’
sizes. The document is also significant in revealing the direct involvement of Pertevniyal
with every detail of the construction, which was not the case with Bezmialem. The latter
delegated this power to her steward.
Indeed, a continuous correspondence between the queen mother and her steward, as
well as the plan of the complex show that Pertevniyal was engaged in every stage of the
construction, from the initial to final stages. The plans of her mosque and mausoleum do
not solely reveal the outlines of her buildings, but also contain interesting notes,
requesting the valide’s response about the location of a specific place, most likely that of
her library.523 Her mausoleum’s plan shows a room next to the stone trough (taş tekne),
and the note states that “this room is next to the stone trough, if you command it can be
built in this spot” (Bu mahal taş teknenin yanıdır, irade buyurursanız bu mahalde
yapılabilur) (Fig. 83). Her mosque plan contains a similar note requesting her reply,
about a room next to the late-comers’ porch: “the room next to the late-comers’ porch of
the mosque, if commanded it can be built in this spot” (camide son cemaat mahali
yanında oda, irade buyurulur ise bu mahale yapılabilur) (Fig. 84). The later placement of
the library in her mosque suggests that in the end the valide preferred her mosque instead
of her tomb.524
523 TSMA D.8214 and TSMA D.8215. These two documents are still in the archives of the Topkapı Palace
Museum, although all documents have been transferred to the President’s Archives.
524 Bahar Bilgin Uşar, “The Aksaray Pertevniyal Valide Sultan Mosque Complex: Reflections on the
Patronage of a Nineteenth Century Valide Sultan,” Master’s thesis, Koc University, Istanbul, 2016, 129-
130. See also Chapter II, 39.
201
Another instance of Pertevniyal’s direct involvement is her decision about the
location and size of the site: During the expropriation of the land, her steward’s letter
reveals that the site would be that of her fountain. As her original endowment deed dated
1862 demonstrated, a marble fountain with four facades already existed on Aksaray
Avenue, at the Kâtib Cami, in the middle of a four-way crossroads.525 This fountain had
been built almost a decade earlier than the mosque complex. At that time, the queen
mother might have had a long-term plan of initiating the construction of an entire mosque
complex, which would have indicated the queen mother as a visionary planner. In the
letter, the steward informs her that her fountain is quite popular (cemaati dahi çok),
which might be a good indication for the size of the mosque’s future congregation.526 He
submitted to her the plan (resim) of the mosque and assured her that its size would be as
great as that of the Ortaköy Mosque, but that its courtyard would be much bigger.527 As
discussed earlier, the Ortaköy Mosque was the imperial mosque erected by Abdülmecid.
Comparing her mosque with the most prevalent imperial mosques of the past and present
reveals that her mosque was a prestigious project and that the queen mother wanted it to
compete with, if not surpass them.
525 Chapter I, 57.
526 TSMA.d 8218 0043 1 dated 26 Rebiüssani 1284 (27 August 1867). In her thesis Bahar Bilgin Uşar
interpreted the document as referring to the fountain of the Laleli Mosque and its vast congregation. Bahar
Bilgin Uşar, '”The Aksaray Pertevniyal Valide Sultan Mosque Complex: Reflections on the Patronage of a
Nineteenth Century Valide Sultan,” Master’s thesis, Koc University, Istanbul, 2016, 135. Yet, the
document clearly refers to the fountain she had built earlier. The site of the fountain was the site that the
queen mother determined as the site for her mosque. Then the steward wished that she would live long and
with God’s help would build several other charitable buildings: “İnşallah veliyye-i nimetim yaşlanır ve
saye-i seniyye-i hazret-i şahane ve saye-i aliyyelerinde tekmil olur. Efendimiz kerametten bali değilseniz
orasını irade buyurdunuz. Vakıa çeşmede orada ve cemaati dahi çok. Rabbim muvaffakiyet ihsan ve inayet
buyursun da nice nice hayrat ü hasenata mazhar buyurulur ve pek çok ecr ü mesubata nail olursunuz.”
527 TSMA.d 8218 0043 1 dated 26 Rebiüssani 1284 (27 August 1867).
202
CHOICE OF LOCATION
Along with the rich hybridity of the building, the choice of location was intended to
testify to the powerful dynastic presence in the area. Since the establishment of
Constantinople, Aksaray constituted an important district. Topographically the Historical
Peninsula forms the thinnest strip in this neighborhood connecting the Golden Horn to
the Sea of Marmara. The site makes for the highest point of the neighborhood, and
contains the Byzantine historical thoroughfare (mese). Here the mese is divided into two
branches. Aksaray occupies the site of an ancient Roman forum, the Forum Bovis. Due
to its proximity to the important Roman harbor, Eleueterios (in Yenikapı), it retained its
importance as a vital commercial center.
During the Ottoman period, Aksaray continued to be a favored neighborhood. The
mese kept its vitality as the Divanyolu. During the reign of Sultan Mehmed the
Conqueror there were twelve districts, each with its own mosque. Evliya Çelebi in the
seventeenth century enumerated two essential palaces in Aksaray: those of Ayşe Sultan
and Kara Mustafa Pasha. The neighborhood must have been a reputable residential area.
Until the nineteenth century the Lykos River (or Bayrampaşa Deresi, today’s Vatan
Caddesi) was still running through Aksaray, though only seasonally. The region
extending all the way to the city walls had a vast green area full of gardens, orchards and
fields. It served as a kind of promenade for city dwellers. Aksaray was the connecting
point between the green area and the main thoroughfare of the city. It also formed a
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mixed neighborhood, housing Greeks and Armenians along its shores and Muslims in the
inland.528
By the nineteenth century most of the 40,000 Janissaries were living in the Aksaray
area, in the military barracks at Etmeydani (Meat Square) and the bachelor rooms nearby
(Fig. 85).529 The Janissaries, originally an elite corps, gradually degenerated and turned
into a source of trouble within the empire. With the decline of their military discipline,
they became involved in commerce and prostitution, therefore ruining the reputation of
Aksaray. When Mahmud II formed a new European-style army, the Janissaries mutinied
and plundered the streets of the capital, advancing towards the sultan’s palace. The event
began and ended in Aksaray, as the Janissaries first gathered at Etmeydani. When they
found themselves on the losing side, many of them returned to their military barracks,
which were then set on fire. On 15 June 1826, the sultan abolished the Janissary corps, an
event that Ottoman chroniclers called Vaka-i Hayriye (Auspicious Event).530
The Auspicious Event did not happen overnight; it took Sultan Mahmud II sixteen
years to get rid of the Janissaries. Sultan Mahmud II came to power in 1808 and for many
years prudently avoided provoking the Janissaries by establishing a rival army corps. He
tried to control them by appointing commanders loyal to him. Finally, following the
victory of Khedive Mehmed Ali’s modern army over the Greek rebels of Missolonghi
and the subsequent public admiration concerning the sultan’s ability to handle the crisis,
Mahmud II felt ready to confront the Janissaries. Three days after the announcement of
528 Doğan Kuban, “Aksaray,” Dünden Bugüne İstanbul Ansiklopedisi (Istanbul: Türkiye Ekonomik ve
Toplumsal Tarih Vakfı, 1993), 161-163. Zeynep Çelik, The Remaking of Istanbul: Portrait of an Ottoman
City in the Nineteenth Century (Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1986), 19.
529 Doğan Kuban, “Aksaray,” 163.
530 M. Şükrü Hanioğlu, A Brief History of the Late Ottoman Empire (Princeton and Oxford: Princeton
University Press, 2008), 58–59.
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the establishment of the new army, the Janissaries took their cauldrons to Etmeydani, a
traditional gesture of rebellion. The sultan obtained a fatwa, a religious decree,
sanctioning the killing of the Janissaries. According to Hanioğlu “the edict invited all
Muslims to muster under the Standard of the Prophet, a flag that was unfurled only for
holy war.”531 The call of the sultan was effective, since in addition to the loyal troops
medrese students and other volunteers participated in slaughtering a significant number
of Janissaries. The abolition of the Janissaries was bloody and horrifying. In his memoirs,
the British Ambassador to Istanbul discloses: “I was shocked by the amount of bloodshed
and suffering… The Sea of Marmara was mottled with dead bodies. Nor was the tragedy
confined to Constantinople and its neighborhood. Messengers were sent in haste to every
provincial city where any considerable numbers of Janissaries existed.”532 The event was
a turning point in Ottoman military history as well as in the broader history of Ottoman
reform, therefore carrying special importance for both the imperial family and
Pertevniyal Sultan. As Hanioğlu explains, following the event the Ottoman state
possessed a single military organization under a unified command. This was a major
accomplishment in terms of centralization. Furthermore, the Janissaries served as
traditional power-brokers within the Ottoman political system, with the capacity to make
or break a sultan. They were inclined to align with the ulema (religious authority) against
531 Ibid. The Standard of the Prophet was unfurled on some other occasions as well for instance during the
Janissary uprising of 1687. See Fanny Davis, The Palace of Topkapı in Istanbul (New York: Charles
Scribner’s Sons, 1970), 154.
532 Stanley Lane-Poole, The Life of the Right Honourable Stratford Canning, Viscount Stratford de
Redcliffe, from His Memoirs and Private and Official Papers, in two volumes (London and New York:
Longmans, Green, and Co., 1888), vol.1, 419-422. The memoirs further state that Sultan Mahmud shook
of the habits of an indolent and luxurious life and took an active part in training the new battalions. As a
result mixed emotions of surprise and admiration occurred in general in Europe, even among those not
friendly to the Porte. Ibid., 426-427. The ambassador describes Sultan Mahmud as resolute and energetic.
His morality was exemplary. “He had no scruple of taking life at pleasure from motives of policy or
interest.” Ibid., 513.
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the court and the bureaucracy. Their abolishment facilitated the implementation of
reforms.533 Therefore, the “Auspicious Event” and the location were meaningful for the
Ottoman dynasty in many respects.
Another factor in shaping the neighborhood was the major devastating fires that
periodically swept Istanbul. The 1856 Aksaray fire was one of them. It destroyed more
than 650 buildings and constituted a major turning point in the history of Istanbul’s urban
planning. The 1856 Aksaray fire and the 1865 Hocapaşa fire were especially crucial in
reshaping the Historical Peninsula.534 The government appointed an Italian engineer,
Luigi Storari, to reorganize and modernize Aksaray following the 1856 fire. Storari
applied European urban planning principles which were well-received by the Ottoman
elite. He employed straight and wide streets on a grid plan, together with large public
squares. He also created a main crossroads, corresponding to the intersection of the northsouth
road from the Golden Horn to the Sea of Marmara (today’s Atatürk Bulvarı), and
the east-west road of Aksaray Caddesi, a continuation of the Divanyolu (today’s Millet
Caddesi). The new intersection was a new concept for Istanbul. In order to emphasize the
importance of this public square, Storari repeated the grid pattern another three times
along the thoroughfare (Fig. 86). The new public place was described in the Journal de
533 Ibid., 59. See also Osmanlı Mimarisi: Usul-i Mi’mari-i Osmani = L’architecture Ottomane =die
Ottomanische Baukunst (İstanbul: Çamlıca, 2010), 7. There even exists a reference to the Janissaries in this
work. They are presented as forces impeding the construction of substantial and beautiful monuments
during the Ottoman period, especially after the reign of Sultan Murad IV, due to their frequent mutinies.
Peirce notes that mutinies had also taken place much earlier, already during the reign of the powerful
Sultan Süleyman. The Ottoman chroniclers were less likely to note this fact. The sultan and his grand vizier
were absent between the spring of 1548 and December 1549, conducting a nearly two-year-long campaign
against the Safavid Empire. The Janissaries took advantage of their absence to commit acts of arson. This
destructive outburst recalled the event of 1525, when a Janissary uprising in Istanbul demolished several
elite residences, again during the prolonged absence of the sultan and the grand vizier. Leslie Peirce,
Empress of the East: How a European Slave Girl Became Queen of the Ottoman Empire, (New York:
Basic Books, 2017), 258. About the Janissary uprising of 1687, see Fanny Davis, The Palace of Topkapı in
Istanbul (New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1970), 154.
534 Zeynep Çelik, Displaying the Orient: Architecture of Islam at Nineteenth-Century World’s Fairs,
Comparative Studies on Muslim Societies 12 (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1992), 53.
206
Constantinople as a “belle place.”535 Storari’s plan no doubt re-established Aksaray as the
prestigious and desirable neighborhood it had once been. Given the fact that her kethüda,
Hüseyin Hasib Bey, was the mayor of Istanbul, Pertevniyal may have directly influenced
the rejuvenation of Aksaray.536 For her it must have been important to revitalize the
neighborhood in order to erase any negative traces of the Janissaries’ mutiny and turn it
into a site that celebrated the “Auspicious Event.”
The “belle place” that Pertevniyal Sultan chose was not only prestigious it was also
dominating its surrounding due to the site’s elevation. A domineering view of the mosque
was suitable for promoting the powerful image of the valide sultan. Yet, the site had
previously featured the small mosque of Hacı Mustafa Ağa (or Katip Ağa), which had
been burned by the fire. Replacing a small, run-down ruin, a sumptuous mosque was
designed to embellish the area.
THE CHOICE OF EPIGRAPHIC PROGRAM AND ARCHITECTURAL
VOCABULARY
As in the section describing the Gureba Mosque, this section elucidates the formal
properties of the mosque through the movements of a beholder’s body from the exterior
to the interior of the building as much as possible.
The prestigious project also required a prestigious style. A distinct, new and creative
Ottoman architectural repertoire was to embellish the Valide Sultan Mosque complex.
535 Zeynep Çelik, Remaking of Istanbul: Portrait of an Ottoman City in the Nineteenth Century (Berkeley:
University of California Press, 1993), 54.
536 During that time Bezmialem was already deceased, but Pertevniyal has not yet become valide sultan
since Abdülmecid’s reign continued. Nonetheless, she was one the most influential women of the Harem as
the mother of the heir; Hüseyin Hasib Bey was the son of Bezmialem’s kethüda Mehmed Tahir Pasha. He
served as the mayor of Istanbul between 1858-1859 and 1861-1868. See Osman Ergin, Mecelle-i Umûr-u
Belediye (Istanbul: Istanbul Büyükşehir Belediyesi Kültür İşleri Daire Başkanlığı, 1995), 1561.
207
Different from the Gureba Mosque, this imperial edifice welcomes the beholder with two
richly decorated high portals on each side of two large avenues, created during the recent
urban planning of the area (Atatürk Bulvarı and Aksaray Caddesi). The sultan’s
monogram and foundation inscription decorate these sumptuous entrances (Fig. 87 and
88). Although written in different wording, both inscriptions emphasize the same specific
information; this fact strongly suggests that the guidelines were determined by the queen
mother. For example, the inscription at the south entrance, surrounded by fountains, was
created by poet Nüzhet, and penned by the calligrapher Abdülfettah. It is dated 1288
(1871) and contains twelve verses.537 The first five couplets, which are important for
disclosing the self-image and intentions of the queen mother, are presented below. (The
last couplet was to establish Nüzhet’s chronogram). They read as follows:
His excellency Abdülaziz who nourishes piety
The world has not seen anyone like him in bestowing charity
For this reason the Valide Sultan has pleased
The soul of his father, the deceased Mahmud Han
May God bless she built a mosque in a new style
The Heavens were amazed at its beloved foundation
If Zubeyda had poured water from Baghdad to Mecca
With this (monument) the glorious Valide Sultan gave signs of the Ka’aba
The poem starts with a eulogy of her son, as if he were unmatched particularly in
piety. This idea of piety and charity is also echoed in the Islamization of architectural
motifs in this edifice, more so than before. Like her son, she is described as benevolent,
having built this mosque to please his father’s soul. Instead of directly calling Mahmud II
her husband, she identifies him through her son, who bestowed on her the high status of
queen mother. Then the inscription extols the new style of her mosque, so exquisite that
537 http://www.ottomaninscriptions.com/verse.aspx?ref=list&bid=1802&hid=4273, ID K4273, accessed 6
March 2019. For the second foundation inscription see
http://www.ottomaninscriptions.com/verse.aspx?ref=list&bid=1802&hid=4274, ID K4274, accessed 6
March 2019.
208
even the Heavens were amazed. Its overall novel idiom was meant to fascinate and
mesmerize the congregation.
This glorious monument is then compared to the famous waterways that Zubeyda bint
Cafer built for Muslim pilgrims. Zubeyda became a legendary and highly venerated
figure inspiring several royal Ottoman women. Six years after this inscription, the queen
mother ordered the repair of her waterways in Mecca.538 In the inscription, her desire to
connect herself with this unforgettable Abbasid queen and to present her charity to the
Muslim community as being as important as hers is obvious.
The architects reflected the spirit of the era in the mosque design, combining a vast
variety of styles: Ottoman, Moorish, Indian, Gothic and Renaissance. Despite the
amalgam of styles in its decoration, the mosque applied the classical Ottoman floor plan
of a square prayer hall capped by a dome (Fig. 89). The entire building forms an inverse
T shape, reminding of the plan of early Ottoman mosques. One of them was the Green
Mosque in Bursa, commissioned by Sultan Mehmed I (r. 1413-1421) and built in 1421.
Following the earthquake of 1855, the building underwent extensive renovations during
the reign of Abdülaziz. The sultan commissioned Léon Parvillée to execute the
restoration of this building, as well as many other early Ottoman structures. As noted
above, this fascination with the dynastic origin was also reflected in the Usul, which paid
close attention not to the sixteenth-, but rather fifteenth-century Ottoman structures. In
the eyes of the Usul’s authors, that century’s monuments were as eclectic as those of the
538 For more detail, see Chapter I, 75-76. Zubeyda’s waterways in Mecca were also renovated by Hürrem
Sultan, the consort and wife of Sultan Süleyman in the sixteenth century. The sultan, as well as his daughter
Mihrümah, and his son and successor Selim II, continued the work of Hürrem, whom several Ottoman
chroniclers identified with Zubeyda. After Hürrem’s demise, her husband’s vakfiye referred to her as the
“Zubeyda of the age,” with the intention of cultivating further this association. Gülrü Necipoğlu, The Age of
Sinan, Architectural Culture in the Ottoman Empire (Princeton and Oxford: Princeton University Press,
2005), 269-270.
209
Abdülaziz era, combining elements from Arab, Byzantine and Iranian civilizations. The
Green Mosque was one of them.539 In this regard it is not surprising that the Aksaray
Mosque applied a variation of its inverse T-shaped plan (Fig 89 and 90). The Aksaray
Mosque’s dome, resting on a sixteen-sided, high drum, is also reminiscent of early
Ottoman structures. The elevated dome was also applied to her husband’s mosque, the
Nusretiye (Fig. 91, 92 and 63).
Two finely decorated, slender minarets declare that the monument belongs to the
tradition of imperial mosques––unlike the Gureba Mosque––since only dynastic family
members were allowed to build more than one minaret. Furthermore, a drawing which
compares the diameters of minarets among three mosques––the Dolmabahçe, Laleli and
Aksaray Mosques––reveals that Pertevniyal wanted her mosque to boast the most
prominent minarets (Fig. 93).540 The diameters of the minarets are indicated as 18.5 (58.4
cm), 19.5 (61.6 cm) and 20.5 (64.7 cm) arşın parmağı for the Dolmabahçe, Laleli and
Aksaray Mosques, respectively.541 The note under the Aksaray Mosque cites that its
minarets are two arşın parmağı wider than those of the Dolmabahçe and exceeds those of
the Laleli by one arşın parmağı. The Laleli Mosque must have been chosen due to its
proximity to the Aksaray Mosque, otherwise the Usul condemned it as a “corrupted”
Ottoman structure, with foreign elements. The Laleli was commissioned by Sultan
Mustafa III (r.1757-1773) in 1764. As a royal mosque complex, it presented a significant
view since the mosque platform was raised considerably above street level.542 The queen
539 https://archnet.org/sites/1916/media_contents/24053, accessed on 11 Februay 2019, Ahmet Ersoy,
Architecture and the Late Ottoman Historical Imaginary, 16.
540 TSMA.d 8218 0056 no date is given.
541 1 Arşın (zira)=75.8 cm; 1 Parmak (1/24 zira)=3.1583 cm. Türk Islam Ansiklopedisi
https://islamansiklopedisi.org.tr/parmak, accessed on 11 February 2019.
542 Laleli Külliyesi, https://archnet.org/sites/3480, accessed11 February 2019.
210
mother wanted to ensure that her mosque constituted the predominant sight in the
neighborhood. Slightly wider minarets, located on a hill relatively higher than the rest of
the neighborhood would have stressed her powerful position in the area, as well as in
dynastic history. In this archival document, Bezmialem’s mosque is identified as the
Dolmabahçe Valide Cami, emphasizing its relationship to the previous queen mother; in
other words, it did not omit the “valide” part, as did the Takvim-i Vekayi during its initial
years.543 According to Kuban, the Dolmabahçe Mosque still has the most slender
minarets in Istanbul.544 Yet, Pertevniyal’s intention was not to surpass the minarets of the
Dolmabahçe Mosque in thinness or height, but in diameters. As the highest building of
the neighborhood, the minarets of the Aksaray Mosque would have been spotted from
afar; by increasing their thickness the queen mother contributed to their prominent look,
reiterating her position as the most influential queen mother of the nineteenth century, as
well as a powerful figure of the dynasty. All these comparisons with imperial mosques,
erected in recent or distant past––concerning the solidity of the dome, the vastness of the
courtyard, the diameter of minarets––serve to portray a powerful and pious queen mother.
The façade of the mosque expresses a vertical monumentality. The neo-classical royal
apartments dominate its entrance façade, following the tradition of the previous imperial
mosques of the Tanzimat. The protruding center section, on the other three sides of the
façade, is crowned by a neo-classical pediment reminiscent of Greek temple facades.
However, this feature is not a simple imitation of that form since its edges are bent,
disallowing the formation of an exact triangle. Intricate Islamic decorative elements on
the pediment rather show a newly interpreted eclectic style. Entablatures are enriched by
543 Chapter IV, 179.
544 Doğan Kuban, Ottoman Architecture, Translated by Adair Mill, (Woodbridge, Suffolk, England: The
Antique Collectors’Club, 2010), 634.
211
muqarnas (stalactite vaulting). This typical Islamic adornment is repeated below the
balconies of the minarets and the dome, as well as above windows and blind recesses
(Fig. 94, 92 and 91).
The high portal entrances, embellished with pediment-like structures, existed in the
architectural idiom of previous imperial mosques, such as the Sultan Ahmed Mosque
(1616) and the New Valide Sultan Mosque (Yeni Camii, 1665) in Istanbul (Fig. 95 and
96). Wharton reveals that imposing entrance gates and entablatures became a typical
façade feature of Tanzimat palaces and pavilions.545 The raised entrance gate, in the
manner of a Greek temple at the entrance façade of the Dolmabahçe Palace (1856),
shows close parallels with the façade of the Aksaray Mosque (Fig. 97). The Pertevniyal
Mosque borrowed these earlier Ottoman features of both distant and recent pasts and
reinterpreted them with contemporary architectural concepts. Instead of using these forms
as they are, the mosque employed them on its three facades as tarz-i cedid.546 Triangle
forms, protruding and repeated twice on each façade, accentuate the monumentality of
the building and distinguish it from earlier Ottoman mosque facades, which emphasized
windows with semi-circle arches.547 In lieu of domes, semi-domes and circles, triangular
forms dominate the exterior of the Pertevniyal Mosque. Even its high-drum dome
remains hidden behind the triangular crowns of the façade. From the dome to the ground
the entire façade is embellished with decoration carved in low relief, covering the
building like fine lace (Fig. 91).
545 Alyson Wharton, The Architects of Ottoman Constantinople, 120.
546 This notion of a new and creative style had become a primary concern for imperial designs starting with
the eighteenth century and continued until the collapse of the empire. For the eighteenth century Shirine
Hamadeh argues that the Ottoman architectural idiom was more hybrid than the notion of Westernization.
See Shirine Hamadeh, The City’s Pleasures: Istanbul in the Eighteenth Century (Seattle: University of
Washington Press, 2008).
547 Afife Batur, “Valide Camii,” Dünden Bugüne İstanbul Ansiklopedisi (İstanbul: Türkiye Ekonomik ve
Toplumsal Tarih Vakfı, 1993), 361.
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Such carpet-like facades also existed in early Ottoman monuments, like the Green
Mosque, or early-eighteenth-century ones, such as the Fountain of Ahmed III.548 It is
important to note that both monuments represented Ottoman architecture at international
fairs in the nineteenth century. The mosque at the 1867 Paris exhibition was inspired by
the Green Mosque of Bursa, and the fountain at the 1873 Vienna Exhibition was the
replica of the Ahmed III’s Fountain.549 Ottoman structures displayed at these exhibitions
give evidence of how the Ottomans intended to define themselves both internally and to
the outside world. These architectural documents indicate their quest for a self-definition
befitting contemporary needs.
The elongated windows of the Pertevniyal Mosque quote the neo-Gothic style,
whereas their exquisitely carved ornamentations with multi-lobed stone arches denote the
Moorish style. The Moorish effect is created by employing one whole and two halved
rose windows typical of the Gothic style. Forms and styles often permeate each other on
this monument.
The columns that carry the main dome are turned into small towers, capped by onionshaped
domes in the corners. These domes, which also crown the minarets, were inspired
by Indo-Islamic architecture. The small towers define the contours of each façade. Their
finely carved stone embellishments have neo-Classical elements, such as post-lintel-post
niches decorated with shell figures in their lower parts and neo-Gothic features, such as
elongated niches, in their upper parts. Muqarnas and arabesque decorations transition
from the lower rectangular parts to the upper octagonal parts (Fig. 98).
548 Ersoy, Architecture and the Late Ottoman Historical Imaginary, 226.
549 Çelik, Displaying the Orient, 140–141., Ersoy, Ibid., 52-54, 82-83.
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The interior of the Aksaray Mosque is much more richly decorated than the exterior,
alluding to both early and recent Ottoman structures. Godfrey Goodwin criticized its
massed rich colors of reds, blues and greens by comparing it to the Beylerbeyi Palace:
“At Beylerbey, the salons are as brilliant with reds, blues and greens as a gypsy caravan.
It is a success here for bargee art may be fit for a palace but it is not necessarily ideal for
a mosque.”550 The intricate arabesque design in dominant blue with some reds and
yellows echoes contemporary Moorish architecture in Europe (Fig. 99). As Afife Batur
has pointed out, the rich wall and ceiling paintings (kalem işi) express traditional
Ottoman architecture in their patterns and layouts.551 Wharton argues that the blind
arches on the corner piers and the ornamented cartouches lining the walls are reminiscent
of the Bursa period.552
The calligraphy in the interior of the prayer hall is much more impressive than in
Abdülmecid’s mosques. 553 Designed by Mehmed Rıfat Efendi, the calligraphic
inscriptions are in celî sülüs, displaying the entire sura Al-Mulk. Mustafa Râkım Efendi
originally created celî sülüs and first applied this new style of script in the Nusretiye
Mosque. Despite some minor errors, the calligraphy engraved on the marble at the
Aksaray Mosque is one of the most exquisite examples of its time: it contains a rather
long chapter of the Qur’an on a continuous calligraphy, without any empty spaces
inserted in corners or curved areas; in these challenging areas the letters are skillfully
connected to each other, which was a rather difficult task to accomplish in calligraphy
550 Godfrey Goodwin, A History of Ottoman Architecture (London: Thames & Hudson, 1971), 425.
551 Afife Batur, “Valide Camii,” Dünden Bugüne İstanbul Ansiklopedisi (İstanbul: Türkiye Ekonomik ve
Toplumsal Tarih Vakfı, 1993), 361.
552 Alyson Wharton, The Architects of Ottoman Constantinople, 138.
553 Alyson Wharton, The Architects of Ottoman Constantinople, 138. See also Ersoy, Architecture and the
Late Ottoman Historical Imaginary, 217.
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(Fig. 101). After the Nuruosmaniye, the Aksaray Mosque was the only other imperial
mosque to feature continuous calligraphy in such high quality. For the first time, the
calligraphic inscription was placed above the second floor of the royal lodge, enabling the
continuation of the inscription, as well as the proper prayer location for the royal family,
in the sense that the Qur’an was above all human beings.554
The dome features trompe l’oeil paintings depicting muqarnas at the rim, and multilobed
arches, urns filled with roses, as well as Islamic motifs towards the center (Fig.
100). As noted earlier, the trompe l’oeil technique was widely used in mosques built
under Abdülmecid, including the Gureba Mosque. Ersoy has argued that the modernizing
agenda of the Tanzimat demanded a revived and a more secular framework for conveying
architectural meaning in mid-century mosques. “Religious inscriptions, for instance, were
used more sparingly in mosque interiors. The customary inscription zones, the dome, the
tympana, and the dadoes, were now crowded with Tanzimat floral motifs and trompe
l’oeil compositions.”555 Unlike many earlier Tanzimat-era mosques, the Aksaray Mosque
displays a central calligraphic medallion. Yet, the repeated theme of arches in illusionistic
painting is reminiscent of the Ortaköy Mosque (Fig. 68).
The Aksaray Mosque features the grey marble mihrab and minber like the mosques
belonging to the classical period (Fig. 101). The prominent size of the mihrab in postlintel-
post form, topped with an inscribed cartouche, is reminiscent of the Green
Mosque’s mihrab. Moreover, its niche in muqarnas ceiling framed in multi-lobed arches
strengthens this resemblance (Fig. 102). Yet, a similar layout of muqarnas framed in
554 Fatih Özkafa, Istanbul Selâtin Camileri Kuşak Yazıları, PhD diss.,, Selçuk Üniversitesi, Konya, 2008,
130-299. See also Ali Alparslan, “The Art of Calligraphy and the Ottomans,” in Ottoman Civilization,
Halil Inalcık and Günsel Renda, eds., (Ankara: Republic of Turkey, Ministry of Culture and Tourism, 2004.
Vol.2, 835-836.
555 Ersoy, Architecture and the Late Ottoman Historical Imaginary, 202-203.
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multi-lobed arches, also adorns the Dolmabahçe Mosque’s mihrab (Fig. 103). The latter
is a more richly gilded and sculpted version of the former. In this sense, both the Gureba
and Aksaray Mosques may have used the same inspiration, but interpreted it in their own
versions of the tarz-ı cedid.
The minber of the Aksaray Mosque repeats several motifs of the façade, such as
pediments carved with floral motifs, pyramidal vaults, multi-lobed arches, interlaced
geometrical shapes, and onion-shaped finials (Fig. 104). Wharton notes that “this degree
of all-over low-relief stone-carving on a mosque had not been seen since the Green
Mosque of Bursa.”556
The amalgamation of all these styles in one building is often condemned in the old
paradigm of Ottoman architectural history. Yet, the intention was to create an Ottoman
Renaissance in architecture by combining classical Ottoman with contemporary
European elements. The idea of neo-Ottomanism in architecture was largely inspired by
the prevailing European model of eclecticism, which encompassed a variety of
repertoires, from the neo-Classic, over the Orientalist to the neo-Gothic.
The Pertevniyal Mosque exhibits the official style of the Abdülaziz era, with
particular emphasis on neo-Islamic and neo-Ottoman decorative surfaces. Ersoy has
argued that the buildings constructed under Abdülaziz and Abdülhamid clearly diverged
from the established stylistic norms of early Tanzimat architecture, which accentuated
European motifs. Although they continued to apply the traditional design framework and
maintained the previous logic of spatial organization, their decorative program
556 Alyson Wharton, The Architects of Ottoman Constantinople, 138.
216
diminished references to any local tradition.557 According to Ersoy this shift to neo-
Islamic and neo-Ottoman features announced “revivalism” in Ottoman architecture.
Wharton has postulated that this “revivalism” exhibited itself throughout the entire
Tanzimat period. Moreover, rather than divergence, the monuments of the early and late
Tanzimat eras demonstrate continuity: besides structural features, materials, symbolic
motifs evoking sultanic sovereignty, and approaches to ornament remained the same.558
At the Pertevniyal Mosque the raised dome, the Greek temple façade, the trio of centrally
placed windows, and the prominent royal apartments followed the features of early
Tanzimat mosques. The trompe l’oeil paintings with interlaced arches, as well as the urns
filled with roses constituted the Abdülmecid era’s stock motifs. Moreover, the mosques
of this era also displayed motifs of neo-Islamic and neo-Ottoman qualities, such as the
pendentives of the Dolmabahçe Mosque with their six-star motif (Fig. 79), or the
muqarnas ceiling of its mihrab, or the trefoil arches of its minber (Fig. 103). The Küçük
Mecidiye Mosque features a minaret with Gothic arches on its balcony, muqarnas
decoration underneath and an onion-shaped dome (Fig. 105 and 106), although European
elements were more dominant in the Abdülmecid era. We can also think of the onion
domes of the Taksim Army Barracks gatehouse by Kirkor Balyan (c.1850). As
summarized by Wharton
[d]espite the change in their particular emphasis, the official styles of both
Abdülmecid and Abdülaziz are characterized by European-influenced decorative
styles and modes of visual communication, and their application to Ottoman plans. In
both cases this is a syncretic style that aimed to create an Ottoman Renaissance
through the revival of local traditions and their combination with new stimuli.559
557 Ahmet Ersoy, Architecture and the Late Ottoman Historical Imaginary, Reconfiguring the Architectural
Past in a Modernizing Empire (Farnham and Burlington VT: Ashgate, 2015), 196, 202-204.
558 Alyson Wharton, The Architects of Ottoman Constantinople, 118.
559 Ibid., 140.
217
The mosques of the Tanzimat era––in both their exteriors and interiors––display an
amalgam of East and West, as well as the Old and New.
THE PERTEVNIYAL MOSQUE’S VAKFIYE
The vakfiye praises the mosque for its prominent height with a fine rhyme: “while its
foundation stone goes underground (esas-ı sengini taht-ı seraya) its roof reaches the
summit of the Pleiades (sakf-ı berini evc-i süreyya’ya erişub).” The remaining eulogy
describes its perfect double minarets (mükemmel iki kıta minareli) without match or equal
(bî misil bî hemta).560 As the comparison of their diameter with that of other imperial
mosques reveals, these minarets are intended to be exquisite.
Unlike the document pertaining to the Gureba Mosque, the endowment deed
enumerates a long list of precious pieces bequeathed to the mosque, beginning with two
Qur’an manuscripts: one with fifteen lines per page, by the calligrapher Mehmet Behçet
Efendi, and the other with nine lines per page, by the calligrapher İbrahim Edib Efendi.
Each has its own reading desk (rahle) made of walnut. Two plates (iki kıta levha), a
silver-plated mahogany casket (maun üzerine sim kaplu çekmece), a chair holding the
beard hair of the Prophet (lihye-i saadet iskemlesi), two rahles made of mahogany, a rose
water flask and an incense burner inlaid with silver weighing 677 and a half dirhem were
to be part of the mosque’s furniture.561 For the royal apartments (mahfil-i hümayun), the
queen mother donated a chandelier with five handles and glass covers, inlaid with 2,120
dirhem silver (5 kollu ve fanuslu sim şemdan), four hangers (askı) inlaid with 1,280
560 VGM 634/0161/0037 dated 15 Şevval 1289 (16 December 1872).
561 Okka =2.8 lbs or 1.27006 kgs; 1 Dirhem = 3.175 gr. It is noteworthy that she donated silver rose flasks
to the tombs of both Abdullah, the Prophet’s father, and Mâlik bin Sinan, the master of hadith. Yet, they
weighed less than hers, 620 and 618 dirhem, respectively.
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dirhem silver, a tray with handles inlaid with 357 and a half dirhem silver (kulplu bir sim
tebsi), a pair of saucer and glass inlaid with 285 dirhem brass (sarı tabalı bir çift ma
tabak ve kapak bardak), two brass braziers with trays, a brass incense stick (sarı buhur
şemdan), a pair of gold-plated copper rose water flask and incense burner (bir çift tombak
sarı gülabdan ve buhurdan), four prayer rugs made from camel hair and embroidered
with silver thread, along with eight carpet prayer rugs (sırma işlemeli deve tüyü 4 ve 8
adedde halı seccade ). Pertevniyal covered the floor of her mosque with the most
precious rugs of her time: 294 zira of Gördes rugs (Gerdus kaliçe), and 326 zira of
madder-dyed (kök boyalı) Uşak rugs. The list continues with two big curtains for the
portals (2 aded kebir kapu perdesi), a green satin curtain with silver embroidery for the
minber door (minber kapusıçün yeşil atlas üzerine sırma işlemeli bir aded perde) and a
standing clock (bir tam saat).562 A pair of large brass candlesticks inlaid with 172 and a
half kıyye brass,563 a pair of candles made of beeswax (bir çift şem-i asel) weighing 131
and a half kıyye, two frames made of zinc and containing the Besmele-i Şerife and
Maşallah, two brass torches (çirağ tabir olunur), fifteen lantern hangers, a U-shaped
brass tube (pirinçden mamul deve boynu), a pair of dust pans (faraş), a grand chandelier
(kebir avize), an iron oil-lamp hanger (timurdan mamul kandil askısı), another chandelier
(ve defa bir avize), brass oil lamp hangers weighing 415 kıyyes and 100 dirhems,
respectively, twenty plates of various sizes (sagir ve kebir 20 aded levha), a low reading
562 This clock was different from the clock she bequeathed to the school, which was an Ingilizkâri tam saat.
This bequeathing also shows that until the end of the Hamidian era clocks were not perceived as conflicting
with “traditional” Muslim time as Wishnitzer has suggested. See Avner Wishnitzer, “A Comment on
Mehmet Bengü Uluengin, “Secularizing Anatolia Tick by Tick: Clock Towers in the Ottoman Empire and
the Turkish Republic,” International Journal of Middle East Studies, 42:2010, 537-540; Avner Wishnitzer,
“The Transformation of Ottoman Temporal Culture during the ‘Long Nineteenth Century,’” PhD diss., Tel
Aviv University, 2009; Avner Wishnitzer, Reading Clocks Alla Turca: Time and Society in the Late
Ottoman Empire, (Chicago and London: The University of Chicago Press, 2015). See also Chapter II, 26-
27, 37-38.
563 Kıyye = Okka, about 1300 grams.
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desk inlaid with mother-of-pearl, together with a cushion (sedefli bir rahle ma minder),
and a pair of big mirrors with a gilded chest of drawers (bir çift kebir ayine ma konsol
yaldızlı) were all included in the queen mother’s list of inventory. Then the queen mother
specified the items that would decorate the royal apartments, as well as her private room
(daire-i hümayun ve daire-i ismetaneme mahsus olmak üzere): a pair of sofas (kanape),
four armchairs (koltuk) and twelve chairs, a similar type of furniture for the lower floor,
but this time made from mahogany, together with Lahore shawls. She then enumerated
several pieces of equipment necessary for ablutions, such as bowls and ewers (leğen,
ibrik), and for the kitchen, such as cauldrons and trays. Among the latter, the most
interesting luxury items are the Saxonian drinking glasses (Saksonya bardak) and thirty
crystal (billur) glasses. Both include saucers.564 These valuable drinking glasses were to
be used during the recitation of mevlud-i şerif, celebrating the birth of the Prophet
Muhammed.
The list indicates that, besides the structure itself, the interior furniture and
accessories displayed the wealth and status of the queen mother to both the public and
high-ranking officers. Like the monument that contained them, these luxurious objects
also reveal the eclectic and cosmopolitan culture of the Tanzimat, encompassing madderdyed
Anatolian carpets together with Lahore shawls and Saxonian drinking glasses.565
564 Saxonian drinking glasses were luxurious objects of desire for the European as well as Ottoman upper
classes. They were the first European hard-paste porcelains produced at the Meissen Factory, near Dresden.
See Tülay Artan, “Eighteenth Century Ottoman Princesses as Collectors: Chinese and European Porcelains
in the Topkapı Palace Museum,” In Ars Orientalis 39 (2010), 113-147. See Leyla Saz, The Imperial Harem
of the Sultans : Daily Life at the Çiragan Palace During the 19th Century : Memoirs of Leyla (Saz)
Hanimefendi, translated from the French by Landon Thomas (Istanbul: Peva Publications, 1994), 49, 199.
The author describes that in the Imperial Palace, as well as during Abdülmecid’s daughter, Münire Sultan’s
wedding, fine porcelain from Saxony or China was used.
565 The books that she donated to the library also reflected the hybrid nature of Ottoman culture:
manuscripts spanning in context from Qur’an copies, prayer books, exegesis, together with printed books
on Ottoman language and grammar (Kavaid-i Osmaniye), geographical treatise (Risal-i Coğrafya), or
220
Much like the architectural vocabulary, these objects demonstrate the combination of Old
and New, as well as East and West.
Pertevniyal’s endowment deed specifies fifteen persons responsible for operating
the dynastic mosque, as opposed to nine in the case of the Gureba Mosque.566 The
salaries and provisions of the employees are indicated monthly and in kuruş, except for
the salary of mahyacı, who strings up oil lamps between minarets during the month of
Ramazan. He received his salary not monthly, but on a yearly basis. For the sake of
clarity, it is not included in the table below. As for the four care-takers (kayyum), working
in the mosque, the second, third and fourth kayyum each received 250 kuruş per month.
The table shows their monthly total.
Table 14: Cadre, Salaries and Provisions of the Aksaray Mosque
Position Salary Provisions Total
Hatib (Preacher) 200 100 300
Imam-i Evvel (First Imam) 200 100 300
Imam-i Sani (Second Imam) 200 100 300
Müezzin-i Evvel (First Müezzin)
(Calling Muslims to Prayer) 250 100 350
Müezzin-i Sani (Second Müezzin) 200 100 300
Müezzin-i Salis (Third Müezzin) 200 100 300
Müezzin-i Rabi (Fourth Müezzin) 200 100 300
medical chemistry (Kimyai Tıbbî). VGM 634/0173/0039. For a detailed analysis see Bahar Bilgin Uşar,
“The Aksaray Pertevniyal Valide Sultan Mosque Complex: Reflections on the Patronage of a Nineteenth
Century Valide Sultan,” MA thesis, Koc University, Istanbul, 2016, 93-99. Bezmialem also donated a
similar collection of books to her school.
566 Since this zeyl was designed for the entire mosque complex, it also included a chief officer earning
1,000 kuruş per month and reporting to the kaymakam of the endowment deed.
221
Müezzin-i Hamis (Fifth Müezzin) 150 100 250
Müezzin-i Sadis (Sixth Müezzin) 150 100 250
Kayyum-i Evvel (Care-taker) 160 100 260
Three Kayyums (Care-takers) 150 100 750
Vaiz (Preacher) 150 –– 150
TOTAL 3,810
The hatib would deliver the Friday sermon. Before the sermon he would recite the entire
Qur’an (hatm-i şerif) together with other designated officers of the mosque, such as the
imams. The mosque would employ six müezzins, responsible for the call to prayer five
times a day, as well as the following recitations:
Morning Yâ Sîn (36)
Noon Âmen al-Resûl (Prayers praising the Prophet Muhammad)
Afternoon An-Naba’ (78; The Tidings)
Evening Al-Fath (48; The Victory)
The recitals would follow the call to prayers. Despite a slightly different order, the
prayers of Yâ Sîn, An-Naba’ and Al-Fath are also recited in the Gureba Mosque’s daily
prayer program. The evening prayer is not specified in the endowment deed, probably
understood to recite any cüz of the Qur’an as in the case of the Gureba Mosque. Unlike
the latter, it replaces al-Mulk with Âmen al-Resûl. The reason for this replacement might
be the existence of the entire chapter of al-Mulk in calligraphy around the walls of the
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mosque; there was no need to evoke its vocal existence since its physical existence was
permanent for the congregation. Âmen al-Resûl might have been an oration to the
“salavat-ı şerif,” which are special prayers for the Prophet Muhammed. They are usually
some version of the following: Allahümme salli ala seyidina Muhammedin ve ala ali
seyidina Muhammed.567 These verses express devotion, respect and love for the Prophet.
Buhurizade Mustafa Itrî (1640 – 1712), the famous Ottoman musician, who also taught
music at the Topkapı Palace’s Enderun School, composed this salavat, which became one
of the most popular recitations for the Muslim congregation. In Turkey, his composition
still continues to mesmerize the believers.
The recitation program of three venues––Prophet Muhammed’s tomb in Medina
(1842), the Gureba Mosque (1847) and the Aksaray Mosque (1872)–– gives us some
clues about the queen mothers’ preferences. Bezmialem designed the first two, whereas
Pertevniyal the last one.
Table 1: Queen Mothers’ Recitation Programs
Timing Prophet’s Tomb Gureba Mosque Aksaray Mosque
Morning Yâ Sîn (36) Yâ Sîn (36) Yâ Sîn (36)
Noon An-Naba’ (78) An-Naba’ (78) Âmen al-Resûl
Afternoon Al-Fath (48) Al-Fath (48) An-Naba’ (78)
Evening Al-Ikhlas (112) Any Cüz Al-Fath (48)
Night Al-Mulk (67) Al-Mulk (67) Any Cüz
The daily recital program of each venue indicates that the sura Yâ Sîn kept its prominent
position after morning prayers for both queen mothers. Addressing the central teachings
of Islam regarding God, prophethood, and the Hereafter, this sura was considered the
“hearth of the Qur’an.” Nina Ergin’s research conducted on the recital program of
567 I would like to express my gratitude to Hamza Zafer for helping me decipher this text.
223
fourteen mosques built by Mimar Sinan, reveals that the sura Yâ Sîn was part of the
typical morning recitals in sixteenth-century mosques as well.568
Another common choice for daily recitation was the inclusion of the suras an-
Naba’ and al-Fath, although Pertevniyal moved their time from the noon/afternoon to the
afternoon/evening sequence. An-Naba’ refers to the Prophet’s message and the Day of
Resurrection. Those who have doubts about them are urged to understand the various
signs that God has created for believers. Al-Fath stresses that the Treaty of Hudaybiyah,
which was regarded by the Prophet’s companions as a kind of defeat, was indeed a
manifest victory. It praises those who pledged allegiance to the Prophet. Believing in the
Prophet and his message are the crux in both An-Naba’ and Al-Fath. The latter could
have given some hope to the Muslims that, as in the Hudaybiyah, some defeats that
Ottomans faced in the nineteenth century might have been latent signs of victory for the
future. The apparent defeat of today may carry the potential fruits of victory tomorrow.
Muslims should keep their faith in the first caliph, the Prophet, and extend it to the
current caliph, the sultan, for the sake of their own victory.
The daily recital in the evening would end with the sura al-Mulk, as was also the
case in sixteenth-century mosques in Istanbul.569 As explained earlier, even though
Pertevniyal did not prescribe al-Mulk after evening prayers and instead left it more
flexible with the recital of any thirtieth part of the Qur’an, the calligraphic band of the
entire Sovereignty sura encircles the interior of her mosque. The sura starts with the verse
“Blessed is He (the Prophet) in Whose Hand lies sovereignty.” This sura attests to God’s
568 Nina [Ergin] Macaraig, “The Qur’anic Soundscape of Mimar Sinan’s Mosques,” unpublished paper. I
oblige her not only for the article, but also for inspiring and encouraging me to do a deeper analysis of the
recital programs.
569 Nina [Ergin] Macaraig, “The Qur’anic Soundscape of Mimar Sinan’s Mosques,” unpublished paper,12.
224
omnipotence, the perfect nature of the creation and the dreadful ends of those who deny
God’s messengers. It also contrasts the profound spiritual world with the superficial
physical world. As in the sixteenth century, the sura al-Mulk occupied a prominent place
in the mosques of both Bezmialem and Pertevniyal.
The deed cites the third müezzin as being responsible for the recitation of al-Fath,
the fourth for Yâ Sîn, the fifth for an-Naba’ and the sixth for Âmen Al-Resûl. The vaiz’s
salary is lower than the hatip’s since the Friday sermon is his sole job assignment. As
opposed to the three preachers at the Gureba Mosque, the Aksaray Mosque had only two,
one vaiz and one hatib. Most probably they could replace each other for Friday sermons
in case this was necessary.
In addition to the daily prayer program, on the twelfth day of the month Reb’i’ül
Evvel, the mevlud would be recited in her mosque. Pertevniyal’s deed reminds the
audience that, as she ordered it in 1866 for eight major imperial mosques, the same ritual
would also take place in the Aksaray Mosque every year on the same day.570 For this holy
occasion the queen mother prescribed the purchase of aloe wood and rosewater, each in
the value of 20 kuruş.571 The sweet drink şerbet would be offered in the expensive
Saxonian and crystal glasses in the royal apartments, while the rest of the congregation
would be served in copper cups (nühas maşrubalar).
Her mausoleum would complete this schedule with other important recitations,
since the placement of the holy relics (emanat-ı müteberreke-i celile) and particularly the
570 Chapter I, 52. Pertevniyal first ordered the mevlud be recited at the major military barracks. Two years
later, she rescinded that order and changed the venue to eight imperial mosques. These mosques included
the Beyazıd, Süleymaniye, Sultanahmed, Nusretiye, Selimiye, Taksim Topçu Kışla-i Hümayun, Kasımpaşa
Büyük Piyale Pasha, and Kasımpaşa Mosques.
571 The zeyl stipulates the annual purchase of 150 kuruş worth of öd and gülab. These aromatics would also
be used in the royal apartments every Friday.
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hair of the Prophet’s beard (lihye-i saadet-i güliizar) further sanctified that venue.572 Her
previous endowment deed, Zeyl 7, indicated that, besides the sacred beard hair, the iconic
relics of her mausoleum included the veil of the Prophet Muhammed’s favorite wife
‘A’isha (nikab-i şerifeleri), and his sons’ mantles (Hazret-i İmam Hasan ve Hazret-i
İmam Hüseyin Efendilerimizin Hırka-i Saadetleri), as well as the keys (miftah) to Mecca
and Medina, and a green coverlet (zeytuni puşide) embroidered the same way as Sultan
Mehmed II’s puşide (sarcophagus cover) in his mausoleum.573 Through the combination
of Ottoman and Muslim memorabilia in her türbe, alluding to the power and glory of the
Ottoman and to Islamic history, Pertevniyal enhanced the legitimacy of the dynasty even
further. Moreover, the careful timing of her mevlud celebrations in the middle of the
month of Rebiülevvel at her mausoleum, together with the major imperial mosques,
constitute an important tripod, completing the mevlud cycle occurring at the Fatih and
Eyüb mausolea at the beginning and end of the same month, respectively.574
The same Zeyl 7 further specifies that, in addition to the holy nights, on the eve of
religious holidays (arife günleri) the mausoleum would be open to the public to attend the
recital of the entire Qur’an. For the Gureba Mosque, Bezmialem also stipulated prayers in
the presence of the Prophet’s relic. However, the inclusion of additional relics indicates
Pertevniyal’s ambitious plan to sanctify her mausoleum and mosque complex in a way
unmatched with any other sacred venue open to the public in Istanbul. As a special site
where recitals were performed in the presence of sacred relics, it was no doubt designed
to attract a great congregation token on receiving the blessings accumulating from
572 “zeyl-i vakfiye-i salifemde muharrer olub türbe-i aliyemde mahfuz olan emanat-ı müteberreke-i celile ve
lihye-i saadet-i gülizar”
573 VGM 634/0156/0035. On ‘A’isha see Chapter I, 16, 20.
574 See Chapter I, 30-32.
226
prayers and the presence of holy relics.575 In addition to the holy nights (leyali-i
mübareke), the entire Qur’an should be recited every Sunday and Thursday night (Bazar
ve Bencüşembe ahşamları) at her mausoleum.576 Daily, weekly and yearly recitations
emphasized the image of the dynasty as the protector of the faith, the holy cities and the
relics.
CODA
Both the Gureba and Aksaray Mosques combined Old and New as well as East and West
in different matrices according to the imperial image of their time. Their tarz-ı cedid was
a response to the historical developments and ideological discourses of the period. The
process of modernization that the Ottoman Empire was undergoing, the continuous loss
of territories, and the gradual emergence of nation-states compelled the Ottomans to
search for a new identity and new symbols of legitimacy. Often, conflicting agendas were
proposed as solutions, such as applying Islamic philosophy or a positivist concept.577
575 The Holy Relics consisted of various religious objects acquired by the Ottoman sultans from the
sixteenth to the late nineteenth century. They were kept in the Topkapı Palace in a special chamber. On the
fifteenth day of Ramazan, the sultan together with his family would pay a special visit to the chamber.
Interestingly the Topkapı Palace Museum does not enumerate ‘Âisha’s veil or the Prophet’s sons’ mantles
among these sacred objects. https://topkapisarayi.gov.tr/tr/content/h%C4%B1rka-i-saadet-dairesi-ve-kutsalemanetler,
accessed on 26 February 2019. The following sources do not include them either. In her
memoirs, Leyla Saz described the ceremony of the Hırka-i Şerif and mentions only the relics of the Prophet
and the first caliphs. Leyla Saz, The Imperial Harem of the Sultans : Daily Life at the Çiragan Palace
during the 19th Century : Memoirs of Leyla (Saz) Hanimefendi, translated from the French by Landon
Thomas (Istanbul: Peva Publications, 1994), 128. See also Gülrü Necipoğlu, Architecture Ceremonial and
Power: The Topkapı Palace in the Fifteenth and Sixteenth Centuries (Cambridge, Massachusetts: The MIT
Press, 1991), 141-142, Fanny Davis, The Palace of Topkapı in Istanbul (New York: Charles Scribner’s
Sons, 1970) 142-155. Ayşe Osmanoğlu, Babam Sultan Abdülhamid, 7th edition, (Istanbul: Timaş
Yayinlari, 96-97.
576 The hafız (Qur’an reciter) who was appointed to her primary school with a monthly salary of 150 kuruş,
would perform these recitals. See Chapter II, 40. For these duties he would receive an additional salary of
100 kuruş,
577 İlber Ortaylı, Batılılaşma Yolunda (On the Way of Westernization), 2nd edition, (Istanbul: İnkilâp
Kitabevi Yayın Sanayi ve Ticaret A.Ş, 2015), 23-24, 33-36; Afife Batur, "Style in Late 19th Century
Ottoman Architecture," in Art Turc, Turkish Art, 10th International Congress of Turkish Art, Geneva,
Fondation Max Van Berchem (1999): 143–152.
227
Combining elements of both East and West in architecture reveals the dynamics of the
then current soul-searching through a new, creative style. Ottoman architecture was
designed to create an original and eclectic style with the help of its own formal language,
without falling back on imitation.578 As Wharton has shown, despite the change in their
particular emphasis, the official styles of both Abdülmecid and Abdülaziz were both
syncretic and aimed to create an Ottoman Renaissance through the revival of local
traditions and their combination with new inspirations.579
The central point here is that the queen mothers, like the Ottoman elite of their
time, saw architectural innovation as part and parcel of the period’s reforms. A new style
would reflect a modern and more confident self-image. The amalgamation of styles also
expressed a very cosmopolitan aspect of the empire. In the process of the empire’s
dissolution vis-à-vis nationalist tendencies, the eclectic style would constitute a special
glue holding together its multi-ethnic and multi-religious population.
Great imperial mosques are often considered “icons of imperial legitimacy.”580
Their architecture and fine decoration constituted potent signs and symbols of Ottoman
power. This chapter, which has concentrated on the Gureba and Aksaray Mosques, aimed
to elucidate that––in addition to the concept of decorum which focuses on visual signs of
distinction related to imperial mosques––their functions were equally significant in
578 Turgut Saner, 19. Yüzyıl Istanbul Mimarlığında “Oryantalizm” (Istanbul: Pera Turism ve Ticaret A.Ş.,
1998). The author, like Ersoy and Alyson, contends that the Ottoman formal language always existed
within the eclectic style of the nineteenth-century architecture.
579 Alyson Wharton, The Architects of Ottoman Constantinople, The Balyan Family and the History of
Ottoman Architecture (London and New York: I.B. Tauris, 2015), 140.
580 Donald Preziosi, “Power, Structure and Architectural Function,” in The Ottoman City and Its Parts, ed.
By Irene A. Bierman, Rifa’at A. Abou-El-Haj, and Donald Preziosi, (New Rochelle and New York:
Aristide D. Caratzas, 1991), 107.
228
determining their significance for the public.581 In this respect, the endowment deeds of
both queen mothers were useful for defining the minutiae of the rituals, relics, and
precious objects contained in their buildings. Both women subtly designed not only the
structure, but also how individuals should experience their mosque. Form and content,
time and space were carefully planned to shape the mosque visitors’ collective memory.
Within this framework, it is important to note that Bezmialem planned the Gureba
Mosque as an imperial building not in terms of its structure and style, but in terms of its
function. In different ways both structures proclaimed the greatness, piety and power of
their benefactresses, as well as the dynasty.
581 About the concept of decorum in imperial mosques during the time of Mimar Sinan, see Gülrü
Necipoğlu The Age of Sinan, Architectural Culture in the Ottoman Empire (Princeton and Oxford:
Princeton University Press, 2005), 20-21, 114-124.
229
CONCLUSION
My thesis has explored the contributions of Bezmialem and Pertevniyal to the Tanzimat
era through their charities. Even though both served as powerful queen mothers of the
nineteenth century, an overall analysis of their major projects from a comparative
perspective has so far been lacking in the literature. Through their mosques, schools and
hospitals they underwrote various pioneering projects during their lifetime; however, a
closer examination of these projects has revealed that they followed slightly differing
patterns not only different from each other, but also sometimes from their sons, as in the
case of Pertevniyal’s education project. The queen mothers’ distinctive patterns stem
from their characters as well as the socio-political developments of their time.
In my analysis the queen mothers’ vakfiyes played a key role since they
constituted the most important written documents explaining their intentions, as well as
the minute details of their projects. Comparing their charitable foundations’ deeds has
shown that in their prayer sections and original vakfiyes both valide sultans employed not
only the same format, but also the same wording. In this respect, my analysis of these
sources broadens our understanding of vakfiyes in general, since many scholars have
claimed to find the patrons’ active voices in these sections per se. Besides the vakfiyes,
the many untapped archival sources, memoirs, travelers’ accounts, as well as
contemporary chroniclers contributed to the portrayal of the queen mothers. The artworks
dedicated to the sultanas also added to an understanding of their multi-layered
personalities.
While contextualizing their projects, I not only compared them with previous and
contemporaneous Ottoman imperial projects of both military and civil establishments, but
230
also paid special attention to cross-cultural influences, by taking into account similar
developments occurring among various ethnic and religious groups of the empire as well
as in Europe.
A closer look at the valide sultans’ endowment deeds has further elucidated the
minute details indicating how their establishments should function. Even though
Bezmialem’s Gureba Mosque was modest in size and decoration, as opposed to
Pertevniyal’s Aksaray Mosque, her endowment deed designated it to function as an
imperial mosque through religious ceremonies and rituals. In this sense, the Gureba
Mosque is significant in that it shows how, apart from the building’s monumentality or
the finesse of its decoration, its designated ceremonial function could play a crucial role
for the structure and its benefactor in the public eye.
The queen mothers’ projects have also revealed that they did not follow a linear
trajectory of modernization, as some Ottoman scholars have viewed the Tanzimat era.
One of the major intentions in commissioning them was to encourage and promote
material progress for the sake of legitimizing their son’s rule, strengthening their public
image, as well as receiving religious blessings in this world and hereafter.
Both queen mothers endorsed various pioneering institutions of their time:
Bezmialem established the first modern civil hospital and high school in Istanbul; both
her rüşdiye and Gureba Hospital constituted a prominent model to be followed in later
years until the collapse of the empire. Pertevniyal, after the dethronement of her son and
until the very last days of her life, was engaged in the construction of a large and modern
hospital designed for poor and needy women in Medina. This was a novel project for its
time, since not only in the Holy Lands but also in Istanbul there existed no proper
231
hospital for women. The hospitals for female patients were mostly limited to criminals,
prostitutes or poor immigrants. In this sense, Pertevniyal’s project in Medina broke with
the traditional mindset that the home was the sole place for treating women.
Unfortunately, this project was left incomplete after her death. Despite many changes,
both queen mothers’ schools today still serve the public as high schools under the
Directorate of Endowments, or Vakıflar Genel Müdürlüğü: Bezmialem’s as Cağaloğlu
Lisesi, amd Pertevniyal’s as Pertevniyal Lisesi. Currently, Bezmialem’s Gureba Hospital
is a vakıf hospital functioning under her name.
Both women put their imprint on Istanbul’s cityscape. They both began their
philanthropic careers with major fountains: Pertevniyal built a finely decorated fountain
at the crossroad of the Aksaray Square almost a decade before her mosque project. While
choosing the site for the mosque complex, the queen mother’s kethüda informed her that
her fountain was quite popular, which might hold good promise for the mosque’s future
congregation. Unfortunately, later the fountain fell victim to urbanization projects and
was inserted into the enclosure wall of her mosque complex. Bezmialem’s first fountain
project was located in Beşiktaş; it was an important contribution to the infrastructure of
the neighborhood, which housed Orthodox-Greek and Armenian communities along with
Muslims. The district still carries the name of Valide Çeşmesi or Queen Mother’s
Fountain. Her endowment deed states her wish that "Muslims and all people benefit from
it,” giving hints of the all inclusive Ottomanism of her time.582
Towards the end of her life Bezmialem initiated a grandiose mosque project: the
Dolmabahçe Mosque. She could not see its completion, but archival documents
582 Vakıflar Genel Müdürlüğü, Ankara, 01 634 83 13.1 "gerek o civarda malûm Müslimin ve gerek
umumen nâs müntefi olmaları içün"
232
demonstrate that the elevation of the four walls was completed during her lifetime. Today
the silhouette of the mosque constitutes one of the main landmarks along the Bosphorus.
Pertevniyal’s Aksaray Mosque, despite being victim to successive modernization projects
during the Republican era, still constitutes one of the major landmarks of the Aksaray
district. Both Dolmabahçe and Aksaray Mosques constituted potent icons of Ottoman
power and legitimacy with their vast scale, sumptuous materials and fine workmanship.
Both queen mothers’ architectural patronage fundamentally influenced the planning and
growth of Istanbul.
Moreover, the architectural style of the Aksaray Mosque was closely repeated at
the Hamidiye Mosque, near the Yıldız Palace, built ten years after the Valide Mosque,
and also to a lesser extent at the Mausoleum of Mehmet Reşat V, built in 1918. Both
monuments have impressive gateways crowned with pediments, protruding and
embellished with elongated windows to emphasize their verticality, reminiscent of the
façade of the Valide Mosque. Moreover, the Yıldız Mosque imitates the Valide Mosque’s
raised central dome, the minarets, and the minarets’ onion-shaped domes (Fig.107 and
108). These examples are a confirmation that the Valide Mosque with its highly eclectic
style became an architectural trendsetter for the Ottoman elite.
The philanthropic acts of Bezmialem and Pertevniyal mixed traditional concepts
with new patterns both in architecture and function. They always merged old and new, as
well as East and West, reflecting the Ottoman characteristics of their period and echoing
the eclectic mode of the nineteenth century. The concept of East and West connotes
charged perceptions depending on the period and region. For the queen mothers West did
not mean “new,” “secular,” “civilized,” and East “old,” religious,” and “backward.” Their
233
initiating new institutions between 1839 and 1876 did not signify secularization or
Westernization. The modifications in education and healthcare systems were intended to
promote material progress in the empire. Otherwise, progression to a more Western
model, or adoption of a more secular system, was not the aim of the Ottoman dynasty and
the queen mothers at the time. Both Bezmialem’s and Pertevniyal’s charitable deeds
communicated the donors’ great piety while they underwrote various pioneering projects.
The queen mothers’ new and syncretic style in architecture combined local traditions
with new aspirations, and disclosed a more confident image of themselves and the
dynasty. Their institutions survived the collapse of the empire and in some cases continue
to serve the public. After more than a century, their marks are still visible in the silhouette
of Istanbul.
Recent salient work on Ottoman imperial women concentrates on the centuries
prior to the nineteenth century. Authors focusing on the early modern era have greatly
challenged the image of Ottoman royal women as secluded and powerless. On the
contrary, they have shown that the royal women played an active role in important
political matters. By using their wealth, these elite women commissioned important
public projects and charitable works. Female involvement was not an illegitimate
usurpation of power that contributed to the decline of the empire; quite the opposite, it
was a logical and intended consequence of the political structure. Scholarship on the
eighteenth century has demonstrated that royal women not only continuously bolstered
dynastic pomp and grandeur, thus contributing to the legitimization of power, but they––
234
like their imperial female predecessors––continued to exercise influence as “patrons of
the urban space.583”
Much of the historiography on women in the nineteenth century focuses on
Ottoman women’s role in national struggles, revealing their functions in national
movements and modernization while omitting imperial women’s role in the rapidly
changing state. Instead of solely engaging with upper-class women who are more likely
to be associated with modernizing reforms, scholars recently have focused on women of
lower status and various ethnic backgrounds. In this sense, my thesis swings the
pendulum back to the most important upper-class women of the nineteenth century:
Bezmialem and Pertevniyal. I have shown that, through their various public projects, both
queen mothers contributed to the Tanzimat era, a challenging period of struggles and
reform attempts. In their own ways they contributed to the survival of the empire.
Their active role as queen mothers also challenges the ingrained essentialist
perspective that describes Ottoman women as either segregated and passive, or as
usurpers of power who contribute to the decline of the empire. The active engagement of
both queen mothers challenges reductivist interpretations of Islam that equate the support
of religion with a traditional way of life, while opposing all that might be modern. The
strong religious personalities of both queen mothers did not prevent them from being
engaged in modernizing projects; they represented a complex amalgam of old and new.
The Tanzimat era can thus be better understood by analyzing the involvement and
patronage of its queen mothers and evaluating the diverse layers of power; the harem as
an alternative site of power should not be disregarded. In this sense, my thesis contributes
583 Shirine Hamadeh, The City's Pleasures, Istanbul in the Eighteenth Century, Seattle, London: University
of Washington Press, 2008.
235
to and complements the rich academic works concentrating on women patronage in the
fifteenth to eighteenth centuries. During these earlier centuries women patrons must have
been directly involved in their architectural patronage, although there is little archival
evidence of this direct involvement. As opposed to this period, a good deal of archival
documents reveals both Bezmialem’s and Pertevniyal’s active participation in their
architectural and other philanthropic projects in the nineteenth century. This fact might
have been related to the changing notions of decorum and gender based protocols since
the period meant more visibility for the harem women. This visibility no doubt eased and
increased the communication between the patron and her servants––whether an architect,
a kethüda or a pasha––implementing imperial women’s orders and wishes. Bezmialem’s
direct correspondence with the British Ambassador Lord Stratford might evince these
changing notions of decorum.
My comparison of their vakfiyes should also be expanded to a comparison with
those of their sons and husband, as well as of contemporaneous Ottoman princesses, such
as Adile Sultan. Such future research would help us to better comprehend the structure
and function of endowment deeds in the nineteenth century.
Contextualizing these valides’ initiatives within global history could be another
avenue for further research coming out of the present study; such research should
consider civil schools, healthcare projects and religious establishments initiated by other
imperial women across the world and it would enable us to draw parallels and discern the
specific character of Ottoman women’s endeavors in the nineteenth century. Both
Bezmialem and Pertevniyal left indelible impressions on the nineteenth-century empire
236
and capital city, and their marks are still vivid in our contemporary urban scape, as well
as in public memory.
237
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APPENDICES
Appendix 1: Şair Eşref Hanım’s Poem, “Bahariye” Dedicated to Bezmialem
271
272
The Transliteration of “Bahariye”
Bahariye Der-Medh-i Valide Sultan
Bahar irişdi yine oldı gülşen abadan
Cihan donandı şükufeyle oldı misl-i cinan
Açıldı gonça ve gül oldı ziver-i alem
Çemende bülbül şuride eylemez mi figan
Duyunca sünbül ü şebbu cihana nev-ruzun
Yetişdi müjde-i teşrifin itmeğe ilan
Kosun niza civan-perçemiyle zülf-i arus
Hezaran ile çıkub oldı hüsn-i yusuf ayan
Aceb mi buz çiçeği kartopu donup kalsa
Görünce yasemini bağda hak ile yeksan
273
Dil-i hazin ile bir kuşeye çeküp başım
Nizam ve ziynet güne olur iken hayran
Benim de cuş u huruş itdi lücce-i derdim
Virup tahammülü seyle didem o demde heman
Ne yapdım ey felek Allah için nedir cürümüm
Cihanı güldürüb itdin heman beni giryan
Sühan-virane ne cüretle buğz idersin aceb
Bu rütbe cevre neden ehl-i dil ola şayan
Değil midir senin ey çarh-ı sifle malumun
Yegane-i şuara yani Hazret-i Hassan
Alel-husus şehenşah-ı alemin hala
Cihan bulmuş iken sayesinde emn ü eman
Yeni mi gördü gözün zar ü bi-karar idecek
Dokunma ta bu kadar gönlüm olmasın viran
Ne sünbül ve ne karanfil kalur ne lale ne gül
İderse ahım eser-i gülşenin olur suzan
Bu müddea-yı felek olmadan hitama resid
Kemal-i yes ile düşdüm yere çü berk-i hazan
Gelüb saba yelerek didi: Ey şikeste derun
Nedir bu nale ü feryad ve ah-ı bi-payan
Nedir felekle bu ceng ü cidal beyhude
Niçün bu rütbe idersin sirişk-i çeşm-i revan
Kudum-i valide sultanı öpmeğe oldı
Benefşe boynun eğüb yollar üzre ser-gerdan
Hezar-dil nola şerm ile itse halini arz
Bulur mu çare iden derdini gönülde nihan
274
O denli pend-i saba guş-ı cana itdi eser
Gözüm açıldı göründü cihan bana o zaman
Heman o şevk ile tarh itdi bir gazel dil-i zar
O gonca fem eğer eylerse rağbeti şayan
Firaka kalmadı takat gel ey meh-taban
Müretteb ayş ü tarab muntazar dil-i nalan
Donatdı bezm-i meyi erguvan ile saki
Buyur mahall-i istiğna değil bu mevsim-i eman
Çemende serv sehi-veş salın behey afet!
Nihal-i gül kadd-i mevzunun eylesün seyran
Sarardı hasret-i ruyunla nergisin benzi
Demidir arz-ı cemal eyle olalım şadan
Seninle eyleyelim vasf-ı bir himem-karı
Senasın ey meh naz it şerefle ruz u şeban
Kerem-verasın o zat-ı ferişte-hasletsin
Ne gördü, ne görecekdir misalini devran
Felekden ahımı al kalmasın dem-i haşre
Figanım eylemesün ehl-i mahşeri nalan
Küşadedir der-i cudun cihana olsa n’olur
Bu acizin dahi şayan-ı şefkat ü ihsan
Gül-i meramım açılmaz ümid bağında
Nesim-i merhamet ve lütfun olmaz ise vezan
Bilindi hal-i garibim duaya başlayalım
Ki arz-ı hâl-i perişanım olmasun noksan
Şeh-i güzin ile zat-ı kerimini dilerim
Hezar sayf ü şitaya yetişdire Yezdan
275
The Transliteration of “Bera-yı Teşekkür-i Valide Sultan”
Bera-yı Teşekkür-i Valide Sultan
Şehenşehle cihan durdukça dursun mehd-i ulyası
Bana kendinde taltifinde, ihsanında gösterdi
Şebi kadar ola ruzu id-i mah-ı ruzede bizzat
Hilal-i idi bi-şekk vech-i tabanında gösterdi
Kerem-kara uzakdan görmeğe razı iken zatın
Bi-hamdillâh Hudâ takbil-i damanında gösterdi
Değil mi fal-i hayr olmaz mı her ümidine vasıl
Efendim bak ne yerde hak kimin yanında gösterdi
Şeref-zara seni Allah evinde hem de sultanım
Huzur-ı hırka-i mahbub-ı zi-şanında gösterdi
276
Appendix 2: Bezmialem’s Vakfiye
277
Appendix 3: Pertevniyal’s Vakfiye
278
FIGURES
Figure 1 Donizetti's Lied Composed for Bezmialem
Figure 2 Donizettii's Lied Composed for Bezmialem: https://youtu.be/y1qTwOMh1OY
279
Figure 3 Donizett's March Composed for Abdülmecid
Figure 4 Donizetti's March Composed for Abdülmecid: https://youtu.be/Tx9bEfvZxhQ
280
Figure 6 Pertevniyal's Short Note on the Coffer
Figure 5 Bezmialem’s Letter Sample to Her Son, Together with the
Envelope
281
Figure 7 Pertevniyal's Short Letter in the Coffer which she signed as “biçare Pertevniyal”
Figure 8 Emin Baba Dervish Lodge, www.ottomaninscriptions.com
282
Figure 9 Emin Baba Dervish Lodge, Restoration Inscription, www.ottomaninscriptions.com
Figure 10 Map of Istanbul from 1908
Monuments built by Bezmialem
Monuments restored by Bezmialem
Monuments built by Pertevniyal
Monuments restored by Pertevniyal
Monuments built by Bezmialem
1. Üçler Fountain
2. Valide Mektebi (school)
283
3. Gureba Hospital
4. Dolmabahçe Mosque
5. Edirnekapı Sıbyan Mektebi
6. Fatih Molla Aşki Cami Sıbyan Mektebi
7. Akaretler Valide Sultan Fountain
8. Beşiktaş Serencebey Yokuşu Fountain
9. Silivri Uzunyusuf Mahallesi Lâlezar Cami Sokağı Fountain
10. Yıldız Fountain
Monuments restored by Bezmialem
11. Galata Bereketzade Fountain
12. Beşiktaş Serencebey Yokuşu Hasırcı Veli Sokağı Fountain
13. Silivri Babüssaade Ağası Abdullah Ağa Fountain
14. Kasımpaşa Sahaf Muhyiddin Cami Fountain
15. Topkapı Çukurçeşme (fountain) originally built by Mehmed the Conqueror
Monuments built by Pertevniyal
16. Aksaray Mosque Complex
17. Yenibahçe Fountain
18. Fatih Karagümrük Fountain
19. Kasımpaşa Valide Fountain
20. Samatya Armenian Girls’ School (after her moneylender Mısırloğlu Bogos’
suggestion)
Monuments restored by Pertevniyal
21. Emin Baba Dervish Lodge
22. Yahya Efendi Mausoleum
23. Aydın Kethüda Mosque
24. Fatih Karagümrük Fountain next to the Armenian Church
284
Figure 11 Bezmialem's Vakfiye, Sultan's Handwriting
Figure 12 Pertevniyal's Vakfiye, Sultan's Handwriting Next to the Prayer Page
285
Figure 13 Pertevniyal's seal-ring, with the names of Ashâb-ı Kehf
Figure 14 The Inscription of Yahya Efendi's Mausoleum
Figure 15 The Cover and a Page Sample from Bezmialem's Vakfiye
286
Figure 16 Cover and a Page Sample from the Pertevniyal's Vakfiye
Figure 17 Covers from Hadice Turhan Valide Sultan's, Haseki Gülnuş Valide Sultan's and Mihrişah Valide
Sultan's Vakfiyes
287
Figure 18 Adornment in Şah Sultan's Vakfiye
Figure 19 Mihrişah Sultan's Vakfiye
288
Figure 20 Bezmialem's Vakfiye, Prayer Section
Figure 21 Hatice Sultan, Authetication of the Original Vakfiye
289
Figure 22 Bezmialem's Original Vakfiye
Figure 23 A Pink Rose Painted at the End of Hakani's Hilye-i Şerîf, 1717 (H 1130), Süleymaniye Kütüphanesi
290
Figure 24 Design of the Prophet Muhammad's Sandal with Pink Rose, al-Maqqari (d.1620), Fath al-muta'al fi
madh al-ni'al (An Opening from the Most High in Praising the Sandal) Ottoman Turkish, 18tth or 19th century,
Kayseri, Raşit Efendi Eski Eserler Kütüphanesi
Figure 25 Pertevniyal's Original Vakfiye
291
Figure 26 Bezmialem's and Pertevniyal's Page Samples in the Original Vakfiye
Figure 27 Bezmialem Zeyl Samples, Zeyl 1 and 2
292
Figure 28 Pertevniyal Zeyl Samples, Zeyl 1 and 2
Figure 29 Pertevniyal, Zeyl 9
293
Figure 30 Bezmialem Header Decoration of Zeyl 1
Figure 31 Bezmialem’s Header Decoration Zeyl 11, The Gureba Hospital
294
Figure 32 Bezmialem Zeyl 13, The Valide Mektebi, Header Decoration
Figure 33 Bezmialem Zeyl 13, The Valide Mektebi, Footer Decoration
295
Figure 34 Bezmialem Valide Mektebi Inscription, Today Cağaloğlu Anadolu Lisesi
Figure 35 Cağaloğlu Anadolu Lisesi Main Building
296
Figure 36 Cağaloğlu Anadolu Lisesi Inscription on the Main Building
Figure 37 The Elevated Plan of the Bezmialem Valide Mektebi
297
Figure 38 École de Garçons et Mairie a Cheilly, Saone-Et-Loire
Figure 39 École de Garçons à Rouen, Seine-Inférieure
Figure 40 École de Filles et de Garçons à Lyon, Rhône
298
Figure 41 The Idadi School of Jerusalem
Figure 42 The Idadi School of Trabzon
299
Figure 43 Pertevniyal School Inscription, Photo by the Author.
Figure 44 Aksaray Mosque Complex in the 19th-century Map
300
Figure 45 Karl Ambros Bernard's Tomb in Istanbul at Church Santa Maria Draperis
Figure 46 Plan of Fatih Darüşşifası
Figure 47 Fatih Darüşşifası by Ülker Erke
301
Figure 58 Plan of Süleymaniye Darüşşifası
Figure 49 Süleymaniye Darüşşifası by Ülker Erke
302
Figure 50 Mekteb-i Tıbbiye-i Adliye-i Şahane by M. Feraud
Figure 51 Mekteb-i Tıbbiye-i Adliye-i Şahane by Süheyl Ünver
303
Figure 52 Gureba Hospital by Ülker Erke
Figure 53 Plan of Gureba Hospital
304
Figure 54 Allgemeine Krankenhaus in Munich
Figure 55 Gureba's Entrance, Photo by the Author.
305
Figure 56 Allegemeines Krankenhaus, Vienna
Figure 57 The Second Julius Hospital, Würzburg, Germany
306
Figure 58 British Hospital at the Selimiye Barracks, Üsküdar, 1856. Photo by the Author at Florence
Nightingale Museum, London
Figure 59 Plk-p 00283 001, 15 Z 1311,Plan of additional stone barracks for the Gureba Hospital, 1894
307
Figure 60 The Gureba Hospital by Ülker Erke Figure 61 The Gureba Mosque (Photo by the Author)
Figure 62 The Gureba Mosque (Photo by the Author)
308
Figure 63 Nusretiye Mosque (www.archnet.org)
Figure 64 Dolmabahçe Mosque in 1862 (www.eskiistanbul.net)
309
Figure 65 Ortaköy Mosque, around 1853-1858 by James Robertson (www.eskiistanbul.net)
Figure 66 Dolmabahçe Mosque, Minaret Detail (Photo by Seda Toksoy)
Figure 67 Nusretiye Mosque, Interior
310
Figure 68 Ortaköy Cami, Interior (Photo by Seda Toksoy)
Figure 69 Dolmabahçe Mosque, Interior (Photo by Seda Toksoy)
Figure 70 Gureba Mosque, Interior (Photo by the Author)
311
Figure 71 Gureba Mosque, Inscription at the Entrance (Photo by the Author)
Figure 72 Gureba Mosque, Ceiling (Photo by the Author)
312
Figure 73 Nusretiye Mosque, Dome
Figure 74 Nusretiye Mosque, Sultan's Lodge
313
Figure 75 Gureba Mosque, Minber (Photo by the Author)
Figure 76 Gureba Mosque, Minber Detail (Photo by the Author)
314
Figure 77 Ortaköy Mosque, Dome and Pendentives (Photo by Seda Toksoy)
Figure 78 Gureba Mosque, Mihrab (Photo by the author)
315
Figure 79 Dolmabahçe Mosque, Dome and Pendentives (www.archnet.org)
Figure 80 Gureba Mosque, Hünkâr Mahfili (Photo by the author)
316
Figure 81 Aksaray Mosque, original photo by Jules Sandoz, Yıldız Palace Photo Album no. 90486, Nurhan
Atasoy, Yildiz Sarayı Fotoğraf Albümlerinden Yadigâr-ı İstanbul, Akkök Yayınları, 2007.
Figure 82 Aksaray Mosque Complex
317
Figure 83 TSMA D. 8214, Pertevniyal's Mausoleum Plan
318
Figure 84 TSMA D. 8215, Pertevniyal's Mosque Plan
Figure 85 https://www.flickr.com/photos/britishlibrary/11220014974/
319
Figure 86 Plans of Aksaray circa 1850 and circa 1870 in Displaying the Orient
Figure 87 South Entrance Gate, on the Aksaray Caddesi (www.ottomaninscriptions.com)
320
Figure 88 Aksaray Mosque, East Entrance Gate on the Atatürk Bulvarı (Photo by the Author)
Figure 89 Pertevniyal Mosque, Floor Plan by Afife Batur
321
Figure 90 Green Mosque, Bursa, Floor Plan (www.archnet.org)
Figure 91 Aksaray Mosque, Dome (Photo by the Author)
322
Figure 92 Aksaray Mosque, Dome Detail (Photo by the Author)
Figure 93 The Comparison of the Minarets’ Diameters
323
Figure 94 Aksaray Mosque, Minaret Detail (Photo by the Author)
Figure 95 Sultan Ahmed Mosque Entrance
324
Figure 96 New Valide Sultan Mosque Entrance
Figure 97 Dolmabahçe Palace, Entrance Facade
325
Figure 98 Pertevniyal Mosque, Tower Detail (Photo by the Author)
Figure 99 Pertevniyal Mosque, Interior (Photo by the Author)
326
Figure 100 Pertevniyal Mosque, Dome (Photo by the Author)
Figure 101 Pertevniyal Mosque, Mihrab and Minber (Photo by the Author)
327
Figure 102 Green Mosque, Bursa, Mihrab
Figure 103 Dolmabahçe Mosque, Mihrab and Minber
328
Figure 104 Pertevniyal Mosque, Minber Detail (Photo by the Author)
Figure 105 Küçük Mecidiye Mosque, Çırağan (Photo by Seda Toksoy)
329
Figure 106 Küçük Mecidiye Cami, Minaret Detail, Photo by Seda Toksoy
330
Figure 107 The Hamidiye Mosque at the Yıldız Palace
Figure 108 Mausoleum of Mehmed Reşad V