The Legitimacy of the Ottoman Dynasty in Müneccimbaşi Ahmed Dede’S Camiu’D-Duvel
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View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by Istanbul Sehir University Repository THE LEGITIMACY OF THE OTTOMAN DYNASTY IN MÜNECCİMBAŞI AHMED DEDE’S CAMİU’D-DUVEL ŞEYMA NUR TEMEL İSTANBUL ŞEHİR UNIVERSITY JUNE 2017 THE LEGITIMACY OF THE OTTOMAN DYNASTY IN MÜNECCİMBAŞI AHMED DEDE’S CAMİU’D-DUVEL A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF HUMANITIES AND SOCIAL SCIENCES OF İSTANBUL ŞEHİR UNIVERSITY BY ŞEYMA NUR TEMEL IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS IN HISTORY JUNE 2017 I hereby declare that all information in this document has been obtained and presented in accordance with academic rules and ethical conduct. I also declare that, as required by these rules and standards, I have fully cited and referenced all material and results that are not original to this work. First Name, Last Name: Şeyma Nur Temel Signature: ABSTRACT THE LEGITIMACY OF THE OTTOMAN DYNASTY IN MÜNECCİMBAŞI AHMED DEDE’S CAMİU’D-DUVEL Temel, Şeyma Nur MA in History Thesis Advisor: Assist. Prof. Abdurrahman Atçıl June 2017, 86 pages This thesis aims at understanding the image of the Ottoman dynasty in the mind of a seventeenth-century intellectual, Müneccimbaşı Ahmed Dede (d.1702), based on his universal history, Camiu’d-duvel. It investigates the author’s various discursive strategies in presenting the legitimacy of the rule of the Ottoman dynasty in the Ottoman historiography. Written in a period when the Ottoman state experienced crisis and transformation, and the Ottoman sultans was exposed to many criticisms and challenges, an intimate officer of the sultan, Müneccimbaşı’s account provides an exciting opportunity to examine the attitude of the Ottoman elites about the roots of the Ottoman power and its future. In each chapter, I first offer an overview of the tools that the previous Ottoman historiographical tradition had made recourse to provide the Ottoman dynasty with legitimacy and then discuss Müneccimbaşı’s innovative use of these tools and revision of the previous historical presentations in a way that would serve his own ideological purposes. Keywords: Müneccimbaşı Ahmed Dede, Camiu’d-duvel, history writing, seventeenth century, legitimacy, Sufism. iv ÖZ MÜNECCİMBAŞI AHMED DEDE’NİN CAMİU’D-DUVEL ADLI ESERİNDE OSMANLI HANEDANININ MEŞRUİYETİ Temel, Şeyma Nur Tarih Yüksek Lisans Programı Tez Danışmanı: Yrd. Doç. Dr. Abdurrahman Atçıl Haziran 2017, 86 sayfa Bu tez, Müneccimbaşı Ahmed Dede’nin evrensel tarihi Camiu’d-duvel üzerinden, bir on yedinci yüzyıl entelektüelinin gözünden Osmanlı hanedanının meşruiyetinin nasıl göründüğünü anlamayı hedeflemektedir. Bu amaçla, hanedanın gücünün meşruiyetini sunarken yazarın kendinden önceki Osmanlı tarihçilerinin geleneğinden farklılıkları incelenmektedir. Osmanlı Devleti’nin kriz ve değişimlerle yüzleştiği bir dönemde yazan Müneccimbaşı’nın eseri Osmanlı gücünün menşei ve onun geleceği hakkında bir elitin görüşlerini incelemek için umut vaat eden bir imkan sunmaktadır. Bu anlamda, her bölümde, ilk olarak, Osmanlı tarih yazımı geleneğinde hanedana meşruiyet kazandırmak başvurulan kullanılan araçların genel bir çerçevesini sunulmakta, sonrasında Müneccimbaşı’nın önceki tarihlerim sunumlarında ufak değişiklikler yaparak bu sunumlara nasıl yeni bir form verdiği incelenmektedir. Münecimbaşı’nın müdahaleleri, varsa değişiklikleri yazarın bağlamına oturtularak yazarın kendi ideolojik amaçları keşfedilmeye çalışılmıştır. Anahtar Kelimeler: Müneccimbaşı Ahmed Dede, Camiu’d-duvel, meşruiyet, tarih yazımı, on yedinci yüzyıl, Sufizm. v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First and foremost, I want to express my gratitude to my advisor Abdurrahman Atçıl for his guidance throughout this process. I would not have been able to finish this project without his criticisms and encouragements. Also, I would like to express my gratitude to my committee members Abdulhamid Kırmızı and Ertuğrul Ökten for their careful examination of my thesis and constructive criticisms. I should also thank Jeff Turner for reading my text and editing parts of this work. I want to acknowledge that I am grateful to Himmet Taşkömür. He first attracted my attention to Camiu’d-duvel and taught me to ask more questions and look for more answers in the Ottoman historical narratives. In addition to his classes, the other courses that I took from other professors at Şehir University helped me to deepen my historical understanding and to learn how a historian scratch the surface of the texts to acquire historical evidences. In this respect, I feel indebted to Mehmet Genç, Abdulhamid Kırmızı, Kahraman Şakul, and Günhan Börekçi. I owe special gratitude to Murteza Bedir. He gave me the courage to take my first step as a historian by encouraging me to continue my academic career in the field of history. I also want to thank all my professors at the Center for Sciences and Arts (ISM), especially Muhammed Emin Kılıç. Thanks to his classes on classical Arabic grammar and reading texts in Arabic, I could have the confidence to study a text in Arabic. I am grateful to my friends for their company in both the hard and good times of carrying out research for and writing the thesis. Birnur Deniz was with me in every phase of this process, providing me moral support whenever I needed and being an eager listener when I was confused in composing my narrative. Şeyma Özdemir was my first reader and shared her valuable comments. Halime Çınar was my most consistent partner on coffee breaks in the library. Having their company has been a source of motivation for me to continue. vi Last but not least, I am extremely thankful for my family’s continuous support and trust in me. Their prayers have kept me in track and played a major role in my progress from the very beginning of my education. vii TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract ....................................................................................................................... iv Öz ................................................................................................................................. v Acknowledgements ..................................................................................................... vi Table of Contents ...................................................................................................... viii CHAPTERS 1. INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................ 1 1.1. Framework for the Studies on the Seventeenth Century ................................ 1 1.2. Studies on Camiu’d-duvel ................................................................................. 4 1.3. Approaching Sources ........................................................................................ 6 1.4. Shift in the Argumentations on the Legitimacy of the Ottoman Dynasty ....... 8 2. SUBSTANTIATING THE LEGITIMACY OF OTTOMAN IMPERIAL CLAIMS IN THE LATE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY ............................................................................................ 11 2.1. Müneccimbaşı’s Rearticulation of the Ottoman Dynastic Myth .................... 12 2.2. Genealogy ....................................................................................................... 14 2.3. Seljuk Inheritance ........................................................................................... 15 2.4. Religious Authorization .................................................................................. 20 2.5. Islamic/Mamluk Legitimacy ............................................................................ 23 2.6. Reconception of the Ottoman Sultans’ Relationship with Their Subjects ..... 25 2.7. Argument for the Eternity of the Ottoman Dynasty ...................................... 27 2.8. Conclusion ...................................................................................................... 33 3. PRESENTATION OF THE RELATIONS WITH CHRISTIANS ......................................... 34 3.1. The Hostility with Non-Muslims as a Sign of Piety ......................................... 39 3.2. The Outcome of the Trust in the People of Blasphemy ................................. 45 3.3. The Christian Wives ........................................................................................ 49 3.4. Conclusion ...................................................................................................... 52 4. THE EARLY OTTOMANS AND SUFIS IN MÜNECCIMBAŞI’S ACCOUNT .................... 54 4.1. Kadızadeli Challenge ....................................................................................... 55 4.2. The Central Role of Mevlevis in the Foundation and Continuation of the Ottoman Political Enterprise ................................................................................. 57 4.3. Emir Sultan ..................................................................................................... 62 viii 4.4. The Clothing of the Ottoman Rulers .............................................................. 65 4.5. The Suppression of Memories of Certain Sufi Groups ................................... 69 4.6. Conclusion ...................................................................................................... 75 5. CONCLUSION .......................................................................................................... 77 BIBLIOGRAPHY............................................................................................................ 80 ix CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION Müneccimbaşı Ahmed Dede’s historical