Ottomans at the Alhambra, 1844-1914: An Investigation into the Perception of Al-Andalus by Ottoman Subjects in Times of Modernity (original) (raw)
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2021
This dissertation could not have happened without the guidance and support of my advisor, Professor Emine Fetvacı, to whom I owe the greatest thanks. Emine's encyclopedic knowledge of the history of Islamic art, as well as her compassion and genuine care for her students has truly made my experience as a graduate student the best that it could be. Professor Jodi Cranston also deserves great thanks for encouraging me to push the boundaries of theoretical discourse, both in my dissertation writing and during in-class discussions. Jodi has asked me some truly challenging questions along the way, but always responded to my attempts to answer them with kindness. I am grateful to my committee members, who entertained my ideas of crossdisciplinary connections with grace and curiosity: Professors Jonathan Ribner, Alice Tseng, and Sunil Sharma. Professor Sharma deserves extra thanks for his extreme patience in teaching me the basics of Persian grammar. Thanks is also due to other faculty in the Department of the History of Art and Architecture, including Cynthia Becker, who offered coaching and support as I prepared for candidacy exams, Ross Barrett, Sibel Bozdoğan, Deborah Kahn, who trusted me to be her research assistant, Fred Kleiner, who believed in my teaching ability, and Michael Zell, who let me cry in his office on at least one occasion. The Institute of Turkish Studies (ITS) and Koç Holding provided funding and support for research conducted in Istanbul during the 2019-2020 year. I wish to thank Günsel Renda and her students at Koç University for their hospitality. Professor Renda's generosity, feedback, and suggestions were invaluable to my dissertation project. Thanks vi to Vasia Mole at Koç University Research Center for Anatolian Civilizations (ANAMED) for consistently offering assistance and cheer on cold December mornings. ITS also provided funding for my language studies at the Intensive Ottoman and Turkish Summer School of the Ottoman Studies Foundation in 2018. For their language courses at Cunda, I thank Selim Kuru, Yorgos Dedes, Maryam Niazadeh, Evangelia Balta, and Gülşah Taşkın. Special thanks to Berk Emek and the acil servis staff at Ayvalık Devlet Hastanesi for making sure I made it through the summer safely. To Himmet and Abdullah Hocas, thank you for helping me through the excruciatingly slow process of transcription and translation. I thank Niko Kontovas and Roberta Micallef likewise for their patience in teaching me modern Turkish.
Ever since William Chambers built his fantasy Alhambra garden folly in Kew Gardens in 1758, the famous Nasrid palace in Granada has been reproduced and re-imagined by architects and designers all over the world. From the Alhambra Palace theatre that stood in Leicester Square in London to the Alhambresque interior of the pumphouse at Potsdam - these are versions of the palace, filtered through both the publications of Owen Jones and fantastic imaginations, in which the Alhambra was used to conjure up an exotic, luxurious or wondrous place. But exotic was not the only meaning of the nineteenth-century Alhambresque. In this paper I look at how the Alhambresque was used to express different ideas about identity and culture in the nineteenth century, focusing on examples in the Ottoman Islamic world. Using specific examples I show the variety of complex meanings that came to be expressed through the many different versions of this medieval Islamic palace.
Abu al-Thana Shihab al-Din al-Alusi (1802-1854) was one of the most prominent scholars of 19th century Ottoman Empire. Alusi was dismissed from the position of Mufti of Baghdad based on the accusation that he was a Wahhabi. However, he insisted that he was loyal to Ottoman authorities and had finally proved this. This article discusses al-Alusi's theological identity and whether he was a Wahhabi or sufi. It is found that the Ottoman government had a sensitivity against the British-supported Wahhabism at the time and has misjudged his salafi character. The article secondly shows his struggle for clearing the label from his name. In order to regain his reputation, al-Alusi finished his Tafsir, Ruh al-Maani and sent it to Istanbul to prove that he has not any intellectual links with this destructive group, namely wahhabis, on the contrary he respects Islamic tradition and is loyal to Ottomans. The study is based on the original appeal letter he gave to the government and the offical response that was provided to him. Aside from the other offical reports, these two official documents provided in this article are published academically for first time. Sufi mi Selefi mi? Alusi'nin Ruhu'l-Meani Tefsiri ile Osmanlı Bürokrasisine Karşı Mücadelesi Öz: Ebu's-Sena Şihabuddin el-Alusi (1802-1854) 19. yüzyıl Osmanlı önemli alimlerin-den birisidir. Alusi vahhabi olduğu gerekçesi ile Bağdat müftülüğü görevinden alınmıştır. Ancak Osmanlıya olan bağlılığı konusunda ısrarcı oldu ve bunu da ispatladı. Bu makale Alusi'nin teolojik kimliğinin vahhabi mi yoksa sufi mi olduğunu tartışmak-tadır. Ingiliz destekli wahhabi hareketine karşı bir hassasiyete sahip olan dönemin Os-manlı hükümetinin onun selefi karakterini yanlış yorumlamış olduğu ortaya çıkmıştır. Bu makale ayrıca onun ismindeki bu lekeyi temizlemek için yaptığı çabaları göstermektedir. İtibarını yeniden elde etmek için Alusi Ruhu'l-Meani adlı eserini tamamlamış ve vahhabiler adlı yıkıcı ve bölücü bir örgütle herhangi bir entellektüel bağı olmadığını, aksine İslam geleneğine saygılı ve Osmanlıya bağlı olduğunu göstermek için bu eserini İstanbula göndermiştir. Bu çalışma Alusinin hükümete gönderdiği temyiz dilekçesi ile hükümetin ona verdiği cevabi yazıya dayanmaktadır. Diğer belgeler bir tarafa bu iki resmi yazı akademik bir çalışmada ilk defa yayınlanmaktadır.
Journal of Arabic Literature, 44/2 (2013): 181-239 This article deals with a literary offering presented by Ibn Sulṭān (d. 1544) — a Mamluk Damascene ʿālim who eventually became the Ottoman muftī of Damascus — to Sultan Selīm I that dates back to shortly after the Ottoman conquest of Syria. Entitled al-Jawāhir al-muḍiyyah fī ayyām dawlat al-Turkiyyah, this hitherto unpublished work is here made available in a critical edition introduced by an extended literary analysis. With both inter- and contextual corroboration, my close reading of al-Jawāhir identifies an extended double entendre: while a " benevolent reading " shows praise fostered by the author's ambitions, a " malevolent reading " reveals exhorta-tion stemming from the author's anxieties, subtly conveyed through the text's modes of shifting between topics and interweaving of multiple voices of authority. My close reading thus reveals al-Jawāhir to be as much a specimen of a time-honored genre of elite communication as it is a product of its specific author and his time. By recognizing the personalized message conveyed by the author in turning to the highly conventionalized medium of the literary offering, this article adds to the ongoing reevaluation of other seemingly rigid genres, such as the mirror for princes and qaṣīdah.
Transformation of Words to Images: Portraits of Ottoman Courtiers in the "Dîwâns" of Bâkî and Nâdirî
RES: Anthropology and Aesthetics, 2003
Ottoman court and regarded as an integral part of its organization. They formed a body known as the Ehl-i Hiref, whose members produced a vast range of works of art and artifacts for the sultan and his court.1 The number of palace artists and craftsmen varied from 600 to 900 in the sixteenth century. Expenditure on articles made by them and on wages paid to them amounted to huge sums annually, and the fact that the court was prepared to pay such sums for the production of works of art shows that this was seen as a function of the state and a display of power. Qur'ans and manuscripts on religious, historical, and literary subjects with illumination, illustrations, and finely crafted bindings, and albums (muraqqa) comprising works of calligraphy, miniature painting, and illumination are among the arts of the book produced by the Ehl-i Hiref. Although Ottoman rulers were the main patrons of the arts of the book, leading statesmen and bureaucrats also commissioned such items from the beginning of the fifteenth century. Umur Beg (d. 1461), a prominent statesman during the reigns of Mehmed I (1413-1421) and Murad II (1421-1444; 1446-1451) was an Ottoman intellectual and bibliophile, as demonstrated by the list of the books which he endowed to the medrese he established in his own name in Bergama, and to the zaviya and mosque established by his father Timurta? Pa?a in Bursa.2 The similarity of the binding decoration of these books to that of the tiles, woodwork, stone carving, and mural painting of early Ottoman buildings in Bursa suggests that the first organized Ottoman art studios were situated in Bursa.3 The most intensive period of interest displayed by courtiers in the arts, particularly those of the book, coincides with the reign of Sultan S?leyman I (1520 1566). Grand vizier Ibrahim P??a (d. 1536) and finance minister (defterdar) ?skender may be said to have initiated intervention by Ottoman statemen in artistic activity at the palace by launching projects intended to display the power of Sultan S?leyman.4 The collection of books which R?stern Ra?a acquired while serving as grand vizier (1544-1553; 1555-1561) and the Qur'ans which he donated to his mosque in Tahtakale, Istanbul, reveal him to have been a bibliophile.5 It was during his period that Matrak?i Nasuh wrote and illustrated history books;6 that ?rif ?elebi, a writer of offical memoranda (tezkireci), was appointed ?ehnameci and wrote the five volumes of ?ehn?me-i ?l-i Osman that was illustrated by the court artists;7 and that an outsized Qur'an project was started and its 220 folios transcribed by Ahmed Karahisari between the years 1545-1555.8 But it was grand vizier Sokullu Mehmed Raja who can really be said to have pioneered major projects by court artists of the book. His interest in such projects seems to have begun in 1555 when he was appointed third vizier, since it was probably no coincidence that the history of
CEDRUS, X, The Journal of MCRI, 2022
The subject of this paper is a series of variants on an alleged translation into English first published in the late 17th c. of what was said to be an ordinance-order-command-proclamation-decree, a firman, allegedly issued in consequence of Ottoman military defeats, by the Ottoman Sultans Süleyman II. (1687-1691), Mustafa II. (1695-1703), and Ahmed III. (1703-1730), for fasting throughout Ottoman territory on Mondays and Fridays by all Ottoman subjects, and, a procession to be held three times in three consecutive months at Mecca. This procession was to transport the coffin of the Prophet Mohammed over a distance of 20 or 10 or 25 miles, with lamentations and flagellations and a number of human sacrifice per mile, all specified in the alleged Order of Procession, to obtain the intercession of the Prophet Muhammed with the Almighty to ensure the future success of Ottoman arms. Published in English as a broadside pamphlet in 1687, and then in a journal article entitled Advice From Turky-News from Turkey in 1697, but which are in fact examples of black propaganda. This series of alleged Ottoman decrees was published in English in variant forms in a variety of publications over the course of nearly two centuries. Doubtless many readers over these two centuries believed the allegations made in these alleged Ottoman decrees to be true, not the malicious fabrications they are, thereby reinforcing the illusion of truth concerning the bigotry and barbarity of "the Other". Bu makalenin konusunu Sultan II. Süleyman (1687-1691), II. Mustafa (1695-1703) ve III. Ahmet(1703-1730) zamanında gerçekleşen askerî yenilgiler sonrasında hazırlandığı iddia edilen ve Osmanlı topraklarında pazartesi ve cuma günleri bütün tebaanın oruç tutmasını ve üç ay üst üste Mekke’de alay düzenlenmesini emreden ferman oluşturmaktadır. Bu sözde fermanın İngilizce tercümesi 17. yüzyılın sonuna doğru basılmış ve çeşitli türevleri farklı zamanlarda tekrar tekrar çeşitli yazılı kaynaklarda yer almıştır. Bu yayınlara göre fermanda peygamberin şefaati ile Allah’tan Osmanlı ordusunun gelecekteki başarısını dilemek üzere üç kere düzenlenmesi gereken tören alayının kuralları da tanımlanmaktadır. Buna göre, peygamberin tabutu farklı yayınlara göre yaklaşık 10, 20 ya da 25 millik (40 km) bir mesafe olan tören güzergâhı boyunca taşınacak, yol boyunca katılanlar kendilerini kırbaçlayarak ağıtlar yakacak ve her mil başına bir insan kurban edilecektir. İngilizcede ilk kez 1687 yılında bir broşür olarak basılan, daha sonra bir dergide “Advice from Turky/News from Turkey” başlığı ile yer alan 1697 tarihli bu metin aslında kara propaganda örneği olarak değerlendirilmelidir. Bu sözde Osmanlı Fermanlarının İngiliz dilindeki farklı versiyonları yaklaşık iki yüz yıl boyunca basılan çeşitli yayınlarda yer almıştır. Pek çok İngiliz okuryazar 20. yüzyıla kadar iki yüzyıl boyunca sözde ve sahte Osmanlı fermanlarında yer alan kasti kötücül iddiaları gerçek kabul etmiştir. Bu da “Öteki”nin barbar ve yobaz olduğuna dair gerçeklik illüzyonu yaratılmasını sağlamıştır.
The Self-Fashioning of an Ottoman Urban Notable: Ahmad Efendi Tahazâde (d. 1773)
While historians have learned much about the political, social, and economic roles of the Ottoman provincial elites (a‘yān) in the 18th century, little is known about their cultural orientations and personal interests. Functioning as political intermediaries between the Ottoman central government and local populations, the majority of the a‘yān were effectively placed in an ambiguous position between the cosmopolitan demands of service as Ottoman officials and the cultural particularism of the local society in which they were or had become rooted. This study takes in hand the foundation document of a college (madrasa) built in mid-18th century Aleppo by a Muslim judge (qadi) and merchant, Tahazâde Ahmad Efendi. Examining together the document’s constituent elements, primarily the library inventory, personnel recruitment strategy, curriculum stipulations, and prayer supplications, this study discerns a calculated and fine-tuned effort on the part of the founder to fashion a distinct and autonomous social status and cultural identity. On the one hand, Ahmad Efendi identifies with the Ottoman legal and social establishment as through the prescribed teaching of Hanafi jurisprudence in the curriculum of the madrasa, the plurality of Hanafi texts in his library, and his cultivation of Turkish and Persian poetry in the Edeb-i Osmani tradition. On the other hand, Ahmad Efendi carves out a space within which he asserts his own cultural and intellectual orientation. This is seen most notably through promotion of his sharīf lineage and pursuit of group leadership as naqīb al-ashrāf, which is reinforced by ownership of prestigious genealogical texts in his library; the cultivation of an pre-Ottoman awareness tied primarily to the Mamluk Sultanate as seen in his concentrated acquisition of chronicles and biographical dictionaries of that era and his affiliation with multiple pre-Ottoman Sufî orders with proud but temporally remote local histories; his extensive financial and technical support for the training of timekeepers (muwaqqits); and, perhaps most strikingly, his explicit and extensive patronage of Kurds, primarily from the area of Mosul, as teachers and students in his madrasa Öz 18. yüzyıl Osmanlı taşrasındaki seçkinlerin (âyânlar) siyasî, sosyal ve iktisadî rol-lerine dair bir çok araştırma mevcut olsa da söz konusu ayanların kültürel yönelimleri ve kişisel ilgileri hakkındaki bilgilerimiz hâlâ sınırlıdır. Merkezî Osmanlı hükümeti ile taşradaki tebaa arasında siyasî arabulucu işlevi görmekte olan âyânların bir çoğu, Osmanlı memuru olmaları hasebiyle de kendilerinden yapmaları beklenen muhtelif görevler ile içinde bulundukları ya da kök saldıkları taşra toplumlarının kültürel hususiyetçiliği (particularism) arasında kalan grift bir yerde bulunmaktaydılar. Bu çalışmada, yukarıda tasvir edilen seçkinlerden birinin, hem kadılık hem de tüccarlık yapan Tahazâde Ahmed Efendi'nin, 18. yüzyıl ortalarında Halep'te kurduğu bir med-resenin vakfiyesi incelenmiştir. Vakfiye metni, bilhassa kütüphane envanteri, istihdam stratejisi, müfredat şartı ve seçilen dualar incelenmiş, ve Tahazâde Ahmed Efendi'nin hesaplı ve incelikli bir şekilde kendine has ve muhtar bir sosyal statü ve kültürel kimlik tasarladığı tespit edilmiştir. Ahmed Efendi'nin medrese müfredatında Hanefî fıkhına yer vermesi, kütüphanesinde ekseriyetle Hanefî mezhebiyle ilgili eserlerin olması ve Edeb-i Osmanî geleneği dairesinde Türk ve Fars şiiri ile ilgilenmesi, kendisini Os-manlı adli ve içtimai düzeni ile özdeşleştirdiğini göstermektedir. Öte taraftan Ahmed Efendi'nin kendi kültürel ve entelektüel yönelimini ortaya koyduğu bir alanı da inşa etmekten kaçınmadığı tespit edilebilmektedir. Bu husus özellikle kendi şerif liğini öne çıkarması ve nakibüleşrafa liderlik yapmak istemesinde açıkça fark edilebilmek-tedir. Yine kütüphanesinde önemli şecere metinlere sahip olması, Osmanlı öncesine dair farkındalığı (örneğin Memluk Sultanlığı dönemine ait kronikleri ve biyografik sözlükleri edinmeye özellikle gayret sarfetmesi, Osmanlı öncesi saygın ve mahalli olarak köklü bir çok Sufî tarikatine mensubiyeti), muvakkitlerin eğitimine verdiği