Ottoman Historical Documents

V. L. Ménage (1920-2015) was Professor of Turkish at SOAS, London. Colin Imber was formerly a Reader in Turkish at the University of Manchester.

• The Islamic MonthsThe Ottoman Sultans, c1300–1687List of IllustrationsPrefaceMapsFiguresChapter I: The Dynasty: Legitimation and TitulatureSection 1: The Assertions of the ChroniclersThe voice of the dervishes: the dream of Ertoġrula. From the Anonymous Chroniclesb. From the Tevārīkh-i Āl-i ʿOṣmānThe voice of the ġāzīs: how ʿOsmān became an independent rulerThe voice of the ʿulemā: how ʿOsmān became an independent rulera. Kitab-ı Cihan-nüma about why ʿOsmān is called ġāzīb. Kitab-ı Cihan-nüma about how drum and standard came to ʿOsmānPagan Turkish tradition: the genealogy of the Ottoman sultansa. Yazıcıoğlu ‘Alī on the line of ʿOsmānb. Şükrullāh on the line of ʿOsmānConflation in the Oxford Anonymous ChronicleSection 2: Titulature: Caliphal ClaimsInscription of Kayḫosrev II (1236–46) on the sea walls at AntalyaInscription on the tomb of the Aydın-oġlu Muḥammad (d. 1334) at BirgiInscription of 1337. from the Şehadet Mosque in BursaInscription from a bridge in Ankara, dated 1375Other inscriptions referring to Murād IDedicatory notice in a Qurʾān preserved in the mausoleum of Murād IInscription on the tomb of Bāyezīd I, dated 809/1406–7Title-page of an almanac (in Persian), dated 824. (1421)A reference in Ṭursun Beg’s History of Meḥmed IIA reference in Celālzāde’s History of Süleymān IEbuʾs-Suʿūd’s proemium to his statement on ‘state lands’The second deposition of Muṣṭafā I, 1623Fatwās on the Ghalzay Ashraf, 1726Süleymān I to Archduke Ferdinand of Austria, 1554SourcesChapter II: The Dynasty: PrincesSection 1: The Appointment of Princes in the Early Fourteenth CenturyʿOsmān’s sonsOrḫān’s sonsOrḫān’s sons, after the conquest of NicaeaSection 2: Princely GovernorshipsPrince Ḳorkud leaves Istanbul for his governorshipA letter from Prince ʿĀlemşāh’s mother Gülrūḥ to Bāyezīd IIA decree of Prince Aḥmed to the yaya yoldaşlarA decree of Prince Selīm [II]A decree of Prince Meḥmed [III]Section 3: FratricideStatement of the former Byzantine Emperor John VI KantakouzenosThe accession of Bāyezīd I, 1389a. From the Anonymous ChroniclesThe civil war (1402–13)The accession of Murād II, 1421The accession of Bāyezīd II, 1481The first accession of Meḥmed II, 1444The second accession of Meḥmed II, 1451a. From Michael Doukas’s Historia Turco-Byzantinab. From Ibn Kemāl’s Tevârih-i Âl-i OsmânPopular criticism of fratricide: the story of the abdication of ʿAlī PashaThe accession of Meḥmed III, 1595The accession of Aḥmed I, 1603SourcesChapter III: The Dynasty: Recruitment into the Sultan’s ServiceSection 1: Pencik and DevşirmeA decree regulating the pencikTolls to be levied on slaves taken across the BosphorusA template decree for levying boys for the devşirmeA Janissary lobbies the sultan on behalf of his familyEscaping the devşirmeThe recovery of a captured noviceSection 2: Promotion to the Sultan’s ServiceCommand to the aġa of the Janissaries, 1562/3Command to the aġa of the Janissaries, 1567/8Command to the aġa of the Janissaries, 1560/1Command to the aġa of the Janissaries, 1573/4Command to the aġa of the Janissaries, 1583The pay of palace servants: an account register from 1478Section 3: BerātsThe appointment of a preacher in BursaThe appointment of a beglerbegiThe appointment of a ḳāḍīThe appointment of a metropolitanThe appointment of mountain guardsSourcesChapter IV: The Vizierate and the DīvānThe Āṣaf-nāme of Luṭfī PaşaThe dīvān: a Venetian accountSubmissions to the sultana. Submission of the vizier Yemişçi Ḥasan Paşab. Submission of the vizier Yemişçi Ḥasan Paşac. Submission of the vizier Yemişçi Ḥasan Paşad. Submission of the vizier Yemişçi Ḥasan Paşae. Submission of Yemişçi Ḥasan Paşaf. Submission of the grand vizier Meḥmed PaşaThe sultan’s written instructionsDeath of a grand vizier: report of Henry LelloSourcesChapter V: The Provincial Administration and the Tīmār SystemFrom the report of Iacopo de Promontorio, c1475–80An entry in a tīmār-register, with marginal notesa. Tīmār of İnebegi and Ḥüseyn, sons of serʿasker Ḥasanb. [Possibly relating to the village of Yılınça]c. [possibly relating to the village of Pirvol]Two entries from the detailed register of Āmid, 1518a. Tīmār of Yemini the Kurd, a sipāhī of the sancaḳ of Āmidb. Tīmār of Saʿduʾllāh the yaṣavul, a sipāhī of the sancaḳ of ĀmidSundry marginal notes in a summary-register of c1445, Thessaloniki etc.Marginal notes in a similar register of 1455, Skopjea. Tīmār of Mūsā, retainer (ḥidmetkār) of ʿĪsā Begb. Tīmār of Yūsuf, kinsman of the mīr-aḫur Ḥamza BegTwo tīmār grantsa. Thessaloniki: the tīmār of Meḥmedb. Yalaḳabad [in the sancaḳ of] ḲocaeliConversion of privately-owned revenue to a ḫāṣṣ-estateA call for volunteers before the Moldavian campaign, 1484Submissions by and to the sancaḳ begi of Bosnia, c1512–14a. The sancaḳ begi of Işkodra to Yūnus Paşa of Bosniab. The sancak begi of Zvornik to Yūnusc. The sancaḳbegi of Bosnia to the nāʾib of Visokad. The sancaḳ begi of Bosnia to the Portee. The sancaḳbegi of Bosnia to the Portef. The sancaḳbegi of Bosnia to the Porteg. The sancaḳbegi of Bosnia to the Paşah. The sancaḳbegi of Bosnia to the Paşa‘The good old days’SourcesChapter VI: The Religio-Legal InstitutionSection 1: Law and Religious PracticePassages on the law of sale from Ḥanafī legal textsa. From al-Matn of al-Qudūrī (d. 1037)b. From al-Ikhtiyār fī taʿlīl al-Mukhtār of al-Mūṣilī (d. 1284)c. From al-Fatāwā of Qāḍīkhān (d. 1195)A fatwā on the application of Shāfiʿī doctrineA fatwā on acquiring land for a new mosque constructionA fatwā on taxing land occupied by descendants of the ProphetA fatwā on a ḳāḍī granting unauthorised tax exemptionsA fatwā on Rumelian ḳāḍīs issuing ḥüccetsA fatwā on sipāhīs taking a titheA fatwā on Muslim villagers neglecting prayerA fatwā on money fines for neglecting prayerA fatwā on executing a repentant heretic şeyḫCommand to the sancaḳbegi of AmasyaCommand to the sancaḳbegi of Amasya, İlyās begTo the sancaḳbegi of Kastamonu and the ḳāḍī of KüreTo the ḳāḍī of NiksarSection 2: The Administration of LawA ḥüccet on repairs to a monastery on Mount AthosA ḥüccet on returning a defective slave-girl to the vendorA sicill-entry on the sale of a vacant site by a Muslim to a dhimmiA sicill-entry on a debt owed by a dhimmī to a MuslimA sicill-entry on a money loanA sicill-entry on the daughter of a recent convertA sicill-entry on divorce and the legality of the wife’s second marriageA sicill-entry on cloth measuring shortA sicill-entry on unsatisfactory goodsA sicill-entry on a complaint by the weavers’ guildA sicill-entry on a smith not receiving his duesA sicill-entry on the payment of tax on a slave girlA sicill-entry on the ownership of sheepA sicill-entry on a burglaryA sicill-entry on a violent argument between father and sonA sicill-entry of a command to the sancaḳbegis and ḳāḍīs of AnaṭolıA sicill-entry of a command to the ḳāḍī and the inspector of muḳāṭaʿasA fatwā on contracting marriage between minorsA fatwā on the validity of contracting marriage without the ḳāḍīA fatwā on re-marrying without intermediate marriageA fatwā on giving customs money as zakātA fatwā on giving almsA fatwā on a preacher’s statement about a ḳāḍīA fatwā on the testimony of foreign merchants (ḥarbī) against a dhimmīA fatwā on a Christian woman’s charitable endowmentA fatwā on the Ottoman conquest of Istanbul and its surroundingsA fatwā on slaves purchasing slaves of their ownA fatwā on the sultan’s slaves contracting marriagesA fatwā on a ḳāḍī acting outside his jurisdictionA fatwā on the dismissal of a debauched ḳāḍīA fatwā on the death of a falsely accused person after wrongful tortureA fatwā on extortionate loan transactionsA fatwā on tax income for sipāhīsA fatwā on tax income, including in kind, for sipāhīsA fatwā on bennāk taxA fatwā on capitation tax (ispençe), grape tithe and taxes on pigsA fatwā on a rebellious son of the sultanA fatwā on those who lead the sultan astrayA fatwā on deposing a sultan who disturbs order by accepting briberyA fatwā on the legality of killing fomenters of corruptionA fatwā on punishment for a thief stealing from the imperial treasurySourcesChapter VII: ḲānūnnāmesThe ‘Kraelitz text’The ḳānūnnāme of Ḫüdāvendgār, 1487Extracts from the ‘general’ ḳānūnnāme, c1500The ḳānūnnāme of Siverek, 1518The ḳānūnnāme of Sīs, 1518The ḳānūnnāme of Nikopol, reign of Süleymān Ia. Instructions on dealing with the tīmārs of the districtb. Exposition of the ḳānūnnāme of the voynuḳsExtracts from the ḳānūnnāme of Egypt, after 1525SourcesChapter VIII: Taxation and FinanceAnnual income and expenditure of the Imperial Treasurya. An estimate of treasury income and expenditure, c1475–80b. An estimate of treasury income and expenditure for the years 1527–8Customs and muḳāṭaʿasa. Entry from a register of muḳāṭaʿasb. Entry from a register of muḳāṭaʿasc. A decree granting a muḳāṭaʿad. The problems of a tax-farmere. Demand for the delivery of payment due from a tax-farmf. Tax avoidanceg. Tax arrangements in newly conquered fortified townsh. A command written to the ḳāḍī and the fortress-commander of KiliSilver minesa. Instructions to a farmer of silver mines b. Extract from a register for Bosnia, 1489Jizyaa. Instructions to a jizya-collectorb. Two extracts from a jizya registerc. Accounts for the jizya of the infidels of the vilāyet of MenlikDebasement of the coinagea. Debasement under Meḥmed IIb. A debasement heralds a mutinySourcesChapter IX: WaqfsSection 1: Foundation and FunctionFounding a waqfA vizieral waqfA new waqfWaqfs established by conquerors and colonisersa. The waqf of Murād Ib.The waqf of the Ṣaru Şeyḫc. Note protecting dervishes who descend from the district’s conquerorThe Waqf of Mūsāa. A note on the village of Ḳızıl Delü, 1412b. A register entry on the waqf of Ḳızıl Delü, sixteenth centuryc. A renewed berāt for Ḳızıl Delü Sultan’s waqf, 1641/2d. An undated register entry on the waqf of Ḳızıl Delüe. Note appended to an undated register entry on the waqf of Ḳızıl DelüThe Waqf of OrḫānWaqfs in declinea. The Waqf of Dervīş Bāyezīd in Seydī Kavaġıb. The Waqf of Saġrı Ḫatunc. Waqf of the zāviye of Ḳāḍī Ṣalāḥuʾd-DīnThe waqfīya of Selçük bint ʿAbduʾllāh, freedwoman of MeḥmedSection 2: ProblemsA cash and family waqfCash and charitable waqfsa. The Waqf of charitable donors (erbāb-i ḫayrāt) in the quarterb. Waqf of charitable donorsc. Waqf of Ḥāccī Meḥmed in the village of Şeynelüd. The Waqf of Ḥāccī Ḥasan b. Ūrūc the FelterCash waqfs: Questions of legalitya. A question on donating profit from interestb. A question on interestc. A question on using legal devicesd. A question on making restitution for not lending out waqf moneysSourcesChapter X: Treaties and Foreign RelationsThe Genoese treaty with Murād I, 1387The Byzantine-Turkish Treaty of 1403The peace settlement of 1444a. The sworn statement of Ibrāhīm Beg of Ḳaramān, 1444b. The Treaty of Edirne, 1444A grant of peace and of free passage for merchantsAn offer to pay tributeThe peace terms offered by Süleymān I to Charles V, 1547The English capitulations, 1580The troubles of an ambassadorLatin text of the agreement at Zsitva-Torok, 1606SourcesGlossary; Bibliography; Index