Glorifying the past in the Ottoman court: Tercüme-i Şakâ'ikû'n-nu'mânîye

Abstract

This article focuses on the illustrated manuscript of Şakâ'ikû'n-nu'mânîye, which was written in Arabic in 1558 by the Ottoman scholar Taşköprîzâde Ahmed (1495-1561) and translated into Turkish by Muhtasibzâde Mehmed Hâkî (d. 1567). During the reign of Osman II (1618-22) an illustrated version of Tercüme-i Şakâ'ikû'n-nu'mânîye was prepared on the decree of Gürcü Mehmed Paşa, the second vizier to the Sultan. This illustrated manuscript occupies a very significant place among Ottoman book illustrations since it is the only illustrated scholar biography known to exist. After dwelling on the preparation process of the illustrated manuscript, this study discusses the iconographic meaning of the drawings in the manuscript and explains why the Court of Osman II may have felt the need to have an illustrated version of Tercüme-i Şakâ'ikû'nnu'mânîye prepared so many years after the work was written. For this purpose the study looks into not only the political situation of the Ottoman Court in the 17th Century but also the role played by illustrated books in the struggle for power among various authorities in Court. In this regard, the study also provides an account of the concerns the Court may have felt during the preparation of the iconographic program of Tercüme-i Şakâ'ikû'n-nu'mânîye. All these suggest that Tercüme-i Şakâ'ikû'n-nu'mânîye was not just an illustrated scholar biography but a political instrument conveying a variety of messages through its content and iconography in the changing atmosphere of the 17th Century Ottoman Court. © Ahmet Yesevi University Board of Trustees.