The Ottoman World

Disciplines History Middle Eastern History

About the Book

The Ottoman lands, which extended from modern Hungary to the Arabian peninsula, were home to a vast population with a rich variety of cultures. The Ottoman World is the first primary source reader to bring a wide and diverse set of voices across Ottoman society into the classroom. Written in many languages—not only Ottoman Turkish but also Arabic, Armenian, Greek, Hebrew, Italian, and Persian—these texts, here translated, span the extent of the early modern Ottoman empire, from the 1450s to 1700.

Instructors are supplied with narratives conveying the lived experiences of individuals through texts that highlight human variety and accelerate a trend away from a state-centric approach to Ottoman history. In addition, samples from court registers, legends, biographical accounts, hagiographies, short stories, witty anecdotes, jokes, and lampoons provide exciting glimpses into popular mindsets in Ottoman society. By reflecting new directions in the scholarship with an innovative choice of texts, this collection provides a vital resource for teachers and students.

About the Author

Hakan T. Karateke is Professor of Ottoman and Turkish Culture, Language and Literature at the University of Chicago.

Helga Anetshofer is Lecturer in Turkish and Ottoman at the University of Chicago. She is coeditor of Disliking Others: Loathing, Hostility, and Distrust in Pre-Modern Ottoman Lands.

Reviews

"This brilliantly curated collection of translated sources will open up new and unexpected perspectives on the complexity and richness of Ottoman cultural life for students and teachers alike."—Joshua M. White, Associate Professor of History, University of Virginia

List of Illustrations
Acknowledgments
Preface

1 Letters of an Insecure Scholar, 1553
Zaifi, d. after 1557
Translated by A. Tunç Şen

2 Adversities at Sea: From Basra to Gujarat, 1554
Seydi Ali Reis, d. 1562
Translated by Ármin Vámbéry

3 Memoirs of an Ottoman Captive in Malta, 1597–98
Macuncuzade Mustafa, d. ca. Early Seventeenth Century
Translated by Helga Anetshofer

4 The Excommunication of a Greek Orthodox Priest, ca. 1642
Synadinos of Serres, d. after 1662
Translated by Konrad Petrovszky

5 Dream Letters of a Sufi Woman in Skopje, 1640s
Asiye Hatun, d. Second Half of Seventeenth Century
Translated by Leslie Schick and Cemal Kafadar

6 Diary of a Sufi Sheikh in Plague-Ridden Istanbul, 1661
Seyyid Hasan Nuri, d. 1688
Translated by Mary Işın

7 Ramblings of an Eccentric Sufi Exiled on Limnos, ca. Early 1680s
Niyazi-i Mısri, d. 1694
Translated by Hakan T. Karateke and Ferenc Csirkés

8 Adventures of an Ottoman Officer in Captivity, 1690–99
Osman Agha of Timişoara, Written ca. 1724
Translated by Hakan T. Karateke

9 The Trial of a Heretic, 1527
Told by Celalzade Mustafa, d. 1567
Translated by Kaya Şahin and Cornell H. Fleischer

10 The Life and Works of Two Mediocre Poets
Told by Âşık Çelebi, d. 1572
Translated by Douglas Brookes

11 The Extraordinary Life Story of a Scholar
Told by Mehmed Mecdi, d. 1591
Translated by Helga Anetshofer

12 On Servants and Slaves
Mustafa Âli, d. 1600
Translated by Douglas Brookes

13 Children and Youth
Court Records, Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries
Selected by Yahya Araz; Translated by Hakan T. Karateke

14 Women at Courts of Law
Court Records, Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries
Translated by Hakan T. Karateke and N. İpek Hüner Cora

15 Prostitutes and Pimps
Court Records and Imperial Council Registers, Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries
Translated by Marinos Sariyannis

16 On Nocturnal Activities
Court Records, Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries
Translated by Hakan T. Karateke

17 Impostors, Frauds, and Spies
Various Documents, Sixteenth Century
Translated by Christopher Markiewicz

18 The Madmen of Istanbul
Evliya Çelebi, d. after 1683
Translated by Hakan T. Karateke

19 Fetvas on Non-Muslims
Various Grand Muftis, Sixteenth to Early Eighteenth Century
Translated by Cornell Fleischer and Amir A. Toft

20 Conversion Among Ottoman Jews
Responsa by Various Rabbis, Sixteenth Century
Translated by Matt Goldish

21 Marriage and Divorce Among Ottoman Jews
Responsa by Various Rabbis, Seventeenth Century
Translated by Leah Bornstein-Makovetsky

22 News from Istanbul at the Turn of the Seventeenth Century
The Chronicle of Selaniki
Translated by H. Erdem Çıpa

23 Propagating the Faith in Constantinople
Catholic Missionary Reports, Seventeenth Century
Translated by Paolo Girardelli

24 An Armenian Chronicle of Crimea
Khachatur of Kaffa, d. 1658
Translated by Naira Poghosyan

25 On Revenants and Ghosts
Various Documents, Sixteenth Century
Translated by Marinos Sariyannis

26 Miracles of an Anatolian Sufi Saint
The Hagiography of Hacı Bektaş, ca. Late Fifteenth Century
Translated by Helga Anetshofer

27 A Dispute Concerning Sufi Tombs, 1619
Ömer Fuadi, d. 1636
Translated by John Curry

28 Preserving Public Health
Court Records and Imperial Council Registers, Late Fifteenth and Sixteenth Centuries
Translated by Amir A. Toft

29 Traditional Medicine for Everyday Ailments
Anonymous, Late Fifteenth Century
Translated by Özgen Felek

30 Snake Medicine and Snake Charming in Cairo
Evliya Çelebi, d. after 1683
Translated by Robert Dankoff and Sooyong Kim

31 On Smoking Tobacco
Abdulmalik al-Isami, d. 1628; Katib Çelebi, d. 1657
Translated by Basil Salem and Geoffrey Lewis

32 Divining Past, Present, and Future in the Sand
A Geomantic Miscellany, ca. Sixteenth Century
Translated by Matthew Melvin-Koushki

33 Reading Character by Appearance
The Book of Physiognomy, Hamdullah Hamdi, d. 1503
Translated by Helga Anetshofer and Hakan T. Karateke

34 Religious Guidance for Hunters
Ebu Bekr el-Kızılhisari, ca. Late Seventeenth Century
Translated by Christopher Markiewicz

35 Cultivating the Land
The Splendor of the Garden, Sixteenth Century
Translated by Hakan T. Karateke

36 Wonders of Art and Nature
Anonymous, Sixteenth Century
Translated by Ido Ben-Ami

37 On the Natural Advantages of Edirne
Anonymous, Late Fifteenth to Early Sixteenth Century
Translated by Amy Singer

38 The Legend of the Construction of Constantinople
Anonymous, Sixteenth Century
Translated by Dimitris J. Kastritsis

39 On the Construction of the Pyramids, ca. 1545
Celalzade Salih, d. 1565
Translated by Giancarlo Casale

40 An Ode to Istanbul
Eremia Keomurchean Çelebi, d. 1695
Translated by Henry Shapiro

41 Passion and Murder on the Bosphorus
Anonymous Tıfli Story, Probably in Circulation During the Later
Seventeenth Century
Translated by Helga Anetshofer

42 Stories of Guilt and Repentance
Mehmed Nergisi, d. 1635
Translated by Gisela Procházka-Eisl

43 The Wiles of Women
Anonymous, Sixteenth to Seventeenth Centuries
Translated by N. İpek Hüner Cora and Helga Anetshofer

44 Social Criticism and Invective in Poetry
Various Poets, Fifteenth to Seventeenth Centuries
Translated by Sooyong Kim

45 Shrewd Witticisms by a Master Poet
Zati’s Anecdotes, Sixteenth Century
Translated by Helga Anetshofer

46 Subversive Jokes Featuring a Folk Hero
Nasreddin Hoca Jokes, Sixteenth Century
Translated by Kathleen Burrill

Index