We kindly inform you that, as long as the subject affiliation of our 300.000+ articles is in progress, you might get unsufficient or no results on your third level or second level search. In this case, please broaden your search criteria.

18.00 €

Preview

Tari̇hçi̇ Şükrullâh Çelebi̇ (1380?–1460)

Author(s): Halil İnalcık / Language(s): Turkish Issue: 1-2/2008

The historian Şükrullâh Çelebi (1380?–1460), coming from the family of ulemas , belongs to the less known figures of Ottoman historiography. Our knowledge concerning his life is very limited: in the period of 1402–1413 he must have been in the service of the şehzâdes reigning in Bursa, then he became one of the musâhibs of Murad II, finally he died in Mehmed II’s time as a person of great reverence. It was Sultan Mehmed II for whom he compiled his world history, the Behcetü’t-Tevârîh in the Persian language, in 1456–1458. One of the sources of this work was obviously identical with that formerly utilised by Ahmedî, then by Neşrî. Şükrullâh’s Chronicle yielded source material for several later chronicles. His translation into Turkish of the Risâle min Edvâr , a Persian work of musicology, testifies to the presence of the classifying tendencies of Sultan Murad II’s reign, which tried to bring the Ottoman culture in harmony with the classical Iranian culture.

More...

18.00 €

Preview

Krimtatarische Spionage Im Osmanisch-Habsburgischen Grenzgebiet Während Des Feldzuges Im Jahre 1663

Author(s): Mária Ivanics / Language(s): German Issue: 1-2/2008

The Crimean Tatars who acted as Ottoman reinforcements on the Hungarian front during the 16th and 17th centuries had the task of making attacks and incursions on their enemy’s borders. The Turkish and Tatar sources hardly make any reference to the tools they had at their disposal and to how they collected information about the lands they had to attack and the armies they were likely to encounter. From the little evidence that we have one can only presume that the Tatars got their information directly from the theatre of war by forcing people of the conquered territories to spy and make guidance for the Tatar army. The knowledge that we present here has been gained from a report of 15 September 1663 made on the basis of the testimony of a captured spy working for the Tatars. From his testimony it becomes evident that the Tatars had an extensive spying network which had been organised by a German soldier in their pay, and that the Tatars paid the spies for their service and also rewarded them with a portion of their spoils. The captured spy’s testimony refers not only to the 1663 Ottoman campaign but also provides answer for an old historiographical problem. The Turkish traveller Evliya Çelebi reported on what he knew about the Tatars’ incursions and while doing so he attempted to give information on similar activities in far away territories like Brandenburg, Holland and even Sweden. Researchers agree that Evliya Çelebi never actually visited these countries, but one can suppose that he gleaned information from discussions with spies who worked for the Ottomans and Tatars.

More...

18.00 €

Preview

Die Türkische Mission („Missio Turcica“) der Gesellschaft Jesu Im Osmanischen Ungarn

Author(s): Antal Molnár / Language(s): German Issue: 1-2/2008

The study presents the history of the Jesuit missions led to Ottoman Hungary, summarising the conclusions of the author’s earlier research. After long decades of a preparative phase, the Jesuits settled down in Ottoman Hungary in 1612. In the beginnings, the mission stood under the authority of the Austrian and Roman provinces. The southern stations, Belgrade (1612–1632) and Temesvár (Timişoara, 1632–1653) belonged to the latter province. The missions of Pécs (1612–1686–1773), Andocs (1642–1684), Kecskemét (1633–1635) and the residence of Gyöngyös (1633–1682–1773) worked under the authority of the Austrian provincial. The stations counted 2–3 Jesuits, whereas in Gyöngyös 3–6 religious were active at the same time. In spite of the low number of missionaries, the activity of the Jesuits had an inestimable impact on religious and cultural life as well as on the conservation of national identity. Stations assisted in the pastoral care of the local parishes led large-scale missions well beyond the boundaries of the parish and maintained schools. In Transdanubia, the Jesuits were practically the only priests who took spiritual care of the population. The Gyöngyös grammar school was the only institution of secondary education under Turkish occupation; it was attended also by students from the Hungarian Kingdom. The fathers brought the spirit of the European Catholic reform to the Ottoman territories.

More...

18.00 €

Preview

The growth in Istanbul’s commercial capacity, 1700–1765: The role of new commercial construction and renovation in urban renewal

Author(s): Rhoads Murphey / Language(s): English Issue: 1-2/2008

The article is devoted to an overview and analysis of capital-intensive urban development projects undertaken in 18th century Istanbul, with particular reference to investment in commercial buildings. The questions of planning, funding, initiative and agency as well as the use of the traditional vakf instrument as the preferred funding mechanism are all addressed. The impact of this investment on macro-economic development patterns and the promotion of trade are also considered. Attention is also paid to the relationship (partnership) between public funding and private initiative assessing the degree to which competing sources for investment in urban development projects were able to work together harmoniously and coherently for the achievement of shared objectives.

More...

18.00 €

Preview

József Rákóczi, the last Transylvanian pretender

Author(s): Sándor Papp / Language(s): English Issue: 1-2/2008

The Ottoman state wanted to regain the territories of Belgrade, Temesvár, the western part of Wallachia and possibly Transylvania, lost as a consequence of the peace-treaty of Passarowitz in 1718. The realisation of this aim seemed feasible when Sultan Mahmud I was at war with the Russian and Habsburg empires in the late 1730s. The Ottomans recognised that they needed the co-operation of Hungarians and a legitimate pretender or at least somebody who could be used in the political game of chess. This role was assigned to József Rákóczi, son of the last prince of Transylvania, Ferenc II Rákóczi, with whom they concluded an agreement on January 20, 1738. Rákóczi made serious efforts to gain the diplomatic support of the European states. His attempt to return to Hungary failed and he died of plague on November 10, 1738.

More...

18.00 €

Preview

Scorched-earth tactics in Ottoman Hungary: On a controversy in military theory and practice on the Habsburg-Ottoman frontier

Author(s): Géza Pálffy / Language(s): English Issue: 1-2/2008

Scorched-earth tactics are as old as warfare itself. Throughout Europe military commanders of the Early Modern Age used them, as the Persians did against the attacking Ottomans. Accordingly, along with his fellow-generals, Lazarus Freiherr von Schwendi, one of the best-known German military theorists and commanders of the 16th century, repeatedly urged that scorched-earth tactics be introduced in the Habsburg Monarchy’s Hungarian theatre of war against the Ottomans, and that territories lost after the fall of Buda in 1541 be laid waste. Despite this, the systematic and widespread use of these tactics was rather rare in the areas of Hungary in which the Habsburg Monarchy and the Ottoman Empire faced each other during the 16th and 17th centuries. When they were chosen, they were employed only to a limited extent. While most of the pay of the soldiers serving in the border-defence system protecting Central Europe was provided by the Austrian, Bohemian and German provinces of the Habsburg Monarchy, a significant proportion of their food came from regions of Hungary that were under Ottoman sway. At the same time, these regions were not just a source of foodstuffs for those serving in the chain of fortresses built against the Ottomans, but also an area which offered economic opportunities to broad social strata in the Kingdom of Hungary (nobles, border-fortress soldiers and market town peasants), primarily in the spheres of cattle-breeding and trade. As a result of all this, the systematic laying waste of these territories conflicted with the fundamental interests of Hungarian society and Estates. The serious political conflicts that would have accompanied the use of scorched-earth tactics (whose consequences would in any event have been uncertain) were never invited by the Habsburg military and political leadership.

More...

18.00 €

Preview

Ottoman copybooks of correspondence and miscellanies as a source for political and cultural history

Author(s): András J. Riedlmayer / Language(s): English Issue: 1-2/2008

Chancery manuals, copybooks of correspondence, and other bound miscellanies of the classical Ottoman period are a rich, yet insufficiently known and underutilised resource for the study of political and cultural history. This essay describes the origins, types, contents and uses of these manuscript compilations, their cultural and historical significance, and some ideas concerning the circumstances of their production. Following a discussion of the potential of primary sources of this kind for political and cultural history, the essay concludes with an extensive annotated bibliography outlining the state of research on the subject.

More...

18.00 €

Preview

A Turkic clan in Mughal India: The Qaqshals in Akbar’s service

Author(s): Benedek Péri / Language(s): English Issue: 4/2007

After the establishment of the Mughal Empire, in Hindustan “guest workers” of Turkic origin started to move to India. They came from various places and represented all walks of life: Uzbegs from Transoxania, Afshars, Baharlus, Bayats from Iran, people from the various Turkic tribes of Khurasan. The Qaqshals, members of a clan of Turkic (Turkmen) origin who played an important role in early Mughal conquests came somewhere from the central parts of modern Afghanistan. They joined the retinue of Humâyûn and Bayrâm Khan in Kabul when the emperor set off to reconquest his realm and fought in almost all important campaigns of Akbar. Though they rebelled in the 1580s those members who repented were eventually pardoned. The present article tries to explore the origins and ethnic background of the Qaqshal clan and trace down the career of the clan’s most illustrious members in contemporary sources.

More...

18.00 €

Preview

The press and the ethnic identity: Turkicisation of Karaite printing in interwar Poland and Lithuania

Author(s): Mikhail Kizilov / Language(s): English Issue: 4/2007

In the late mediaeval and early modern period scattered communities of the Karaites (i.e. non-Talmudic Jews) settled in several regions of Eastern Europe such as the Crimea, Poland and Lithuania. In the 18th and 19th centuries the Karaites printed their books (mostly exegetical and theological works in Hebrew) in several Karaite and Rabbanite typographies. Nevertheless, after 1917 the centre of Karaite printing shifted from the Russian Empire to interwar Poland and Lithuania. Surprisingly, a tiny Karaite community of interwar Poland and Lithuania (ca. 800 individuals) had been publishing as many as five periodicals in three languages! Furthermore, the Karaites also printed quite a number of separate brochures and leaflets, and published articles in non-Karaite periodicals. From the 1930s the Karaite community started losing its Judeo-Karaite identity and accepted a new Turkic ethnic self-identification which was based mostly on the use of the Turkic Karaim language and a few pseudo-scholarly theories testifying to the non-Semitic origins of the Karaites. The renaissance of Karaite printing was stopped in 1939, with the Soviet intervention in Poland and the beginning of the Second World War. The paper analyses the main tendencies in the development of the Karaite printing in Poland and Lithuania in the interwar period. A special emphasis is placed upon the role of printing in the unusual transformation of the East European Karaites’ ethnic identity — from pious non-Talmudic Jewish believers to an isolated ethnic enclave with a bogus Khazaro-Turkic identity.

More...

18.00 €

Preview

Crime and punishment in the imperial historiography of Süleyman the magnificent: An evaluation of Nişanci Celālzāde’s view

Author(s): Mehmet Şakir Yılmaz / Language(s): English Issue: 4/2007

Celālzāde Mustafa Çelebi’s Tabakātu’ l-Memālik ve Derecātu’ l-Mesālik is one of the invaluable primary sources dealing with the reign of Süleyman the Magnificent (1520–1566). Its author, Celālzāde Mustafa (d. 1567), was a distinguished Nişancı (head of the imperial chancery), who is credited with the codification of Ottoman laws under Süleyman the Magnificent. Celālzāde was the main official responsible for the “true” representation of the Ottoman sultan for over 35 years during his long career in the sultan’s service. This paper aims to demonstrate that an official definition of justice was articulated and propagated in the Tabakāt in order to meet the contemporary requirements of the Ottoman administration, i.e. a powerful central authority. With this definition, Celālzāde aimed to demonstrate that the provision of justice could only be ensured by the absolute rule of the sultan. Celālzāde’s formulation differed from the conceptualisation of justice as the observance of traditional laws and social order, which implied limits on sultanic absolutism. Although Celālzāde’s formulation did not exclude the traditional conceptualisation of justice, the observance of laws was regarded as a responsibility of state officials instead of the sultan.

More...

18.00 €

Preview

The real date of the Szeged manifesto

Author(s): Krystyna Łukasiewicz / Language(s): English Issue: 4/2007

The Szeged manifesto had not been issued on August 4, 1444 as is generally accepted based on the date of the document given by Długosz. It was produced a few days later and antedated in an effort to conceal the issuance of another document on August 4, namely the letter of confirmation by the king of the peace treaty with Turkey. The above conclusion is supported by the explanation of an error in the date of the letter of John VIII Palaiologos to the king of Hungary made during its translation from Greek into Latin. Because of its date July 30, 1444 quoted by Długosz it has been assumed that the letter must have arrived in Hungary after the decision to resume the crusade was already made. In fact, the emperor’s letter played a crucial role in the decision of the king and the Hungarians to break the peace and go to war against Turkey in September 1444.

More...

18.00 €

Preview

Ce que distinguer veut dire: c Abd al-Jabbār et l’inimitabilité du Coran

Author(s): Abdessamad Belhaj / Language(s): French Issue: 4/2007

I c jāz al-Qur’ān , selon c Abd al-Jabbār (m. 1024), présente un cas d’étude de l’inimitabilité du Coran à traiter sous trois angles: rhétorique, théologique et épistémologique. Sous l’angle rhétorique, il affiche sa préférence pour le ḍamm , l’éloquence et la jonction des mots qui font la distinction du texte coranique. Au niveau théologique, il distingue l’essence divine des attributs suivant la doctrine mu c tazilite sur la négation des attributs et la création du Coran. L’essence et les attributs en théologie seraient l’équivalent des mots et des sens en rhétorique. Le lien épistémologique entre les deux couples réside dans le bayān , la distinction et l’élucidation selon la séquence Fondement-Branche ( aṣl-far c ). Ainsi, c Abd al-Jabbār limite le champ d’interprétation à l’usage hérité de la langue arabe.

More...

18.00 €

Preview

Some observations on the migration of apocalyptic features in Muslim tradition

Author(s): Ofer Livne-Kafri / Language(s): English Issue: 4/2007

The most basic eschatological conceptions of Islam are found already in the Qur’ān. The expansion of the Qur’ānic picture in the ḥadīth includes new materials and conceptions and it reflects various religious, social and political processes in Muslim society in the first centuries to the hijra . This article offers explanations for some matters that seem to represent the migration of apocalyptic issues from non-Muslim sources into the ḥadīth . It seems that the interpretation of Muslim apocalyptic traditions often requires a search of the parallel Jewish and Christian literatures, and the issues chosen here might serve as a methodological model to demonstrate this. We see here (as in other studies) that the Muslim apocalyptic traditions and the Jewish and Christian apocalypses evince similarity in basic ideas, perceptions, attitudes, terminology, structures, and other features of the genre; still, the Arabic traditions already reflect the Islamic system of values; they were created against the background of social, religious and political settings of early Muslim society. This also attests to a certain similar cultural background of Jews, Christians and Muslims, to similar responses and interpretations they gave (in form and content) to their fears, agonies and hopes, in time of crisis, political disorder, military confrontations or civil wars.

More...

18.00 €

Preview

Reviews

Author(s): Benedek Péri,Zoltán Szombathy / Language(s): English Issue: 4/2007

Review of: SCHERBERGER, MAX: Das Micrāǧnāme. Das Himmel- und Höllenfahrt des Propheten Muhammad in der osttürkischen Überlieferung. Ergon Verlag, Würzburg, 2003 (Arbeitsmaterialien zum Orient 14), 153 pages. MOHAMED MEOUAK: Ṣaqâliba, eunuques et esclaves à la conquête du pouvoir. Géographie et histoire des élites politiques « marginales » dans l’Espagne umayyade. Academia Scientiarum Fennica, Helsinki, 2004, 301 pages. ISSN 1239-6282, ISBN 951-41-0946-5. PATRICE CRESSIER–MARIBEL FIERRO–LUIS MOLINA (eds): Los almohades: problemas y perspectivas. Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Madrid, 2005, 2 vols, li + 1230 pages. ISBN 84-00-08393-8.

More...

Download

Abbreviations of journals and series

Author(s): Author Not Specified / Language(s): English Issue: 4/2007

Abbreviations of journals and series

More...

18.00 €

Preview

Studien zur alttürkischen Daśakarmapathāvadānamālā (3) Die Erzählung vom Muttermörder Kāmapriya

Author(s): Jens Wilkens / Language(s): German Issue: 3/2007

In the present article fourteen fragments of the cycle of stories Daśakarmapathāvadānamālā in Old Turkic which are housed in Berlin and St. Petersburg are identified as belonging to a story which was formerly unknown in Turkic literature but can now be related to several parallel versions in Sanskrit, Tibetan and Chinese Buddhist works. Whereas the overall story in the Avadāna is similar to the other versions, the Old Turkic legend shows several unique features. The main character Kāmapriya, who has killed his own mother, tries to annihilate his misdeed by entering the Buddhist community but is subsequently discovered by a young arhat who possesses the “eye of meditation”.

More...

18.00 €

Preview

The journal Türk Derneğı and Hungarian studies of Turcology in the pre-World War I period

Author(s): Cuneyd Okay / Language(s): English Issue: 3/2007

Upon the restoration of the Constitution in the Ottoman State, on 23 July 1908, which guaranteed the freedoms of thought and associations, many non-governmental organisations were established. One of these was the Türk Derneği (Turkish Association). Founded to promote research into the language, literature, history and culture of the Turks and related fields, the Society also published a periodical under the same name. In addition to works of Turkish scholars, some of the best achievements of Hungarian Turcology were translated into Turkish and published in this journal. By doing so, both the Society and the journal considerably contributed to the emergence and flourishing of scientific and cultural co-operation between the two countries in the pre-World War I period.

More...

18.00 €

Preview

Bukm et ğināwa , peuples « muets » de l’Afrique subsaharienne médiévale. Remarques linguistiques et historiques

Author(s): Mohamed Meouak / Language(s): French Issue: 3/2007

Les recherches sur l’histoire de l’Afrique subsaharienne au Moyen Âge connaissent depuis quelques années des avancées considérables grâce à la publication de nouvelles sources écrites en arabe, les apports significatifs de l’archéologie et la mise à jour d’un important corpus d’épigraphie. Cette contribution souhaite étudier des questions relatives au vocabulaire utilisé par les écrivains arabes au sujet des peuples subsahariens. Les deux termes examinés sont bukm (« muets ») et ğināwa (« Guinée » / « guinéens »). Ces deux vocables ont subi, au cours des siècles, des modifications sémantiques qui mettent en relief la perception négative, voire sectaire, que les Arabes avaient des peuples noirs. Basé essentiellement sur l’examen détaillé des textes andalousiens et maghrébins du Moyen Âge et du début de la période moderne ainsi que la littérature scientifique, cet article voudrait souligner, entre autres points, le fait que derrière un mot précis, contenant une connotation en principe reconnue et admise, peuvent se cacher d’autres significations qui sont en étroite connexion avec le monde de l’esclavage tant dans l’aire culturelle arabe que dans le domaine berbère.

More...

18.00 €

Preview

The existence of factors in the three time periods. Sarvāstivāda and Madhyamaka buddhist interpretations of difference in mode, difference in characteristic marks, difference in state, and mutual difference

Author(s): Bart Dessein / Language(s): English Issue: 3/2007

This article focusses on discussing the reason of existence of factors ( dharma ) in the three time periods ( trikāla ) as it is recorded in the Vaibhāṣika * Abhidharmamahāvibhāṣāśāstra and in the Sarvāstivāda works that postdate this text. The origin of this discussion is traced back in the earliest Sarvāstivāda Abhidharma works. Also the Chinese Sanlun philosopher Jizang (549–623), in his “ Shi’er men lun shu ”, a commentary on Nāgārjuna’s * Dvādaśadvāraka “ Shi’er men lun ”, raises this discussion. Here, references are made to the vibhāṣā literature. The treatment of the subject in the “ Shi’er men lun shu ” reveals (1) that the Chinese Sanlun (and Madhyamaka) philosophers were familiar with this discussion in Sarvāstivāda philosophy; (2) that they criticised the Sarvāstivāda viewpoint; and (3) gives evidence for a rise of Indian Madhyamaka philosophy and a place of origin of Nāgārjuna in the North of the Indian subcontinent.

More...

18.00 €

Preview

Reviews

Author(s): Gyula Wojtilla,Szabolcs Felföldi,János Sipos / Language(s): English Issue: 3/2007

Review of: BERGUNDER, M. (ed.): Westliche Formen des Hinduismus. Eine Übersicht. Verlag der Franckeschen Stiftungen, Halle, 2006, 266 pages. MYLIUS, KLAUS: Wörterbuch des kanonischen Jinismus. Harrassowitz Verlag, Wiesbaden, 2005, 203 pages. FRANCO, ELI: The Spitzer Manuscript. The Oldest Philosophical Manuscript in Sanskrit. Volumes I–II. Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, Wien, 2004 (Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften. Philosophisch-historische Klasse Denkschriften, 323. Band. Beiträge zur Kultur- und Geistesgeschichte Asiens Nr. 43). Vol. I: pp. vii–xii, 1–352; Vol. II: pp. 353–510. PRIOR, DANIEL (ed.): The Semetey of Kenje Kara. A Kirghiz Epic Performance on Phonograph. With a Musical Score and a Compact Disc of the Phonogram. Edited, translated and with an introduction and commentary by Daniel Prior. Kirghiz text transcribed with the assistance of Ishembi Obolbekov. Harrassowitz Verlag, Wiesbaden, 2006 (Turkologica 59), 155 pages.

More...