The thesis presents a summary and an analysis of the Tar i h-i Ebu'[-Feth ("History of the Conqueror") by the Ottoman historian Tursun Bey. The History covers the period 1444-1488, with the bulk of it obviously devoted to the reign of Mehmed II "the Conqueror" (1451-1481). The thesis is in three chapters. The first analyses Tursun Bey's elaborate literary style and also examines the origins of his style, demonstrating that its literary ancestry goes back to thirteenth-century Iran, in particular to luvaini's Tarikh-i Jihangushiz ("History of the World Conqueror") (1252-1280), and can be traced through the Persian Histories by Vassaf (about 1328) and the Timurid historian Nizam aI-Din Shami (before 1402) and Sharaf aI-Din 'Ali Yazdi (1404). The chapter shows that Tursun Bey acquired mastery of this style not simply through studying these Persian prototypes to his History, but also through long employment in the Ottoman Chancery. It is -clear that during the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries the Ottomans adopted many of the administrative forms of Ilkhanid Iran and provided models for the formulation of Ottoman administrative and diplomatic documents. Tursun Bey was able to transfer the skill in insa which he acquired in the Chancery to the composition of his History. The second chapter attempts to identify the sources which Tursun Bey used in composing the Introduction to his History: "On the people's need for the Noble Being of the Padi~ah, the Shadow of God". The only written source which Tursun Bey himself identifies is the Akhliiq-i Nii$iri of Na~ir aI-Din Tiisi (1235), although he appears also to have used the Chahiir Maqiilah of Nizami-i 'Ariidi (1156). His most important oral source was his patron, the Grand Vizier Mabmiid Pa~a (? - 1474), who in some respects emerges as the hero of the whole work. The chapter also shows how, in context and style, the Introduction draws on the tradition of 'Mirrors for Princes' literature. The final chapter gives a summary and analysis of the History itself. The first section of the ch(\p.t er outlines the principles which have been followed . in making the summary translation. In the text following each section of the summary, there is a commentary which attempts to identify Tursun Bey's sources and analyse his interpretation of events. The chapter also has footnotes comparing Tursun Bey's historical information with the equivalent passages in the works of other contemporary historians, in order to establish, as far as possible, a correct account of events.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:527561 |
| Date | January 1993 |
| Creators | Inan, Kenan |
| Publisher | University of Manchester |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
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