Osmanlı Tarih Yazıcılığında Biyografi Türü: Taşköprülüzade’nin eş-Şakaiku’n-Nu‘mâniyye Eseri Üzerinden Genel Bir Değerlendirme
Biographical Genre in Ottoman Histography: A General Evaluation on the Work of Taşköprülüzade Entitled Al-Shaqâ’iq Al- Numâniyya

Author(s): Nejla Doğan
Subject(s): Economic history, Social history, 16th Century, The Ottoman Empire, Theory of Literature, Source Material, Socio-Economic Research
Published by: Özgür Yayın Dağıtım Ltd. Şti.
Keywords: Taşköprülüzade; Terceme-i Hal; biography; Ottoman historiography;
Summary/Abstract: The present paper attempts to focus on the first work of biographical dictionary, al-Shaqâ’iq al- Numâniyya, which was completed in 1558 by the famous Ottoman scholar Ahmad b. Mustafâ Tasköprüzâde. After making a brief evaluation on the development of the biography genre in Ottoman historiography, the importance of Shaqâ’iq, which left its mark on the 16th century, and its related problems were discussed. The work, which contains valuable information about the biographies of important scholars, has not been evaluated as a simple collection of “life narrative”. The main problem of the study is to consider how to approach or how one should read this monumental book including biographies of ulema/jurists and sufi masters. As a result of the analysing and discussion held in the light of secondary sources, the biography data shows that they are fond of recording the life stories of the Ottoman world, as well as giving information about the type of biography of the period. Shaqâ’iq, containing biographies of sheiks and ulema, should be consulted for understanding the Ottoman cultural and scientific world rather than as a data collection purpose. It has been concluded that we can catch clues about the socio-economic and political networks of the Empire when we approach the work in question, which we will obtain more than factual information.

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