HISTORIANSOFTHEOTTOMANEMPIRE CĀBĪʿÖMER (b.1750s;d.1814?) LIFE ExceptfortheshortentryinBursalıMeḥmedṬāhir sʿos mānlımü ellifleri,there isnorecordofc.ʿö.inbiographicalandbibliographicalsources. 1 Theplaceanddate ofc.ʿö. sbirthisunknown.ifweassumethathewasmiddleagedwhenhewrotehis Ta rīḫ(in1203/1789,however,thenhemusthavebeenborninthesecondhalfofthe 18 th century. Because of the lack of information on C.ʿÖ., many scholars have referredtohimerroneouslyascābīsaʿīdandhisworkascābīsaʿīdta rīḫiinsteadof CābīTa rīḫi. 2 AhmedHamdiTanpınarmadeanothermistakeregardingthenameof theauthor.anoteontheinsidecoveroftheistanbuluniversitymanuscriptcallsthe workcābīsaʿīd iñta rīḫi,buttanpınar,whousedthiscopyasasource,refersto theworkascābīʿismetbeyta rīḫiin19.asırtürkedebiyatıtarihi,thefirstedition of which appeared in 1942. 3 Although the origin of the name Saʿid is unknown,itcertainlyhasnothingtodowiththeauthor,whosenameisrecordedas Cābī-yiAyasofyaʿÖmerEfendi onfol.278a.thus,theattributionsto Saʿīd andto Cābī ʿİsmet Bey are unfounded. Fol. 379a of the autograph copy records ʿÖmer Efendi snameandofficialtitle(esadefendi2152)writtenbyadifferenthand. SomeoftheinformationonC.ʿÖ. slifecomesfromexplicitstatementsandclues in his work. C.ʿÖ. notes that he lived in Üsküdār several times. For example, he ascribes the warm welcome he received from Seyyid Feyżullāh Efendi, the viceroy (nā ib)ofsaqız(chios),andhisretinueduringhisexileonthatislandtothefactthat theywerebothfromüsküdār. 4 C.ʿÖ.hadbeensenttoexileinSaqızforhisillegal correspondences concerning a house with disputed waqf status located in Istanbul- Ortaköy.Hislifeinexilebeganon7Safar1225/14March1810andendedafterthree monthson5jumadai1225/8june1810,whenhereturnedtoistanbuleitheruponthe completionofhissentenceorwithapardon. 5 C.ʿÖ. appears to have had many friends in bureaucratic circles who helped him compileaccuraterecordsofvariousfermānsandimperialdecrees(hatt-ıhümāyūn). Althoughhegenerallyreferstothemassummaries(me al),comparisonswithofficial chroniclesestablishthesedocumentsasverbatimcopiesoftheoriginals.thestatesmenc.ö.mentionsinhisworkmusthaveallowedhimtoconsultthesedocuments. For example, his cordial conversation with Mehmed Rāġıb Efendi, who held the officeofdefterdārbetween3shawwal1223-26jumadai1226/22november1808-12 June 1811, leaves the impression that they were close friends. During the fiscal crisiswhichbeganinrajab1224/august-september1809,c.ʿö.wasobligedtopay adueof3000kuruşbecauseofhistitle.whenhemetwithdefterdārmeḥmedrāġıb to pay the money, however, he was able to reduce his share to 1500 kuruş. 6 The authorwasthetaxcollectoroftheayasofyadistrict(ayasofyacābīliġī),butscholars Copyright by the editors of the HistoriansoftheOttomanEmpire (http://www.ottomanhistorians.com/) 1
HISTORIANSOFTHEOTTOMANEMPIRE donotknowifheheldanyotheroffices.c.ʿö.madehisfirstwrittenreferencetothis officeon3rajab1224/14august1809, 7 butthedateofhisfirstappointmentastax officialisunknown.thelackofanyinformationconcerningc.ʿö. sfather sname, birthplace,orpseudonymalsoimpedesarchivalresearchontheauthor.therefore,it isdifficulttoestablishwhetherthetworeferencestoacertainʿömerḫalīfeb.ʿalīin a register of appointments of tax collectors dated Muharram-Safar 1218/May 1803 actuallyrefertoc.ʿö. 8 The exact date of C.ʿÖ. s death is unknown. The date 13 Safar 1229/4 February 1814locatedatthebottomofthelastparagraphofhisworkmarksthedateofthelast eventc.ʿö.recorded,butthereisnoindicationthatta rīḫiendsthere.afterall,the reddade on the last folio of the autograph copy confirms that the work was not completed. 9 C.Ö. probably left the Ta rīḫ( unfinished because of illness or sudden death.thusc.ʿö.probablydiedsoonafter13safar1229/4february1814.although theexactdatesofhisbirthanddeathareunknown,c.ʿö.probablylivedduringthe secondhalfofthe18 th andthefirstquarterofthe19 th centuries. Frequentspellingerrors,incorrectvocabularyusage,andidiomaticdefectssuggest thatc.ʿö.lackedagoodeducationandtaughthimselftoreadandwrite.hisuseof Frenchvocabulary,hisetymologicalanalyses,andhisreferencestoQuranicverses, hadiths, Arabic proverbs and poems, all suggest, however, that C.ʿÖ. was an intelligentandcuriousresearcherwhocouldgraspandassimilatewhatheread. WORK 1CābīTa rīḫi,ta rīḫ-isulṭānselīm-is ālis vemaḥmūd-ıs ānī C.ʿÖ. sonlyknownwork.conciselyknownas CābīTa rīḫiinscholarlycircles, Ta rīḫcoverstheperiodbetween1203-1229/1789-1814.therearethreeextantmanuscripts of the work in three volumes. In the first paragraph of the first volume, C.ʿÖ.statesthathecomposedhisworktorelatetheeventsthattranspiredduringthe reign of Selīm III. Ta rīḫ covers the reign of Selīm III(1203-1222/1789-1807), the shortreignofmuṣṭafāiv(1222-1223/1807-1808)andthefirstfiveyearsofthereign of Maḥmūd II (1223-beg. 1229/1808-1814). Although the title of the work is recordedasta rīḫ-isulṭānselīmḫanontheinsidecoveroftheautographcopyand thecatalogueofesadefendilibrary,ʿos mānlımü ellifleriandlatertheistanbulkütüphaneleri Tarih-Coġrafya Yazmaları Katalogları refer to it by the correct title Ta rīḫ-isulṭānselīm-is ālis vemaḥmūd-ıs ānī.becausec.ʿö.didnotgivehiswork aspecifictitle,somescholarsarguethatthetitleta rīḫ-isulṭānselīm-is ālis vemaḥmūd-ıs ānīisinaccurate. 10 GiventhecoverageofTa rīḫ,however,thistitleismost appropriateforthework. Ta rīḫ is an important source on contemporary Ottoman history. The author witnessedmanyhistoricaleventswhichoccurredintheottomancapital.inhiswork whichcoversaperiodofaquarterofacenturyfromthesuccessionofselīmiiiupto andincludingthefirstfiveyearsofthereignofmaḥmūdii,c.ʿö.relatesimportant events which took place in Istanbul, including the death of ʿAbdülḥamīd I, the Copyright by the editors of the HistoriansoftheOttomanEmpire (http://www.ottomanhistorians.com/) 2
HISTORIANSOFTHEOTTOMANEMPIRE ascensiontothethroneofselīmiii,thenizam-ıcedīdmovement,thefrenchoccupationofegypt,therecaptureofegypt,rebellionsofsomelocalnotablesandfeudal lords(aʿyan,derebeyi),warsbetweeneuropeanstates,therebellionofboġazyamak- ları,thedepositionofselīmiiiandthesuccessionofmus(t(afāiv,ʿalemdārmuṣ- ṭafā s (d. 1223/1808) arrival in Istanbul, the succession of Maḥmūd II, and the ʿAlemdār episode. Cābī Ta rīḫi also includes information regarding daily events in Istanbul, street fights among janissaries and the oppression suffered by the people, pricemovementsinmarkets,economicaspectsofthesociallifesuchasthepurchasingpowerofmoney,innerworkingsofthebureaucracy,anecdotesconcerningsome statesmen,informationongrantsofofficesanddeaths,newsaboutnaturaldisasters suchasfires,earthquakes,andstorms. Cābī Ta rīḫi has been a source for later Ottoman chronicles. Foremost among these is one of the most important late Ottoman chronicles entitled Şānīzāde Ta - rīḫi. 11 AlthoughAḥmedCevdetdoesnotexplicitlystatethatheusedCābīTa rīḫi,the fact that he utilized Şānīzāde Ta rīḫi shows that he borrowed from C.ʿÖ. s work indirectly. Manuscripts:(1) Berlin, Staatsbibliothek, Hs. or. oct. 1034/1(formerly Marburg Staatsbibliothek).PartoftheSüssheimCollection.CopiedbySeyyidAḥmedTebrīzī from the Esad Efendi manuscript in 1910-11. Each part is arranged as a separate volume.thebindingsareblackandthepaperisyellowandglossy.thedimensions of the bindings vary. Those of the first volume are 23x15 cm., the second 23x15,5 cm.andthethird26,5x18cm.thenumbersoffoliosofthethreevolumesvary.the total number of folios is 730. There are 19 lines on each page, written in taʿliq script. 12 (2) Istanbul, Istanbul Üniversitesi Edebiyat Fakültesi Tarih Semineri KitaplıġıKA.282.CopiedfromtheEsadEfendimanuscript.Anincompletecopywith words,lines,paragraphsandevenfoliosomitted.itsdimensionsare20x30cm.and thenumberoflinesperpageis25.numberedas1040pages(520fols.).writtenin riqʿafromthebeginninguptopage1010(fol.505a).therestiswritteninnesih.varioustermsandnames,includingthenamesofsultans,grandviziers,viziers,queen mothers,andthewivesofsultansarerecordedinredink.thereisnoinformationon its copyist. (3) Istanbul, Süleymaniye Kütüphanesi, Esad Efendi 2152. Consists of 622folioswiththedimensions17x22cm.Thenumberoflinesperpagevarybetween 20and34.Writteninnesihscript. 13 Thetextdoesnotincludesectionheadings.All threepartsareincludedinonevolumewithconsecutivefolionumbers.thepaperis white and was rubbed smooth. The other two manuscripts are copies of this oldest extantmanuscript.manypersonalandplacenamesareleftblank,indicatingthatthe authordidnotknowthesenameswhenhewascomposinghisworkandintendedto complete these sections later. In the other two manuscripts, however, these lacunae have been filled. The text includes many words which were crossed out and later rewritten.someinformationwhichtheauthorforgottoincludearerecordedbetween thelinesoronthemargins.assuch,thismanuscriptappearstobetheautographcopy ofthework. Copyright by the editors of the HistoriansoftheOttomanEmpire (http://www.ottomanhistorians.com/) 3
HISTORIANSOFTHEOTTOMANEMPIRE AnindexedcriticaleditionofCābīTa rīḫiwaspublishedintwovolumesbym. AliBeyhanin2003. BIBLIOGRAPHY 1CābīTa rīḫi,ta rīḫ-isult(ānselīm-is ālis vemaḥmūd-ıs ānī Manuscripts:(1)Berlin,Staatsbibliothek,Hs.or.oct.1034/1(formerlyinMarburg Staatsbibliothek),SüssheimCollection;730fols.,19lines,taliq(BarbaraFlemming, Verzeichnis der orientalishen Handschriften in Deutschland, 13/1 (Wiesbaden, 1968), 163). (2) Istanbul, Istanbul Üniversitesi Edebiyat Fakültesi Tarih Semineri Kitaplığı,no.KA.282;520fols.,25lines,riqa/nesih.(3)Istanbul,SüleymaniyeKütüphanesi,EsadEfendi,no.2152;622fols.,20-34lines,nesih(Defter-iKütübḫāne-i EsʿadEfendi(Istanbul,nd),126). Editions: Cābī ʿÖmer Efendi. Cābī Ta rīḫi veya Ta rīḫ-i Sulṭān Selīm-i s ālis ve Maḥmūd-ıs ānī.ed.mehmetalibeyhan(ankara,2003). GeneralBibliography BaşbakanlıkOsmanlıArşivi.RuusDefteri,no.126,133-134.Defter-iKütübḫāne-i EsʿadEfendi(Istanbul,nd),126.BursalıMeḥmedṬāhir.ʿOs mānlımü ellifleri,vol.3 (Istanbul, 1324/1906-1907), 181, fn. Ludwig Forrer. Handschriften Osmanischen HistorikerinIstanbul. DerIslam,26/3(1942),173-220.IstanbulKütüphaneleriTarih-CoğrafyaYazmalarıKatalogları(Istanbul,1943),224.NihalAtsız. Tanınmamış OsmanlıTarihleri. TürkKütüphanecilerDerneğiBülteni,1-2(1957),47-81.Ahmet CevatEren.SelimIII. ünbiyografisi(istanbul,1964).semavieyice. Mango,Cyril: MaterialfortheStudyoftheMosaicsofSt.SophiaatIstanbul [Review],Belleten, 28/112(1964),773-789.İsmailHamiDanişmend.İzahlıOsmanlıTarihiKronolojisi (Istanbul,1971).İsmailHakkıUzunçarşılı. Nizam-ıCedidRicalindenKadıAbdurrahmanPaşa. Belleten,35/138-139(1971),245-302;409-450.FahriÇ.Derin. YaylaİmamıRisâlesi. TarihEnstitüsüDergisi,3(1973),213-272.ReşatEkremKoçu. Tarih Kaynaklarımız. Tercüman, (Istanbul), 20 Mart 1975. Cavid Baysun. Mustafa IV. İslâm Ansiklopedisi, vol. 8 (1979), 708-714. İsmail Hakkı Uzunçarşılı. Mustafa Paşa, Bayrakdar. İslâm Ansiklopedisi, vol. 8 (1979), 720-727. Ahmet CevatEren. SelimIII. İslâmAnsiklopedisi,vol.10(1980),441-457.AhmetHamdi Tanpınar. 19. Asır Türk Edebiyatı Tarihi(Istanbul, 1985). Yılmaz Öztuna. II. Mahmud (Ankara, 1989). Mehmet Ali Beyhan. Câbî Târihi. Unpublished PhD Dissertation (Istanbul University, 1992). Mehmet Ali Beyhan. Şânîzâde Tarihi nin KaynaklarındanCâbîTarihi. OsmanlıAraştırmaları,XV(1995),239-283. 1 BursalıMeḥmedTahir,ʿOs manlımü ellifleri,vol.3(istanbul,1324/1906-1907),181. 2 Cavid Baysun, Mustafa IV, İslâm Ansiklopedisi, vol. 8 (1979), 709; Ahmet Cevat Eren, Selim III, İslâmAnsiklopedisi,vol.10(1980),454;ReşatEkrem,Koçu, TarihKaynaklarımız, Tercüman, 20Mart1975,4;YılmazÖztuna,II.Mahmud(Ankara,1989),19-20;SemaviEyice, Mango,Cyril: Copyright by the editors of the HistoriansoftheOttomanEmpire (http://www.ottomanhistorians.com/) 4
HISTORIANSOFTHEOTTOMANEMPIRE Material for the Study of the Mosaics of St. Sophia at Istanbul [Review], Belleten, 28/112(1964), 777. 3 AhmetHamdiTanpınar,19.AsırTürkEdebiyatıTarihi(Istanbul,1985),53,57,62,116. 4 CābīʿÖmerEfendi,CābīTa rīhiveyata rīh-isulṭānselīm-is ālis vemaḥmūd-ıs ānī,ed.mehmet AliBeyhan(Ankara,2003),603[henceforthCT]. 5 CT,XVII. 6 CT,519. 7 CT,519. 8 BaşbakanlıkOsmanlıArşivi,RuusDefteri,no.126,133-134. 9 ComparewithLudwigForrer, HandschriftenOsmanischenHistorikerinIstanbul, DerIslam,26/3 (1942),173-220. 10 Nihal Atsız, Tanınmamış Osmanlı Tarihleri, Türk Kütüphaneciler Derneği Bülteni, 1-2 (1957), 72-73. 11 Mehmet Ali Beyhan, Şânizâde Tarihi nin Kaynaklarından Câbî Tarihi, Osmanlı Araştırmaları, XV(1995),239-283. 12 BarbaraFlemming,VerzeichnisderorientalishenHandschrifteninDeutschland,13/1(Wiesbaden, 1968),163. 13 Onpage224ofIstanbulKütüphaneleriTarih-CoğrafyaYazmalarıKatalogları(Istanbul,1943),the dimensionsofthemanuscriptarerecordedas218x170mmanditsscriptasriqʿa. MehmetAliBEYHAN August2005 [TranslatedintoEnglishbyHistoriansoftheOttomanEmpire EnglishversionpostedAugust2008] Copyright by the editors of the HistoriansoftheOttomanEmpire (http://www.ottomanhistorians.com/) 5