Ebu Sehil Nu'man Efendi

Ebu Sehil Nu'man Efendi (* around 1700 in Eğin , † after 1750 in Manisa ) was an Ottoman Molla ("lawyer", "notary") and wrote the three-part chronicle Tedbîrât-i Pesendîde (dt. "Adequate measures ").

Life

Nu'man, called Ebu Sehil (for the title Efendi see there), was born in Eğin, today named after Kemal Ataturk Kemâliye, around the year 1700. Information about his life can only be found in his chronicle, nothing precise is given about birth and death. When he was five years old, his father died; his mother 'Ayişe, the daughter of a scholar, took over his upbringing. In the city of Divriği , where his brother Mehmed studied, he learned literature and logic, in Diyarbakır theology, jurisprudence and geometry.

At the end of 1138 dH according to the Islamic calendar (1726 AD), he asked the Şeyh ül-islâm Fâzıl 'Abdullah Efendi for a post in Diyarbakır, but was only offered a position as Mülazim (candidate judge) in Istanbul. He went to Tabriz, which was Ottoman at the time , as a mufti (legal expert) and stayed there until 1148 dH (1735 AD). After a stay in Kefe he came to Hungary, where he took part in a mixed Habsburg - Ottoman border separation commission as Molla ("notary").

He was in the same position in Tokat and was then appointed professor at a madrasah (Islamic university) on the last day of Şa'ban 1155 dH (October 29, 1742 AD ). The next places of work were Izmir , the islands of Andros and Cyprus , and Birgi (in western Turkey). In 1160 dH (1747 AD) he became kazı'asker (army judge) at the great embassy of Ahmed Efendi, who was on his way to the Persian King Nadir Shah after the peace agreement. As a judge in Manisa in Western Anatolia, his last post in office, he must have died.

The Chronicle

In the first part of the work, Ebu Sehil describes his time in Tabriz, where he worked as a mufti. He was not happy there because, according to him , he suffered from "all sorts of illnesses and sorrows," including red running . Therefore he moved to the court of Mengli Giray in Kefe in the Crimea, where he was camp judge ( ordu kadısı ).

The very detailed second part reports on his work as a Molla (notary and consultant) at a border decision-making commission in Hungary. After the war of 1736–1739 , which was unfavorable for the Habsburg Empire , the Peace of Belgrade came about , in which Emperor Charles VI. had to forego almost all areas conquered by Prince Eugene of Savoy . The above-mentioned commission was set up to determine the new limit. Major General Freiherr von Engelshofen worked for the imperial family, Mevkufatî (head of the Confiscation Chancellery) and later Grand Vizier Mehmed Efendi for the Ottomans. Ebu Sehil was supposed to act as an advisor to Mehmed Efendis and the issuer of the border documents due to his legal and geometric knowledge. He describes in detail the intrigues, disputes and problems caused by the impact of major political events on the work of the border commission. He proudly reports on his tricks of having made remedial action possible in hopeless cases - often against the opinion of the two superiors.

“A condition cannot cancel another condition without this being expressly stated. But it is quite impossible for a condition to overturn an internationally recognized law unless it is expressly stated and made a condition that this law is not to be observed here. If nothing is said about a law, it means that it must be observed. ”(From his argument with General von Engelshofen about the island off Belgrade)

The third part of the chronicle deals with Ebu Sehil's journey as a kazı asker to the Persian Shah in the entourage of the Grand Ambassador Ahmed Efendi. After Nadir-Şah's successes in his wars against the Ottomans, this major message was agreed to consolidate the peace treaty. With this report Ebu Sehil closes his work.

See also

• List of Ottoman chroniclers
• List of Ottoman titles

literature

• Stefan Schreiner (Ed.): The Ottomans in Europe. Memories and reports by Turkish historians. Verlag Styria, Graz / Vienna / Cologne 1985, ISBN 3-222-11589-3 (based on the series Ottoman Historians published by Richard Franz Kreutel , 10 volumes, Verlag Styria, Graz / Vienna / Cologne 1955–1981).
• Erich Prokosch (translation, introduction and explanation): Molla and diplomat. The report by Ebû Sehil Nuʿmân Efendi on the Austro-Ottoman demarcation after the Peace of Belgrade in 1740/41 (= vol. 7 of the series Ottoman historians , edited by Richard Franz Kreutel), Styria publishing house, Graz / Vienna / Cologne 1972. ISBN 3-222-10468-9

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Stefan Schreiner (Ed.): The Ottomans in Europe. Memories and reports by Turkish historians. Verlag Styria, Graz / Vienna / Cologne 1985, ISBN 3-222-11589-3 (based on the series Ottoman historians published by Richard Franz Kreutel , 10 volumes, Verlag Styria, Graz / Vienna / Cologne 1955–1981), p. 364 -365.
2. ↑ ^{a b} Stefan Schreiner (Ed.): The Ottomans in Europe. Memories and reports by Turkish historians. Verlag Styria, Graz / Vienna / Cologne 1985, ISBN 3-222-11589-3 (based on the series Ottoman historians published by Richard Franz Kreutel , 10 volumes, Verlag Styria, Graz / Vienna / Cologne 1955–1981), p. 363 .
3. ↑ Stefan Schreiner (Ed.): The Ottomans in Europe. Memories and reports by Turkish historians. Verlag Styria, Graz / Vienna / Cologne 1985, ISBN 3-222-11589-3 (based on the series Ottoman Historians published by Richard Franz Kreutel , 10 volumes, Verlag Styria, Graz / Vienna / Cologne 1955–1981), p. 370 .