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A small introduction to the ottoman document customer and diplomatics.
Uwe Becker
Documents
Documents are written sources, which developed as product of an organization of the administration in the correspondence. They result to formal characteristics from the emergence of documents and being subject in
their systematics.
Developing cause for the exhibition of documents of the ottoman central office was either the reaction to an input or from own initiative. An input to the office made followed an examination of circumstances,
dependent on importance or the status of the applicant. If it was to be advised necessarily in the largewonderful Council of State (diwan)
the input, a material and legal examination had to be accomplished before. Made the decisions in the Council of State (recording instructions)
into minutes were registered. At the end of the meetings one registered now minutes into the largewonderful register (rueus defteri). On that a concept (muesvedde)
could be provided. This concept was examined again for contents, form and caligraphic accuracy and if necessary, from the exhibitor corrects. The concept developed in this way formed the basis of the recopy. The in such a way executed documents and/or copies were registered daily, in chronological order, in an output register. Only the absolutely necessary things, as well as the transmittal mode were registered. The used registers differed in the kind and importance of the document e.g. fiscal register
(maliyye ahkam defteri), the register for important state-legal documents (muehimme defteri) or for usual documents (adi defteri). Inputs and complaints were registered in (sikayet defteri)
, equally secret registers (sirr defteri) and campaign register (ribab muehimmeleri) are well-known, as well as the fief journal (ruznamce) or the Vacancy register (mahluel defteri).
The practice of the blankfermane appears also important (beyaz hukuem). It concerns not office Sultansdocument, which were provided usually given only with the Tughra (See for this: www.tughranet.f2s.com ) the field gentleman, if the Sultan was not present in own person. As a check the documents were compared with the largewonderful register. The accumulating record was collected and stored in Constantinopel in central archives.
After the registration of the document the feed took place. Three kinds of feed are to be differentiated, i.e. the direct feed according to the Council of State meeting or by for it the particularly assigned one (
advise emini) and the feed by a messenger. By the way the exhibition of a document was being entitled requiring. With the different kinds of feed by messengers a struggle relationship of these cannot be
determined regarding the addressee. The messenger could be a man of confidence of the addressee, coincidentally in its direction of a traveler man of confidence of the largewonderful office, an envoy in traffic with
the foreign country or an over select by the office and/or Council of State more bringer. At latter group it concerns Tschausche, Pforteninterpreters, Mueteferriqas or higher dignitaries. With important documents
messenger still another appropriate guard was assigned to the actual.
Emergence (Sultans) of a document
Reaction of the
On initiative central
office
central office
- Application/Petition etc. Office - Appointment/instructions etc.
Preparation of the collecting main
in the Council of State
Council of State meeting
- Decision minutes
(recording instructions)
- Entry in registers
Rough draft
- Examination of the rogh darft
possibly Re-submission
- Rough draft correction
Recopy
Execution of the document
and copy in
Output register
Feed
The most important Sultansdocuments 16 Jh.
name hükm berat
- Victorious letter (fethname)
Instructions (high positions)
- Kapitulationen (ahdname) (nisan)
- Title-deeds (mülkname)
Instructions (low positions) - Admonition letter (tehdidname)
(sebeb-i tahir) etc.
General instructions in state affairs
(ahkam-i mühimme)
Petitionen
(ahkam-i sikayet)
Financial decree
(ahkam-i maliyye)
Assignment
(tevgih fermanlari)
Diplomatic
The ottoman (Sultans) document comes out by continuous development from arab, persian and seldschuks forms. Parallelisms to occidental documents are not to be ignored, since as original pattern Roman and/or Byzantine
documents are to be regarded. Differences lie in the excludingness of legal contents in occidental documents, which are not always separated in such a way into ottomans documents.
The documents were written to the predominant part on upper-Italian and later French paper, whereby the surface smoothing took place in the ottoman empire.
The documents begin with the Inocatio. (Unfortunately this calling formula was separated from God with many documents). Then the authentication follows by the largewonderful Tughra to the Intitulatio, thus
enumerating of names and titles, held in rhymeprosa (say), follows. Follow the Inscriptio, the denomination of the receiver and the Salutatio one in the 2 person Singular took place address. Documents of later
epochs change 2 to the person plural. Now Narration followed and the actual contents of the Dispositio are just as in rhymeprosa held as the following Sanctio and Korroboration. During dating above all differences
in the way of writing of the date arise. In addition, usually dating takes place in letter, it can only as enumerating a decade take place. Add to this that honour-took monthly and additional Apposition also in the
map reference were taken up.
The documents were written to the predominant part on upper-Italian and later French paper, whereby the surface smoothing took place in the ottoman empire.
Arrangement of a ottoman (Sultans -) document
PROTOKOLL (introduction)
Invocatio (calling God) davet/ temhit oder temcit
Tughra (largewonderful initials) tugra/pencs
Intitulatio (name/Title of the exhibitor) unvan
Inscriptio (addressee) elqab
Salutatio (address) du`a
KONTEXT (right-setting section)
Narratio (reasen of the document) naql/iblag/tesrih
Dispositio (material content) hükm/emr
Sanctio (penalty clause) te`kid
Korroboratio (indication of the authentication means)
ECHATOKOLL (End)
Datatio (dates) tarih
Locus (statement of place)
Literature
Generally
Beck, Friedrich und Henning Eckart (Hrsg.): Die Archivalischen Quellen. Eine Einführung in ihre Benutzung. 2 Aufl. Weimar 1994
Büssem, Eberhard und Neher Michael (Hrsg.): Arbeitsbuch Geschichte. Neuzeit 1 (16. bis 18. Jahrhundert) Quellen. München 1977
Brand, Ahasver von: Werkzeug des Historikers. Eine Einführung in die Historischen Hilfswissenschaften. 10 Aufl. Stuttgart 1983
Ottoman
Matuz, Josef: Das Kanzleiwesen Sultan Süleymans des Prächtigen. (Freiburger Islamstudien; Bd. V). Wiesbaden 1974
Reychman, Jan und Zajaczkowski: Handbook of Ottoman-Turkish Diplomatics. The Hague 1968
Schell, Helmuth:
Die staatsrechtliche Stellung der ökumenischen Kirchenfürsten in der alten Türkei. Ein Beitrag zur Geschichte der türkischen Verfassung und Verwaltung. (Abbhandlung der Preußischen Akademie der Wissenschaften: Jg. 1942.) Berlin 1943
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