Nasîhatnâme (, ''Naṣīḥat-nāme'') were a type of guidance letter for Ottoman sultans, similar to

mirrors for princes Mirrors for princes or mirrors of princes () constituted a literary genre of didactic political writings throughout the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. It was part of the broader speculum or mirror literature genre. The Latin term ''speculum reg ...

. They draw on a variety of historical and religious sources, and were influenced by the governance of previous empires such as the Seljuk Turks or the Mongols, as well as by early Muslim history and by contemporary events.

History

Nasîhatnâme became common in the sixteenth century but built on earlier works such as the Kutadgu Bilig (''Knowledge of Prosperity''), written in 1070 by Yusuf Has Hacip. Early influences include the inşa literature of the Abbasid era. Some refer to

Alexander the Great Alexander III of Macedon (; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), most commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the Ancient Greece, ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia (ancient kingdom), Macedon. He succeeded his father Philip ...

. However, nasîhatnâme are different from

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived the events that caused the fall of the Western Roman E ...

''Chronographia'', and were written for a different audience. Nasîhatnâme were even commissioned by aspirants to Ottoman government - including, in one case, by the

Phanariot Phanariots, Phanariotes, or Fanariots (, , ) were members of prominent Greeks, Greek families in Fener, Phanar (Φανάρι, modern ''Fener''), the chief Greek quarter of Constantinople where the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople, Ecume ...

Alexandros Skarlatou Kallimaki, the probable father of

Skarlatos Voyvodas Alexandrou Kallimaki Skarlatos is a Greek surname and forename. People with the name include: Surname *Alek Skarlatos (born 1992), American soldier, Knight of the French Legion of Honour *Konstantinos Skarlatos Konstantinos Skarlatos (, 17 March 1872 – 1969) ...

. By the 17th century, a sense of imperial decline began to affect the content of these texts; more than just advocating a return to some golden age (i.e. Suleyman the Magnificent) they highlighted specific systemic problems in the empire - including nepotism, revolts, military defeat, and corrupt

Janissaries A janissary (, , ) was a member of the elite infantry units that formed the Ottoman sultan's household troops. They were the first modern standing army, and perhaps the first infantry force in the world to be equipped with firearms, adopted du ...

Content

Nasîhatnâme typically state a clear moral reason for why they are written and presented to leaders; whether piety, or morality, or realpolitik.

Examples

Precursors

* Nasihat al-Muluk (نصيحةالملوك) (literally "''advice for rulers''") by

al-Ghazali Al-Ghazali ( – 19 December 1111), archaically Latinized as Algazelus, was a Shafi'i Sunni Muslim scholar and polymath. He is known as one of the most prominent and influential jurisconsults, legal theoreticians, muftis, philosophers, the ...

* Kabusnama, (قابوسنامه) by Keykavus bin İskender *

Siyasetname ''Siyāsatnāmeh'' (, ), also known as ''Siyar al-mulûk'' (, ), is the most famous work by Nizam al-Mulk, the founder of Nizamiyyah schools in medieval Persia and vazier to the Seljuq sultans Alp Arslan and Malik Shah. Nizam al-Mulk possessed "' ...

(سياستنامه) by

Nizamülmülk Abū ʿAlī Ḥasan ibn ʿAlī Ṭūsī () (1018 – 1092), better known by his honorific title of Niẓām al-Mulk (), was a Persian Sunni scholar, jurist, political philosopher and vizier of the Seljuk Empire. Rising from a low position within ...

, written by order of the Seljuk emperor Melikşah. * Ahlak-ı Nasıri (اخلاق ناصرى) (Nasırian Ethics) by Nasiruddin Tusi * Çahar Makala (Four Discourses) by Nizamuddin Arudi * Kitab Nasihat al-Mulk, by

Al-Mawardi Ali ibn Muhammad ibn Habib (; –1058), commonly known by the '' nisba'' al-Mawardi (), was a Sunni polymath and a Shafi'i jurist, legal theoretician, muhaddith, theologian, sociologist and an expert in political science. He is considered to b ...

Hussain Vaiz Kashifi Hussein, Hossein, Hussain, Hossain, Huseyn, Husayn, Husein, Hussin, Hoessein, Houcine, Hocine or Husain (; ), coming from the triconsonantal root Ḥ-S-N (), is an Arabic name which is the diminutive of Hassan, meaning "good", "handsome" or ...

's Aklhaq i Muhsini (composed in Persian AH 900/AD 1495), translated into English as ''The Morals of the Beneficent'' in the mid 19th century by Henry George Keene *

Al-Muqaddimah The ''Muqaddimah'' ( "Introduction"), also known as the ''Muqaddimah of Ibn Khaldun'' () or ''Ibn Khaldun's Prolegomena'' (), is a book written by the historian Ibn Khaldun in 1377 which presents a view of universal history. Some modern thinker ...

, by

ibn Khaldun Ibn Khaldun (27 May 1332 – 17 March 1406, 732–808 Hijri year, AH) was an Arabs, Arab Islamic scholar, historian, philosopher and sociologist. He is widely acknowledged to be one of the greatest social scientists of the Middle Ages, and cons ...

* ''The Biographies of Illustrious Men'' by ibn Zafar as-Siqilli

Nasîhatnâme texts

* Tarih-i Ebü’l-Feth (''History of the father of conquest''), by Tursun Bey
Destan ve Tevarih-i Müluk-i Al-i Osman
by Ahmedi * The ''Asafname'' ("Mirror for Rulers"), by

Lütfi Pasha Lütfi Pasha (, ''Luṭfī Paşa''; Modern Turkish: ''Lütfi Paşa'', more fully ''Damat Çelebi Lütfi Paşa''; 1488 – 27 March 1564, Didymoteicho) was an Ottoman Albanian statesman, general, and Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire under Sule ...

* Nushatü’s Selatin (Advice to the sultans), by Gelibolulu Mustafa Ali * ''Ravżatu'l-Ḥüseyn fī ḫulāṣati aḫbāri'l-ḫāfiḳeyn'', by

Mustafa Naima Mustafa Naima (; ''Muṣṭafā Na'īmā''; Aleppo, Ottoman Syria 1655 – 1716) was an Ottoman bureaucrat and historian who wrote the chronicle known as the ''Tārīḫ-i Na'īmā'' (''Naima's History''). He is often considered to be the f ...

* Hirzü’l-Mülûk (Spells of the sultans), anonymously written * Usûlü’l-hikem fi Nizâmi’l-âlem (The principles of wisdom for the order of the world), by Hasan Kâfî el-Akhisarî * Habnâme (Book of dreams), by Veysi. * Kitâb-i Müstetâb (Beautiful book), anonymous. *

Risale A risale () is a small book in the form of a treatise on socio-economic, political or historical topics. This type of Ottoman literature became popular thanks to two risales written by Koçi Bey from the first half of the 17th century. In them, B ...

Koçi Bey Koçi Bey (in older sources ''Kochu Bey'', died 1650) was a high-ranking Ottoman bureaucrat who lived in the first half of the 17th century. Biography He was an ethnic Albanian (an Arnaut), born in Korçë in eastern Albania. Bernard Lewis posi ...

* Veliyüddin Telhisleri * Kanûnnâme-i sultânî li Aziz Efendi; the identity of the author, Aziz Efendi, is unclear. * Kitâbu mesâlihi’l-müslimîn ve menâfi’i’l-müminîn, anonymous. * Düsturü’l-Amel li-Islahi’l-Halel, by Katip Çelebi * Telhisü’l-beyan fi kavanin-i al-i Osman, by Hezarfan Hüseyin Efendi, who also wrote the history book Tenkîh-i Tevârih-i Mülûk

References