Nasîhat
Nasîhatnâme were a type of guidance letter for Ottoman sultans, similar to mirrors for princes. 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, written in 1070 by Yusuf Has Hacip. Early influences include the inşa literature of the Abbasid era. Some refer to Alexander the Great.However, nasîhatnâme are different from Byzantine Chronographia, and were written for a different audience.
Nasîhatnâme were even commissioned by aspirants to Ottoman government - including, in one case, by the Phanariot Alexandros Skarlatou Kallimaki, the probable father of Skarlatos Voyvodas Alexandrou Kallimaki.
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 they highlighted specific systemic problems in the empire - including nepotism, revolts, military defeat, and corrupt Janissaries.
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 by al-Ghazali
- Kabusnama, by Keykavus bin İskender
- Siyasetname by Nizamülmülk, written by order of the Seljuk emperor Melikşah.
- Ahlak-ı Nasıri by Nasiruddin Tusi
- Çahar Makala by Nizamuddin Arudi
- Kitab Nasihat al-Mulk, by Al-Mawardi
- Hussain Vaiz Kashifi's Aklhaq i Muhsini, translated into English as The Morals of the Beneficent in the mid 19th century by Henry George Keene
- Al-Muqaddimah, by ibn Khaldun
- The Biographies of Illustrious Men by ibn Zafar as-Siqilli
Nasîhatnâme texts
- Tarih-i Ebü’l-Feth, by Tursun Bey
- , by Ahmedi
- The Asafname, by Lütfi Pasha
- Nushatü’s Selatin, by Gelibolulu Mustafa Ali
- Ravżatu'l-Ḥüseyn fī ḫulāṣati aḫbāri'l-ḫāfiḳeyn, by Mustafa Naima
- Hirzü’l-Mülûk, anonymously written
- Usûlü’l-hikem fi Nizâmi’l-âlem, by Hasan Kâfî el-Akhisarî
- Habnâme, by Veysi.
- Kitâb-i Müstetâb, anonymous.
- Risale, Koçi Bey
- 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