TURKOMANS BETWEEN TWO EMPIRES: THE ... - Bilkent University

pādişāhımız ola, nat’-ı zeminde Şāh evine at sürsek dir idik, li’llāhi’l-hamd
duāmız kabul oldı ve nāvek-i recāmız pūte-i icābete vusūl buldu. Fermān
Hüdāvendigārındur, şimdi buyursun şimdi gidelim, her ne zamanda teveccüh
kılursa emrine ita’at idelim. 1733
‘Ali records that upon hearing these words from a low-ranking janissary who
earned only nine akçe ulūfe, the Sultan generously granted him the governorship of the
Sancak of Selānik. 1734 According to ‘Ali, why the statesmen and generals remained
silent when Selim asked their opinions, was because of fear caused by the disposition of
Selim. This sort of interpretation should be regarded, however, as an attempt of a later
Ottoman court historian to clarify and to glorify the fame of Selim. In a similar vein,
‘Ali mistakenly narrates as if this event occurred in Istanbul when Bayezid II was alive
in Dimetoka. 1735
A similar account is recorded in Şükrī. On demanding their opinion, the
statesmen did not present their answer immediately; rather they negotiated the issue
among themselves. At the end they decided to consult the law of former sultans (kanūn-ı
selef). 1736 Upon hearing their answer, Sultan Selim became rather annoyed and said that
the former law was neither the word of God nor the deed of the Prophet (sünnet). Then
he gave the unquestioned obedience of the qizilbashes to the Shah as an example stating
that whatever the shah initiated, his adherents perceived it as law without doubt. Finally
1733
ALI, p. . TNSS argues that this conversation takes place just after Selim’s ascendance to the throne in
the spring of 1512. See TNSS, p. 31. Nevertheless, as Hammer realizes, the context of events suggests that
it must be during the divan of Edirne. See HAM2, p. 420.
1734
ALI, p. 1074.
1735
ALI, p. 1073.
1736
The best way of interpreting this phrase seems to take it as the traditional law of Ottomans, which is
called örf. As Halil Đnalcık determines in his various works, Ottoman law was composed of two main
branches: the religious law (şeriat) and the traditional or sultanic law which principally encompasses state
affairs. See, for example, Halil Inalcik, “Şerî’at ve Kanun, Din ve Devlet”, in his Osmanlı’da Devlet,
Hukuk , Adâlet, Đstanbul: Eren Yayınları, 2000, 39-46; “Osmanlı Hukukuna Giriş, Örfî- Sultanî Hukuk ve
Fatih’in Kanunları, Siyasi Đlimler ve Hukuk”, Siyasal Bilgiler Fakültesi Dergisi, 13, 1958, 102-126;
“Adâletnâmeler”, Türk Tarih Belgeleri Dergisi, 11, 1965, 49-145.
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