Gelibolulu Mustafa Âlî ve Kavâ‘idü’l-Mecâlis’i

Abstract

Mustafa Âlî of Gallipoli was initially appointed as the director of a madrasa following the completion of his education. He later left his studies and was appointed as the council clerk in H.968 (AD 1560-1561) when he wrote his first book “Mihr u Mah”, which he dedicated and presented to Prince Selim (Selim the 2nd). As far as we can see, Âlî traveled through many parts of the Ottoman State from east to west, and north to south. He had the opportunity to get to know Ottoman geography, society, and institutions, which is why his sixty published works of different sizes are particularly important. In addition to reflecting on the social life of the 16th-century Ottoman State, Âlî had the opportunity to get to know the state closely. He also conveyed his observations that penetrated the psychology of the people in his works. Âlî, who became famous for his historian identity, is also known to have also critically approached historiography. Âli’s works are regarded as one of the most important sources of Turkish history, especially the 16th century Ottoman history. Along with his several important works such as“Künhü’l-Ah bar” and “Menâkib-ı Hünerverân”, he authored “Kavâ’idü’l- Mecâlis”, which criticized and analyzed the social life of the Ottoman citizens, and “Mevâ’idün-Nefâ’is fi Kavâ’idü’l- Mecâlis” that he authored in the last months of his life are two unique sources of the Ottoman’s social life in the 16th century. We believe that publishing such a critical text by giving information about the features and nature of the work would enable today’s researchers benefit from the above mentioned works. Similar to the books of social ethics and morality, which are examples of classical Islamic-Turkish literature, this book is written in the form of “Qaida” and it consists of ten chapters on the top of a long introduction section. Each chapter is written with separate titles. While explaining the reason for writing this work, we strive to discern the content of “Kavâ’idü’l-Mecâlis”, by providing the summary of the introduction section and summarizing each chapter separately.