Information Package / Course Catalogue
Analysis of Ottoman Archive Documents I
Course Code: TAR435
Course Type: Area Elective
Couse Group: First Cycle (Bachelor's Degree)
Education Language: Turkish
Work Placement: N/A
Theory: 2
Prt.: 0
Credit: 2
Lab: 0
ECTS: 5
Objectives of the Course

To develop students' paleographic skills and source criticism competencies in transcribing, analyzing, and accurately translating political and administrative documents produced by the classical and post-classical Ottoman central bureaucracy into contemporary academic Turkish.

Course Content

Methodological principles of analyzing archival charters and translating them into modern Turkish (regesta/abstracting); decoding the military and logistical idiom of classical era frontier decrees; analysis of ruling texts regarding provincial public order and Celali unrest; reading classical period fief patents (berats) within the context of agrarian law and translating them into contemporary property terminology; legal analysis of exemption and ecclesiastical leadership patents granted to non-Muslim leaders and consuls; bureaucratic equivalents of grand vizierial executive orders (buyruldus); deciphering and contextualizing grand vizierial summaries (telhis) and imperial autographs (hatt-ı hümâyûns); analyzing individual petitions (arzuhals) documenting the search for justice and collective petitions (mahzars) reflecting provincial alliances; translating and criticizing administrative, military, and public works decrees selected from the Imperial Council Registers (Mühimme), alongside local judicial records in Sharia Court Registers.

Name of Lecturer(s)
Lec. Mehmet BAŞARAN
Learning Outcomes
1.to be able to interpret the Ottoman language and writing system according to the historical periods
2.to be able to apply translation methods in texts of the archive
3.to be able to recognize the characteristics of the historical texts
4. Understands the development process of Ottoman language.
5. Understands and evaluates the etymology of Ottoman and Turkish.
Recommended or Required Reading
1.M.Bedreddin Yazır, Medeniyet Aleminde Yazı ve İslam Medeniyetinde Kalem Güzeli, Diyanet İşleri Başkanlığı Yay., Ankara, 1972.
2.Yılmaz Kurt, Osmanlıca Dersleri I, Akçağ Yayınevi, Ankara 2010.
3.F. Kadri Timurtaş, Osmanlı Türkçesine Giriş, İÜ, Ed. Fak. Yay., İstanbul, 1981.
Weekly Detailed Course Contents
Week 1 - Theoretical
Document-Centric Translation Methodology and Techniques of Drafting Abstracts (Regesta) We address the core principles of analyzing archival charters within their historical context. Students will learn the protocols for transcribing a text, extracting its abstract (regesta), and translating the document into contemporary academic Turkish while preserving its analytical value.
Week 2 - Theoretical
Border Security and Campaign Orders: Classical Era Frontier Decrees We analyze 16th-century imperial decrees concerning the fortification of frontier castles, troop deployments, or the logistical preparations for an upcoming campaign. Students will decode military-geographical terms and translate tactical orders into contemporary military Turkish.
Week 3 - Theoretical
Public Order and Rebellion Management: Decrees on Provincial Banditry This week focuses on ruling texts drafted in response to regional public order crises, Celali unrest, or banditry threatening local populations. Students will transcribe terms related to crime, punishment, and administrative sanctions, producing a socio-legal translation of the document.
Week 4 - Theoretical
Land Allocations and Agrarian Law: Classical Period Fief Patents (Berats) We dissect berats through which the state allocated revenues (dirlik) to cavalrymen or bureaucrats as fiefs. By identifying villages, hamlets, farms, and tax items in the text, students will translate this feudal property document into modern property and land law terminology.
Week 5 - Theoretical
Translation and analysis of sample archReligious Exemptions and Social Status: Patents of Ecclesiastical Leadership We analyze investiture and exemption berats granted to non-Muslim community leaders (patriarchs, metropolitans) or waqf trustees. Reading clauses on rights, privileges, and fiscal exemptions, students will translate the legal ties between state and subjects into modern public law concepts. ive material
Week 6 - Theoretical
Administrative Interventions of the Grand Vizierate: Executive Orders (Buyruldus) We read executive orders issued from the Grand Vizier's office to provincial governors or directly to the judge of Istanbul. Analyzing how a buyruldu differed rhetorically from an imperial decree, students will translate this text—reflecting prime ministerial executive power—into modern bureaucratic prose.
Week 7 - Theoretical
Decision-Making at the Summit of the State: Grand Vizierial Summaries (Telhises) We examine telhis texts—executive reports drafted by the Grand Vizier to outline domestic or foreign affairs for royal sanction. Filtering out elaborate honorary formulas, students will isolate the core policy report and its proposed solutions, reconstructing them in clear corporate Turkish.
Week 8 - Theoretical
Direct Injunctions of the Monarch: Sovereign Rescripts (Hatt-ı Hümâyûns) This week features personal imperial rescripts penned directly by the sultans, whether inscribed on reports or issued independently. Students will transcribe these texts reflecting the ruler’s personal style or mandate, translating definitive orders into contemporary phrases like "Let it be enacted accordingly."
Week 9 - Theoretical
The Subject's Search for Justice: Individual Petitions (Arzuhals) We analyze arzuhals containing the grievances and legal appeals of ordinary individuals sent to the capital. Transcribing the marginal notes (derkenar) that register the state's internal processing, students will report the citizen's case and the state's administrative remedy using modern vocabulary.
Week 10 - Theoretical
Provincial Alliances and Collective Demands: Collective Petitions (Mahzars) We read mahzar texts—collective petitions drafted and sealed jointly by a region's judge, mufti, notables, and populace. Students will map the local actors behind the signatures and seals at the bottom, analyzing this collective declaration through modern socio-political frameworks.
Week 11 - Theoretical
The Empire's Decision Logs: Decoding Imperial Council Rulings (Hüküms) We examine classical period rulings selected from the Mühimme Defterleri (Imperial Council Registers). Transcribing these rapidly recorded council minutes, students will generate complete academic translations and contextual analyses of each administrative ruling in modern Turkish.
Week 12 - Theoretical
Urban Infrastructure and Logistics: Public Works and Procurement Decrees This week focuses on records concerning bridge construction, aqueduct repairs, provisioning the capital, or public building projects. Students will isolate fiscal and architectural terms, translating the historical data into the concepts of modern urban planning and logistics.
Week 13 - Theoretical
Social Life and Local Justice: Records of the Sharia Courts (Şer'iyye Sicilleri) We study documents selected from court registers, including marriage contracts, divorce decrees, probate inventories (tereke), or criminal indictments. Students will analyze these texts by mapping the historical legal terminology onto modern civil, inheritance, and obligations law
Week 14 - Theoretical
Classical Document Analysis and Translation End-of-Term Practicum In this final workshop, we execute a textual critique on a mixed set of original archival charters. Students will transcribe a given classical administrative text, map its structural components, and deliver an exhaustive, contemporary academic Turkish translation.
Assessment Methods and Criteria
Type of AssessmentCountPercent
Assignment2%10
Quiz1%10
Midterm Examination1%20
Final Examination1%60
Workload Calculation
ActivitiesCountPreparationTimeTotal Work Load (hours)
Lecture - Theory142256
Individual Work6106
Quiz210021
Midterm Examination115116
Final Examination125126
TOTAL WORKLOAD (hours)125
Contribution of Learning Outcomes to Programme Outcomes
PÇ-1
PÇ-2
PÇ-3
PÇ-4
PÇ-5
PÇ-6
PÇ-7
PÇ-8
PÇ-9
PÇ-10
PÇ-11
PÇ-12
OÇ-1
4
5
2
3
3
2
2
3
3
3
2
2
OÇ-2
3
5
3
3
3
3
2
3
3
3
2
3
OÇ-3
4
5
2
3
3
3
2
3
3
3
2
2
OÇ-4
4
4
2
3
3
3
2
3
3
3
2
3
OÇ-5
4
4
2
3
4
3
2
3
3
3
2
3
Adnan Menderes University - Information Package / Course Catalogue
2026