6 Kasım 1991 tarihini hiç unutamam. O gün, ilk astroloji kitabımı (Astroloji Zamanları) elime aldığımda, 20 yıl sonrasında neler yapacağımı kestirecek bilince pek sahip değildim. Ne var ki zamanın bir hafızası var. Her geçen yılın, bilincimize yerleştirdiği birikimler ve anılar, birbirleri ile hiç de rastgele sayılmayan bir şekilde yanyana gelerek, ancak sonradan farkedebileceğimiz bir örgü yaratıyorlar.
89 yılında o zamanların Burç dergisine yazmaya başlamış, 90’lı yıllarda yoğun biçimde Astroloji’ye gömülmüş durumdaydım. 97’de Faculty Diplomasını almam yeni bir dönemeçe, kendi psikolojimde daha cesur ve cüretkar bir döneme işaret ediyordu. O dönemde, 14 yıldır bire bir Astroloji’nin içerisindeydim. 2000 yılında bu özgüvenle bankacılığı bırakmam ve tamamen Astroloji’ye yönelmem, profesyönel anlamda ciddi bir uğraş içine girmemle birlikte, hızlı yükselen bir gelişim süreci yaşadım. Öğrencilerim, yurtdışındaki konferanslar (ilk defa 1999 yılında Plymouth’da İngiliz AA’nın Tutulma Konferansında konuşmuştum), gazete yazıları, 2005’te Göklerin Bilgeliği kitabım derken, Helenistik Astroloji’nin pratiğime getirdiği yeni boyutlar hep birbirlerine eklenen bir çizgi oluşturdular.
2008’den beri, astroloji diliyle açıklarsak Pluton’un Oğlak burcuna girişi ve Koç burcundaki ilerletilmiş Güneş’imi karelemeye başlaması ile birlikte, yeni bir yoğunluk, mücadele duygusu ve zor görevlerin içine girmeye başladım. Tıpkı 1991 yılında ilk kitabımın yayımlandığı dönemde yaşadığım dönüştürücü Pluton transiti gibi (Pluton Akrep burcundan Güneş’ine yine kare yapıyordu), bu son dönemde de, sınırlarımı genişletmek, (2006’da Jüpiter ilerletilmiş haritamda düzgün harekete dönmüştü) yeni bir şekil alabilmek için gittikçe yokuş yukarı çıkan bir yola ilk adımlarını atmaya başladım. Bu süreçte Osmanlıca (Eski Türkçe) çalışmalarına başladım. Eğer benim gibi Astroloji’nin tarihsel boyutuyla yakından ilgili iseniz, aslında geçmişte olup bitenleri analiz edebilmeniz için, geçmişin dilini daha iyi anlamanız gerekli. 2008 ilginçti gerçekten. Bernadette Brady’nin Göklerin Bilgeliği okulumuzu ziyaret etmesi benim astrolojik vizyonum açısından da yeni bir tohum oluşturdu. Onun önerileri ve verdiği cesaretle giriştiğim bu yeni yolda, kendi ülkemizin tarihinde yer alan Astroloji pratiklerini (İlm-i Nücum) araştırmak ve bunu akademik bir disiplin içinde ele alabilmek için, daha zor bir yola (bir bakıma plutonik) adım atmak gerekiyordu.
Doğal olarak bu süreçte, bana yardım eli uzatan, rehberlik eden yeni hocalarım ortaya çıkmaya başladı. Salim Aydüz’le yazışmalarım, Osmanlıca hocam Fatmagül Demirel bana sürekli destek ve moral vermesi, sabırla ilerlememi sağladı. Geçtiğimiz yıl Tarih disiplinine daha ciddi biçimde yaklaşmaya başladım. Fahriye Diçer Koçak’ın verdiği Tarih Yazımı derslerine katılırken, bir yandan da Osmanlı Tarihini içeren geniş perspektifli okumalar yaptım. Ruhun Yolculuğu kitabımın yazım aşaması, her zamanki derslerim ve görüşmelerimin dışında son zamanlarda enerjimin en büyük kısmını bu alana odakladım. Bu nedenle, belki farkındasınız, her zaman yazageldiğim bazı periyodik yazılarıma zaman ayıramadım. Ancak hepimizin yeni şeyler öğrenmeye ve kendimize yeni yollar yaratmaya ihtiyacı var. Hoş ve keyifli gelse de, aynı yerde sürekli aynı şeyleri yapmak doğama aykırı bir durum.
2011 Mart ayı işte bu çabalarımın ilk meyvelerini verdiği zaman oldu. Değişik sınavlardan geçerek, Boğaziçi Üniversitesi Tarih bölümünde ikinci bir yüksek lisans yapmaya hak kazandım. Bu süreçte bana yardımcı olan Fatmagül Demirel’e, Salim Aydüz’e, Fahriye Diçer Koçak’a, Bernadette Brady’ye, Nicolas Campion’a ve destek veren pek çok arkadaşıma yeniden teşekkür etmek istiyorum. Daha önümde çok uzun bir yol var. Tarih disiplinini, metotlarını öğrenmem ve konum doğrultusunda büyük çaba sarfetmem gerekiyor. Master tezimin konusu Osmanlı’da İlm-i Nücum pratiği ve bu pratiğin kültürel ve sosyal boyutları üzerine olacak. Konu ile ilgili detayları aşağıda verdiğim (İngilizce) çalışmamda okuyabilirsiniz. Kültür Tarihi, Düşünceler Tarihi, Bilim Tarihi ve Osmanlı Tarihi’ndeki İlm-i Nücum (Astroloji) çalışmaları konumun ana eksenini oluşturmakta. Eğer bu konuda çalışmalarınız varsa, lütfen bana yazmanızı rica ederim. E-postam [email protected] İlginize şimdiden teşekkürler.
Selamlar,
R. Hakan Kırkoğlu
Statement of Purpose
R. Hakan Kırkoğlu
Topic:
The tradition of practising Ilm-i Nucum within the Ottoman Palace and its cultural dimensions: An investigation into the mentalities and exploration of its social and cultural contexts
Introduction
Until the high-Rennaisance in the 17th century, the practise of Astrology (Ilm-i Nucum) as an advisory role to the rulers had been an established tradition within the intellectual sphere of the state apparatus. In the Western world, astronomers were also titled as astrologers who had been working for predicting world events within the context of that epoch’s scientific paradigm. Well known figures such as Johannes Kepler and Tycho Brahe both were under the service to the Holy Roman Emperor Rudolph II and Frederick II of Denmark, respectively. It is a well known fact that utilising Astrology in the administration within the Ottoman Palace had created a separate establishment especially since the period of the Sultan Bayezid II (1481-1512) Furthermore, even before him, several astrologers from Iran and Ali Kuşçu had been invited to the Palace during the reign of Sultan Mehmet II. These astrologers/astronomers were also accustomed to make yearly calendars starting from the period of Sultan Murad II (1421-1444, 1446-1451) The records of the service pays (ulufe) between the years of 1537 and 1544 which had been given to the astrologers (cemaat-ı münecciman) in the Ottoman Empire has been kept in the Topkapı Palace archives. Historian İsmail Hakkı Uzunçarşılı (1) wrote as follows in his book titled Osmanlı Devletinin Saray Teşkilatı: “The astrologers were to determine the auspicious times (eşref saati) for the ceremonies of accesion of the sultans, the births of sultan’s sons, waging wars and the movement of the armies, concessions of the seals to the viziers, launching of the galleys, sultan’s feasts, weddings and etc. The sultans and the dignitaries were tending to and practising these special moments for their fortunes customarily. For this reason, the custom of astrology had been evaluated as an important practise in the state affairs.” Dr. Salim Ayduz (2) states that there had been 37 chief astrologers appointed since the establishment of this tradition until its abolition in 1924. For instance, the effect of such preponderance, historiographically, seems to have created an aura of astrological inevitability in Katip Çelebi’s explanations for the tragic end of Osman II’s reign. In his narrative, Katip Çelebi: “ Apart from the ascending star of the late padisah (Osman II) not having been favorable, the throne at an ill-boding time in a day of perpetual inauspiciousness which astrologers interpreted as the low-lying hour.” This approach has been saliently expressed in the book of An Ottoman Tragedy of Gabriel Piterberg. (3)
The purpose
Cultural astronomy is an emerging discipline attracting an increasing number of scholars and it is a fact that the role of munnecimbasis in terms of the cultural context of their own period and their place in the Ottoman Palace have not been extensively researched in the Ottoman historiography. The importance of astrology in the history of ideas was established by Lynn Thorndike in 1905 in ‘The Place of Magic in the Intellectual History of Europe’. Astrology’s role in contemporary culture tends to be mentioned briefly by sociologists, often in a New Age context, but is rarely investigated in detail. Astrology and Astronomy, both words are of Greek origin; astronomy means the ‘law’ of the stars, while astrology is best translated as the ‘word’, or ‘reason’, of the stars. In the classical world, their meanings overlapped. To the Greek scholar Claudius Ptolemy, writing in the 2nd century, there were two forms of astronomy, one which dealt with the movement of the stars, the other (which is called as astrology) with their effects or significance. From then until the seventeenth century, the two words were interchangeable.
According to Ann Geneva (4) who focused on the famous 17th century Rennaisance astrologer, William Lilly, in her book titled Astrology and the Seventeenth Century Mind Astrology has been deeply rooted in terms of the current belief systems and influential in terms of social behaviour. The subject has received a great deal of attention, but of a very limited nature. She further indicates that it did not die out due to the rise of a new scientific mentality, as some have insisted; instead, it changed its agenda and continued to flourish, but in a different guise.
Historian Anthony Grafton (5) in his thorough study Cardano’s Cosmos penetrated into the life of an medieval astrologer, Girolamo Cardano who was a world-famous natural philosopher, doctor and mathematician lived in the 16th century. He writes that distinguished cultural historians have devised some powerful models with which to explain the nature and impact of early modern astrology. In his words, “the cultural historian Aby Warburg saw astrology as a vital, but also a dangerous, part of the classical tradition. Ernst Cassier took this point further, showing that the systematic character of astrology in fact created room for innovative thinking. Michel Foucault, by contrast, portrayed Rennaisance astrology as a revealing example of the ways in which a particular “épistémé”- a system of rules as grandiose, dark and subterranean as a Piranesi prison- controlled the thought and writing of a whole epoch” While Keith Thomas (5) emphasized its social role viewing that the fragile environment and social situation of early modern people largely explained their fascination with astrology and other nonrational forms of predictive magic. Once again, Grafton emphasises that Otto Neugebauer, David Pingree, Bernard Goldstein, Francesca Rochberg-Halton, Alexander Jones and others have reconstructed the long –term history of astrological doctrines and practices tracing the internal history of the field. However, these studies tended to say less about the social and cultural uses of astrology.
Despite their specific role and the function in the Ottoman Palace, there have been very few academic research on the “embedded in Palace” activities hence cultural roles of the muneccimbasis. In her thesis, Gülçin Tunali Koc (6) approached the Astrology (Ilm-i Nücum) as a source for understanding Ottoman political culture. While complaining about the lack of general interest in the histories of “small” individuals, she succesfuly gives a picture of the daily concerns of an Ottoman astrologer, Sadullah el Ankaravi., in a story telling narrative. Furthermore, she righteously reiterates Cemal Kafadar’s evaluation that for people who dwells on the Ottoman political thought, one should not limit oneself only with the common works or the institutions but the values of political culture and its delicacies have to be also explored within a wide spectrum from the poems to the fairy tales, from the collection of eulogies to the visual sources.
Salim Ayduz specifically investigated and itemized the roles and the hierarchy of the muneccimbasi institution. He provides a wide panorama of many facets of the establishment of munnecimbasis from their trainings, assignments and depositions, functions and regular tasks, even to their costumes.
In my own research, I would like to emphasise the tradition of prophecy and its cultural implications for a further exploration of the mentalities existed in the Ottoman intellectual life. In doing so, this study aims for bringing more attention to the cultural context prevalent within the age under discussion, in coherence with the previous studies. Essentially, this research proposal dwells on the place of perennial tradition of ilm-i nucum and its cultural underpinnings via state historiographers, historical archives, chronicals, and calendars. The recent publication of the archive of the astronomical and astrological manuscripts by the Kandilli Observatory presents us a plethora of historical documents in which a certain cultural background could be examined in terms of cultural history and mentalities.
Due to the vastness of the historical epoches, I would like to focus mainly on the reign of Mustafa III who had a special interest in Astrology as the historical facts suggests. Munnecimbasi Fethiyeli Halil Efendi who had become the chief astrologer in 1746, made 22 yearly calendars/ruzname (Takvim ve Ahkam- ı Sal) for Mahmut I, Osman III and Mustafa III. It has been documented that Fethiyeli Halil Efendi had casted horoscopes and had prepared notes due to the Sultan’s apparent interest in the subject.
Primary Sources:
1. The Journal of Calendars (22 calendars for between 1747-1771)
2. Seyyaratin Vazifeleri Hisabı (The measurements of the planets according to Ulugh Bey)
3. Zic-i Gurgani (The tables of astronomical bodies in Arabic, The Archives of the Kandilli Observatory)
4. Düstur Cedveli, Neyyireyn ve Mütehayyire (The Archives of the Kandilli Observatory)
5. 1164 Takvim-i Sali (The Archives of the Kandilli Observatory)
6. 1186 Islamic Calendar (The Archives of the Kandilli Observatory)
7. Takvim-i Ahkam-ı Sal (prepared for Mustafa III)
Secondary Sources
State historiographers of the related period
Münir Aktepe, Şemdanizade Fındıklılı Süleyman Efendi, Müri’t Tevarih, vol. I, III, Istanbul University Faculty of Literature 1976
Muharrem Saffet Çalışkan, A PhD study on History of Enveri, Historiographer Enveri Sadullah Efendi and his history, (1768-1774) Marmara University, The Institute of Social
Sciences, 2000
Mücteba İlgürel, Ahmet Vasıf Efendi, Mehasinü’l Asar ve Hakaikü’l Ahbar, Istanbul, 1978
Esad Efendi, Tarih- Cülus-ı Sultan Mustafa-ı Salis (1758-1761), The Library of Suleymaniye, Nr 2108
Vekay-i Zekeriyazade (1768-1773) TSMK, Hazine Nr 1572
Zübdetü’l Vakıat (1768-1773) Istanbul University, Nadir Eserler, Manuscripts, TY Nr 2395
Ruznames
Vekayi Sultani Tarihi Nakşi, Türk Tarih Encümeni Mecmuası, sayı 98, Istanbul 1929
Süleyman Göksü, Mehmed Hasib Ruznamesi, Marmara University, MA Thesis, 1993
Yunus Irmak, Mustafa III Ruzname (1757-1763), Marmara University, MA Thesis, 1991
Other related sources
Virginia Aksan, Ahmet Rasim Efendi (1700-1783)
Bekir Sıtkı Baykal, Mustafa III
Hülya Macun, Mustafa III and his reign (1757-1774), Ankara University, PhD thesis, 1996
Kemal Beydilli, Mustafa III, DIA C. XXXI
Abdülkadir Karahan, Ragıp Paşa, IA c. IX
Bekir Kütükoğlu, Ahmet Resmi, DIA, C. II
Hüseyin Yorulmaz, Koca Ragıp Paşa, Ankara, 1998
Mesut Aydıner, Mehmet Ragıp Paşa, PhD Thesis, Mimar Sinan University, The Institute of Social Sciences, 2005
Necdet Sakaoğlu, Bu Mülkün Sultanları, Oğlak Yayınları, Istanbul
References:
(1) İbrahim Hakkı Uzunçarşılı, Saray Teşkilatı, Türk Tarih Kurumu, 1988, Ankara, 369
(2) Salim Aydüz, Osmanlı Devleti’nde Münnecimbaşılık ve Müneccimbaşılar, Yüksek Lisans Tezi, Istanbul Üniversitesi, Bilim Tarihi Bölümü, 1993, 107
(3) Gabriel Piterberg, An Ottoman Tragedy, History and Historiography at Play, University of California Press, 2003, 123-124
(4) Ann Geneva, Astrology and the Seventeenth Century Mind, Manchester University Press, 1995, xii
(5) Anthony Grafton, Cardano’s Cosmos, Harvard University Press, 1999, 13-14
(6) Gülçin Tunalı Koç, Sadullah el- Ankaravi: Daily Concerns of an Ottoman Astrologer, M.A. Thesis in History, Boğaziçi University, 2002, 4
