Acknowledgments
I have benefi ted from the assistance of many individuals who
have taken an interest in my work. With the risk of inadvertently
leaving someone out, I thank those who have allowed me to conduct
research and those who educated and supported me, discussed
my work and read it critically. I am especially grateful to those who
inspired me. I am indebted to Filiz Çağman, İlber Ortaylı, Zeyneb
Çelik, and Ülkü Altındağ and their staffs at the Topkapı Palace
Museum Library and Archive for allowing me to conduct research in
such an awesome setting. I am also indebted to the directors of other
Istanbul libraries, such as Nevzat Kaya at the Suleimaniye Library, for
allowing me full access to their rich manuscript collections and for
assisting me. I have been permitted to work in the Prime Ministry’s
Ottoman Archive; the Offi ce of the Istanbul Mufti, Islamic Law Court
Records Archive; and the Islamic Research Center. In Berlin I was
granted access to the collection of the State Museum of Berlin, Art
Library, and in Vienna was given permission to work in the Austrian
National Library, Manuscript Collection, and Portrait Collection,
Picture Archive and Library, which allowed me to examine Ottoman
miniatures.
My interpretation of the texts I read in Istanbul, Berlin, andVienna refl ects the diverse infl uence of training by many scholars.
Chief among them are Carl Petry at Northwestern University, whose
stimulating lectures introduced me to the richness of Islamic history