154 chapter 4
justice and the commonplace advice that the sultan must accept all petitions
(ruk’a) given to him by his subjects when he appears in public, because he
must protect the reaya and because sultanly justice helps maintain security
in his lands, and thus ensures the world order (Y182, A42–43; in a similar vein,
the author also suggests that müftis should be appointed in the provinces so
that the poor subjects do not have to travel all the way to Istanbul to obtain
a fetva: Y194, A55). He also reiterates the guidelines, often seen in imperial
decrees, on the need for governors to protect peasants from the oppression
of local magnates and tax-collectors (Y185, A46). In contrast, Kitâbu mesâlih
appears much more sensitive to the peasants’ problems. While reiterating the
same leitmotif of the Iranian tradition, i.e. access to the right of petition, its
author gives a very down-to-earth version in very Ottoman terms: he insists that
things should be made easier for illiterate people from the provinces coming to
Istanbul to give a petition at the Imperial Council (Y127–28). A very interesting
chapter in the same work argues that Muslim peasants must be allowed to bear
arms in order to fight robbers (the specific references are to Christian robbers
in the Balkans and “Arabs” in Thrace);22 the old law against this is now useless
(Y101–2). Furthermore, the distribution of alms to the poor and needy must be
rationalized: all the needy must be registered and alms must be distributed in
an orderly manner. Here, the phrasing is “the rich need the poor; without the
latter, the former would not exist” (Y128–29).
This emphasis on the problems of the common taxpayer is evident in other
parts of Kitâbu mesâlih. It stresses that taxes and dues must be collected fairly
and take into account provincial realities (Y103–4, 107–8). The author argues
that, for the benefit of travelers and merchants, weights and measures used in
different provinces should be reformulated according to those in Istanbul, so
that the whole empire would use the same ones, just like hutbe and coinage
(Y94). Moreover, the various posts of emins and kâtibs should be given to kuls
and not to urban dwellers (şehirlü), because the latter are often corrupt and
because the state would thereby spend less money in salaries (since janissaries
will always get their wages, one way or another; Y109).
Landholding issues constitute one of the major problems for our authors;
another one is the army. Here again, “Ottomanization” is clear. Janissaries and
other military branches form the main object of suggestions and advice in
Kitâbu mesâlih. Its author maintains that the acemi oğlanları, i.e. the devşirme
recruits, must not be given to Turkish families (türk ta ’ifesine) for ploughing, but
should get a military education right from the start (Y 93–94). Kitâbu mesâlih
22 Here there is another argument against the dating of the treatise in the 1630s, as the au-
thor completely ignores the Celali rebellions in Anatolia.