156 chapter 4
to become appointed as judges or medrese teachers, most of whom owe their
posts to their fathers or their high connections. Furthermore, the author has
various suggestions regarding the şeyhülislam, sheikhs (stressing the threat of
revolt by their followers), and descendants of the Prophet (Y189–201, A50–63).
Thus, after Lütfi Pasha’s treatise, which functioned as a sort of prologue,
Ottoman “mirror for princes” entered maturity with these two works. While
Kitâbu mesâlih was written in a haphazard and amateurish way, in Hırzü’l-
mülûk the level of detail of the information and the knowledge of Ottoman
realities is combined with a tight structure and a scholarly yet down-to-earth
and administrative style. At the same time, both works clearly bring to mind
the state of equilibrium mentioned in the previous chapter: some respect for
old and established customs is evident, but, in general, the anonymous authors
see nothing wrong in urging the vizier or sultan to impose new regulations if
necessary. As may be expected, this is much clearer in the earlier one, Kitâbu
mesâlih. Knowing that his proposal for changing the devşirme recruits’ training
and education could appear too innovative, the author has a clear and bold
argument, one which would be repeated later (Y93–94):
This rule is not something that has stayed until our times from the times
of the Prophet, so that changing it would be considered a sin. It was
instituted in the times of Karagöz Pasha or Hersekoğlu; they thought it
appropriate, and it was done. Thank God his excellency the present grand
vizier is a thousand times more intelligent and wise: it is not proper that
he submits his sublime opinion to the ways of such common (ümmî)
viziers.The same reasoning is repeated concerning the post of muhtesib and some
obligations of the villages near Istanbul (Y111, 118):
Why, they say this is an old custom, but they do not ask whether this
custom was set by a wise vizier or by a commoner such as Karagöz Pasha
or Hersekoğlu.Whether these personalities are real or are just made-up names used ironi-
cally is not completely clear; Tezcan identified them with real personalities
from the beginnings of the sixteenth century, namely Karagöz Pasha, gover-
nor of Anadolu (d. 1511) and Hersekoğlu (or Hersek-zâde) Ahmed Pasha, who
was grand vizier several times during the reigns of Bayezid II and Selim I. The
latter, in particular, played an important role in the codification of Ottoman