The “Golden Age” as a Political Agenda 215
above.50 This Risâle is a kind of memorandum submitted to Sultan Ibrahim
as soon as the latter ascended to the throne in 1640, and it seems that he had
asked for an exposition of the structure and function of state affairs, and espe-
cially of the palace. This time, Koçi Bey avoided giving advice of any sort and
only summarized the duties and protocol of the palace, or more precisely what
a sultan needed to know in order to function within it. It is quite clear that
Koçi Bey considered Ibrahim wholly ignorant of any administrative matter: he
even includes an explanation of the basic terminology of the timar and tax sys-
tem (A112/ Ç139). However, one may still discern the author’s political views in
his urging the sultan to begin his reign by inspecting closely, first, the treasury
books and the tax registers (cf. also A96/ Ç122) and, secondly, the janissary and
sipahi registers. He must order his vizier to record these registers anew so that
the present state of the treasury and the army may be known in every detail.
These, says Koçi Bey, are the most important matters; all the rest are trivial
in comparison (A78: cüz’iyyât). The remainder of the treatise deals with the
harem, the numbers, ranks, and salaries of the palace officials, the procedure
and requisites for writing orders, the income of every province, the judiciary
system, relations with the khan of Crimea, the financial bureaucracy, the vakfs,
and even the names of the provincial governors and of the imperial doorkeep-
ers. Furthermore, he gives details on the regulation of prices and on merchant
affairs (A114–15/ Ç141–42).51 Scattered pieces of advice repeat the points Koçi
Bey had made in his first treatise,52 and the work ends with the usual praise of
justice; Koçi Bey also stresses, somewhat excessively, the need for the sultan to
keep secrets, so as not to cause enmity between his officials.
50 Koçi Bey – Aksüt 1939, 77–127; Koçi Bey – Çakmakcıoğlu 2008, 101–155; German translation
by Koçi Bey – Behrnauer 1864. On its authorship see Uluçay 1950–1955 and Howard 1988,
64–65, fn. 32.
51 In a curious passage here, Koçi Bey refers to some blessed bread he sent to the sultan,
and advises him to take physical exercise so he would not have any need of doctors (A115/
P142).
52 Thus, the sultan is the only one capable of granting fiefs (dirlik: A84/ Ç108); peasants or
town-dwellers should not be made janissaries (A85/ Ç110); military campaigns should not
be launched too often, lest the peasants become impoverished; instead, additional taxes
should be abolished and, furthermore, the coinage should be restored (A86–87/ Ç111–112;
on taxes cf. also A104–5/ Ç130–31). Advice on coinage is repeated elsewhere as well (A95/
Ç121–122 and especially A119–20/ Ç147–48): Koçi Bey urges the sultan, among others, to
prohibit the use of silver by the jewellers and to close down the mints of Erzurum and
Tokat, which tend to produce false coins.