The Eighteenth Century: the Westernizers 393
mouth of the Christian interlocutor) that all realms are governed either with
justice or with oppression, and it is the task of wise men in one realm to be
aware of the situation in others. The “Christian officer” himself had read histo-
ries of the Ottoman Empire from its very beginnings and knows that the sultan
is wise and just and that he acts according to the law of wisdom (U110, E590:
kanun-ı hikmete muvafıktır). Nonetheless, he finds it striking that Ottoman no-
tables (erkân-ı devlet ve a ’yan-ı saltanat) change continuously, while in other
countries these posts are given for life or, at any rate, are taken back only be-
cause of serious offences. The answer is that there can be no comparison be-
tween the Ottoman and other states: in the latter, posts belong to the nobility
and are hereditary, while the sultan grants offices to whoever is worthy (U111,
E591). However, it is often difficult to distinguish between the worthy and un-
worthy; moreover, the Exalted State is like the human body, with the grand vi-
zier being the head: if the head is lucid and wise, an injured limb may function,
while if not the whole organism will be destroyed.
Continuing his review of military history, Müteferrika then proceeds
to study the soldiers and battle tactics in the armies of old (Ş133–144). This
lengthy chapter stresses that although states of old were very different in terms
of religion, society, and form, their military and their weapons were very simi-
lar. Ottoman sultans were distinguished in establishing strict discipline and
training within their armies, resulting in them being almost invincible. Now
that European armies are evidently stronger on the battlefield, it is of the ut-
most necessity to study the reforms they had made and the new weapons they
use. The old military order makes the army ill-disciplined, difficult to assemble
in times of campaign, hard to direct and to control (with the corollary that it
may depose its chiefs and even the sultan himself: Ş142), and easy to beat in
battle. The present superiority of European armies is clear, Müteferrika notes,
judging from the way these states have raised their power and captured various
lands all over the world; this was due both to their use of the science of geog-
raphy and the military reforms they planned and carried out. The Ottomans
should learn the methods and innovations used in these new armies, which
Müteferrika names “new order” (nizam-ı cedid); the disadvantages of the old
military techniques are obvious from the outcome of many battles, and an
Islamic state should not ignore or neglect out of laziness the need to reform its
army according to the new systems (Ş144–148).
This is, it seems, the first appearance of the term nizam-ı cedid (which was
to be adopted for Selim III’s ambitious modernization project several decades
later) in such a context. As for the argument that the Ottomans were the
first to impose discipline on and training for the army, and thus that imitat-
ing the European model would not be an innovation but a reappropriation