56 chapter 1
much power: in order to avoid a rebellion against the sultan, the army should
be kept from being unified, and one corps must be turned against another
(T728: bir bölüğünün şenaati bir bölük ile def ’ oluna). Every group has its bad
habits, and the bad habits of the army consist of their tendency to be disobedi-
ent. Here, Sinan Pasha enumerates the habits that lead each group to disaster:
for soldiers, disobedience; for officers, immorality; for governors, powerless
administration; for ulema, the desire to dominate; for judges, greed and favor
toward the mighty (meyl-i vülat); and for rulers, the failure to protect (za ’f-ı
humat). At any rate, the authors within this group are much more favorably
disposed towards the ulema, in contrast to the exponents of the gazi milieu we
saw earlier. On the other hand, both groups share a common emphasis on jus-
tice and generosity, albeit with different content, as well as care for the moral
welfare of both the ruler and the community of believers through the precept
of “commanding right and forbidding wrong” (e.g. Şeyhoğlu, Y49).
The emphasis placed on a strong sultan can be seen in what these authors
have to say about the delegation of power. Şeyhoğlu argues that the sultan
must have power concentrated in his own hands and not give it to others (Y45),
although, in order to keep himself informed of the affairs of the realm, he also
needs a faithful, clever, and just vizier. A vizier, says Şeyhoğlu, is to the sultan
as reason is to the heart (Y88); he should consult with him in all affairs, great
and small, and learn every complaint and petition of his subjects, officers, and
soldiers. He must take care to appoint honest and pious people to high offices
and check their behavior, as his officers are like the senses of the body. The sul-
tan must appoint a superintendent to look after pious foundations (Y100: evkaf
üzerine bir sahib-nazar) and a pious and experienced chamberlain (hacib) to
forward the petitions and complaints of the needy and the oppressed to him (a
very Persian concept that seems to disappear later); in the same vein, he should
appoint: a pious and courageous bey over the army, if his realm is next to an in-
fidel realm (Y102); just governors (şahne veya bir hakim) over the provinces and
towns; and wise, just, pious, and honest judges, who would not bear grudges,
take bribes (which, Şeyhoğlu complains, happens very often in his times: Y104),
or covet the properties of the vakıfs and orphans. If kingship is a tent, says
Şeyhoğlu, the vizier is its pillar, officers (begler ve sübaşılar) are its ropes, and
its piles are the sultan’s justice. This means that the greater the number of vi-
ziers and officers, and the size of the army, the better. The vizier must have four
virtues, namely honesty (toğrılık), loftiness ( yücelik), perseverance (sebat), and
forbearance (tahammül). Like the sultan, a vizier also has three “situations”, in
relation to God, to the ruler, and to the people and army, and in all these situ-
ations he must display these four virtues. As for Kadı Fadlullah, in his chapter
on justice (A173–182) he emphasizes that the ruler should entrust his subjects