68 chapter 2
social, and moral topics of both his sources in order to concentrate on the
political theory part; as such, it is clear that he intended to enlighten the young
ruler as to the virtues demanded of a prince rather than to give a full descrip-
tion of Persian ethical theory.
Amasi’s work is divided into two parts of unequal length, based on his two
sources: Tusi for the first and al-Ghazali for the second. The first part, designated
a systematic treatise on morals (Y82–139), consists of three chapters, which
deal with the main principles (mebadi), the purposes (makasıd), and the prac-
tical courses or measures (tedbir) of ethics. Thus, Amasi defines practical wis-
dom and its subdivisions (one’s self, household, society) and describes the soul
and its faculties, concluding with the four aspects of happiness, i.e. the four
cardinal virtues (wisdom, courage, honesty, and justice). The second chapter
(Y98–116) deals with the purposes of the science of ethics, further elaborating
the cardinal virtues and their qualities and subdivisions. In the third chapter
(Y116–139), Amasi moves on to the practical science of ethics (or, more accu-
rately and according to his initial plan, the part of the practical science per-
taining to associations); this, as he had stated previously, is divided into two
“classes”, namely the governance of the household and that of the “city”. As for
the second part of Amasi’s work (Y139–156), based on al-Ghazali, it is program-
matically devoted to “advice and stories” and thus belongs to the adab tradi-
tion, rather than to the ahlak as does the rest of his work. Indeed, this part is
full of stories, mostly concerning Sassanian kings, that illustrate its meanings.16
It is formed of three sections: on the duties of the sultan, on viziers, and on the
“advice of the wise”.
Amasi’s work seems to have passed relatively unnoticed, both in Ottoman
times (only two manuscripts are known) and in the study of Ottoman ideas.
This is why most scholars consider Tursun Beg’s introduction to his history of
Mehmed II to be the first instance of Persian political-cum-moral theory in
Ottoman literature. A member of an important family of the military class,
Tursun Beg was born sometime after 1426. He seemingly had a medrese edu-
cation, and was one of the initiators of Ottoman münşi or scribal literature;17
he was a protégé of Grand Vizier Mahmud Pasha Angelović, probably enter-
ing his service in the mid-1450s. He served in various posts of the finance
ministry for about 40 years, finally becoming a defterdar. Tursun Beg retired
16 In fact, some of them illustrate points in al-Ghazali’s text that Amasi omits; see Amasi –
Yılmaz 1998, 78. On al-Ghazali’s ideas see Lambton 1954; Rosenthal 1958, 38–43; Donaldson
1963, 134–165; Laoust 1970, esp. (on the part used by Amasi) 148–152; Lambton 1981, 107–
129; Fakhry 1994, 193ff.; Black 2011, 97–110. On the authorship of Nasihat al-muluk see
Khismatulin 2015.
17 On this literature cf. Tuşalp Atiyas 2013, and cf. below, chapter 3.