“Political Philosophy” and the Moralist Tradition^71
part of an intellectual bureaucracy characterized by international mobility
and a continuous shift in allegiances, like Amasi, Ahmedi, and Şeyhoğlu
Mustafa (or, nearer to Bitlisi’s own era, Musannifek, who came to Anatolia in
1444 from Herat and composed two works on government, for Mehmed II and
for Tursun’s patron Mahmud Pasha);24 this “international class” seems to have
played a major role in introducing Persian moral and political ideas into the
Ottoman milieu and in shaping Ottoman institutions and ideas. An accom-
plished scholar and bureaucrat, as well as a noted Sufi, he became a not-so-
successful courtier in Istanbul; he had more success under Selim I, who used
him as an envoy and informant during the start of the Ottoman-Safavid con-
flict. In this role, Bitlisi was crucial in persuading the Kurdish chieftains to
declare their allegience to Selim I.25 He is best known, however, for his vari-
ous historical and other works, among them the famous Hesht bihisht, i.e. the
history of the Ottoman dynasty in Persian verse. In the epilogue of this work
Bitlisi tries to justify Selim’s takeover by stating that, during the later years of
Bayezid II’s reign, the world was full of disorder because the old sultan had
abandoned all affairs to his officials or proxies (nevvab), believing that they
would act for the best. He stresses that the sultan should possess the four cardi-
nal virtues and argues that among Bayezid’s children only Selim was suitable;
his elder brother, Ahmed, is dismissed with the argument that, competent as
he might have been, he had a similar disposition to his father’s and thus was
also favored by the (corrupt) officials.26
Bitlisi wrote another work which draws directly from the same tradition as
Amasi or Tursun Beg. Qanûn-i shehinshâhî (“The imperial law”) was also writ-
ten in Persian, probably during the reign of Selim I, and is a typical treatise on
moral and political virtues, based on previous similar literature.27 After not-
ing that the hilafet takes pride in the existence of the Ottoman dynasty, Bitlisi
sets out to analyze the meaning of kingship, caliphate, and world order. Then,
after studying the division of sciences and knowledge in order to specify the
position of morals in kingship, he proceeds to describe some of the virtues
that lead to right government (A18–21) and, more specifically, the cardinal and
secondary virtues (A21–27). Next, in his third chapter (A27–38), the longest
and the most practical of the essay, Bitlisi examines the practice of kingship.
24 Yılmaz 2005, 37–38.
25 Imber 2009, 39; for a comprehensive and insightful biography of Bitlisi see Sönmez 2012.
26 Bitlisi – Başaran 2000, 126ff.
27 Hasan Tavakkolî’s edition and translation of the text (Bitlisi – Tavakkoli 1974) was inac-
cessible to me; I used the selective Turkish summary (omitting the non-political parts) in
Akgündüz 1990–1996, 3:13–40 (and facs. of the Persian MS in 41–84). On Bitlisi’s ideas see
Yılmaz 2005, 82–86; Sönmez 2012.