318 chapter 7
(devlet-i ictima ’iyye-i insaniyye) functions in a similar way; that is why Abbasid
caliphs and Byzantine emperors maintained palaces away from their capital
cities. Such a stratagem must be practised in moderation, and the expenses
of the sultan somewhere else should not exceed those when at his palace.
Mustafa II almost seemed to have left Istanbul forever, adding an extra dimen-
sion to the revolt that overthrew him.
After this interesting note, Na’ima proceeds to his “conclusion of conclu-
sions” (N VI App: 52–8; Ip IV:1887–92),73 where, after noting that “we should
abandon words that do not comport with the time in which we live” (asra
münasıb olmayan sözler metruk kalmakla), he sets out the main principles
for conducting public affairs; if these are followed, he claims, a state “will not
thenceforth experience further change and disturbances”. Among these, some
are quite abstract (caring for the peasantry, balancing the finances without cre-
ating discontent) while others are more concrete (preventing the provincial
taslakçı class from harming the state treasury and officials).74 Na’ima does not
fail to note that such measures may well seem impossible and contradictory,
and also that they seem very difficult to implement effectively in a short time,
but he points to historical precedents.
4.3 Social Discipline and Political Economy
As well as the two prefaces, which contain (especially in the first) his stricto
sensu political theory, Na’ima also scatters all kinds of political advice through-
out his voluminous history. Such scattered advice has been collected by Lewis
Thomas and, for the most part, consists of ideas related to practical morals
that were intended for the ear of the ruler or his grand vizier.75 Among them,
a remarkable passage praises Murad IV’s harshness and reign of terror on the
grounds that (N III: 170; Ip II:757)
this was a pretext for the purpose of controlling the riff-raff and to fright-
en the common people in the interests of the state (erazili te’dib ve avam-ı
nası terhib maslahatı için).However, in general Na’ima does not seem to favor harshness and intimidation.
At another point he advises against hasty executions, noting that enabling a
73 Translated in Thomas 1972, 87–88 and 45–48.
74 This class, that normally designates a type of candidate for the janissary corps, could also
denote anyone who claimed to be a janissary without being recorded in the registers. See
Uzunçarşılı 1988, 1:153, 491–493 and cf. Sariyannis 2008b, 261 and 266.
75 Thomas 1972, 89–110.