362 chapter 8
4.1 On the Eve of Nizam-i Cedid: Vasıf, Ratıb Efendi, Abdullah Halim
Ahmed Vasıf Efendi (c. 1730–1806) was born in Baghdad and, after working in
several private libraries of local magnates, served as secretary to the serasker
Abaza Mehmed Pasha. He was captured by the Russians in 1771 during the
Hotin campaign. After his liberation he entered the state bureaucracy (1772)
and played a role in various diplomatic endeavors, including the negotiations
for the peace of Küçük Kaynarca. Upon his return to Istanbul he directed the
revival of Müteferrika’s printing press under Halil Hamid Pasha’s auspices, and
in 1783 he was appointed vakanüvis or official historian (and again in 1789–91,
1793–94, and 1799–1805), before serving in various posts, one of which was am-
bassador to Spain in 1787–88. In 1805, shortly before his death, he became reisül-
küttab.58 Apart from poetry, geography, and various minor works, Vasıf ’s main
written work is his court chronicle, Mehâsinü’l-âsâr ve hakâikü’l-ahbâr (“The
charms and truths of relics and annals”). He also wrote an account of his em-
bassy to Spain (Sefâretnâme); most probably, as will be seen in the next chap-
ter, he may have been the author of the strongly pro-reform Koca Sekbanbaşı
risalesi, which was composed just before his death. In an earlier age, however,
Vasıf was much less tolerant of imitation of European ways. As a historian, he
criticized Şahin Giray’s efforts to recruit new Muslim troops in the Crimea and
to impose “Frankish” uniforms on them.59 In another instance, Vasıf ’s political
views were expressed in his Risâle (“Essay”), which was incorporated into his
chronicle.60 As stated there, in 1784 the Duke of Montmorency-Luxembourg
sent a letter to Abdülhamid I in which he suggested that Ottoman defeats were
due to their inadequate training in the science of war; he thus offered his help
to instruct the Ottomans in the latest techniques in fortification and artillery as
a token of French friendship. The sultan asked Vasıf to write an essay on these
issues based on his experiences with the infidels.
In language steeped in religious imagery, Vasıf argues that infidel kings have
indeed found an easy way to procure what they consider to be greatly benefi-
cial: in their countries they have a special place where they collect orphans and
illegitimate children and train them in the modern science of war (fenn-i harbi
vaz’-ı cedid); the same is done with some of their peasant subjects (reaya),
58 Ethan L. Menchinger’s unpublished thesis, developed now in a very recent book, is an
excellent intellectual biography: Menchinger 2014a; Menchinger 2017. See also Vasıf –
İlgürel 1978, xix-xlvii.
59 Şakul 2014a, 661.
60 Vasıf – İlgürel 1978, 150–152. See Mardin 1969b, 28–30; Menchinger 2014a, 71–80;
Menchinger 2014b; Menchinger 2017, 96–98.