The Eighteenth Century: the Traditionalists 365
Hamid Pasha, as did Vasıf, and he became âmedci in 1779. After Selim’s rise to
the throne (1789) he was sent as an ambassador to Vienna for about six months
in 1792, and upon his return he resumed his career, becoming reisülküttâb in
- The next year, in the aftermath of the French invasion of Egypt (and ap-
parently due to his enemies’ defamation of him), he was dismissed, exiled, and
finally executed in 1799.
Ratıb Efendi’s most famous work is his account of Vienna, the most volu-
minous of all Ottoman ambassadorial accounts by that time, with which we
are going to deal in the next chapter. But while this account may be read as a
suggestion for European-style reform, an early letter of his to the future sultan,
his charge Prince Selim, bears many similarities with Penah Efendi’s and Vasıf
Efendi’s views.66 The letter was written in 1787 in the context of Selim’s corre-
spondence with the king of France; it is in fact a copy of Louis XVI’s answer, ex-
plained and commented on by Ratıb Efendi. He cleverly suggests (presenting
it as an interpretation of the French king’s words) that the Ottoman sultan can
achieve no conquests and victories without the level of control of the janissar-
ies, ulema, viziers, and other officials that his predecessors used to have; Selim
should first impose such order and control within his realm before embarking
on any campaigns. This should be done by renewing the old laws, but in ac-
cordance with the nature of his own time (Y260–1: kavanin-i kadime bu asrın
mizac ü tabiatına tatbik ile tecdid). The young sultan should first imitate the
European order and make an army and navy similar to those of the European
states. Here Ratıb Efendi admits the danger of rebellion, since the people may
start calling the sultan “a worshipper of Europe” (Y264: Frenk-perest); as such,
the sultan should first make the commoners (avam-ı nas) trust him. Indeed,
it is very important that the sultan is loved by both commoners and the elite
(Y269: gerek avam-ı nas ve gerek hasü’l-has).
Ratıb Efendi straightforwardly presents two possible solutions: either the
army should be given European training and order, or it should be reformed
along the lines of the Ottomans’ glorious ancestors. He openly admits that he is
a scribe, not a military man, and thus cannot give an answer. One passage could
be interpreted as meaning that he favored the latter path (he suggests to Selim
that he should tell Louis that, for some time now, the Ottoman soldiers have
been used to comfort and ease, and that strangers have entered their ranks,
while a lack of discipline and worthiness has also contaminated the ulema
and officials: Y267); like Vasıf, he also seems quite skeptical about the possi-
bility of a dispatch of French officers to train the Ottoman army (Y269–70).
66 Ratıb Efendi – Yıldız 2013 (transcription pp. 259–271). On Ratıb Efendi see Karal 1960;
Uzunçarşılı 1975; Yeşil 2011a and 2014.