392 chapter 9
was then in the service of a young French nobleman, who served as an archi-
tect for Louis XIV, for eight years. The unreserved admiration for France and
especially the French king is evident throughout the text, and it is tempting to
suggest that the text is a product of French intelligence to promote the pres-
tige of France in the east (the detailed knowledge of the structure and current
situation of the French dynasty, as well as an allusion to the ruins of ancient
Heliopolis as “city of the sun”, seem to support this suggestion).
Finally, there is also another text from the same period (i.e. the earlier part
of the century) where we find the same ideas present. Comte de Bonneval,
alias Humbaracı Ahmed Pasha, composed two short treatises (translated to
Ottoman Turkish from French) during the 1730s.32 In the first, he sought to
explain how the Habsburg government had been organized “according to the
rules of political rationalism” (kava ’id-i siyasiyye-i akliyye, an expression ac-
tually pointing to the earlier Islamic distinction between the Sharia and the
administration according to reason, with the latter also deemed potentially ef-
fective). The second treatise deals with the political history of Europe in the
first three decades of the eighteenth century; Bonneval urges the sultan to seek
a more active role in European international politics, giving as an example
Süleyman I’s alliance with France.
As with the introductory parts of his treatise, Müteferrika’s discussion of
military matters begins on a theoretical level, complying with the general style
of his work. Rulers, he says, have created various states (devlet), as ordained
by the Sharia or, more generally, by nature, civilization, and humanity (iktiza-
yı tabi’at ve medeniyyet ve beşeriyyet), each one ruling over a defined piece of
land. Now, just as an individual has to protect his property against trespassers,
every state, no matter what its name or form may be, has to protect the lands it
rules against others. To guard his position and people, every ruler has to form
an army, that is, to take some of his own people or other men and shape them
into a corps that is constantly ready for war. This army must be trained in mili-
tary discipline and armed with suitable weapons; afterwards, it must be kept
under strict control and discipline (Ş131–132). Furthermore, as if he wanted to
give his credentials as a renegade, Müteferrika discusses war, saying that some
wars were made simply to ensure worldly profits, while others were made in
defense of the oppressions of others, but those who are commited to the faith
(i.e. Islam) have a duty from the Sharia to fight the Holy War. Thus, every state
is obliged to keep an army ready for war, with special uniforms and training
(Ş132–133). Such general surveys of the army as an element of human society
within history can also be found in Su’âl-i Osmânî: we read there (from the
32 Yeşil 2011b.