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Topkapı Palace Museum

Topkapı Palace Museum: Archive and Library

The Archive and Library of the Topkapı Palace Museum (Topkapı Sarayı Müzesi) contain some of the most important documents and manuscripts pertaining to Ottoman and Islamic history. The Library (TSMK) and Archive (TSMA) are both located on the grounds of Topkapı Palace in the Sultanahmet district of Istanbul.

Bağdat Pavilion, the original home of the Bağdat collection of the Topkapı Library.
Bağdat Pavilion, the original home of the Bağdat collection of the Topkapı Library.

History

Since the establishment of the palace in the fifteenth century, archival records and books have always been stored on the palace grounds. The initial storage of these materials varied over time until the establishment of the Topkapı Palace Museum in 1924. Since then, the archival materials and books of the palace have been gathered and stored in two locations on the palace grounds.

The palace archive preserves some of the oldest and most important archival records concerning the history of the Ottoman dynasty. In the earliest centuries of the dynasty’s existence, the palace (dergah-i padişahi) functioned as a movable institution constituted around the sovereign. As such, the palace’s property (including written records) often travelled with the sultan. With the establishment of Topkapı Palace at the end of the fifteenth century, the palace as institution began to assume a greater sedentary character and the records of the institution, as maintained by the Imperial Treasury (Hizane-i ‘Amire) were permanently stored on the palace’s grounds. In subsequent centuries the vast majority of these archival records were transferred to various offices of state outside of the palace. The process accelerated in the eighteenth century, so that by the time of the mid nineteenth-century establishment of a state archive (Hazine-yi Evrak), the majority of archival material was located offsite. It is this material which constitutes the historical core collections of the Ottoman Archives of the Prime Minister’s Office (Başbakanlık Osmanlı Arşivi). Today it is often difficult to discern why the material that remained at Topkapı was never transferred to various offices of state in the eighteenth century. One possible explanation is to consider the Topkapı Palace archive as the family archive of the Ottoman dynasty. In many respects this approach makes sense when we consider the large numbers of documents related to members of the ruling family and palace officials. Those records which seem more unrelated to the business of the dynasty may make some sense if we consider the ruling family’s acquisition of its servants’ property upon their death (muhallefat).

The palace’s book collection likely developed along similar lines. From the earliest periods of the dynasty’s history, learned men donated and dedicated their works to the Ottoman sultans. These works were supplemented by acquisitions from conquest and the deaths of the dynasty’s servants (whose books subsequently became the property of the ruling family). Initially these books were stored at a number of locations throughout the palace grounds. In the eighteenth century, Sultan Ahmed III established a library in the interior courtyard of the palace for the benefit of his family and the palace servants. Collection headings such as Bağdat, Revan, and III. Ahmet all refer to the original location of these works in the palace grounds.

With the establishment of Topkapı Palace Museum in 1924, the archival and library collections of the palace were entrusted to the museum. In 1925, the Ağalar Camii of the interior courtyard was converted to the New Library (Yeni Kütüphane) and the books of the various sections of the palace were moved to the new facility. In 1966, the books of the Ahmet III Library were added to the Topkapı Library in Ağalar Camii. Between 2006 and 2013 the library was closed for a number of significant renovations to Ağalar Camii. These included the construction of a new climate-controlled book depot and the restoration of the İznik tiles which decorate the walls of the library’s reading room. In August 2013, the library was re-opened and made accessible for researchers. Currently, the archive remains closed, but its staff assures us that the archive will also open in a short time.

Collections

Archive

The Topkapı collection is an indispensable source for historians concerned with Ottoman history prior to the nineteenth century. With few exceptions, the archival collection of the Topkapı Palace Museum contains the only extant official records of the Ottoman dynasty for the first two hundred years of its existence.

The archive consists of two classifications of documents: registers (defter), which range from a single sheet to several hundred pages, and loose papers (evrak), which include everything from elaborately produced letters from foreign sovereigns to scribbles on scraps of paper produced by low level palace officials. With approximately 153,000 loose papers and 10,775 registers, TSMA is the largest Ottoman archive after the Ottoman Archives of the Prime Minister’s Office (BOA). Researchers should note that the defters of the palace archive are digitally available at BOA.

In 1937 the museum invited the Hungarian historian and archivist Lajos Fekete to survey the palace archive and make recommendations for the collection’s classification. With his recommendations, the museum staff produced a two volume guide to the collection organized alphabetically according to the subject of the document (usually the document’s creator or addressee). Unfortunately this published guide only covered the archive’s collection up through the letter H. Between 1949 and 1951 M. Çağatay Uluçay described the remainder of the collection in five handwritten notebooks which were kept at the archive for researchers’ use. Beginning in 1957 İsmail Hakkı Uzunçarşılı and subsequently Şefi Ülkü Altındağ produced a catalog of the 153,000 loose papers of the archive on small notecards. These notecards and the published and unpublished guides from the first-half of the twentieth century remain the only resources which describe the full extent of the archive’s collection. Since 2006, the archive has been closed to facilitate a number of changes, foremost of which is the development of a completely new and thorough catalog of the archive’s collections. As of autumn 2013, the Archive under the direction of Sevgi Ağca has produced four volumes of a planned fifteen volumes. The volumes have been published and are available at the Archive for consultation.

As the archive of the Ottoman dynasty, the collection provides the best material for researchers concerned with the activities of the royal family, as well as the functioning of the palace and central state administration. The loose papers include all manner of official documents including edicts (ferman), titles of investiture (berat), reports (arıza), and petitions (arzuhal). The majority of the registers include finance records such as salary registers of palace officials, inventories of the Imperial Treasury, and surveys of religious endowments (evkaf) established by one of the royal family members.

Although the majority of the documents are in Ottoman Turkish, the collection also includes a fair amount of material produced in other languages. This is particularly true for the earlier periods in which much of the state correspondence was composed in Persian. The collection even includes an example of an extremely rare edict (yarlığ) in Uyghur-script Eastern Turkish (Chaghatay) composed by order of Sultan Mehmed II in the aftermath of the Ottoman victory over the Aqquyunlu confederation at the Battle of Otlukbeli in 1473.

While the vast majority of the archive’s collection consists of documents produced by the Ottoman state, the archive also includes an exceptionally important collection of documents produced by other Muslim dynasties. The majority of these documents were produced in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries by Iranian dynasties such as the Timurids, the Qaraqoyunlu, the Aqqoyunlu, and the Safavids. In all likelihood these ‘foreign’ archival documents arrived in Istanbul with other spoils of war in the wake of one of the victorious Ottoman campaigns waged against the Aqqoyunlu or Safavid polities.

Library 

The collection of the palace library contains approximately 13,400 manuscripts. The majority of these manuscripts are in Arabic (approximately 8,500), although the library has a sizable collection of manuscripts in Turkish (3,081 including works in Chaghatay and Kipchak), and Persian (904). While the library is not even the largest collection in Istanbul, its holdings are distinguished by many rare and, in some cases, unique manuscripts, including many early copies of important works and a number of autographed manuscripts. Beginning in 1961, Fehmi Edhem Karatay produced a seven-volume catalog of the library’s Arabic, Persian, and Turkish collections organized according to the language and literary genre of each work. In addition to works in these languages, the library also has a sizable uncataloged collection of material in European languages. For those interested in the Greek, Latin, Armenian, and Syriac holdings of the library, we suggest consulting D. Adolf Deissmann’s Forschungen und Funde im Serai (Berlin-Leipzig, 1933).

The majority of the library’s collection consists of works related to Islamic religious sciences along with many works of history, grammar, poetry, belles lettres, and other sciences. Its Arabic works are distinguished by a large number of early copies of the Quran, including a few which were reportedly copied by ‘Uthman bin ‘Affan and ‘Ali bin Abi Talib. The library’s Turkish works include a large number of histories of the Ottoman dynasty, many of which are preserved solely through the library’s copy.

While the library is certainly of great importance to historians and scholars of Islamic studies, the library’s significant collection of finely produced volumes and illustrated manuscripts mark it as one of the great libraries in the world for art historians. Most of the volumes with miniatures were produced in the palace painters’ atelier (nakkaşhane) or in Iran and subsequently acquired by the dynasty. In addition to the illustrated volumes, the library also has an important collection of calligraphy (hat) and other art forms.

Research Experience

Topkapı’s library is a pleasant place to work. The library’s reading room is located in the anteroom of the former Ağalar Camii. The room consists of two large tables at which researchers may examine manuscripts. The reading room has sufficient natural light for reading and is enclosed on four side by walls of beautifully decorated seventeenth-century İznik tiles. As library patrons work in the library after making an appointment (see Accessibility section below for details on this procedure), the reading room is never crowded. Researchers request manuscripts from the library staff by submitting a short request form. Generally the staff make requested manuscripts available within ten minutes of a request. Researchers are asked to wear gloves while examining any of the library’s manuscripts.

The reading room has a complete copy of Karatay’s seven-volume catalog of the collection. The reading room’s copy of the catalog is more accurate than other copies, as it includes a number of marginal notes and corrections which detail the actual location and state of the library’s collection. In addition to these catalogs, the reading room also has a catalog key which converts the collection shelf mark number to Karatay’s catalog accession number. This catalog key is an extremely useful tool for locating references to manuscripts in Karatay’s catalogs. Aside from these materials, the library has no readily accessible reference material.

The only difficult aspect of working at the Topkapı library is negotiating the crowds of tourists on the palace grounds. As the palace is one of the most popular tourist sites in Turkey, researchers must contend with the thousands of tourists who enter the palace every day. When entering the palace grounds at the Gate of Salutation (Bab-i Selam), we advise researchers to head straight to the guard booth at the gate and present themselves as a researcher at the library. The guard will ask you to pick up a visitor’s card (ziyaretçi kartı) from the guided tours ticket sales booth. With this card, researchers may enter the palace grounds without purchasing a ticket.

While the archive is currently closed, researchers may request to purchase digital archival material if they know the archival reference number and the material has already been digitized. Requests for purchase are submitted to the archive’s director and are generally approved and ready for pick up within one week (see Reproduction section below).

The staff of the library and archive are quite friendly and willing to help. Some of the staff speak English, so researchers without Turkish should be able to manage.

Accessibility

Researchers must obtain permission to conduct research at Topkapı from the Museum Directorate. The research request application consists of a request form, a research statement produced by the researcher which describes his or her research and specifies the material at the archive or library the researcher requests to consult, a letter of affiliation with a research institution, and a photocopy of the researcher’s identification (passport or Turkish national id card). The research statement should include 1) a description of the current project on which the applicant is working, 2) mention of the purpose of the study (doctoral dissertation, academic article, etc.), 3) enumeration of the specific works or archival materials to be examined, and 4) the contact information and signature of the applicant. These applications are processed within a few days. The museum offers research permission valid for a single calendar year; each January permission must be renewed with a new application.

The library is open Monday through Friday between 9:00 and 16:00 with a one hour break for lunch between 12:00 and 13:00. After obtaining permission, those who wish to work at the library should make an appointment by telephone or in person. Researchers in wheelchairs will have some difficulty navigating the palace ground and the three steps at the library entry.

Reproduction Requests and Costs

Researchers working in the library may request digital reproductions of material upon submission of a short request form. In general, if these requests are for non-commercial scholarly use, they are quickly approved within one or two days. Reproductions of non-illustrated pages cost 2 TL for foreigners per photographic exposure and half as much for Turkish nationals. Reproductions of illustrated material cost more.

Digital reproductions of archival material may be obtained in a similar manner. As with the library, these reproductions also cost 2 TL per photographic exposure. As the archive is currently closed, researchers must know the defter or evrak reference number of their documents in order for their requests to be processed. After researchers have obtained research authorization, they may request reproductions remotely. Once the museum receives payment via bank transfer, the staff will mail copies of the requested material on CD.

Transportation and Food

The museum is in the very center of Istanbul and easily accessible by tramway. Researchers can disembark at either the Sultanahmet or Gülhane tramway stop and then proceed to the palace on foot. The approach from Sultanahmet is a bit further but is on relatively level ground, whereas the Gülhane approach necessitates a short walk up a hill.

There are few options for food on the grounds of the palace. Konyalı is the only restaurant on the grounds of the palace. It has a beautiful terrace with views of the Bosphorus, but meals here are relatively expensive. Researchers may find many options for lunch outside of the palace, but they will need to re-enter the palace grounds—and contend with the masses of tourists—when they return. We recommend packing a lunch and finding a bench to eat in one of the palace’s gardens.

Contact Information

T.C. Kültür ve Turizm Bakanlığı Topkapı Sarayı Müzesi Müdürlüğü

Sultanahmet, Fatih / İSTANBUL

Tel: +90 212 512 04 80 / Fax: +90 212 528 59 91

Email: topkapisarayimuzesi@kulturturizm.gov.tr

Resources and Links

http://www.topkapisarayi.gov.tr/

The English version of this site only includes tourist information. We recommend that researchers use the Turkish version of the site to learn more about developments at the archive and library.

Written by Christopher Markiewicz

10 October 2013

Cite this: Christopher Markiewicz, “Topkapı Palace Museum: Archive and Library,” HAZİNE, 10 October 2013, https://hazine.info/2013/10/10/topkapiarchiveandlibrary/

 

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Süleymaniye Library

Süleymaniye Library (Süleymaniye Kütüphanesi) is the largest manuscript library in Turkey and preserves one of the world’s most extensive collections of Islamic manuscripts. Since its establishment in 1918, the library’s vast collection of manuscripts has made it one of the most important centers for researchers working on all periods and regions of the Islamic world. The library is located within the Süleymaniye Mosque complex in the Fatih district of Istanbul.

A view of Süleymaniye Camii from the courtyard of the reading room.
A view of Süleymaniye Camii from the courtyard of the reading room.

History

The library is situated in two of the medreses built in the mid-sixteenth century as part of the mosque complex commissioned by Sultan Süleyman and designed by the Ottoman architect Sinan. The libraries of the mosque and medrese have existed since the complex’s establishment, but only in the early twentieth century did they become a public research library. The establishment of the Süleymaniye Umumi Kütüphanesi was an outgrowth of the First World War. Established in 1918, it consolidated the collections of the medrese and mosque along with manuscripts from the provinces that had been transferred to Istanbul for safekeeping for the duration of the war. With the closing of traditional institutions of religious learning in 1924, the library’s collection was supplemented by the considerable holdings of various mosques, Sufi lodges, and medreses in Istanbul. Since that time, the library’s collection has grown through the further consolidation of the manuscript libraries of Turkey and today the library continues to add new works primarily through private donations. Between 2002 and 2011 the library digitized its entire collection of manuscripts, which are now all accessible from computer stations in the reading room, but not online. Today this work continues with respect to the library’s printed works.

Collection

As one of the largest collections of Islamic manuscripts in the world, Süleymaniye Library provides researchers enough material to research for a lifetime. Currently, the collection consists of approximately 100,000 manuscript volumes and 50,000 printed books. It is impossible to describe thematically the extent of the collections, but one can say that they touch heavily upon topics such as law and jurisprudence, belle lettres, morality texts and sermons, sciences such as logic, rhetoric and grammar, as well as a wide array of other bodies of knowledge. In many ways, the books reflect the diverse and varied interests of the generations of scholars who spent their lives in the medreses, libraries, and palaces of Istanbul and beyond. It is a treasure trove not just for Ottomanists, but also for researchers working on all periods of Islamic history both within the Ottoman Empire and beyond. Manuscripts range in copy date from the eleventh century to the twentieth century, with the majority produced in the seventeenth to the early nineteenth centuries. In terms of a rough estimate, we believe that perhaps sixty percent of the manuscripts are in Arabic, thirty percent in Turkish, ten percent in Persian and a smattering of manuscripts in other languages. Süleymaniye Library also holds an extensive collection of printed material in Ottoman Turkish, Arabic, and Persian as well as in European languages. In addition, the private notes and archives of some twentieth-century historians, like Süheyl Ünver, are also kept in the library. Finally, the collection contains significant examples of hat, levha, and ebru.

All of the manuscripts and many of the printed works are digitized. All books are viewed through the library’s computer terminals but one may request special permission in order to view the physical manuscript. Materials are organized according to the original collections to which they belonged, i.e. the mosque, dervish lodge or private library from which they came. The main catalog is electronic and only accessible at the library. However, the researchers can access a partial electronic catalog of Süleymaniye Library’s materials through the Türkiye Kütüphaneleri Veri Tabanı at ISAM. (See our review of ISAM.) Researchers can still consult the earlier card catalog, the Union Catalogue of Manuscripts in Turkey, and photocopies of the nineteenth-century catalogs, both printed and hand-written in rıka script—all available in the library’s reading room. While the electronic catalog is much more efficient, the older catalogs provide different information on the manuscripts often excluded in later catalogs. While such information is usually useful, it is not necessarily more or less reliable than later catalogs. For those who prefer reading in the Arabic alphabet, in 2010 a three-volume catalog in Arabic of the original Süleymaniye collection’s holdings was published. Of course, this Arabic-language catalog only covers a small portion of the library’s overall collection.  The library’s computer catalog also includes the collections of other manuscript libraries in Istanbul. Some of these can be viewed electronically at Süleymaniye (Nuruosmaniye, etc.) while others must be consulted—whether digitally or physically—at their respective libraries (Beyazıt and Millet). For other collections, such as Kandilli Rasathane or Edirne Selimiye, the library provides an incomplete list of digitized manuscripts in the computer catalog.

Research Experience

Süleymaniye Library’s computer catalog is a wonderful resource on its own but requires some practice to master. First, users should know that they can only enter their queries using the conventions of modern Turkish transliteration rather than traditional Arabic transliteration or the original Arabic (e.g. şeyhülislam rather than shaykh al-islam or شيخ الاسلام). Researchers can search by author name, title, date, subject, etc. though one must keep in mind that the catalog is not entirely reliable. Titles and names are often transliterated in multiple ways, texts are routinely mislabeled, and many texts and marginal works are left out of the catalog if the cataloger decided that it was not important. Copy dates are usually accurate and present on perhaps one fourth of the texts in the catalog, though if one examines the undated texts, about half of those will actually have copy dates as well. Of course, readers, commentators, and copyists throughout the centuries did not give a text the exact same title and so researchers should be prepared for variant author names and titles. Finally, the vast majority of titles that are displayed in the search results are actually in mecmuas (compendia or miscellanies). Researchers must access these by first looking up the manuscript volume containing the text by the accession number (demirbaş) and then going to the first work in the mecmua to open the digital copy. While these obstacles might be discouraging, they also provide researchers opportunities to discover many unexpected treatises.

(Read our article on how to conduct research in digitized manuscript libraries)

The quality of the digitized manuscripts varies widely. Süleymaniye was one of the first libraries in the world to begin a systematic digitization of its collections and therefore many of the electronic copies have significant quality problems. In the initial stage of digitalization, the library digitized manuscripts in an ad hoc manner, using researchers’ cameras and whatever equipment that was available at hand. Most of the problems in the digital copies are the result of poor lighting or image quality and affect a researcher’s ability to comfortably read the text, such as: poor resolution and image quality that make it impossible to read small text and notes; text on the margins and spine being cut off or poorly photographed; pages being blurred due to movement. Other problems, such as the exclusion of a manuscript’s bindings, sides, and blank pages within the volume render the digital copies of a manuscript of limited value to researchers interested in the codicological aspects of the volume. Those manuscripts that were digitized at a later date are of much higher quality and include photographs of the binding, etc. Since Süleymaniye houses such a large collection of manuscripts, it is often possible to see other copies of the same work. Researchers who need to consult the physical manuscript can request access from the director.

The library’s current reading room is a bit underwhelming as it consists only of twelve computers and a few books on the shelves of a poorly lit room. The computers are a bit buggy and tend to start displaying portions of the screen in black after a while. Researchers can fix this by logging out and reopening the catalog, though they will most likely lose any open documents in the process. If one’s computer does not work or refuses to log-in, try using another one first. Given the small number of computers, the reading room can become crowded, especially in the afternoon, but is generally empty during the mornings and evenings. Turkish students also tend to use the library desks to study for their standardized exams at certain times of the year. The librarians are helpful and are happy to show researchers how to use the catalog, but only read and speak Turkish. Turkish tourists often come in and start pulling books from the shelves in the mistaken belief that the reference books are the manuscripts and groups of Arab tourists also wander in to try to conduct genealogical research or read random works. Most researchers only stay for a few hours, so the long-term users often befriend each other.

The library also has a rather extensive reference collection on the shelves. This consists of the most important bio-bibliographcial works, encyclopedias, and dictionaries for conducting research. The reference section’s collection of bio-bibliographical works is relatively extensive and includes copies of Haji Khalifa/Katip Çelebi, Brockelman, and Sezgin; a notable lacunae in this regard is the absence of any bio-bibliographical work of Persian literature, such as Storey or Munzavi. Arabic, Ottoman, and Persian dictionaries as well as catalogs of other manuscript libraries and topical catalogs. Sets of the Encyclopedia of Islam, 2nd ed.; Diyanet Vakfı Islam Ansiklopedisi; and Islam Ansiklopedisi (Milli Eǧitim Basımevi) are also available for consultation. Biographical dictionaries for the Ottoman period are on the shelves along with other classic reference works on the Ottoman period (in Turkish mostly). Some of the books may be in the depository and therefore need to be specially requested.

One of the main courtyards of Süleymaniye Library
One of the main courtyards of Süleymaniye Library

Accessibility

The great advantage to researching at Süleymaniye Library is its working hours. While the library’s official hours are Monday-Friday 9:00 – 17:00 excluding holidays, researchers may make free use of all of the resources of the library’s reading room between 9:00 – 23:00 every day of the year, including all holidays. Copies can only be obtained during official hours, however.  Researchers in wheelchairs might have trouble accessing the current reading room as there are some steep marble stairs at the entry. If they can get into the reading room, they should be able to use the computer terminals without any issues.

Researchers must provide an official government ID in order to enter the reading room. For Turks, this means their national identity card and for foreigners their passport or residency permit (ikamet tezkeresi). Researchers do not need to register in order to conduct research and the library is the most open and friendly research institution in Istanbul.

Transport and Food

Süleymaniye Library is most easily reached by tramway, bus, or foot. If you take the tramway, get off at the Beyazıt stop and then walk to Beyazıt Square. Take the street that is to the left of the monumental Istanbul Üniversitesi gate and follow it until it ends. Bear right, walk 30 meters and the library is on one’s left. Coming from Taksim Square, one can take any bus that passes through Aksaray. Make sure to get off at the Müze stop (the one next to the aqueduct, before Aksaray) and make your way through Unkapanı until you reach Süleymaniye Library from behind. (This route is poorly lit and may not be safe for women walking alone at night.) You can also walk up to Süleymaniye from Eminönü by following the signs after the bazaar ends. Needless to say, the library is directly across from the mosque.

There are a number of eating options around Süleymaniye Library. The most famous are the kuru fasulye restaurants in front of the library building, though one can also find pide, mantı, and other options close by. There are a variety of tea gardens nearby, including one in a historic courtyard. Dostan provides homemade mantı and pizzas and such.

Reproductions

All reproductions are provided as PDFs on a CD. The cost per exposure (i.e. a photograph of two pages) is fifty kuruş for Turkish citizens and one lira for non-citizens as of October 2013. The librarians can provide CDs within a few minutes or an hour, depending on the number of reproduction requests they are processing. Librarians take time off for lunch and Friday prayers, so researchers should wait patiently if the librarians are not present. Researchers should check the contents of the CDs and load them onto more secure devices as soon as possible. Occasionally the CDs are written with corrupt data which prohibit their transfer to other devices. If this happens, ask the staff for a new copy on a different CD.

Miscellaneous

Süleymaniye Library also offers classes on traditional Islamic subjects, like calligraphy, tafsir, etc.

Future Plans and Rumors

The Süleymaniye Library is currently undergoing a major renovation. When completed sometime in 2014, the reading room will be greatly expanded and modern offices installed in many of the old buildings. Plans for the renovation also include a new exhibition space, which should minimize the interruptions of tourists in the reading room.

Contact Information

Süleymaniye Yazma Eser Kütüphanesi

Ayşe Kadın Hamam Sok. No:35 Fatih  İstanbul

Telephone: 212 520 64 60

Süleymaniye Library does not have an official website. The collections are not listed on the official Yazmalar website but a partial catalog can be accessed through the İSAM Türkiye Kütüphaneleri Veri Tabanı. It is best to simply show up in person if you need to conduct business with the library.

Written by Nir Shafir and Christopher Markiewicz

10 October 2013

Cite this: Nir Shafir and Christopher Markiewicz, “Süleymaniye Library”, HAZİNE, 10 October 2013, https://hazine.info/2013/10/10/suleymaniye-library/

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Ottoman State Archives

Başbakanlık Osmanlı Arşivi (The Ottoman Archives of the Prime Minister’s Office, hereafter “the Ottoman archives”) is the primary repository for state archival documents in Turkey related to the Ottoman Empire. As the only major archive of a pre-modern Muslim state, the archive contains a vast collection of unique documents pertaining to the administration of one of history’s largest empires. After more than a century in the center of the old city, the Ottoman archives were relocated in 2013 to the Kağıthane district of Istanbul.

A view of the Ottoman archives complex in Kağıthane
A view of the Ottoman archives complex in Kağıthane

History

In some ways, the origins of the Ottoman archives extend back as far as the origins of the early Ottoman polity. The present collection contains a few documents from the earliest period up to the reign of Sultan Süleyman in the sixteenth century, at which point the expanding differentiation in bureaucratic function facilitated increased document production. Contemporary scholars only have a general sense of how these records were maintained in the earlier periods, as, by the late eighteenth century, the archival collections were significantly reorganized along new lines, which in many cases have been maintained until today. The organization of these records as a modern archive began in 1847 with the establishment of Hazine-i Evrak. The original building was located on the grounds of the grand vezir’s offices in Gülhane and contained several main groups of documents: the records of the Imperial Council (Divan-i Hümayun) and the records of the grand vezir’s office (Bab-i Ali), as well as the records of the financial departments (Maliye) and cadastral surveys (tapu tahrir defteri). With the establishment of the Republic, the Hazine-i Evrak was transformed into Başvekalet Arşiv Umum Müdürlüğü  (The General Directorate of the Prime Ministry) and eventually the Başbakanlık Arşiv Genel Müdürlüğu. During this period, the records of various nineteenth-century Ottoman offices and administrative authorities were added to the collections. Concurrent with these changes and additions, Turkish scholars took the first steps to classify and catalog the various collections beginning in the 1910s. These early efforts produced a number of classified collections (tasnif) which are still cited according to the name of the scholar who created the catalog. Today the work of cataloging the vast collection continues.

Collections

The collections of the Ottoman archives may be divided broadly between defters (bound notebooks) and evrak (loose papers), whether preserved individually or in larger files. The defters, of which approximately 300,000 are located within the archive, can be further divided between accounting reports—often of financial records or land surveys for tax assessment—and diplomatic records, which contain copies or summaries of outgoing orders and other communications. The evrak, of which approximately 150 million are preserved at the archive, range from original copies of imperial decrees to administrative reports and communications, and even odd notes of low-level bureaucrats.

The early efforts of Turkish scholars to classify the archives focused on organizing and arranging the evrak. Between 1918 and 1921, Ali Emiri sorted 180,361 documents in chronological order and cataloged them according to the reign of the sultan during which they were produced (coded “A.E.”). Shortly thereafter, İbnülemin Mahmud Kemal organized an additional 46, 467 documents according to twenty-three subjects, the largest groups of which concerned financial matters (12,201) and military affairs (8,227) (coded “İ.E.”). In the 1930s, Muallım Cevdet followed İbnülemin’s example and sorted 184,256 documents in sixteen subjects, including military (54,984), charitable foundation record (33,351), and internal affairs (17,468) (coded “C.”).

Since these early efforts, the archive’s staff has largely endeavored to sort and classify documents according to the departments and offices in which they were initially produced. In addition to this work, the archive staff formed a number of special categories which isolate documents according to type; most imperial writs (hatt-ı hümayun), decrees (irade), and charitable foundation records (vakıf) are cataloged in this way. Beginning with the reforms of the Tanzimat period, the breadth and depth of Ottoman administration increased exponentially. This bureaucratic development led to the creation of numerous central and provincial administrative authorities and offices all of which produced their own records.

The archive’s bound notebooks consist of three broad organizational categories. The first category pertains to the records of the Imperial Council (divan) and Grand Vezirate. Of these, the most significant type are the registers of important matters of state (mühimme defteri), which consist of 263 registers covering the period 961-1323/1553-1905, although large portions of the registers for the seventeenth century are no longer extant. These registers report a day-to-day summary of all outgoing correspondence issued from the Imperial Council. The second category of notebooks consists of the cadastral survey registers (tapu tahrir defteri), which contain the land and population surveys from most of the provinces and territories of the Empire. The collection includes approximately 1,153 separate registers, the earliest of which is a tımar register of a sancak in Albania completed in 835/1431. It should be noted that registers pertaining to Arabia, Egypt, and North Africa are not included among the Ottoman archive’s collections. The last category of notebooks contain information related to the financial administration of the empire and consists of registers on income and expenditures, including many salary registers of palace and state employees.

The Ottoman archives also contain a variety of overlapping collections from different archives. The vast majority of the bound registers of the Topkapı Palace Museum Archive are accessible in digital format at the Ottoman archives. The court records (sicillat) of every Ottoman city within the modern borders of Turkey, excluding Istanbul, are available at the archive. (Many of these are also available at İSAM) There are also numerous Ottoman documents from neighboring countries like Russia and Bulgaria. Finally, researchers can also access many of the twentieth-century Turkish Republic documents from the Başbakanlık Cumhuriyet Arşivi in digital format through the Ottoman archive site in Kağıthane, though this requires a separate registration.

For a detailed explanation of the archive’s collections, we suggest researchers consult Osmanlı Arşivi Rehberi, an electronic copy of which may be downloaded at Archive Directorate’s website (see below). The indispensable guide provides a nearly complete listing for most of the Ottoman archive’s collections.

Research Experience

Archive patrons conduct research in either the computer reading room (araştırma odası) or the document viewing room (inceleme odası). The computer reading room contains approximately seventy-five computer stations from which researchers may search for material using the archive’s catalog software. Any of the archive’s material that has been digitized is also accessible from these computer stations. In addition to the archive’s catalog software, the computer reading room also contains more than 1,100 printed volumes of the archive’s catalogs. If the desired material is not available in digital format, researchers may request to consult the original documents, which are made available for consultation in the viewing room. See Original Documents section below.

Catalogs and Searches: The collections of the Ottoman archives are incompletely cataloged in approximately 1,160 volumes. These volumes are organized according to the names of the collection (fon) and sub-collection (alt fon). Entries within each catalog contain a brief description of the document with date (if available).  In addition to these volumes, researchers may search for material from any of the reading room’s seventy-five computer stations. The search tools available through the archive’s software enable patrons to pull up descriptions of any bound notebook (defter), folder (dosya), or file (gömlek) that has been digitally cataloged. Additionally, researchers can search for key terms included in any of the catalog descriptions of the archive’s collections. The Archives Directorate also has a separate searchable online catalog (see below) of the archives collections.

Researchers should exercise due diligence when using the archive’s computer catalog. A simple keyword search may return thousands of results for documents in the archives. Those researching pre-nineteenth century topics may be disappointed to find that there are very few documents for the early modern period whereas those researching modern topics may be fooled into thinking that that every relevant document is listed. The reality is that even for modern documents, much of the material is uncataloged. Researchers should use the printed catalogs available in the computer reading room in order to determine what part of the archive contains relevant material. They can then request folders (dosyalar) or defters for these sections and go through the documents or entries individually. Researchers focusing on earlier periods will have fewer loose documents (evrak) to consult and may have to rely primarily on defters. The majority of these defters have been digitized, although only superficially cataloged. Date (tarih) parameters on the search software will not return any defter results. Therefore, the relevant section of the archive must be selected and researchers should limit search criteria to key terms when looking for defters. In addition, for the early modern period, some of the catalogs for the earlier classified collections have not been transcribed and are only accessible through their pre-script reform published catalogs.

Digitized Documents: If the researcher identifies material that has been digitized, he or she may consult the digitized copy from the computer stations. Generally, these digital photographs have been taken from relatively legible black-and-white photocopies. In some instances, the digitized files consist of more recently produced digital photographs. If digitized copies of the material are illegible, researchers may ask the reading room staff for permission to consult the original documents.

Original Documents: Researchers may request permission to consult non-digitized original documents using the computer terminals in the reading room. Original documents are made available for consultation in the viewing room at regular intervals. Requests that are made before 9:15 in the morning will be fulfilled by 11:30. Requests made before 11:15 will be fulfilled by 13:30, while requests made before 13:30 will be fulfilled by 15:15. Unfortunately requests made after 13:30 on a given day will not be fulfilled until 13:30 the following day. Researchers may request up to four boxes (dosya), twenty-five individual files (gömlek/belge), or five defters. Researchers may keep original materials in a cabinet in the viewing room for up to one week.

Library: Within the viewing room, researchers may consult the archive’s library. The library contains around 15,000 volumes, approximately one-third of which are serial journals. The other 10,000 works include the most important reference materials researchers will need, including dictionaries, encyclopedias, and a number of catalogs. The library’s catalog can be accessed through the archive’s website, although, as there is no internet access at on site, researchers will not have access to this catalog while working at the archive.  Researchers may browse the library’s shelves or ask the staff to help locate particular volumes.

Accessibility

The Ottoman archives are currently open Monday-Friday 9:00 – 19:00 and Saturdays 9:00 – 17:00, excluding all official Turkish holidays. Although the archive is open until 19:00, researchers must receive their documents before 16:00 and are not allowed to photograph after 17:00. The last call to return documents is 16:00 Researchers may store documents overnight in one of the viewing room’s cabinet. If researchers wish to return the documents to the depot, they must turn them in to the staff before 16:00.

All archive patrons must obtain a valid archive identification card before using any of the archive’s resources. These ID cards are issued upon the staff’s verification of an applicant’s eligibility and completion of a short form, which details a researcher’s contact information and research subject. All Turkish citizens are eligible to access the archives upon presentation of their national identification card. Non-Turkish citizens are eligible to receive an ID upon presentation of their passports with a valid visa or residency permit (ikamet tezkiresi). Identification cards are valid for the entire term of a foreigner’s legal residence in Turkey (as established through the visa or residency permit). Technically researchers are only permitted to request material related to their research subject as described in their application form, although in practical terms there are few restrictions on what materials a researcher may access once he or she has obtained an identification card.

It is quite difficult to conduct research at the Ottoman archives without a decent ability to read and speak Turkish. While the archive’s staff are helpful, most of them only speak Turkish; Fuat Bey, who speaks Arabic as well, is an exception in this regard. Another member of the archive staff also speaks Bosnian. More importantly all catalogs and the computer search system are in Turkish. We advise researchers who do not speak Turkish to ask a Turkish-speaking friend or researcher for help in the archive.

As the archive is located in a newly opened building, it is fully wheelchair accessible.

Transportation and Food

The Ottoman archives are located in the Sadabad neighborhood of Kağıthane municipality. This new archives building, officially opened in June 2013, is less accessible from many parts of Istanbul than the old archive site in Gülhane. The new archive facility is spacious and well organized, but its placement in Sadabad limits its accessibility via public transportation to a handful of bus lines. Travelers coming from Taksim may reach the archives using bus line 48T (Hamidiye Mah.-Taksim) which departs from Taksim. We advise travelers who plan to take this line to depart before 9:30. After this time the frequency of this line diminishes significantly. The fastest way for researchers coming from the Anatolian side to reach the archive is via the Metrobus with a transfer to the 49 or 49N at the Taşıtlar bus stop located next to the Mecidiyeköy Metrobus stop. Both of these bus lines also pass through the middle of Şişli. There are also minibuses that frequently pass the archives, often going to Şişli, 4. Levent, Topkapı (the neighborhood, not the palace), and other locations.

The new location of the archives is also largely devoid of food options. Researchers will find lunch offered in the archive’s cafeteria (yemekhane) between 12:00-13:00. The lunch, offered to all of the employees of the archive administration, costs 5 TL for visitors and consists of a soup, main dish, and side dish. Although the lunch is healthy and sufficient, vegetarians and people with other dietary restrictions may have trouble with the cafeteria’s offerings on most days. In addition to the cafeteria, there is also a cafe in the lobby of the main research building. In addition to coffee and tea, researchers will find a variety of packaged snacks, as well as a few baked goods in the morning (simit and poğaca).

Reproduction Requests and Costs

As of September 2013, copies of digitized and original documents may be obtained for 25 kuruş per pose. Maps, photographs, and other special archival material cost 4.50 TL. There are no limits on the amount of material a researcher may request, although attempts to request entire defters are often rejected. Copies of digitized material may be made directly from a researcher’s account at any of the computer terminals in the reading room. Researchers may request that the archive staff produce a digital copy of original material or they may use their own cameras to take photographs. In either case, researchers need to complete a reproduction request form in the viewing room. Digital copies provided by the archive are given on compact disc. Researchers pay for copies of digitized or original material at the counter of archive’s small bookstore in the lobby. The archive only accepts cash and can provide receipts. Researchers can only request reproductions of archive material by coming to the archive in person.

Temporary Notice

While the majority of the archives’ collections have been relocated from Gülhane and are now available at the new Sadabad location, there are a number of collections which, as of 10 October 2013, are not available to researchers: Bab-ı Defteri (D.), Evkaf Nezareti (EV.), Hazine-i Hassa (HH.), Mabeyn-i Hümayun (MB.), Maliye Nezareti (ML.), Ticaret Nezareti (T.), and the first 200 dossiers of Bab-ı Ali Evrak Odası (BEO.).

Contact Information

Address:

Başbakanlık Devlet Arşivleri Genel Müdürlüğü

Osmanlı Arşivi Daire Başkanlığı

İmrahor Cad. Sadabad Mevkii Kağıthane/İSTANBUL

Tel: +90 212 314 90 00 / Fax: +90 212 314 90 25

Email: osmanli@basbakanlik.gov.tr

 

Resources and Links

The website of the BOA may not be accessible from outside of Turkey. This will affect many of the links we provide in this article. 

Ottoman Archives home page

Searchable online catalog of the archive (This catalog is said to provide incomplete results and is not as useful as the one on the archive’s computers.)

Online catalog of the archive’s library

Basic descriptions of the archive’s holdings

For a digital copy of Osmanlı Arşivi Rehberi, see item 108 here.

Written by: Christopher Markiewicz and Nir Shafir

10 October 2013

Cite this: Christopher Markiewicz and Nir Shafir, “The Ottoman State Archives”, HAZİNE, 10 October 2013, https://hazine.info/2013/10/10/basbakanlik-arsivi/

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İSAM

İSAM (İslam Araştırmaları Merkezi) is the best research library in Turkey for Ottoman and Islamic studies. The research center’s strength lies in its combination of a relatively extensive collection of printed volumes with a number of important digitized collections of archival documents. The research center is located in the Bağlarbaşı neighborhood in the Üsküdar district of Istanbul.

The facade of the İSAM library

History

The idea for a research center for Islamic studies developed as an outgrowth of the İslam Ansiklopedisi project of Türkiye Diyanet Vakfı (Turkish Religious Foundation) in the late-1980s. The encyclopedia, which is now nearly finished, printed its first volume in 1988 and now has published forty-two of the forty-four planned volumes covering approximately 18,000 topics related to Islamic studies. In 1988 the Türkiye Diyanet Vakfı established the Islamic Research Center to help facilitate the research of graduate students and scholars who received fellowships from the foundation. In 1993 the encyclopedia project and research center were merged to form Türkiye Diyanet Vakfı İslam Araştırmaları Merkezi (İSAM). The present location of the research center was established on the campus of 29 Mayıs Üniversitesi in 1988 and has been serving Turkish and international graduate students and scholars ever since.

Collections

İSAM probably has the best collection of printed volumes and serial journals related to Islamic history and religious studies in Turkey. In addition to these collections, the library also has several important digital and special collections.

Printed Volumes and Special Collections:

The library’s printed material includes 237,000 volumes and more than 3,500 serial journals. Religious sciences and Ottoman history constitute the library’s strongest fields, although the library has a good collection of works published in Turkish related to a wide range of disciplines. With respect to religious sciences, the library has many of the most important primary religious texts published in Arabic related to hadith, tafsir, fiqh, kalam, and other Islamic religious disciplines. Secondary literature on these subjects is strongest with respect to works published in Turkish, although the library has a decent collection of works published in English and other foreign languages related to Islamic studies. The library’s other strong area relates to Ottoman studies. Here, the library has an extensive collection of published editions of primary sources, as well as monographs and other scholarly works related to the history, literature, and culture of the Ottoman Empire. While the library’s collection is mostly Turkish, researchers can find many important scholarly works in other languages (mostly English) related to Ottoman studies.

The library’s collection in non-Ottoman Islamic history is considerably weaker. Even so, the library has many of the most important published primary sources in Arabic and Persian and a fair collection of secondary material (again mostly in Turkish). Despite this relative weakness, this portion of İSAM’s collection is still probably the best available in Turkey. The library also has a nice collection of dissertations which have been donated over the years by researchers who have conducted some portion of their graduate research at the center.

One of the unique aspects of the library’s collection is the files it maintains on over 19,000 subjects related to Islamic studies. These files are the product of the research for the İslam Ansiklopedisi entries and contain photocopies of encyclopedic entries, articles, and other references related to the file’s topic.

Lastly, the library has an extensive reference collection and a fair number of serial journals. The reference collection includes all major encyclopedias, bio-bibliographic reference works, and dictionaries researchers will need in the course of their studies. The library’s serial journals focus on scholarly publications related to Islamic studies and Ottoman/Turkish history. In this respect, the library’s journal collection includes many titles from the early twentieth century or from small Turkish journals which are often difficult to find in North American and European research libraries. The shelving organization of these materials is extremely poor. While encyclopedias and other multi-volume works are always shelved together, they are never organized according to volume number. This presents a problem when trying to locate a single volume of a serial journal on a shelf with more than one hundred printed volumes!

Databases and Digital Collections:

İSAM has a number of important databases and digitized collections which are available to the library’s researchers.

The database of manuscripts in Turkish libraries (Türkiye Kütüphaneleri Veri Tabanı) is probably the library’s most important database. With approximately 709,000 entries for manuscripts and printed works from 122 different libraries in Turkey, the database is an invaluable tool for researchers who work with Islamic and Ottoman manuscripts.

In addition to this database, the library has a number of other databases which have collected bibliographic information on all theses produced in Turkish universities related to Islamic or Ottoman studies—to date this collection has more than 260,000 entries.

The library also has several digital collections which are of interest to Ottomanists. Firstly, the library has an extensive collection of Ottoman court records. The collection includes digitized copies of the Ottoman court records (mahkemenin kadı sicilleri) located in Turkey and other countries. The collection has records from the İstanbul Muftülüğü, the court registers of Milli Kütüphane, as well as the court registers for much of Bosnia-Herzegovina, Macedonia, Bulgaria, Crimea,  Damascus, Aleppo and Jerusalem. A full list can be accessed at the Kadı Sicilleri Kataloğu Veri Tabanı.

In addition to these court records, the library also has a modest collection of digitized manuscripts, the Ottoman newspaper Takvim-i Vekayi, and a collection of the Ottoman provincial yearbooks (salnameler). The library has also compiled a useful search engine for Ottoman treatises (risaleler) and articles (makaleler), which provides a PDF copy of the original article. The database is particularly useful for locating early twentieth-century scholarship published in Turkey. On top of this, the library is entrusted with the personal archives and music collections of some twentieth-century Turkish historians.

Research Experience

Working at İSAM is a relatively straightforward process. The library has many tables located across three floors, most of which are equipped with electric outlets in the floor. The library’s collections are mostly stored in open stacks which researchers may browse as they like.

The library has an online catalog of its collections which can be accessed from any of the computer terminals on each floor of the library. Although the catalog is only in Turkish, its relative simplicity renders it accessible to non-Turkish speakers. The search function of the catalog only has three options: title name (eser adı), author (yazar), or publication place/publisher (yayın yeri/yayınlanan). Researchers looking for material published in a non-Latin alphabet should keep in mind that the library’s materials are cataloged according to the conventions of modern Turkish transcription. In this regard, the library suggests that researchers not include Arabic or Persian grammatical features (idafa/ezafe, i‘rab, etc.) in their search terms.

The library’s workspace is comfortable, although some areas are poorly lit and often crowded. The library’s great collections and location near a number of universities have made it a popular destination for study. Most mornings the library is relatively empty, but after lunch many students arrive to do homework and other assignments. Despite the occasional crowds, the library is still a relatively quiet place to get work done.

While the library offers wireless internet, connections from many places in the library are weak and slow. Passwords for the library’s six wireless connections can be obtained from the front desk. Researchers must enter their email and personal password (last name) in order to connect to one of the wireless networks.

The interior of the İSAM library
The interior of the İSAM library

Accessibility

İSAM is open every day between 9:00 and 23:00 except holidays, however the library’s digital collections, documentation files, and photocopy services are only available to researchers between 9:00 and 19:00. The library is wheel-chair accessible, although the tea garden (mentioned below) can only be accessed via a flight of stairs.

The library is open to graduate students and university instructors. Researchers intending to work at İSAM may enter the campus of 29 Mayıs Üniversitesi after receiving a guest pass from the guard at the front gate. Researchers may obtain a membership card for İSAM which will provide them access to the campus and the research center by completing an application at the circulation desk of the library. The application consists of a simple form, proof of a researcher’s affiliation with a university or research center, and the submission of one passport sized photograph. Membership cards are generally ready within one business day.

Reproduction Requests and Costs

The library has a photocopy center that will produce photocopies or scans for 5 kuruş per page (as of 10 October 2013). While researchers may request that most things be copied, there are limits on recently published books, theses, and certain other material. Generally the photocopiers are reluctant to scan more than fifty pages of any item as above this the files become too large to email.

Researchers may also make requests for reproductions of the library’s digital collections. These requests are made through a library patron’s account after signing in to view any of the digital material. Requests for copies from the digital collection generally take a couple of days to process as each request is sent to the center’s director for approval.

Transport and Food

İSAM is easily accessible by a number of forms of public transportation. Several buses that leave from Üsküdar and Kadıköy pass by a main intersection that is 150 meters from İSAM’s entrance. Dolmuşes, which are a little more expensive, but probably faster, also pass along the same main road. Dolmuşes leaving from Kadıköy depart across the street from the main bus stop, while dolmuşes from Üsküdar leave next to Selmanağa Camii. The library may also be reached via a one-kilometer walk from the Altunizade Metrobus stop.

There are many food options in close proximity to İSAM. There is a cafeteria (yemekhane) on 29 Mayıs Üniversitesi campus which is open to researchers at İSAM. Lunch is served to the library’s patrons between 13:00 and 14:00 and costs 5 TL. The lunch is healthy and filling, but may pose problems for vegetarians and others with special dietary requirements. There are also a number of restaurants in close proximity to the research center; Melek Ev Yemekleri serves good food with many vegetarian options for 8 TL/per plate. Next to the library, there is a small cafe which provides glasses of tea free of charge and nescafe for 60 kuruş a cup.

Contact Information

İcadiye Bağlarbaşı Caddesi, No: 40

34662 – Üsküdar

İstanbul

Tel: +90 216 474 08 50 / Fax: +90 216 474 08 74

Email: isam@isam.org.tr

Resources and Links

İSAM Home Page

İSAM Library Site

Written by Christopher Markiewicz

10 October 2013

Cite this: Christopher Markiewicz, “İSAM”, HAZİNE, 10 October 2013, https://hazine.info/2013/10/10/isam/

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Open-Access Digitized Islamic Manuscripts

Acquiring copies of manuscripts is quite expensive but luckily more and more libraries are making available parts, or even all, of their collections to researchers online. Here’s an initial list of sites you can visit to access, and sometimes even download, manuscripts for free.  We’ll update this as we find more collections online.

One of the many manuscripts available online on the Bnf site.
One of the many manuscripts available online on the Bnf site.

Compiled by Christopher Markiewicz and Nir Shafir

10 October 2013