Usûlü’l-hikem fî nizâmi’l-ümem

Abstract

İbrahim Müteferrika’s book, Usûlü’l-hikem fî nizâmi’l-ümem, is one of the most important books on Turkish modernization. There have been many studies about the book; one was a simplification and the other was a transcription of the printed version of the book. On the other hand, it is understood that there are many problems in these studies such as deficiencies, omissions and mistakes. The presented study prepared for eliminating the deficiencies of the abovementioned studies. In this study, firstly, information about İbrahim Müteferrika’s life and his appendices and copyright publications are given. Then, the title of Usûlü’l-hikem, date of publication, the purpose of study, context and whom it was presented were discussed. The purpose of writing Usûlü’l-hikem, which offered many new concepts and topics, is to bring solutions on how to solve the main problems in the Ottoman military organization. Thus, Müteferrika explains the new developments in the Christian armies, and how these developments effected the Ottoman wars by giving examples from history. He uses nizâm-ı cedîd as a base for his explanations. According to Müteferrika, nizâm-ı cedîd means a trained and professionalized army or ganization. He recommends that the Christian nations should be followed for military modernization; even, shows the Great Petro, whose attempts achieved results, as an example. Usûlü’lhikem, had a profound impact on the Ottoman intellectual life from the period it was written onwards, and the way leading to the foundation of the Nizâm-ı Cedîd Army. The book consists of three main chapters. In the first chapter, it is explained that the soldier should be in order. In addition, the benefits of order are explained in this chapter. In the second chapter of the book, the benefits of the science of geography and the importance of being aware of the enemies are explained with examples. Finally, in the last chapter, the military classes of Europe, their order, and the conditions of the soldiers in both war and peace are discussed in detail. Usûlü’l-hikem, was published in 1732 in 500 copies as the ninth book of the printing house. Thereafter, manuscript copies based on the printed copy were also prepared. Nowadays, there are many manuscript copies of Usûlü’l-hikem, not only at home but also abroad. In this study, seven manuscript copies in Turkey were also compared. After that, we focused on which sources İbrahim Müteferrika used while writing and the effects of the work after him. Finally, we presented Usûlü’lhikem’s transcription based on the printed version.