A Contribution to the Political Literature of the Selim III's Reign: The Notes on the New Treatise

Abstract

This article is to aim that making a contribution to the treatise literature of the Selim Ill's era in which the political agenda of the New Order movement is described. The political texts written at the time of Selim 111 provide ample opportunities to analyze the perspective used by the Ottoman Statesmen in looking at the social and political life of the Empire. The treatise, subject of the article, is in Süleymaniye Library, among the books of Esad Efendi. In the treatise which is a draft, the administration of the Empire, taxes, the Ottoman central administration and the various regulative recommendations on the social life are opened to discussion. As a reflection of the defensive thought, the author attributes great importance to setting up a new army and reorganization of the ancient corps. The treatise also includes proposals for other instruments playing important role in the defense of the Empire such as the foreign policy which needed to be fallowed by the Sublime Port and the permanent embassies which were to be found. In the article, initially the political literature of the Selim III's era is shortly reviewed and the some important problems related with the treatise that the identity of the author and the date of manuscript are tried to be solved. Subsequently, the content of the treatise is argued in comparing with the regulations and the political literature of the New Order. Furthermore, the socio-economic and socio­politic order revealed in the treatise is also discussed.