The Historiography of the Ottoman Medrese in the Early Period (1916-1965): Exploration and Conceptualization

Abstract

The present article treats of the years from 1916 up to 1965-the latter date corresponding to the appearance of the full-length work by Ismail Hakkı Uzunçarşılı titled Osmanlı Devletinin İlmiye Teşkilatı. This represents the period characterized by the author as the "Era of Exploration and Conceptualization" within the span covered by monographical works on the history of the Ottoman medrese since the Second Constitutional period. Presented here, in chronological order, is a systematic, critical examination of the views expressed in works published on the subject subsequent to the articles appearing in 1916 by the pioneers in this field, Arif Bey and Emin Bey, in the light of influences on contemporary concepts and the writing of history. Discussion first focusses on the formation in this period of a new medrese model and the increasing acceptance of this model and the process of its dissemination, followed by an examination of the influence, in the aftermath of Arif Bey and Emin Bey, exerted by the articles of Ahmed Hikmet Müftüoğlu (including an evaluation of his sources) in the conceptualization of this medrese model. The present study concludes with commentary on the republican period studies on this subject by Remziye Beksaç, Şerefeddin Yaltkaya, Osman Nuri Engin, Adnan Adıvar, Muzaffer Gökman and Süheyl Ünver and the historiography of the medrese in relation to the academic works by Cavid Baysun and Gibb and Bowen. Here, for the first time, the work noted above by Uzunçarşılı on the religioscholarly institution, which is accepted as the basic source in this field, is critically evaluated, as a whole, from the perspective of the historical writing of the period preceding its publication in an attempt to provide an overview.