KONGRE BİLDİRİLERİ
An extremely mixed stock of some hundreds of documents from the 19th and early 20th centuries40
contains notes, drafts, certificates, receipts, personal and official writings, various lists and so on. Part
of these documents concern the ministry of naval affairs, the navy school and shipping in general.
Another part deals with the various Pious Foundations of the Valide Sultan Pertevniyal, the mother
of Sultan Abdulaziz. A number of the documents show the signature of the Nazir-i Evkaf-i hümayun.
Another part of that stock represents late 19th century papers from judicial courts.
The Bavarian War Archives (Kriegsarchiv) in Munich preserve an interesting letter, written in
French and sent by its author Colonel Mustafa Kemal, the commander of the Anafarta Group, to
General Liman von Sanders in order to resign from his post, because he felt offended by the behavior
of Enver Pasha during a visit he paid to the troops on the Gallipoli peninsula in 191541. It is not the
original but a copy that was written on Liman von Sanders typewriter and as the original is lost, as far
as I know, it seems to be a rather important document.
The defters.
The earliest defters to be found in the Munich Collections are tahrir defterleri from the time of
Murad III concerning regions in Southeast Europe. There is a defter-i mufassal of the Liva Sigetvar
[Szigetvár] accompanied by a kanunname42, there is a defter-i icmal of the Liva Istolni Belgrad43
[Székesfehérvár] and another defter of the Liva Semendire [Semendria]44. A defter-i ruznamçe-i irad
ve mesarif-i vilayet-i Budun45 originates from the same period. (An earlier one has been published
by Fekete and Káldy-Nagy from a defter in Gotha46). The defter-i tahrir-i cedid-i emval-i havass-i
hümayun tabi-i eyalet-i Trablus-i Şam on the other hand dates from the middle of the 17th century47.
Other defters from the 17th century are dealing with Ottoman troops in Hungary, namely with
the neferat-i kale-i Uyvar [Nové Zámky]48 (a defter that once was thought to be a book in Syrian
language!), and with the mevacib of the troops in the same fortress, but at another date49.
Five defters from the late 17th century deal with Egypt and the Harmeyn. They concern the Pious
Foundations of the Hasseki in Egypt50, the purchase of Sefain-i Hindi for transports to Mekka and
Medina51, and the transport of grain to the holy places52. Finally there is a defter dealing with the
financial obligations of Abdurrahman Pasha, the Vali of Egypt, vis-à-vis the Imperial treasury53 and a
defter containing the accounts for the acquisition of timber, craftsmen, ships, weapons and ammunition
for the war in Yemen54. Another defter from times of war registers the income of a Yeniçeri Ağası
ending right before the siege of Vienna55.
What is there from the 18th and 19th centuries? First of all there is a beautiful volume containing
the income and expenditure of the Pious Foundations of Aya Sofya for the years 1735-173656. Some
vakfiyes in the collections are mostly copies. The Ilmiye is represented by some 18th century fragments
from sicills of the kaza Karaferya [Verroia]57, by some folios of a sicill from Vakf-i zir [Donji Vakuf]
40 BSB Cod. turc. 517-550.
41 BHStA, Abteilung Kriegsar