Add MS 23586

A history of the reigns of Bayezit II and Selim I, without preface, title or author's name.

The rubrics of the text are written in Persian throughout in sulusi hand. The contents of the work are as follows:

ff 2v-87v : Reign of Bayezit II from his accession on 21 Rebiülevvel 886 AH (20 May 1481 CE) to his deposition on 8 Safer 918 AH (25 April 1512 CE);

ff 87v-190v : The reign of Selim I, from his accession to the throne through to his death. The death of Bayezit II is recorded immediately after the accession of Selim I (f 94v), as it took place a few days later (26 May 1512 CE) on the way to Demotika, between Havsa and Sazlı Dere. After this, the text continues as follows: departure of Selim from Aleppo towards Istanbul on 1 Rebiülahir 924 AH (12 April 1518 CE) (f 179v); the revolt and death of İbn-i Haneş in Syria (f 181v); the journey of Selim to Edirne, the rebellion of Celal in Turhal and his defeat and death at the hands of Ferhad Paşa and Ali Bey İbn-i Şehsuvar (f 182v); the return of Selim to Istanbul and the fitting out of a fleet for an intended attack upon Rhodes (f 183v); the death of Selim on 7 Şeval 926 AH (20 September 1520 CE) (f 184r); the message sent to Şehzade Suleyman in Magnesia and his recall to Istanbul to take the throne (f 185v); the setting out of Suleyman for the capital (f 187v); his arrival at Üsküdar on 18 Şeval 926 AH (1 October 1520 CE) (f 188v); his proceeding to meet his father's corpse and its burial (f 189v). This last section was intended to be followed by a chapter on the beginning of Suleyman's reign, but all that remains is the rubric.

The author of the text was evidently a courtier of Selim I and was writing in his lifetime, although they did complete the narrative up to Selim I's death. They devoted the greater part of the section treating the reign of Bayezit II to a minute record of the actions of Sultan Selim I from the time he left his governorship in Trabzon to the enforced abdication of his father. They refer to him, although still a prince at this point in the narrative, by titles implying the rank of Sultan. The author further presents all of Selim's endeavours in a positive light, while speaking disparagingly about his main competitor to the throne, Ahmet. They further inveigh bitterly against the Vezirs who worked in the interest of the latter rather than the former and worked to estrange Beyazit from Selim.

The circumstantial account given of the negotiations carried on at Edirne between Sultan Selim and his father, through the medium of Mevlana Nureddin, seems to show that the author was then in the prince's retinue. Although writing in the style of the court annals, they are careful to give precise dates, noting day and month, often at variance with other sources for all the principal events. There are copious quotations in Arabic from the Qur'an and the Ahadith, and the prose narrative is frequently interrupted by mesnevi verse, sometimes by versified chronograms.

The account of the conquest of Egypt was evidently written at this time. Hersekoğlu Ahmet Paşa, whom Selim left in command of Bursa in 922 AH (1516-17 CE) and who died two years later in Syria, is spoken of on f 141v as still living, and further on, on f 182r, Canberdi Gazzali, who was slain as a rebel in 927 AH (1521-22 CE), is still referred to in flattering terms.

The copyist of the manuscript is listed as Salih İbn-i Hüseyn el-Konevi. There is a running title at the top of the pages in which Bayezit II is designated as the eighth Kaysar of the House of Osman. The present volume was evidently intended to be a portion of a broader history of the Ottoman dynasty.

The copy bears as its date of completion Cemaziülahir 960 AH (May-June 1553 CE).