Türk Kültürü ve Hacı Bektaş Veli Araştırma Dergisi

Öz

The 16th century can be regarded as the peak period of the Ottoman Empire's political, financial, and military strength. During this period, the mechanisms of the empire's institutions that facilitated its growth and development functioned in complete and certain harmony. However, it is necessary to acknowledge that some negativities also surfaced during this period. This century was marked by Austrian wars in the West and Safavid wars in the East within the borders that expanded considerably. These wars, which lasted quite a long time, were followed by treaties with heavy provisions. As a result, disruptions began to occur, particularly in the financial and military sectors. This situation also affected the imperial bureaucracy and the imperial writers (Divan-ı Hümayün) officers. In fact, in the current situation, the imperial bureaucracy has taken on two important tasks: the development of a political policy and the development of a social and cultural discourse. In political terms, they sought to gain, protect and expand their interests against the states they regarded as enemies. In the social and cultural sense, in order to get out of the existing bind, they thought of finding and developing methods of explanation with the language of discourse that would penetrate the social base. For the Western Front, such an endeavour may be considered to have yielded relatively easy results. As a result, on this front they face a completely different other, an enemy, religiously, culturally and politically. The situation in the East, however, is more complex and difficult. Here the Ottomans faced a state, the Safavids, who shared the same religion, political dominance and interests, and were not as culturally divided as in the West. Therefore, for the imperial bureaucracy and the imperial officers' (Divan-ı Hümayun), the method and manner of explaining the war with the Safavids became very difficult due to these common shares. However, the relevant departments of the Empire were able to overcome this dilemma thanks to their accumulated knowledge, information and experience. This study presents an approach to their discourse, explanations and methods in the context of these efforts. The content of the accounts related to the intensifying Ottoman-Safavid rivalry and wars during the early, middle, and late periods of the 16.century serves as a significant example in highlighting this matter. These documents frequently use religious terms such as kızılbaş, rafizî and mulhid, also political and geographical terms such as upside canîb/cenâh (yukarı canîb / cenâh) and over the border/side (öte yaka taraf). Such usage and explanation, which dominated the document language of the Empire, stemmed from the similarities and differences in the political, religious, and sociocultural contexts that existed between the two powers. These similarities and differences can be seen as important criteria that determine the discourse language of the empire's officials, bureaucracy, and officers'.