Seven Planets: Ottoman Culture in French Mirror

The first half of the eighteenth century in Europe, especially in France, witnessed a great expansion in interest and curiosity towards the Ottomans and their culture. This was accelerated by the publication in 1697 of Bibliothèque Orientale, the first true Western encyclopedia of Islam. It incorporated the extensive knowledge and information provided by the encyclopedic bibliography Keşfü’z-zunûn, compiled by the Ottoman polymath Kâtip Çelebi (d. 1657). The members of the Republic of Letters developed a parallel interest in Ottoman culture and sought an account of Turkish literature. The Marquis de Caumont (Marquis de Avignon) of Marseille, one of the members of this circle of scholars, entrusted Mr. Peyssonnel, the secretary of the French Ambassador in Istanbul, with the task of preparing such an account. As a result of lengthy correspondence between Caumont and Peyssonnel and later diplomatic encounters, Peyssonnel managed to obtain a treatise on the subject. In the first months of 1739, the treatise calledKevâkib-i Seb’a, that is the Seven Planets, was written by a scholar whose name was not disclosed. The only parts of the text translated into French, however, were the lists of disciplines. The book was then donated to the Royal Library, which later became the Bibliothèque Nationale. Kevâkib-i Seb’a, which has remained on the shelves of the library since 1742, did not attract the attention of scholars until Dr. Adnan Adıvar, who was living in exile in Paris, introduced Kevâkib-i Seb’a for the first time in his book La sciences chez les Turcs Ottomans, published in 1939. Publications on Kevâkib-i Seb’a, discussions on the identity of the author, how it was written, and its content have been insufficient. The matter of how the treatise, which was compiled within the framework of friendly Ottoman-French relations, how it was written and how it addressed its interlocutors, concerned extremely important information and sensitive issues, but they were not dealt with within this context. The original French request included an inquiry to investigate the effect of the printing house, which had been established in Istanbul 10-12 years prior by Mütereffika, on Ottoman cultural life. But to what extent was it possible to determine the answer to such a question in the early period of the printing press and under those conditions? There were no available means to measure it, and books were sparsely published and circulated; there was no one to measure their impact on society. The correspondence exchanged between Istanbul and Marseilledoes not reveal the name of the author, nor does he himself mentions his name in the book while modestly expressing how he was asked to address the French request. He states only that he was in the entourage of the Reisülküttab MustafaEfendi and that Ebubekir Efendi, Mustafa Efendi’s son-in-law, was his student. In his treatise, the author explains the understanding of science among the Ottomans, the classification of the sciences, and the different stages of education from beginning to end. He provides information about the courses taught in madrasahs, texts and reference books, and their authors in a systematic order. The vitality of cultural life in Istanbul during the reign of Ahmed III (1703-1730) known as the Tulip Era undoubtedly continued during the reign of Mahmud I (1730-1754). One can see the effort of the author to glorify his own civilization and state in the eyes of foreigners and to show that the golden days of Islamic civilization still continued. In our research on Kevâkib-i Seb’a, we have tried to read the mind of the author and reveal his identity profile from his work and establish his features. We then examined the names and biographies of the scholars who were in the entourage of Reisülküttab Mustafa Efendi and selected candidates who bore the qualifications we had identified. After a multi various examinations, we concluded that the author of the treatiseKevâkib-i Seb’a was a prominent scholar and Naqshbandi Sheikh Hüseyin bin Muhammed al-Mimi from Basra, known as Mimizade. Mimizade, being in the entourage of Reisülküttab–the head of the Ottoman bureaucracy–and in charge of diplomatic relations, found himself in a dilemma between being observant to diplomatic relations and his conviction as a Muslim scholar. So, while discussing religious matters, he mentions the divinity of Jesus and the belief in the Trinity, the basic creed of Christianity, as “the improper (na-seza)” beliefs that are not proven by rational evidence, and in his own words, he openly expresses his criticism by “releasing the reins”.We hope that this study, in which we try to analyze the content of the treatise Kevâkib-i Seb’a, the identity and mentality of the author, as well as his environment, and the context where this text was compiled, will pave the way for new research and studies. In this publication, we present the text of the treatise Kevâkib-i Seb’a, which is a unique manuscript, with the Ottoman Turkish alphabet and the French lists of titles and disciplines, as it was in the original manuscript. Although the title of Seven Planets consists of only two words, it very concisely explains the author’s understanding of the cosmos and the realm of knowledge. It shows that the number seven held particular significance in the mind of this Ottoman intellectual about the understanding of the universe. In addition, the classification of the sciences that the author incorporates was originally based on Taşköprüzade’s arrangement, which had a seven-based structure.