The construction of administrative history through bureaucrat biographies: Bureaucratic administrative tradition from the perspective of Ibnülemin

The ability of an individual to make sense of their present life is largely dependent on their understanding and knowledge of the past. This is because the past holds an accumulation of experiences that one cannot acquire solely through personal life experience. The first step in this regard is identifying and meticulously analyzing the materials that serve as sources. Biographical texts, which reconstruct the lives of individuals who existed in history with all their virtues and flaws, provide critical resources on this journey. This principle is equally applicable to administrative. Achieving an institutional state administration today requires an understanding of past administrative structures, management traditions, and administrators, as well as deriving lessons from historical mistakes. As a representative of a state tradition, İbnülemin spent a significant part of his life in public service and stands out as an intellectual figure. His work, Son Sadrazamlar (The Last Grand Viziers), with its rich biographical content, serves as a guide for contemporary administrative. In our study, the biographical material in this work is employed as both a methodological tool and a source of knowledge to construct a set of key concepts. These concepts—merit and justice, seniority and experience, bureaucracy, the scarcity of statesmen (kaht-ı rical), public interest, and hikmet-i hükümet (the wisdom of administrative)—are analyzed under separate headings. Ultimately, this study highlights the place and significance of İbnülemin's bureaucratic biographies within the discipline of Turkish administrative history."