Provincial muftis in the Ottoman Empire (1550-1700)

This thesis examines the development and transformation of the provincial muftiship in the Ottoman Empire between the years 1550-1700, through the careers of the officially appointed muftis in different regions of the empire. The general framework of the thesis consists of the period from the middle of the 16th century in which the Ottoman learned establishment (ilmiye) grew and the role of the ulema in the central bureaucracy increased. Biographical dictionaries including the lives of the scholars, especiallay the Şakaik continuations, and the ruus registers containing the appointment records of the muftis are the two main source groups of our study. The development and expansion process of the provincial muftiship took place in roughly two periods. In the first period, until the beginning of the 17th century, the ulema who served in the central positions were appointed as muftis to the major cities of the province. In the period after the second quarter of the 17th century, when the provincial muftiship spread to many districts in addition to the provinces and sanjaks, mostly local ulema were employed in these ranks. Since muftis were also given the task of teaching in the most prestigious madrasas of the region, many madrasas were included in the hierarchy of ilmiye in this process. Since the middle of the 16th century, the mufti-mudarris positions have also made an important contribution to the increasing need for office in the Ottoman ilmiye. In their appointment documents, provincial muftis, who were asked to issue fatwas according to the authoritative view of the Hanafi sect and to write references from the reliable fiqh books, played an important role, together with the judges, in the process of the Ottoman Empire's adoption of Hanafi law as its official legal school.