MANUSCRIPTS RELATED TO ULUGH BEG MANUSCRIPTS RELATED TO ULUGH BEG FROMFROM

THE KANDILLI OBSERVATORY COLLECTION THE KANDILLI OBSERVATORY COLLECTION

Atila ÖzgüçAtila ÖzgüçAtila ÖzgüçAtila ÖzgüçKandilli Observatory, Bogazici University, Çengelköy, Istanbul, TurkeyKandilli Observatory, Bogazici University, Çengelköy, Istanbul, Turkey

June 9 - 11, 2009Ulugh Beg and his contribution to the

world science 1

The First Observatory in the Ottoman EmpireTh I t b l Ob tThe Istanbul Observatory"Darür Rasad-ül Cedid"

The first person to introduce scientificThe first person to introduce scientificastronomy to the madrasa was Ali Kuşçu.Ali K th il f Ul h BAli Kuşçu was the pupil of Ulugh Beg.Following the death of Kadı-zade-i Rumi,h b h di f h k dhe became the director of the SamarkandObservatory and helped complete theUlugh Beg Chart.

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world science

After Ulug Bey, Ali Kuşçu remained for a timeg yat the court of Uzun Hasan, the ruler of theAkkoyunlu. He was sent as an envoy to Istanbuly yto establish peace among the Ottoman andAkkoyunlu states and was shown greatAkkoyunlu states, and was shown greathospitality by Sultan Mehmed II (theConqueror Fatih)Conqueror-Fatih).

Upon the invitation of the Sultan, he later came to Istanbul for asecond time together with his family and colleagues, and in a shortwhile Mehmed II appointed him professor of the Hagia SophiaMadrasa.

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Kuşçu prepared the curriculum at the Fatihl h i h M ll Hü d hcomplex together with Molla Hüsrev, and taught

mathematics and astronomy. Furthermore, hemeasured the latitude and longitude of Istanbul,and made several sundials. After Kuşçu’s deathin 1474, there was no one interested inastronomy for a long time.

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Astronomy was only used to determine prayer times or in theadjustment of the timing of the call to prayer In other wordsadjustment of the timing of the call to prayer. In other words,timekeepers took the place of astronomers. While studies inastronomy remained suspended in the Ottoman Empire greatastronomy remained suspended in the Ottoman Empire, greatchanges were taking place in the field in Europe.

In 1539, Copernicus declared thatthe Sun was at the center of the solarsystem in his revolutionary book“De Revolutionibus OrbiumDe Revolutionibus OrbiumCoelestium”.

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Tycho Brahe worked to improve this theory andTycho Brahe, worked to improve this theory andfounded the Uraniborg Observatory in Denmarkin 1576 It was at this time that the dormant fieldin 1576. It was at this time that the dormant fieldof astronomy in the Ottoman Empire began tostir. The first observatory was established in 1577stir. The first observatory was established in 1577upon the permission of Sultan Murad III by

T ki üddi t h f th M d h f E t T ki üddiTakiyüddin, a teacher from the Madrasah of Egypt. Takiyüddintravelled to Istanbul in 1571 and was appointed chief astrologer thesame year Following his personal studies on the Galata Towersame year. Following his personal studies on the Galata Tower(Istanbul) under unfavorable circumstances, he established one ofthe most significant observatories of that century on the heights ofthe most significant observatories of that century on the heights ofPera, behind Tophane.

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A simple observatory building waserected on this piece of land, inaddition to housing for his previously-built instruments. The observatory hada library. In addition to reproducing theavailable instruments in smaller size,Takiyüddin also invented several newinstruments, and made observations of,the Moon, the Sun, and other planets.

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He designed sundials and mechanical clocks, and used the clock asan instr ment for obser ation He obser ed the comet that appearedan instrument for observation. He observed the comet that appearedin the sky for about a month beginning from 11 September 1577,one of the initial scientific studies undertaken at the observatoryone of the initial scientific studies undertaken at the observatory.Takiyüddin prophesied that this event foretold a victory against thePersian army

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Persian army.

However, in 1578, when an outbreakf l d d h hof plague caused many deaths, theŞeyhülislam, Ahmed ŞemseddinEf di h d t th idEfendi, who was opposed to the ideaof the observatory, informed theM d III th t th b i f thMurad III that the observing of thecelestial bodies would bring

i f t t th imisfortune to the empire..

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The sultan ordered its destruction whichThe sultan ordered its destruction whichwas carried out on 22 January, 1580, bycannons from the sea on the orders ofcannons from the sea on the orders ofKı1ıç Ali Pasha, Admiral of the ImperialNavyNavy.

Despite this tremendous loss, Takiyüddin continuedhis work on astronomy by his own means until hishis work on astronomy by his own means until hisdeath. And the dormant field of observational

i b i i h O E iastronomi began again in the Ottoman Empire

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The Imperial Meteorological ObservatoryObservatory

( Observatoire I mperial Meteorologique )Meteorologique )

"Rasathane-i Amire-i Alaimul-cev"

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Until the Ottoman reform movement in the early nineteenthUntil the Ottoman reform movement in the early nineteenthcentury, astronomy in the madrasas of the Ottoman Empire wasl d f b k d ti b k t th Middl Alearned from books dating back to the Middle Ages.

The second observatory in the Ottoman era was established not forastronomy, but for meteorology. The Rasathane-i Amire, foundedin 1868 in a building in Pera area of Istanbul, met a fate similar toits predecessor in that it was destroyed together with all itsinstruments in the uprising of 31st March, 1909.

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Following the suppression of that event, the Minister ofEd i E ll h Ef di d d 21 J 1910Education, Emrullah Efendi, ordered, on 21st June, 1910, anew observatory to be built, and appointed Fatin Gökmen(1878-1955), known to all as Fatin Hoca, as the director ofthe new Rasadhane-i Àmire. He chose the site at the Icadiyehill where the observatory is to be found today and it beganoperations in July of 1911.

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The Observatory Collection and Its Works

Fatin Gökmen made greatFatin Gökmen made greatcontribution to the world ofscholarship: He founded a specialistcollection of Islamic manuscriptswritten in Turkish, Arabic, and Persiand li ith t d t ldealing with astronomy and astrology.Being the only specialist collection ofthis type in Turkey it also contains athis type in Turkey it also contains asignificant number of works onmathematics and geography and asmaller number of works in othersubjects.

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•Kandilli Rasathanesi Kitaplığı Yazma Eserler Kataloğu I•Kandilli Rasathanesi Kitaplığı Yazma Eserler Kataloğu I. Prepared by Muammer Dizer. İstanbul: MEB Kandilli Rasathanesi, 1973.•Kandilli Rasathanesi Kitaplığı Takvim Kataloğu. Prepared by Muammer Dizer and Atila Özgüç. İstanbul: MEB K dilli R th i 1973Kandilli Rasathanesi, 1973.•Kandilli Rasathanesi Kitaplığı Yazma Eserler Kataloğu II Prepared by Rıfkı Seven İstanbul: MEB KandilliII. Prepared by Rıfkı Seven. İstanbul: MEB Kandilli Rasathanesi, 1977.•Kandilli Rasathanesi Yazma Eserler Kataloğu. İstanbul: Boğaziçi Üniversitesi, 1988.•Kandilli Rasathanesi El Yazmaları 1. Türkçe yazmalar, P d b Gü K t t l B ğ i i Ü i it i 2007Prepared by Günay Kut et al. Boğaziçi Üniversitesi, 2007

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Turkish Arabic Persian

A 590 233 59Astronomy 590 233 59

Astrology 172 77 30

Mathematics 30 49 5

Geography 14 4 --

Others 15 51 8

TOTAL 821 414 102

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This collection includes many works ineither author’s or translator’s autographs oreither author s or translator s autographs orthose prepared by the chief astrologers of thetime and this attaches more importance totime and this attaches more importance tothe collection. Here below some of themwritten ot translated by Ulugh Beg and somewritten ot translated by Ulugh Beg and somerelated with Ulugh Beg’s works

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23 Cedvel-i ta‘dìlü‡l-ºamer

Begins: 1b

Th k i t f t bl l t d t th ti f thThe work consists of tables related to the motions of themoon. The table on 1b gives the motions of the moon, inaccordance with the Zìc of Uluğ Beg, between the years1748-1807. Some tables show the yearly motions of themoon.

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52 ‘Alì Kuşì (4a)Kàtibì er-Rùmì Seydi (Seyyid) ‘Alì b. Hüseyin (3a) (called also SeydìKàtibì er Rùmì Seydi (Seyyid) Alì b. Hüseyin (3a) (called also Seydì

‘Alì Re’ìs and using the pseudonym Kàtibì) (translator) [died 970/1562-63] OM III, 270-72; Adıvar 72.

Hulàsatü'l-hey’e (4b)

Begins: 1b and 2b

Translated in Aleppo in January 1-30, 1549. A note on 1a ofmanuscript No: 141 mentions that this work is a translation ofthe work entitled Fethiyye by Alì Kuşçu.

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June 9 - 11, 2009 20Ulugh Beg and his contribution to the

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‘Alì b. Mu¤ammad al-Kuşci (Commentator) Keşf II, 945

Şarh-i Zìc al-cadìd

Begins: 158b

The work is a commentary on the Zìc al-cadìd byUlugh Beg. Deals with determining days andmonths with respect to the stars

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References

Catalogue of Astronomical, Astrological and mathematical i UNESCO CD 1996manuscripts, UNESCO CD, 1996.

History of Astronomy Literature During the Ottoman Period EHistory of Astronomy Literature During the Ottoman Period, E. Ihsanoglu, R. Sesen, C. Izgi, C. Akpinar an I. Fazlioglu , ISBN 92-9063-072-8, IRCICA, 1997.

Kandilli Rasathanesi elyazmaları, Günay Kut et al., Boğaziçi U i it bli ti 2007University publication, 2007.

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Tombstones of Ali Kuşçu

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El Fatiha for Ali Kuşçu

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THANK YOUTHANK YOUTHANK YOUTHANK YOU

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world science