According to the 38th Madrasa Register: Madrasas in Bursa and Payments Made to Their Mudarrises (1243/ 1827-1828)

Abstract

In the scientific and cultural life of the Ottoman Empire, Bursa, the first capital of the state, holds a very special place. Bursa was an Ottoman capital that continued to maintain its importance from the time it was captured by the Ottomans until the time Fatih conquered Istanbul. The foundations of the Ottoman State were laid here, and the first institutionalization activities of the state took place here. The first political, administrative, military, and scientific institutions emerged here, legal regulations were applied here, commercial developments began here, scientific activities intensified here, and finally, the social structure of the Ottoman society was shaped in this beautiful town. Therefore, Bursa's significance in Ottoman history is much greater compared to other cities. Many works were contributed to the city of Bursa, especially by the first Ottoman sultans, as well as by close relatives of the sultans and other statesmen. A large portion of these works consists of madrasas, which were the middle and higher education institutions of the Ottoman state. The process of madrasa construction, which began with Orhan Gazi, the Ottoman sultan who conquered Bursa, continued with I. Murad, Yıldırım Bayezid, Çelebi Mehmed, and II. Murad along with prominent statesmen of the period, and by the 16th century, the number of madrasas reached 50, making Bursa a center of knowledge. As important as identifying the madrasas in the geography dominated by the Ottomans, it is also crucial to reveal the opportunities provided to the professors working in these madrasas.

This article is based on the 52nd and 53rd pages of the 38th Madrasa Register in the Sheikh al-Islam Archive. Among the registers in this archive, there is the 38th Edirne-Bursa madrasa register, which contains the appointments of professors from 1230 to 1270/1814 to 1853. The 50th to 124th pages of this register contain the records of the madrasas in Bursa and their professors. The 52nd and 53rd pages of the same register include extremely important information regarding the names of the madrasas located in the city of Bursa during the years 1243/1827-1828, the levels of education provided in these madrasas, the revenues of the madrasas, and the daily and annual payments, both in kind and cash, made to the professors. In light of this document, which allows us to capture noteworthy details about our educational history from nearly two centuries ago, we would like to make some evaluations. The information contained in the 38th Madrasa Register, which systematically compiles the madrasas and the facilities provided to their professors during the specified years in Bursa, the first capital where the first madrasas of the Ottoman Empire were built, forms the main subject of this article.