Author(s): Omur YANAR* Faruk SOYLEMEZ**
This study focuses on exploring the role of the past in legitimating ideas which were put forward in the advice books based on Mustafa Âlî’s main work titled "Counsel For Sultans (Nushatü’s-selâtîn)". Thus, what did the past actually mean for Mustafa Âlî? what was the function of remembering the past? and how far could the past be reshaped by the needs of the present? are some of the questions that we hope to answer in this study. Under these premises, the study examines: (1) a brief overview of the advice literature in Ottoman Empire, (2) the past as a tool of legitimacy, (3) the use of the past as a tool of legitimacy for the idea of the ideal state in Counsel For Sultans. The study gives an opportunity to assess the minds of Ottoman scholars in the face of certain profound changes began to take place in the Ottoman Empire and reveals what did the past actually mean for writers of advice books based on Mustafa Âlî. In this regard, the findings of study have significant implications.
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