Date:
1791 t.p.q.
Manuscripts:
From all the series of these memoranda (Layihalar), asked by Selim III, an abridged treatise was compiled, containing the parts of the individual memoranda which pertain to army reform, brought together under thematic categories (army, military stipends, auxiliary forces and artillery, cavalry). The abridged treatise published by Karal is preserved in two copies:
- Millet Ktp., Ali Emiri Tarih 71
- Topkapı Sarayı Kütüphanesi MS Yeni Gelenler 4050
The original reports are found in Topkapı Sarayı Arşivi, envelope E447.
Editions:
Karal, E. Z., “Nizâm-ı Cedîd’e dâir lâyihalar”, Tarih Vesikaları 1/6 (1941), 414-425; 2/8 (1942), 104-111; 2/11 (1943), 342-351; 2/12 (1943), 424-432 [in fact, the text published by Karal is the abridged treatise]
For full editions:
- Öğreten, A., “Nizâm-ı Cedîd’e dair Islâhât Lâyıhaları”, unpublished Yüksek Lisans Tezi, Istanbul University 1989
- Çağman, E., “III. Selim’e takdim edilen layıhalara göre Osmanlı Devleti’nde iktisadi değişme”, unpublished Yüksek Lisans Tezi, Marmara University 1995
Particular memoranda have also been published:
- “Sultan Selim-i Salis devrinde nizam-ı devlet hakkında mütalaat”, Tarih-i Osmani Encümeni Mecmuası 7/38 (H. 1332), 74-88; 7/41 (H. 1332), 321-346; 8/43 (H. 1333), 15-34
- Çağman, E., “III. Selim’e sunulan bir ıslahat raporu: Mehmet Şerif Efendi layihası”, Divan 7 (1999/2), 217-233
Summary:
Koca (Gürci) Yusuf Paşa (Grand Vizier till 1791) proposes that ten or twelve thousand youths be recruited from Anatolia and the Balkans. They should be trained in new barracks, so that in case of a new campaign one-third of the army would be constituted by these troops. More particularly, one person from each provincial household (presumed to have two or three members, and provided that it is Muslim and exempt from all taxes) should be recruited and trained as a gunner (tüfenkçi). These new troops should be organized in strict hierarchy and discipline; they must be paid regularly every month, and every three months another two hundred of them should serve under the Grand Vizier. As for the irregular forces (delil, levend) they do nothing but oppress the subjects and should therefore be dismissed (Ka415-417). Artillery should be produced on the responsibility of viziers (Kc350), while fiefs should be taken away from incompetent members of other auxiliary bodies (Kd430).
Thematic units:
Bibliography:
- Aksan, V., “Ottoman Political Writing, 1768-1808”, International Journal of Middle East Studies 25 (1993), 62-63
- Beydilli, K., “Kücük Kaynarca’dan Tanzimât’a ıslâhât düşünceleri”, İlmî Araştırmalar 8 (1999), 30-34
- Çağman, E., “III. Selim’e sunulan bir ıslahat raporu: Mehmet Şerif Efendi layihası”, Dîvân – İlmî Araştırmalar 7 (1999/2), 217-233
- Shaw, S. J., Between Old and New: The Ottoman Empire Under Sultan Selim III, 1789-1807, Cambridge MA 1971, 86-111
- Şakul, K., “Nizâm-ı Cedid düşüncesinde batılılaşma ve İslami modernleşme”, Dîvân – İlmî Araştırmalar 19 (2005), 117-150
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Koca (Gürci) Yusuf Paşa was Grand Vizier till 1791.