Özet:
The historical Mühimme defters (records) of the Ottoman Empire contain the copies of the
Sultan- sanctioned edicts (fermans), which were the products of the decisions taken in the Supreme
Council (Divan-ı Hümâyun). Because these records were kept in the Divan, which was the highest
administrative and judicial organ of the Empire, they were regarded amongst the principal primary
sources, especially for the 16th and 17th centuries. They were thoroughly analyzed by some historians
(Kütükoğlu, 2006: 520, 523). This study examines an official source from the Kanuni era, “Mühimme
Defter No. 3”, which includes the addresses to the governors (beylerbeyi) of Diyarbekir, Şam, Erzurum,
Rum, Bağdad and Van, and the beys of Ardahan, Trabzon, Karahisar-ı Şarki and Kefe, Mehmed Paşa,
Kubad Paşa and the Khan of Crimea on the subject of the capture of the heir apparent Bayezid with a
discourse analysis approach.
Conceptually, a “discourse” not only involves the content of the message but also the source
(who gives the message?), the authority (what is the message based on?), the audience (to whom the
message is given?) and the intention (what does the source want to achieve with the message?) of the
message (Çelik ve Ekşi, 2008: 100). The discourse analysis, thus, examines the syntax and semantical
structure of the texts or the language and deals both with the linguistic and socio-cultural dimensions of
discourse (Çelik ve Ekşi, 2008: 107). In this context, with the help of the discursive strategies in the
discourse-historical approach (Reisigl, 2018: 52), this study aims to determine how the information was
produced about the heir apparent Bayezid, on what grounds he was considered a threat to the crown
and how this conception was located. By doing this, we believe that the power relations of the period
and its representation in the official statements can be uncovered in the fermans. The study begins with
the demonstration of the antagonism between the rival heir apparents Bayezid and Selim and proceeds
with the explanation of how the two young candidates were situated based on the statements in the
fermans. Also, the latent power relations of the period will be demonstrated based on the causality
relations and the choice of words in the statements.
Twenty-seven statements were examined in this study. The analysis revealed that the heir
apparent Bayezid was considered a threat and his image in his father’s mind was unfavorable. The
statements concerning Bayezid included the phrases such as “gathering soldiers (asker toplamak)”,
“causing malice (fesada sebep olmak)”, “being a deserter (firar etmek)”, “rebelling (isyan etmek)”,
“fighting against the Believers (ehl-i İslâm ile cenk etmek)”, “marching against the heir apparent Selim
(Şehzade Selim üzerine yürümek)”, and “being routed and defeated (mağlup ve münhezim olmak)” and
he was accused of conspiring against the State and necessary measures were ordered by the Sultan to
be taken to his officials.
