Advices to a phanariot candidate for the grand dragomanate and voivodaship of the danubian principalities in the eighteenth century:be-nam-ı havariyyun-ı büruc-ı fünun of Ebubekir Kani Efendi
This thesis examines Be-nâm-ı Havâriyyûn-ı Bürûc-ı Fünûn, an eighteenth-century work of prose, written by the Ottoman literary figure and bureaucrat Ebûbekir Kânî Efendi (1712-1791). It was written for a member of the Mavrocordatos family, one of the prominent Phanariot families, which filled the positions of the grand dragomanate and voivodaship of the Danubian Principalities. While the linguistic function of Bürûc-ı Fünûn has been largely emphasized in the secondary literature, this study explores the characteristics of the text in terms of nasîhatnâme (book of advice) literature. The thesis also makes assumptions about the authorship of Ebûbekir Kânî based on a newly discovered manuscript of the text which is of the earliest date of issue. The thesis also inquires about which Mavrocordatos Bürûc-ı Fünûn was written for. Accordingly, it attempts to understand the motives of the Mavrocordatos family within the Ottoman-Phanariot world and the inner dynamics of the Ottoman upper administration. All considered, the thesis will analyse Bürûc-ı Fünûn in a historical context in order to reveal the wider dimensions of the tex