Hattat İsmail Zihni Pasha: Life and Death of an Ottoman Statesman and an Inventor

Abstract

The principal concern of this paper is to shed light on the question of what it took to be an Ottoman for a statesman in late 18th century. This was an age of significant turmoil caused by a series of diplomatic and military crises when identities and allegiances were recast. The present paper will challenge the conventional views about the adoption and adaptation in the Ottoman Empire and the attitudes of the Ottoman ruling elite towards innovation in this period. Based on the Ottoman archives and narrative sources, the essay will focus on the educational background, bureaucratic career, and inventive mind of an Ottoman statesman: İsmail Zihni Paşa. While his membership to a faction and accumulation of wealth were typical in the career of an Ottoman statesman, his passion for technological invention and taste for artifacts of wonder were not. It is hoped that this essay will contribute to the question of “who is an Ottoman?”