Bir İnebahtı Gâzisinin Esâret Hâtıraları: Sergüzeştnâme-i Hindî Mâhmud

Abstract

This article introduces a memoir called the Sergüzeştnâme. This masterpiece of the genre presents the experiences and observations of  a certain Hindî Mahmud during the years that served Sultan Selim II as secretary, ‘qapijibashi’, and ‘müteferriqa.’ Particularly important is its description of the Battle of Lepanto (1571), in the course of which the author was captured and enslaved by the Holy Alliance forces.   Until recently this memoir was presumed lost. It cover Hindî Mahmud’s experiences during the four year period in which he was imprisoned in Messina, Napoli and Rome in Si- cily and Italy,  his opinions about the Papacy and Vatican, the ceremonies of accession and funeral ceremonies, the religious life of prisoners of war, prison conditions etc. The information it provides is a valuable source for students of cultural history. In a second work, the comprehensive Qısas-ı Enbiyâ written in 1579, Hindî Mahmud stated that his Sergüzeştnâme consisted of 8000 verses. But the only known surviving manuscript of the work, that preserved in Edirne’s Selimiye Manuscript Library, is missing 1113 verses. Too date, the Sergüzeştnâme is the earliest captivity memoir (‘esa- retname’) from the   Ottoman period. Accordingly, even without its missing section, the Sergüzeştnâme is an extremely important document for the academic world.