Ahmet Cevdet Pasha
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Ahmet Cevdet Pasha |
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|---|---|
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| Born |
22 March 1822 Lovech, Ottoman Empire |
| Died | 25 May 1895 (aged 73) Constantinople, Ottoman Empire |
| Nationality | Turkish |
| Occupation | Historian, statesman, sociologist, legist |
| Notable work |
Mecelle, Tarih-i Cevdet ("History of Cevdet Pasha") |
| Children | Ali Sedat Fatma Aliye Emine Semiye |
Ahmed Cevdet Pasha (22 March 1822 – 25 May 1895) was an Ottoman scholar, intellectual, bureaucrat, administrator, and historian who was a prominent figure in the Tanzimat reforms of the Ottoman Empire. He was the head of the Mecelle commission that codified Islamic law for the first time in response to the Westernization of law.
Ahmed Cevdet Pasha was born in 1822 in Lovech, Bulgaria. He came from the notable family of Yularkiranoglu that had served the state and the faith as military, administrative, and religious officials. It was his grandfather's, Hacı Ali Efendi, wished that Ahmed pursued a career in the religious, ilmiye, ranks.
Ahmed Cevdet began his education at a very early age. He started with his study of Arabic grammar from Hafız Ömer Efendi, who was the mufti of Lovech at the time. With his demonstrated rapid progress, Ahmed was soon introduced to the Islamic sciences. In 1836, he started reading with Hacı Esref Efendi, the deputy judge of Lovech who had a son that was Ahmed Cevdet's age. These two boys, who were both named Ahmed, went on to become famous as Ahmet Cevdet Pasha and Ahmed Midhat Pasha. So far, his elementary education had followed the traditional Muslim Ottoman pattern, being acquired through informal study with the local ulema.
In 1839, however, Ahmed's education took a more advanced turn. He moved to Constantinople, graduated from the medrese, and received a diploma, icazet, which qualified him to serve in an Ilmiye position. While at the medrese, Ahmed wasn not completely satisfied, so he studied the mathematical sciences at the Imperial Military Engineering School(Hendesehâne) . In addition, he developed an interest in the science of history as a study of the human experience by means of critical evaluation of the sources. He even went on to supplement his interests with studies of Islamic, French, and international law, before the age of 30.
After graduation, Ahmed made a contact that would fundamentally alter the rest of his career, Mustafa Reşid Pasha, who was about to enter his first term as grand vizier. Mustafa Reşid was seeking a member of the ulema that could teach him enough about Islamic religious law so that he could avoid immediate open conflict when introducing reforms. He also needed someone who was open-minded and willing to discuss problems. Ahmed Cevdet was assigned to Mustafa's house, where he tutored Mustafa and his children and stayed at this position until his patron's death in 1858. Ahmed Cevdet's new association with leaders of the Tanzimat exposed him to novel influences and ideas that drew him into the world of bureaucracy and politics. Even though Ahmed retained his connection with the ulema until 1866, he primarily functioned as a bureaucrat, taking a prominent role in education, language, and provincial reform.
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