Thesis ID: CBB180236488

Astrology in the Service of the Empire: Knowledge, Prognostication, and Politics at the Ottoman Court, 1450s-1550s (2016)

unapi

This dissertation explores the intellectual, cultural, and political history of knowledge in the late-medieval and early modern Ottoman context by examining the fifteenth-and sixteenth-century Ottoman astrological corpus. This corpus consists primarily of taqw?ms (almanac-prognostications), occasional horoscopes, textbooks imparting astrological principles, and the examples of the zιj literature written in Persian and Ottoman Turkish. This dissertation argues that exploring hitherto neglected astrological sources and visiting the lives of hitherto marginalized astral experts (munajjims) provides important insights into the intersecting dynamics of science, politics, and culture in the late-medieval and early modern Ottoman and Islamicate culture. This study consists of three major parts, each undertaken with a combination of different historiographical approaches. The first part (Chapter 1) examines the intellectual and cultural history of astrological practice in the late-medieval and early modern Islamicate culture. I argue that contrary to the scholarly convictions in the historiography of Arabic science, astrology retained its prestigious status as a learned discipline with complex astronomical and mathematical underpinnings. The heightened interest during this period in the eastern Islamic lands in conducting observational enterprises and updating the available celestial data in the astronomical tables was inextricably related to the need for undertaking more accurate practice of astrology. The second part (Chapter 2 and Chapter 3) of the dissertation focuses on the social history of munajjims in the Ottoman realm and tries to understand the complex social and patronage dynamics within which they functioned. By tracking their career trajectories from their vocational training to professional service, this part addresses several questions about the contents, mechanisms, and institutional structures of learning and practicing astrologically valid knowledge. The third, and the last, part (Chapter 4 and Chapter 5) examines in a detailed fashion the personal and political implications of the ever-changing textual contents and constituents of almanac-prognostications (taqw ιm) and other occasional horoscopes. By documenting the political significance and public recognition of astrological prognostications, this part demonstrates the ability of often-marginalized astrological texts to provide surprising complementary details about the early modern Ottoman political culture.

...More
Citation URI
https://data.isiscb.org/isis/citation/CBB180236488/

Similar Citations

Article Hayton, Darin; (2010)
Expertise ex Stellis: Comets, Horoscopes, and Politics in Renaissance Hungary (/isis/citation/CBB001031417/)

Article Monica Azzolini; (2021)
Are the Stars Aligned? Matchmaking and Astrology in Early Modern Italy (/isis/citation/CBB418348533/)

Article Francisco Malta Romeiras; (2020)
Putting the Indices into Practice: Censoring Science in Early Modern Portugal (/isis/citation/CBB223674544/)

Chapter Steven Vanden Broecke; (2015)
Self-Governance and the Body Politic in Renaissance Annual Prognostications (/isis/citation/CBB711124865/)

Article Ting Chen; Lingfeng Lü; (2022)
Astronomical or political: Interpretation of comets in times of crisis in Qing China (/isis/citation/CBB395595446/)

Article Makoto, Hayashi; (2013)
The Development of Early Modern Onmōdō (/isis/citation/CBB001320707/)

Book Rochberg, Francesca; (2010)
In the Path of the Moon: Babylonian Celestial Divination and Its Legacy (/isis/citation/CBB001023180/)

Chapter Ahmed Raga; (2011)
Islam and Science (/isis/citation/CBB385891182/)

Article José Chabás; (2020)
Episodes on the Diffusion of Arabic Astronomical Tables inEurope (/isis/citation/CBB722870653/)

Book Fabrizio Bònoli; (2021)
Bologna astronomica (/isis/citation/CBB940034494/)

Chapter Green, Steven J.; (2011)
Arduum ad astra: The Poetics and Politics of Horoscopic Failure in Manilius' Astronomica (/isis/citation/CBB001201031/)

Article Giangiacomo Gandolfi; (2018)
Stars and Theatre. From Renaissance Stage Astrologers to Astronomy–Flavored Science Plays (/isis/citation/CBB644275132/)

Article Marko Geslani; Bill Mak; Michio Yano; Kenneth G. Zysk; (2017)
Garga and Early Astral Science in India (/isis/citation/CBB610187089/)

Article Poppi, Antonino; (2003)
On Trial for Astral Fatalism: Galileo Faces the Inquistion (/isis/citation/CBB000411074/)

Authors & Contributors
Geslani, Marko
Ting Chen
Lingfeng Lü
Gandolfi, Giangiacomo
Chabás, José
Ragab, Ahmed
Concepts
Astrology
Astronomy
Divination; prognostication
Horoscopes
Science and religion
Science and politics
Time Periods
Early modern
Renaissance
Ancient
Medieval
Modern
17th century
Places
Europe
Italy
Rome (Italy)
Padua (Italy)
Prague (Czechia)
Bologna (Italy)
Comments

Be the first to comment!

{{ comment.created_by.username }} on {{ comment.created_on | date:'medium' }}

Log in or register to comment